How to set up a loyalty program in Australia (2026)

Published 19 August 2026 · Updated 14 October 2026 · Reviewed quarterly

To set up a loyalty program in Australia: pick a stamp card (it suits most small shops), choose one certain reward, put the card in Apple or Google Wallet instead of on paper, ask for offer consent with an unticked box, and launch with one QR on your counter. On Rewardtree that takes a few minutes.

The steps#

1. Choose stamps or points. Stamp cards (buy 9, get the 10th free) suit businesses customers visit often, like cafés and barbers; points per dollar suit spends that vary a lot, like big restaurants and retail. For most small shops, a stamp card is the simpler choice. Rewardtree runs stamp cards.
2. Pick one certain reward. A free coffee, a free cut, a free wash. Keep it certain ("free coffee after 9", not "a chance to win") and keep it reachable (within weeks for a daily or weekly regular, and within 6 to 9 months for a monthly client like a barber's).
3. Put the card in the phone's wallet, not on paper or in an app. Cards in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet don't get lost in the wash, update on the customer's phone after every stamp, and need nothing downloaded. Customers join by scanning a printed QR with their phone camera.
4. Get consent right. Under the Spam Act 2003, marketing messages need consent. Use an unticked "send me offers" box at join, keep a record of who ticked it, and honour every unsubscribe. Under the Privacy Act, tell customers plainly who receives their details.
5. Launch at the counter. Print your QR poster and put it where customers wait. Tell staff one sentence, "Scan the QR to join our loyalty card", and remind customers to scan the same QR each time they visit.
6. Look at who comes back. After a month, look at your customers and their visits. Who comes back, and how often? That tells you whether your reward is close enough and worth talking about at the counter.

Why loyalty programs work (and when they don't)#

The idea is old because it works: a visible goal, visible progress, and a reward customers know they'll get bring the third visit forward and make the tenth a habit. It works best where visits are frequent and similar (coffee, cuts, washes, juice), because the reward arrives soon enough to feel real.

There's research behind it. Kivetz, Urminsky and Zheng (2006, Journal of Marketing Research) found café customers bought coffee more often as they got closer to a free one. Nunes and Drèze (2006, Journal of Consumer Research) found car-wash customers finished their card more often when it started with 2 stamps already filled in.

Programs fail in two predictable ways. First, effort: if joining is slow, or means downloading an app, many customers will politely say no and never think about it again. Second, being out of sight: a paper card in a drawer reminds nobody of anything. Both are design choices you can fix.

The Australian consent and privacy bit, in plain words#

Two laws matter, and neither is scary. This is general information, not legal advice.

• Spam Act 2003: you need consent to send marketing (email or text). The safe way is a real opt-in: an unticked box at join, a record of when it was ticked, and an unsubscribe that always works. Messages about the program itself (your card was stamped, your reward is ready) are not marketing.
• Privacy Act 1988: collect only what you need (a first name and a mobile number are enough to run a whole program), and tell people plainly who receives their details.

On Rewardtree, each shop's page has its own "can text me offers" box, and it starts unticked. If you send offers any other way (your own emails or texts), the rules above are yours to follow. If any tool ticks that box for customers, walk away: it's your business's name on the fine. The rules for sending offers, from ACMA's and the OAIC's own pages, are in do I need permission to text or email my customers offers?

What it costs#

Paper cards cost printing, every time you run out. Paid loyalty apps start at US$12 to US$25 a month (billed in US dollars) and go up to A$199 a month for one location (Loyally, Loopy Loyalty and Stamp Me, each on its own pricing page, checked 27 September 2026). Square Loyalty is A$49 to A$149 a month per location, checked 27 September 2026. Rewardtree is 60 days free, then A$9.99 a month per shop, or A$99 a year per shop. 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. There's a full breakdown in how much a loyalty program costs in Australia.

The worked example: live in a few minutes#

Here is the whole setup on Rewardtree:

1. Your shop's name and mobile. We text you a code to check it's your number.
2. Your reward, in one sentence. For a café: "Customers pay for 9 coffees. Their 10th is free."
3. Your shop's address. Google address search finds it. Got more than one shop? Add them right there.
4. Go live, and print your free QR poster. An A4 poster for your counter, with a second page of four stickers.
5. Your first customer. They scan the QR with their phone camera, type their first name and mobile and the code we text them, and your card goes into their Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Next visit, they scan the same QR to collect a stamp.

No credit card for 60 days. If you don't add one, your loyalty card pauses and your customers keep every stamp. We make Rewardtree, so weigh our advice with that in mind.

By type of business#

Each edition works this plan through for one kind of shop, with the reward maths:

• Cafés
• Barbershops
• Hair salons
• Nail salons
• Restaurants
• Car washes
• Juice bars
• Bakeries
• Beauty salons, lash and brow bars
• Dog groomers and dog washes
• Takeaway shops
• Bubble tea and dessert bars
• Massage clinics

Questions, answered#