Stamp card or points: which loyalty program suits your business?

Published 27 September 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026 · Reviewed quarterly

Use a stamp card when most sales cost about the same, like coffee, haircuts or car washes: one stamp per visit, understood instantly. Use points when spend swings a lot, like big restaurants: customers earn in line with what they spend. For most small shops, stamps are enough. Rewardtree runs stamp cards.

The steps#

1. Look at a normal day's sales. Scroll back through a normal day on your till. If most sales sit within a few dollars of each other, a stamp card fits. If some customers spend A$15 and others A$150, points fit better.
2. Think about how often regulars come. Daily or weekly visits suit a stamp card of 7 to 9 paid visits. Visits a month or more apart suit a shorter stamp card, or points, where a bigger visit earns more.
3. Pick one reward. Name one reward people want: Free coffee, Free cut, or $20 off. One clear reward is easier to remember than a menu of options.
4. Set it up and start. On Rewardtree you write your stamp card in one sentence at sign-up, like "Customers pay for 9 coffees. Their 10th is free.", add your shop's address, go live and print your free QR poster.

How a stamp card works#

One visit, one stamp. After a set number of paid visits, the customer gets the reward, and the card starts again. "Buy 9 coffees, get the 10th free" is the classic, and there's a reason it has lasted: a customer understands it in one second, and staff don't have to explain anything.

On Rewardtree, the stamp card lives in the customer's Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Each visit, the customer scans the QR on your counter with their phone camera, and the card on their phone updates to show the new stamp. Nobody types anything.

The catch with stamps: every visit counts the same. A customer who buys one coffee and a customer who buys lunch for the office each get one stamp. Where most of your sales are about the same size, that doesn't matter. Where they aren't, it starts to feel unfair.

How a points program works#

With points, customers earn in line with what they spend. The business sets two numbers:

1. Points per $1 spent, for example 1.
2. Points to earn the reward, for example 200.

At the counter, someone types the amount spent, and the points are added from that. At 1 point per $1, an A$42.50 bill earns 42 points.

Points reward your biggest spenders properly, and they suit a menu where one visit might be a coffee and the next a dinner for six. The cost is one small step at the till: someone has to type the amount. And a points balance takes a moment of thought ("how far is 200?") where a row of stamps doesn't.

Which suits which business#

• Cafés: stamps. Most orders are a coffee or two at similar prices, and regulars come often. Buy 9, get the 10th free. Rewardtree for cafés and the café guide.
• Barbers: stamps. A cut is a cut, and clients come back every few weeks. One stamp per cut. Rewardtree for barbers and the barber guide.
• Hair salons: it depends. A blow-dry and a full colour might cost, say, A$55 and A$240, and points let every dollar earn the same. If most of your book is cuts at similar prices, stamps work. Rewardtree for hair salons and the hair salon guide, which works the maths for both.
• Nail salons: stamps, usually. One stamp per appointment is simple at reception. Rewardtree for nail salons and the nail salon guide.
• Restaurants: it depends. A lunch for two and a dinner for eight are very different bills. A small café-style restaurant with similar bills can use stamps happily. Rewardtree for restaurants and the restaurant guide, with the maths for both.
• Car washes: stamps. Most customers buy the same wash each time. Nine washes, the 10th free. Rewardtree for car washes and the car wash guide.
• Juice bars: stamps. Frequent visits, similar prices: exactly where stamps work hardest. Rewardtree for juice bars and the juice bar guide.
• Bakeries: stamps. A loaf here, a coffee and a pastry there. One stamp per visit keeps it simple. Rewardtree for bakeries and the bakery guide.

If you're torn, start with stamps. The card people understand in one second is the one they use.

Setting the reward#

Stamps. For daily or weekly visits, 7 to 9 paid visits is the usual shape. For visits a few weeks apart, go shorter, or pick a smaller reward. The rule of thumb: a daily or weekly regular should reach the reward within weeks, and a monthly client within 6 to 9 months.

Points. Work backwards from a regular customer. At 1 point per $1 and a reward at 200 points, someone who spends A$50 a week gets there in about a month. As a rule of thumb, set the reward so a regular earns it within a few weeks to a couple of months, and make it something worth having.

Whichever you choose, write the reward the way a customer would say it: "Free coffee", "Free cut", "$20 off".

Can I change later?#

On Rewardtree you can change your reward, and how many paid visits earn it, from your owner page at any time. You choose what happens to customers who already have stamps: they finish the card they're collecting first (the default), or everyone moves to the new card at once. Nobody loses their stamps, and the QR on your counter stays the same.

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 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. See pricing, then set up your stamp card. It takes a few minutes.

For the full walk-through of how a digital card works at the counter, read the digital stamp card guide.

Questions, answered#