How to make a stamp card (and why move it to the phone)

The stamp card is the oldest loyalty program there is, and it still works for one simple reason: it needs no explaining. Ten boxes, ten purchases, a reward. Any customer gets it first time and any employee can use it on day one.

That said, a badly designed card doesn't build loyalty — it irritates. Here are the five things to decide before sending it to the printer, and what to do when cardboard isn't enough any more.

1. Decide whether you reward the visit or the spend

One stamp per visit is the classic and the easiest to count. It works when what people buy is similar every time: a coffee, bread, a set lunch, a haircut.

If your tickets vary a lot, one stamp per visit rewards the €5 customer and the €60 customer identically. There are two ways out: set a minimum per stamp ("one stamp per €10") or switch to points or cashback, which count euros instead of visits.

2. Choose the number of boxes deliberately

The right number depends on how often your customer comes in, not on what everyone else prints. The question is: how long do I want them to take to reach the reward? One to three months is a reasonable target; beyond that, the card gets forgotten.

• Coffee shop or bakery, near-daily customer: 8 to 12 boxes.
• Neighborhood restaurant, weekly or fortnightly visit: 6 to 8.
• Hair or beauty salon, a visit every four to six weeks: 5 or 6, otherwise the reward is a year away.
• Occasional-purchase retail: stamps fit badly here; look at points or cashback.

3. Pick a reward people want and you can sustain

The reward has to meet three conditions: the customer wants it, it's yours — something from your own counter, not a keyring — and it costs you your margin, not the retail price. Giving away the tenth coffee costs what that coffee costs to make, not what you sell it for.

Avoid rewards that require negotiating on the spot ("something of similar value"). The more concrete the better: "the tenth coffee, free" leaves nothing to argue about; "a gift" does.

4. Write the small print, however short

The card has to have room — on the back, in small type if need be — for these things:

• The business name and address, so people know where it's valid.
• Which purchase earns a stamp, and whether there's a minimum.
• Exactly what the reward is.
• Whether it expires, and when. If it doesn't, say that too.
• Whether it can be combined with offers.
• That the card is stamped by the shop.

5. Think about how it gets stamped

A pen won't do: anyone can draw a line. Use a stamp with a shape that can't be improvised, keep it behind the counter, and do the stamping yourself. There's no need to distrust anyone — it's enough that the system doesn't invite people to try their luck.

And mind the back: leave a space for the customer's name. When somebody leaves their card behind, being able to hand it back is a small moment of free loyalty.

The three problems cardboard doesn't solve

1. It gets lost. Most cards handed out never come back, and the customer who left theirs at home doesn't collect, gets frustrated, and stops asking.
2. You know nothing. You don't know how many are live, how many people stalled halfway, or who hasn't been in since March. You only see the ones that arrive completed.
3. You can't tell anyone. There's no way to let someone know they're one stamp short — which is precisely the message that works best.

How to move it to the phone without losing anyone

The digital version is the same idea without the three drawbacks: the customer scans a QR, the stamp lives on their phone, and you can see what's happening. The switch takes a week if you order it properly:

1. Set the digital program up with the rules you already had. Don't use the move to raise the bar — people notice.
2. Let cardboard run alongside for two or three months and honour the cards in progress.
3. When someone turns up with cardboard, transfer their stamps to the digital card in front of them. That gesture is what convinces.
4. Put the QR where people pay, not on the door. It gets scanned while paying or it doesn't get scanned.
5. Give the team one sentence: "Shall I add your stamp? Scan there and you've nothing to carry."

What to watch in the first month

Three numbers are enough: how many customers signed up, how many reached a second visit, and how many rewards were redeemed. If plenty sign up but nobody reaches a second stamp, the problem is at the counter — nobody is reminding them — not in the tool.

Toldea is one way to do it: a digital stamp card, collected by scanning a QR in the browser with no app to install, and the free plan includes one stamp card, so getting started costs €0. If your cardboard card works and it's enough for you, there's no need to change anything: what isn't worth having is a program you know nothing about.