Restaurant loyalty programme basics

What a loyalty programme is for

A loyalty programme gives regulars a reason to choose you over the place next door, and gives you a list of who they are. It works best for restaurants where the same people come often: cafés, lunch spots, takeaways, neighbourhood restaurants.

It is not a discount for everyone. If every guest gets the same reward, it is simply a lower price. The point is to reward the guests who come back.

Three common designs

• Points per amount spent. Guests earn points on each bill and spend them later. Flexible and fair: big spenders earn more.
• Visits. "Buy nine coffees, the tenth is free." Very simple to explain; it suits a menu where most orders are similar.
• Tiers. Guests move up levels — say, regular, gold, VIP — as their spending grows, with better benefits at each level. Good for keeping your best guests, and works alongside points.

Pick one to start. You can add tiers later.

Setting the earn rate and the reward

The cost of a programme is what you give away, so work it out before you launch.

Decide two things:

• How fast points are earned — for example, 1 point for each unit of currency spent.
• What a point is worth when spent — for example, 100 points = 5 off a bill.

With those numbers, a guest who spends 100 earns 100 points, worth 5. Your programme then "costs" about 5% of what members spend — but only when they redeem, and only on the members who come back. Compare that with your margin: if a 5% reward brings a regular back one extra time a month, it usually pays for itself; if it just discounts guests who would have come anyway, it doesn't.

Add a few rules to keep it under control:

• a minimum number of points before they can be spent;
• a maximum that can be spent on one order;
• points earned on what was actually paid — after discounts and before tax.

Keep it fast at the counter

A programme that slows the queue will be quietly skipped by staff. Make it quick:

• find guests by phone number, so nobody carries a card or downloads an app;
• let guests be added in a few taps, during the order;
• if a guest forgets to give their number, let staff add it to the bill afterwards the same day;
• show the guest's points on screen, so staff can tell them what they've saved.

Tell people it exists

A programme nobody knows about earns nothing. Put one line on the menu or the counter, train staff to ask "Are you a member?", and print the points balance on the bill.

Guests' data

A loyalty programme means you keep guests' names and phone numbers, sometimes more. Treat them carefully:

• collect only what you need;
• let only staff who need it see phone numbers;
• record whether a guest agreed to receive marketing — and don't send it if they didn't;
• delete a guest's data when they ask.

Rules on personal data differ by country; check what applies where you trade.

Measure it

After a few months, look at:

• how many members came back, and how often;
• how members' average bill compares with everyone else's;
• how many points were spent, and what they cost you.

If the programme costs more than the extra visits bring in, change the earn rate or the reward.

How BillDine runs loyalty

• Switch it on. In People → Loyalty, switch on the program, give it a name, and choose how many points each amount spent earns. Redemption rules set what a point is worth, the fewest points a guest may redeem and the most per order. Paid bills earn points on the dishes, after discounts and before tax.
• Tiers. Each tier has a name, the lifetime points needed to reach it and its benefits; the top tier is for your VIP customers. Guests move up as their lifetime points grow.
• At the counter. Add customer details finds a guest by phone or name, or adds a new one in a few taps. A guest spends points with Redeem on their bill, and the POS checks they have enough. Gave their number only after paying? The same day, Add customer on the paid bill still earns its points.
• No app or card. Points are kept against the guest's phone number. Each phone number belongs to one customer, and a duplicate can be merged with its orders and points.
• Every point on record. Points change only through recorded entries — earned or redeemed on a bill, or added or adjusted by a manager with a reason — and each customer's points history lists them all.
• Bring your list. Import an existing customer list from a CSV file; BillDine shows what it will add or skip before saving anything.
• Privacy. Staff see only what their role allows: phone numbers can be masked and addresses hidden. Marketing consent is recorded only when the guest agrees, and an owner or manager can export or erase a guest's data from their page.

See loyalty in depth, with which plans include it, and the lesson Take your first order and print the bill.

A launch checklist

1. Choose points, visits or tiers.
2. Set the earn rate and the reward, and work out the cost.
3. Set a minimum and a maximum redemption.
4. Train staff to ask for the phone number on every order.
5. Tell guests on the menu and the bill.
6. Review the numbers after three months.