A loyalty program for coffee shops, without the paper punch cards

What a loyalty program changes in a coffee shop

Paper punch cards can be lost or damaged, and they do not give you data about customer behaviour.

Stampino moves the card into the phone. The customer opens the card, you scan it, the stamp is added. No manual handling of paper cards and no reprints.

You have two offer types: stamps and Cashback on a points basis. Which one fits depends on how often the customer comes in and on how much your bills vary.

In the reports you see how many customers signed up, how many visits were recorded and how many rewards were claimed, so you can adjust the offer on the basis of the data.

Some loyalty solutions limit the number of cards or customers, and some even limit the number of stamps or points you are allowed to give. Stampino does not limit the number of enrolled customers on these plans, so a month with many sign-ups does not cost more.

In 2025, the 78 partner businesses together handed out 636,299 stamps and 129,954 rewards, to 57,210 active customers.

The stamp offer: 5+1 or 9+1

With 5+1, the sixth coffee is on the house. With 9+1, the tenth.

After the threshold is reached, the reward appears automatically on the card, you scan it and hand over the coffee on the spot. The claiming process is simple, with no extra steps.

The difference that matters is not the price, it is how fast the customer reaches the reward. If the reward comes quickly, the offer becomes easier to remember. If it takes two months, the card loses its relevance.

How long it takes, by how often they come in:

• Three times a week: 5 stamps in two weeks, 9 in three. Either one works.
• Twice a week: 5 stamps in two and a half weeks, 9 in four and a half.
• Once a week: 5 stamps in five weeks, 9 in nine. Only 5+1 makes sense here.

For many coffee shops, 5+1 can be a good starting point. The reward is given more often, but in exchange the offer stays visible to the customer.

A stamp does not depend on how much the customer spent, and the rule explains itself at the counter in one sentence.

Cashback on a points basis: when it is more suitable than stamps

With Cashback, the customer accumulates points on the card, and one point is worth one euro. You choose the pace: 1 point for every 10 EUR spent, which is 10%, or half a point, which is 5%.

It fits when your bills vary a lot, because you also sell brunch, cakes, bags of beans, or orders for two and three people.

With stamps, an espresso and an 18 EUR order receive the same thing: one stamp. With Cashback, the large order accumulates in proportion to its value.

Any product added to the order raises the amount accumulated, so the customer has one more reason to take the cake as well.

One single thing to watch: what the accumulated points can be spent on. On drinks you make yourself, the reward amounts to the cost of the raw materials. On bottled or packaged goods, where the margin is small, the same value costs you far more. If you sell a lot of those, choose 5%.

If you are starting from scratch, begin with stamps, because they are simpler to explain. If your till receipts show you that the bills vary a lot, move to Cashback. You can also run both on the same card, depending on your plan.

What a free coffee actually costs you

The direct cost of a coffee varies with the beans, the size, the milk and the packaging. As an order of magnitude, a coffee sold at 3.50 EUR usually means between 0.80 and 1.20 EUR of direct cost.

The real cost of the reward is close to the production cost, not to the selling price.

The reward is therefore supported by the raw materials. That is why one coffee on the house for every five sold can be supported by the product margin.

Put your own figures in and you can see the result for your coffee shop straight away.

How to choose the threshold and the reward

The threshold is chosen by how often the customer comes in, not by how much you are willing to give away. The rule of thumb: a regular customer should reach the reward in about four weeks.

• Three times a week: 8 to 10 stamps.
• Twice a week: 6 to 8.
• For customers who visit less often, a lower threshold may be more suitable, around 4.

Rewards with a low direct cost:

• Your standard coffee. It is also the product the customer comes back for, so the reward reinforces exactly the habit you want.
• Plant milk, an extra shot, the syrup of their choice. You charge for these separately, so the customer perceives a real gain, while it costs you less than the surcharge you normally collect.

Rewards to avoid:

• A branded mug or any promotional object: promotional objects have a direct purchase cost.
• A discount on the whole bill, because it also covers the items with a small margin.
• Resold goods: bottled drinks, packaged snacks. There the selling price sits close to the cost.

After the first month, look at the reports. If stamps go up but rewards stay flat, the threshold is too high and too few customers reach the end. You change it from the admin panel.

You can also set an expiry period

You can leave the offer with no expiry, or you can set a limit: in days, weeks or months. The limit shows on the customer's card, so they can see how long they have.

When the limit passes, the card resets and the customer starts from zero, with the next scan landing on the new card.

The customer is informed automatically 7 days before and once more the day before expiry.

A short limit creates a reason to come back. Too short, though, and the customer loses the progress and gives up on the card.

Choose it the way you choose the threshold: leave enough time to reach the reward at their usual pace, plus a margin. At two visits a week and a threshold of 6 stamps, two months is a generous limit, while two weeks is too restrictive.

Expiry comes with the Standard plan and up.

Loyalty card for coffee shops: how it works day to day

The customer installs the free Stampino app once, from the App Store, Google Play or AppGallery, searches for the coffee shop and gets the card on the spot. The coffee shop's loyalty card can also be kept in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

On each order the customer opens the card and turns the screen towards you. You scan the code with the phone on the counter, during the normal serving process.

The program on its own does not bring customers back. It needs an offer the customer actually wants, and people at the counter who ask on every order whether they have the card, and who invite the ones who do not into the loyalty program.

At Cafizzio, Nish Coffee, Mabo Coffee, Tamper Coffee and many other coffee shops, the card is already in the customers' phones.

What it costs and how the investment pays back

A plan with a listing in the Stampino app starts at 36.50 EUR a month, plus VAT where applicable.

The following example is indicative: if a coffee generates around 2.40 EUR after the cost of the ingredients, the subscription can be recovered through about 19 extra coffees in a month, which is roughly two coffees every three days. The real result depends on each coffee shop's costs.

Above that line, everything the program brings in remains gain. And if you do not reach it, the reports show you after the first month, not after a year.

Push notifications and the birthday reward

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Push notifications land on the phones of the customers who signed up. You do not pay for advertising and you do not depend on social networks to get a message across.

Only send when you have something concrete to say: a new product on the bar, holiday opening hours, a change of schedule. Messages with no information in them lower the open rate of the ones that follow.

The birthday reward activates automatically. It appears on the card on the day itself, and it is claimed at the counter within the window you set. You keep no dates in a calendar.