How do I get more repeat customers for my small business in Australia?
Published · Updated
Give people a reason to come back and a reminder that you exist. Find out who your regulars are, reward repeat visits with something certain (like a free coffee after 9), let progress show from the first visit, and stay on their phone between visits. Send offers only to people who said yes: in Australia, that's the law.
1. Find out who your regulars are
You can't bring people back if you don't know who they are. A paper stamp card tells you nothing: it lives in the customer's wallet, and you never see it until it's full.
A digital loyalty card shows you who's coming back. On Rewardtree your Customers page lists each customer's first name, their visits and how close they are to a reward.
2. Reward coming back, not just spending
The reward should be certain (not a prize draw), one thing (a free coffee, a free cut) and close enough to picture. A daily or weekly regular should reach it within weeks, and a monthly client within 6 to 9 months.
There's research behind it. Kivetz, Urminsky and Zheng (2006, Journal of Marketing Research) studied a real café's "buy 10 coffees, get 1 free" card and found that customers bought coffee more often as they got closer to the free one (the study). Visible progress pulls the next visit forward.
3. Let progress show early
This one is backed by a well-known study. Nunes and Drèze (2006, Journal of Consumer Research) gave car-wash customers one of two cards. Both needed 8 washes for a free one, but one card had 10 spaces with 2 already stamped. 34% of the partly filled cards were redeemed for a free wash, against 19% of the blank 8-stamp cards (the study).
The lesson: a card that already looks underway gets finished, even when it's longer. On Rewardtree, the visit a customer joins on already counts as their first stamp.
4. Make the next visit easy
- Put your booking link where they'll find it, on your Google Business Profile and your Instagram.
- Keep your opening hours right on your Google Business Profile, so nobody turns up to a closed door.
- Make joining take seconds. An app download is one more step at a busy counter. A wallet card joins from a QR scan; see how to get customers to join.
5. Stay on their phone between visits
The weeks between visits are where customers drift. A card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet stays on the phone they carry into your street, with your name and their progress on it, and it updates every visit.
6. Ask before you send offers
Messages bring people back, but only to people who agreed to get them. Under the Spam Act 2003, every marketing text or email needs the person's consent, must name your business, and needs an unsubscribe you act on within 5 working days (ACMA). The details are in do I need permission to text or email my customers offers?
On Rewardtree, your shop's page has its own "can text me offers" box, and it starts unticked. Before you send an offer any other way, make sure each person agreed to get offers from you.
7. Make the reward moment count
When someone finishes a card, make it a moment: "this one's on us", said out loud. On Rewardtree, the customer shows you a live screen with the reward and their first name, which makes it easy to use it. More in what happens when a customer reaches their reward.
Which ways of bringing people back suit a small business?
| Who it reaches | What it costs you | Watch out for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A stamp card | People already coming in | One reward per finished card, at cost price | A card nobody can see (paper in a drawer) |
| A discount (say 10% off) | Everyone who uses it | 10% of every discounted sale | Paying people who'd have come anyway |
| Social media posts | Your followers | Your time | Followers aren't always your regulars |
| Messages to your members | People who said yes | Time, and a paid tool | You need their consent first |
For most small shops the stamp card is the place to start, because it rewards exactly what you want (coming back), and the reward only costs you when someone finishes a card. What the reward really costs is worked through in how much a free-coffee loyalty card costs a café.
We make Rewardtree, so weigh our advice with that in mind. The research and the rules above link to their sources.
More questions, answered#
What is the cheapest way to get repeat customers?#
A stamp card with a reward from your own menu. You only give the reward to people who came back, and it costs you what that item costs to make, not its menu price. A paper card costs only printing; a digital stamp card on Rewardtree is A$9.99 a month per shop after 60 days free. That's our end-of-year special for businesses that sign up by 31 December 2026: you keep it for every shop, including shops you add later, for as long as you stay. From 1 January 2027, businesses that sign up pay A$19.99 a month or A$199 a year.
Can I text my customers offers to bring them back?#
Only if they agreed to get offers from you. Under the Spam Act 2003, marketing texts and emails need the person's consent, your business name, and an unsubscribe that works. The simplest proof is a "send me offers" box they tick themselves.
How do I know if customers are coming back?#
Count it. A digital loyalty card shows you each customer and their visits. On Rewardtree your Customers page lists every customer, their visits and how close they are to a reward.
Do loyalty programs really bring customers back?#
When the reward is certain and progress is easy to see, yes. In a study of a café reward card, Kivetz, Urminsky and Zheng (2006) found customers bought coffee more often as the free one got closer.
