Loyalty cards for Christmas: December and January campaigns
The loyalty card for Christmas is a tool many shops leave unused in December, even though that's when more customers visit than in any other month of the year. And January after that is when those same customers vanish. This post shows concrete campaigns for both periods: how to turn one-time shoppers into loyalty card holders during Advent, and how to bring regular customers back in January with the digital card in their wallet when they're staying home after the holidays.
Why December and January belong together
December brings foot traffic you don't have to earn: gift shoppers, holiday parties, Christmas coffee, people with more time and more spending power. Many of them come exactly once. Your task in December isn't to sell more, but to bind these people to your loyalty card.
January is the opposite. After the holidays, wallets are empty, New Year's resolutions are strict, and shops are quiet. Anyone who added a card to their wallet in December has a channel in January: push notifications on the lock screen that remind them exactly when it's slowest. For how to plan seasonal campaigns across the whole year, see Seasonal campaigns: The annual calendar for small shops.
Advent campaigns
Double-stamp days. On fixed days, customers get two stamps instead of one—for example, on each Sunday of Advent or on the four Fridays before Christmas. It's simple to communicate, costs you only one extra stamp per visit, and gives customers a reason to choose that day. Push text: Double stamps today for the second Sunday of Advent. Come by, we have gingerbread.
Advent card with a shorter path. For December, run a card with fewer stamps needed to earn a reward—say 6 instead of 10. New customers see the reward is within reach and start collecting. From January on, the normal card applies again, and existing stamps carry over. You change the number once in the app, and all cards show it instantly.
The Christmas stamp. One extra stamp for anyone who visits between December 20 and 24. That's the week when gift shoppers and Christmas coffee drinkers are in your shop—people you'd never see otherwise. The bonus stamp is the reason to scan the card.
Gift cards with a stamp. Anyone who buys a gift card for someone else gets a stamp themselves. The recipient sees the QR code when they redeem it and creates their own card. Two customers from one sale.
Getting the card into customers' hands in December
The best campaign is useless if new customers don't know about the card in December. Three things help:
- The counter display matters more in December than any other time. It sits at the register, shows your Christmas campaign and the QR code. With stampa, the AI creates a print-ready display that you update for Advent with your campaign details.
- A quick word at checkout. Scan this, and you already have two stamps today. Your team says it to everyone who pays. That's the lever that a display alone can't provide.
- The card shows the campaign. With stampa, you turn on holiday campaigns per holiday, and the card in the wallet shows the matching design and campaign. The customer sees Christmas on the card, not just on the display.
The January boost
Now comes the part only a digital loyalty card can do. Every customer who created a card in December is reachable in January. Not by email, which nobody opens, but by wallet notification on the lock screen.
| Week | Campaign | Push text |
|---|---|---|
| January 2–8 | Fresh start stamp | Happy New Year. Your first visit in January earns an extra stamp. |
| January 9–15 | Double-stamp week | Every visit this week counts double. We've got the heat on. |
| January 16–22 | Almost-there reminder | Just 2 stamps left until your free coffee. |
| January 23–31 | Flash sale | Today only until 6 PM: 2 for 1 on all hot drinks. |
The almost-there reminder is the most effective message because it doesn't go to everyone—only to customers close to earning their reward. The digital card knows who that is. For how this reactivation works in detail, see Win back inactive customers.
Important: Push notifications with offers are marketing and need the customer's marketing consent. With stampa, that's a separate checkbox when they create the card, off by default. Messages only go to customers who've turned it on.
What the campaigns cost
A sample calculation for a café with a 10-stamp card and a free coffee as the reward, product cost €0.80:
- Double stamps on four Sundays of Advent: A customer who comes all four times reaches their reward four stamps faster. That costs you roughly €0.32 per customer, spread across four visits.
- Christmas stamp from December 20–24: One extra stamp per customer, roughly €0.08.
- January double-stamp week: Like Advent, €0.08 per extra stamp.
For campaigns that bring customers in during the quietest weeks of the year, these are amounts that pay for themselves with a single extra coffee. Whether they do, you see in the dashboard: stampa measures with a random control group how many extra visits a campaign brought, and tells you honestly if the number isn't reliable yet.
The timeline
- By November 25: Set campaigns, update displays, brief your team.
- First Sunday of Advent: First push notification with the Advent campaign to existing customers.
- December 20–24: Christmas stamp, team talks to every customer.
- January 2: Fresh start push to all cards created in December.
- Mid-January: Almost-there reminder and double-stamp week.
- End of January: Flash sale with time limit as the finale.
Conclusion
The loyalty card for Christmas has two jobs: bind one-time shoppers to the card in December, bring regulars back with targeted messages in January. Double-stamp days, Christmas stamps, and a January boost with almost-there reminders cost you cents per customer and fill the quietest weeks of the year. It only works with a card that lives on the phone and sends notifications. With stampa, you set up holiday campaigns and push notifications in minutes, free up to 100 active customers and no credit card needed. Start free now.