Digital stamp cards

A digital stamp card does the job of the paper card you stamp at the counter, but it lives in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. It can’t be lost, left at home or stamped with a borrowed stamp, and you can see how many cards are in use and how close each customer is to a reward. In the US it is more often called a digital punch card; it is the same thing.

Choose the goal and the look

Set a goal anywhere from 2 to 30 stamps: a free coffee after 9, a free car wash after 5, a free haircut after 6. Draw the stamps with one of 24 symbols, one of 27 business icons (a coffee cup, a cupcake, scissors, a paw print, a dumbbell and more) or your own artwork, and add a second symbol for the stamps still to be earned if you want one. The grid resizes to fit the pass, and a short last row can stay as it is, sit in the center or be split evenly across two rows.

Stamping at the till

Staff scan the customer’s pass with the Stow Cards Merchant app and add a stamp with one tap. A tap always adds exactly one stamp, so there is no amount to type and no room for a slip. When the card is full, the app offers Redeem reward. Redeeming records the reward and starts the card again at zero on the customer’s phone.

What customers see

The grid on the pass fills in stamp by stamp, in real time. On iPhone, each stamp can bring a short lock-screen message, such as “7 of 9: two more for a free coffee”. On Android, the Google Wallet card shows the stamp count and uses the stamp grid as its banner. Either way, customers see their progress without opening anything.

How customers join

Every stamp card has a hosted sign-up page and a QR code to print at the counter. Customers scan it, fill in their name and email address and add the card to their wallet in one tap. If they change phone, they get the card back from the same page with their email address, stamps included.

Stamps or points?

Stamps suit a business where every visit is worth about the same: a coffee, a car wash, a haircut, a class. Points suit a spend that varies, because you can award more for a bigger basket. In Stow Cards both are digital loyalty cards, designed in the same Stow Cards Pass Designer and scanned with the same app.

Setting a goal customers will reach

A card works when the reward feels close. Count how often a good regular visits, and set the goal so they reach it in a few weeks rather than a few months: 8 to 10 stamps for a daily coffee, 5 or 6 for a monthly haircut. Keep the reward simple enough for staff to explain in one sentence, and say it on the pass itself, in the reward field or on the back. When you change the offer later, a campaign can tell every cardholder at once.

Put the QR code where people wait, not only where they pay: on the counter, on the table, on the receipt. Ask staff to offer the card to anyone who comes back a second time.

Who uses digital stamp cards

Cafés, bakeries, juice bars and ice cream shops; barbers, nail bars and salons; car washes, dog groomers and dry cleaners; yoga, climbing and dance studios. Anywhere a regular comes back often enough to fill a card is a good fit.

New to wallet passes? Read how to add your loyalty card to Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, see how Stow Cards works in four steps, or find out why a wallet card beats another app.