Digital loyalty card: stamps vs. points
Every week without a loyalty card you lose regular customers without noticing – set up in 5 minutes, free up to 100 customers.
Stamp card or points card – which fits your shop? The short answer: stamps if customers visit often and spend similar amounts. Points if receipt sizes vary widely and you want to reward bigger purchases. Both live digitally in Wallet, both work without an app. This post shows how both systems work, walks through examples, and helps you decide.
Take the self-test: which system fits you?
- My receipts vary a lot (factor of 5 or more between smallest and largest purchase)
- I want to reward larger purchases more than small ones
- My cashier has time to enter an amount with each scan
- My customers understand points systems (e.g. from supermarkets)
3–4 checks: Points card works better.
0–2 checks: Stamp card is simpler and faster.
How a digital points card works
The customer scans the QR code on the display, the card lands in Wallet. With each purchase, your team scans the card and enters the receipt amount. Points are calculated from that. One point per euro is the standard rate. At a certain points level there's a reward – for example 100 points = €5 voucher.
The advantage: Whoever spends more gets rewarded more. The customer with the €40 receipt gets four times as many points as the one with the €10 receipt. That feels fair and motivates bigger purchases.
The disadvantage: Points are abstract. The customer has to calculate how far they are from the reward. Your team has to enter an amount with each scan. That takes longer at the register than a simple scan.
One detail often forgotten: points need a rounding rule. On a €7.49 receipt do you give 7 points, and on €7.50 also 7 or already 8? Decide this beforehand and write it on the card, otherwise you'll argue about every other receipt.
How a digital stamp card works
The process is the same, just simpler: one scan, one stamp, regardless of receipt size. After a fixed number of stamps there's a reward – for example 10 stamps = 1 free coffee. Optionally set a minimum receipt so not every small item earns a stamp.
The advantage: Everyone understands it instantly. At the register it takes a second. The card shows progress visibly. The psychological effect of stamp collecting is strong – more on that under Psychology of loyalty programs.
The disadvantage: The customer with the big receipt gets the same stamp as the one with the small one. That doesn't matter with similar receipt sizes, but it's unfair when amounts vary widely.
Direct comparison
| Criterion | Digital stamp card | Digital points card |
|---|---|---|
| Rewards | Visit frequency | Spending amount |
| At register | One scan | Scan plus enter amount |
| Ease of understanding | Very high | Medium, customer has to calculate |
| Progress visible | Yes, stamp by stamp | Yes, as a number |
| Fair with varying receipts | No | Yes |
| Works for | Café, bakery, fast food, barber | Boutique, specialty food, specialty retail |
| Abuse risk | Low, scan cooldown | Low, amount is verified |
Example calculation: café with stamps
A café sells coffee for €3.20. Most receipts are between €3 and €8. Stamp card: 10 stamps = 1 free coffee, cost of goods €0.80. A customer visiting twice a week fills the card in five weeks. By then they've spent around €32 to €50. The reward costs you €0.80, so under 3 percent.
If the café switched to points (1 point per euro, 50 points for a free coffee), the math would work out the same. But the customer would hear at each coffee that they now have 22 points. Instead of seeing that seven of ten boxes are full. For a café that's no gain.
Example calculation: boutique with points
A boutique has receipts between €15 and €200. A stamp card with 5 stamps would reward the customer with five t-shirts the same as the one with five coats. That doesn't fit.
Points card: 1 point per euro, 200 points for a €10 voucher. That's 5 percent cashback, distributed evenly. Whether the customer makes two large or ten small purchases.
With a 50 percent margin, the voucher costs the boutique €5 per €200 in sales, so 2.5 percent. That's comparable to the café, just based on spending instead of visits. Which reward form fits which shop is covered in depth in Choosing the right reward for your loyalty program.
Decision guide in four questions
- Do your receipts vary widely? If most receipts fall within a factor of two to three, use stamps. If one receipt can be ten times higher than another, use points.
- How much time does your register have? If there's a line in the morning, use stamps. A scan without entering an amount is fastest.
- Do you want to reward frequency or receipt size? If you want to see customers more often, use stamps. If you want to encourage bigger purchases, use points.
- Will your customers understand the system in one second? If you hesitate, use stamps.
For most small shops with a counter or register, the answer is stamps. For specialty retail, boutiques, and specialty food shops with widely varying receipts, the answer is points. The post Stamp card vs. points program goes through business types individually.
What happens if you change nothing
Without a loyalty card you don't notice which customers visit less often. They quietly switch to the competition. You lose regular customers every week without seeing it. A digital card in Wallet shows you live who becomes inactive. You can react before the customer leaves for good.
What both systems have in common digitally
Whether points or stamps: the digital card in Wallet brings the same advantages over paper or plastic. It's always with them. You can send push notifications to the lock screen. Inactive customers are reminded automatically. The dashboard shows live how many customers are active and how many rewards have been redeemed.
Customers don't need an app, you don't need hardware. And you can switch without printing new cards: if you start with stamps and after half a year realize receipts vary more than expected, you change the mechanics in the dashboard. All cards show the new system instantly.
Conclusion
Points card or stamp card isn't a question of technology, but of behavior you want to reward. Stamps reward frequency and are fastest at the register. Points reward spending and are fairer with varying receipts. Both work digitally in Wallet, without an app and without hardware. With stampa you set up your card in minutes, free up to 100 active customers and without a credit card. Start free now.