Setting up a beauty salon loyalty program in Australia (2026)

Published 14 October 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026 · Reviewed quarterly

For a beauty salon, lash and brow bar or skin clinic, run a digital loyalty card in Apple or Google Wallet: one stamp per visit, and money off after 5 to 7 paid visits, like $20 off the 6th visit. Clients scan one QR at reception, and nobody needs an app. On Rewardtree it's 60 days free.

The steps#

1. Sort your menu into quick and long visits. Brow shapes and tints are quick; lash sets and skin treatments take longer and cost more. Money off suits both: it's the same reward whatever the client booked.
2. Count the weeks between visits. Lash refills every two or three weeks fill a card fast; brows and skin courses every four to six weeks fill it slowly. A client who comes monthly should reach the reward within 6 to 9 months.
3. Write the reward the way your card says it. Pick Beauty at sign-up and your card counts visits. Type "$20 off" as the reward, and the card reads "Customers pay for 5 visits. Their 6th gets $20 off."
4. Put the QR at reception. Print your free QR poster and stand it where clients wait and pay. They scan it with their phone camera and join before their appointment.
5. Make scanning part of checkout. At checkout, the client scans the same QR for their stamp. Nobody scans their phone, and your therapist types nothing.

Why beauty salons suit a stamp card#

Lash refills, brow shapes, facials and skin courses all bring clients back on a rhythm. The weeks in between are when they drift: a friend raves about another lash bar, or a new brow place opens near work.

A paper card doesn't last that long at the bottom of a handbag. A card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet sits on the phone they carry everywhere, with your salon's name and their stamps so far.

How often do your clients come?#

On a card of 5 paid visits, a client reaches the reward in:

Our rule of thumb: a client who comes monthly should reach the reward within 6 to 9 months, so 5 suits most salons. A lash bar with two- or three-weekly refills can go to 7.

Refills, tints and courses#

Each part of a beauty menu has its own rhythm, and the card should suit the one most of your clients are on.

• Lash refills. A full set comes first, then refills every few weeks to keep it full. Those clients fill a card fastest, so a lash bar can ask for 7 paid visits.
• Brows. Shapes, tints and lamination bring clients back every four to eight weeks. A card of 5 keeps the reward within reach.
• Skin courses. A course of facials or peels is booked up front. Every visit the client scans collects a stamp, so decide whether course visits count before you start, and say so at reception. You can see and undo any stamp on your page.
• The first visit. A patch test or a consultation is a visit too, if they scan. Most salons simply ask for the scan from the first paid treatment.

What does the reward really cost you?#

Say a brow shape is A$35, a lash refill A$80, and a typical visit on a mixed menu A$60. Use your own figures:

Those are example figures, so put in your own. A brow shape on you after five is generous: if 20% back feels like too much at your prices, give $20 off instead. Money off costs the same for every client, and it never becomes a free full set.

Rewards that work for a beauty salon#

Pick one. Each is written the way your card will say it:

• $35 off after 5: "Customers pay for 5 visits. Their 6th gets $35 off." About a brow shape, for a brow bar.
• $40 off after 7: "Customers pay for 7 visits. Their 8th gets $40 off." About half a refill, for a lash bar.
• $20 off after 5: "Customers pay for 5 visits. Their 6th gets $20 off." For a mixed menu.

A free brow shape works too. Your card names it: type "Free brow shape" and it says "Customers pay for 5 visits. Their 6th visit gets a free brow shape." Just don't type "Free treatment": a client could read that as any treatment, even a full set.

At reception#

• Collecting. The client scans your QR at checkout. Beauty businesses start on one stamp a day, so a client who pops back an hour later to fix a lash doesn't collect twice.
• Odd stamps. Each stamp is checked against where your salon is. One collected far away is still given, but it shows as "Needs a look" on your page. If you set your opening hours, a stamp collected more than 30 minutes outside them doesn't count.
• Home visits. Stamps collected at a client's home show as "Needs a look" too, so the card suits work done at your salon.
• Using the reward. On the visit after the card fills, the client's phone asks "Use it now?", and they show you a live screen with the reward, their first name and a moving clock. Take the amount off that visit's bill.

Getting clients to join#

1. One sentence at checkout: "Scan this while I book your next refill, and your card goes in your phone."
2. The QR where clients wait: the reception desk and the waiting area.
3. Your link on Instagram. Your salon's link opens the same page as your QR, so put it in your bio beside your booking link.
4. Their language. The page clients join on works in English, Arabic, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Serbian and Croatian, and opens in the language their phone uses.

Mistakes to avoid#

• Rewarding your dearest service. A free full set after 5 visits is a big gift; money off does the same job for far less.
• A card that's too long. Ten visits for a client who comes every five weeks is almost a year.
• Forgetting the scan. Make "scan for your stamp" part of every checkout, the same as booking the next appointment.

The worked example: a beauty salon on Rewardtree in a few minutes#

1. Your salon's name and mobile at rewardtree.com.au/signup, plus the code we text you.
2. Your reward, in one sentence. Pick Beauty, type 5 and "$20 off", and your card reads "Customers pay for 5 visits. Their 6th gets $20 off."
3. Your salon's address. If you're upstairs or inside an arcade, put the pin on the building's entrance.
4. Go live, and print your free QR poster. One for reception, and a sticker for each treatment room's mirror.

The Australian rules, in plain words#

This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

• Menu prices include GST. Consumers must see one total price (ACCC: Price displays, checked 29 September 2026), so size your money off against the price on your menu.
• Cosmetic injections stay out of it. Most cosmetic injectables, such as anti-wrinkle injections and many fillers, contain prescription-only medicines, which can't be advertised to the public in Australia (TGA: Advertising health services and cosmetic injections, checked 14 October 2026). Leave them out of your reward and your offers.
• Spam Act 2003. A quiet-week offer to your clients is marketing: it needs their consent, your salon's name and a working unsubscribe, and an unsubscribe must be honoured within 5 working days (ACMA: Avoid sending spam, checked 29 September 2026). On Rewardtree, your salon's page has its own "can text me offers" box, and it starts unticked. More in do I need permission to text or email my customers offers?
• Privacy Act 1988. It usually leaves out businesses turning over A$3 million a year or less, but it covers some whatever their turnover, such as health service providers (OAIC: Small business, checked 14 October 2026). If your clinic treats skin conditions, ask whether that makes you one. Clients who join are told your salon will see their first name, mobile and visits.

What it costs#

On Rewardtree it's 60 days free with no credit card, then A$9.99 a month per shop, or A$99 a year. 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. The figures are on the pricing page, and Rewardtree for beauty salons sums it up. Do nails or hair as well? See the nail salon guide and the hair salon guide. Taking payments with Square? Your bookings and till stay as they are: Rewardtree vs Square Loyalty.

Behind every edition is the same plan: how to set up a loyalty program in Australia. We make Rewardtree, so weigh our advice with that in mind.

Questions, answered#

Run a beauty salon? See Rewardtree for beauty salons.