Digital loyalty card
A loyalty card kept on a phone or an account instead of on paper, such as a wallet pass, a phone-number lookup at checkout or a linked payment card.
In short
- It identifies the customer at checkout and keeps their points on an account.
- The common forms are a wallet pass, a phone or email lookup, a linked card and the receipt.
- Unlike a punch card, it can't be lost or copied and can reward specific items.
A digital loyalty card does the job of a paper punch card or plastic member card without anything to carry. It identifies the customer at checkout and keeps their points or stamps on an account, where they can't be lost.
Common forms
- Wallet pass: a card added to Apple Wallet or a similar app, scanned at the register. The business has to issue the pass, usually through an Add to Apple Wallet button in an email, a text, a website or a QR code.
- Phone number or email lookup: the customer gives an identifier and the point of sale finds the account.
- Linked payment card: the program recognizes the credit or debit card used to pay.
- On the receipt: the customer joins and sees their balance on the digital receipt itself.
Compared with a punch card
A paper card is cheap and simple, but it gets lost, can be copied and tells the business nothing about who its regulars are. A digital card tracks points automatically, ties each point to a real sale and, with the customer's consent, lets the business send them an offer. It can also reward specific items rather than only visits.
Worked example
From stamp card to digital
A bakery hands out ten-stamp cards and reprints a box of them every month. After switching to a digital card, a customer gives a phone number once, every purchase adds to the same balance, and the bakery can see that its croissant regulars come in mostly on weekends.