Set Up Loyalty Rewards
Rewarding repeat visits: building a reward, when it triggers, and how it differs from a discount or a membership.
Rewards in the left navigation. A reward is something a client earns by coming back, applied automatically when they qualify.
Build one
Give the reward a name the client will understand, a value, and the condition that earns it — typically a number of visits or an amount spent.
The name matters more than shop owners expect. "10th cut free" is understood instantly; "Loyalty Tier 2" is not.
How clients find out
Reward progress notifications in Communications tell a client when they are getting close and when they have earned it. That notification is doing most of the work: an unadvertised reward is a discount you gave away for nothing.
Reward, discount or membership?
| Earned by | Applied | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reward | Coming back | Automatically, once qualified | Retention |
| Discount | A code or a rule you set | On the ticket | Campaigns, offers |
| Membership | Paying for it | Automatically, while active | Predictable revenue |
Do not build a loyalty programme out of discount codes. It works right up until someone forgets to apply one.
Commission
A reward reduces what the ticket earned, so commission follows. Decide whether the shop absorbs the reward or the stylist does — the same question as membership discounts, and worth answering the same way for both.
Where to see it
A client's record shows their reward progress and what they have redeemed. Client Retention and Top Clients are the reports that tell you whether the programme is doing anything.
Keep it simple
The best loyalty programme in a service business is usually the least clever one: a clear condition, a clear prize, and a notification when it lands. Elaborate tiers cost you the thing that makes loyalty work, which is that the client can hold it in their head.