Starting small is enough
Your customers always have their phone with them. The café’s paper card, on the other hand, is in another jacket, and the birthday voucher is somewhere in a drawer. Whatever is on the phone is there when your customer is standing in front of your shop.
Going digital doesn’t mean changing everything. Often a single step that saves work every day is enough. The seven ideas below work just as well for cafés, bakeries, hairdressers, studios and shops.
1. The stamp card in the wallet
Six stamps out of ten, and then the card is gone. In Apple Wallet or Google Wallet that can’t happen: the card lives on the phone, next to boarding passes and cinema tickets.
- No download. Your customers scan a QR code at the counter and add the card with one tap. Apple Wallet comes pre-installed on every iPhone, and Google Wallet is available for Android.
- Stamping by scan. You scan the code with a phone or tablet and the stamp is on. No ink pads, no reprinted cards.
- The card reminds. After each stamp a short notification arrives, such as “3 more stamps to your free coffee”.
- Your logo on the phone. Anyone who opens the wallet sees your card, not just at the counter.
The same works as a ten-visit pass for a yoga studio that counts along, or as a membership card for check-in.
2. Vouchers that don’t disappear
Gift vouchers are good business: the money comes in before you provide the service, and the person receiving the voucher gets to know your shop. Paper vouchers have their pitfalls, though. They get lost, remaining balances are noted on scraps of paper, and in the end nobody knows for sure whether a voucher has already been used.
A voucher in the wallet solves this:
- The balance is on the card. After a purchase it shows what’s left, without scraps of paper or sums.
- With a name. Who the voucher is for and who it’s from is shown on the card.
- On paper too. For anyone who prefers something in their hand, the same voucher can be printed with the same code.
- Never twice. The redemption app at the counter checks the balance when scanning. A copied code doesn’t double the credit.
Why cards disappear from the wallet
Perhaps you’ve seen it happen: a loyalty card was suddenly gone. It isn’t deleted, but the wallet hides expired cards. If you issue a voucher valid for one year, it disappears from your customer’s view after a year. Legally it may still be valid: in Germany, vouchers are generally subject to the three-year limitation period, counted from the end of the year in which they were bought, and shorter periods are often invalid. If your shop is outside Germany, the rules may differ. The expiry date on the card should match. This is guidance only and is not legal advice.
3. Online appointments and reservations
The phone rings while you’re cutting hair, advising or at the till. With online appointments, your customers book themselves, even in the evening, and get a confirmation straight away. A reminder the day before helps against forgotten appointments, and cancellations work via a link. For restaurants, the same works as table reservations. The page on booking systems shows what your own system looks like.
4. Keep your Google profile up to date
Before anyone walks into your shop, they often see your Google profile first: opening hours, photos, directions. If the hours are wrong, someone ends up in front of a locked door. Add bank holidays and special hours, upload current photos and reply to reviews. The article on the Google Business Profile explains how.
5. Prices and menus via QR code
Your menu, price list or class timetable as a page on your website, reached via a QR code on the table, in the window or on the door. When a price changes, you change it in one place instead of twenty folders. Keep the printed version all the same, as some guests prefer reading on paper. There are tips in the article on menu design.
6. The business card on the phone
For you and your team: the business card as a wallet card with a QR code. The other person scans it with their phone camera and has your name, number and website in their address book, no typing needed. A printed card still makes sense too, see business card design.
7. Selling even when you’re closed
People who can’t drop by can still buy: vouchers through your website, on a Sunday evening just as on Christmas Eve at 2pm. If you want to sell more than vouchers, a small shop is worth it. The article on online shops covers what to look out for.
What your shop gains
- No more reprinting. No stamp cards, no voucher pads, no scraps of paper with remaining balances.
- The card is always there. Customers who carry your card on their phone keep you in mind, even between visits.
- Clean accounting. Every redemption is logged with time and receipt number, and you see open balances at a glance. Your tax adviser will appreciate it.
- Fewer phone calls. Appointments and reservations come in by themselves.
- Your brand, not someone else’s app. The card carries your logo and colours rather than those of a loyalty platform, and the data stays with you.
- No new till. The redemption app runs in the browser on a phone or tablet, alongside your till.
Where to start?
Start with whatever annoys you most today. Stamp cards getting lost or customers asking about vouchers: wallet card. Phone ringing constantly: online appointments. People standing in front of a locked door: Google profile. No single step has to solve everything at once, and everything can be extended later.
What we do
We design and build wallet cards for stamp cards, gift vouchers and business cards, with a redemption app for your counter. On top of that come booking systems for appointments and reservations and, if you don’t have one yet, the right website from €1,290. For your whole presence there are our packages, such as “Start” with logo, one-page website and contact or booking system for €1,290. For wallet cards, running starts at €79 a month; the set-up is set out in the quote after a free intro call.