Loyalty card for shops: reward purchases, not footfall

How a loyalty card for shops works

A loyalty card for shops records your regulars’ purchases and, once they reach the target, entitles them to a reward chosen by the shop: a product, a service or money off the next purchase. Unlike a café, where almost every visit is a sale, many visits to a shop end without a purchase, so the rule has to talk about paid purchases, not visits through the door.

With a digital card customers sign up on their phone by scanning the QR code at the till, with no app or password, and find the card again in their browser or Wallet. When they pay, they show the card and the sales assistant scans it in the counter app («Al banco»): on a stamp card they confirm the purchase, on a points card they type the points according to the shop’s rule. Iterum does not read the till or the receipt; if you later want an automatic link, the guide to loyalty card POS integration explains the alternatives.

1. Write down what counts

   For example «one stamp for every paid purchase of at least 20 euros» or «1 point for every euro spent». These are examples to adapt to your shop, not recommended rules.

2. Display the QR code where people pay

   On the till counter and next to the fitting rooms or the exit: people in the queue sign up in their browser while they wait.

3. Record after payment

   The assistant scans the card once the sale is complete, so a purchase cancelled at the last moment leaves no stamps or points behind.

4. Apply and record the reward

   Once the target is reached, the assistant checks the conditions, applies the reward and records the redemption in the dashboard.

Footfall or purchases: what should a shop loyalty card reward?

The first decision is to write down what earns a stamp. In Iterum the rule goes in the «What a visit is worth» field, which both staff and customers can read: it is a sentence, not an automatic check. In a shop a rule tied to a paid purchase, perhaps with a minimum spend, works better than a rule tied to coming through the door.

A minimum spend stops a stamp arriving with the purchase of a single pen, but it makes the card less generous to people who make lots of small purchases. If your receipts range from a few euros to a few hundred, a points card treats everyone the same way: every euro is worth the same, whatever the total. The difference between the two mechanics is explained in the guide stamps vs points loyalty card. If you also sell products that by law cannot earn points, such as over-the-counter medicines in a parapharmacy, see how to run the loyalty card of a pharmacy or parapharmacy.

Points per euro: how much does a shop loyalty card give back?

With a points card the shop decides what a point is worth, for example 1 point for every euro, and how many points each reward costs. In Iterum you write this in the «What a point is worth» field, which staff and customers can read; the system converts nothing: the sales assistant types in the points for the paid receipt. You can create up to 10 points rewards: when a customer redeems one, that reward’s points are deducted and the rest stays on the card.

The share you give back is the value of the reward divided by the spend needed to earn it. With 1 point per euro and a 10-euro voucher at 200 points you give back 5% of spend; with a 15-euro voucher at 250 points, 6%. The real cost depends on your product margins: the reward cost calculator helps you redo the sums with your own figures, and the guide to loyalty card reward ideas suggests alternatives to vouchers.

Returns and exchanges: what happens to loyalty card points?

Returns are the question a café never faces and a shop has to settle before launching the card. According to the European Commission’s Your Europe portal, the 14-day right to cancel without giving a reason covers purchases made online, by phone or from a doorstep seller, in other words distance and off-premises contracts; faulty goods are covered by the legal guarantee, which lasts at least 2 years in the EU. If your shop also accepts exchanges or returns of items that are not faulty, write down your policy and apply it to points in the same way.

With Iterum a points addition can be undone at the counter within 10 minutes, for example if the assistant typed the wrong amount: the person who recorded it or a manager can do this. After those 10 minutes there is no automatic reversal linked to the receipt. That is why a simple rule, like those in the table, agreed before your first customer, works best.

Sales, promotions and gifts: the rules to write on the card

During sales and promotions the shop sells at a lower margin, and the loyalty card can add to the cost. Decide in advance whether discounted purchases earn points and whether the reward can be combined with another discount: both choices are legitimate, as long as they are written in the reward conditions that customers read on the card. The same goes for Black Friday, on Friday 27 November 2026: how to reward returning customers without discounting everyone is covered in the dedicated guide.

Gifts are another typical shop case: the buyer is often not the person who will use the item, and the recipient may come back to exchange it. The simplest rule is that points go to whoever pays; an exchange made by the gift’s recipient follows the returns table. If you want to win them over too, invite them to sign up with the QR code when they come in for the exchange.

Customers who buy a few times a year: target and reward validity

In many shops a loyal customer does not come back every week but a few times a year, for instance when the seasons change. A 10-stamp card, for someone who buys four times a year, takes about two and a half years to complete: too far away for the reward to motivate anyone. A short target works better, or a points card where even one big purchase brings the reward closer.

In Iterum you decide how long a reward stays valid once the customer has earned it: no expiry, or 30, 60, 90, 180 or 365 days. In this version of the product points have no automatic expiry, so bear that in mind when you choose rewards and targets. To set the target with the same method in any sector, read how to create a loyalty card.

More than one shop? One card for every branch or for just one

With Iterum a card can apply in every branch of the business or only in some: if the rule allows it, a customer collects points in the town-centre shop and uses the reward in the neighbourhood one. Staff at each branch use the counter app with their own account, with roles and permissions, and the dashboard keeps count of visits, customers and rewards.

Each additional branch on the same account is charged separately, as shown on the pricing page. If your shops serve different customers, consider one card per branch; if customers move between them, a single card is easier to explain at the till. For choosing software in general, the guide to customer loyalty software lists the criteria to compare.

How to set up your shop’s loyalty card with Iterum

With Iterum you prepare the card before paying: in the card designer you choose the look, the number of stamps and the reward, then see a preview; after activation you can also create a points card from the dashboard, within your plan’s number of active cards. You print the QR code for the till from the dashboard; to decide where to put it, read the guide to the QR code loyalty card.

Customers open the card from the QR code or a link and, by adding the card, accept the card Terms and confirm they have read the privacy notice, with no box to tick; they do not need to install an app or create a password; on supported devices they add it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. The assistant opens the counter app on a phone or the till computer, scans the card or types its code and records the purchase. A connection is needed: Iterum does not record stamps or points offline.

To activate the service there is a 7-day free trial: you pay €0 today, a payment card is required and, unless you cancel, the selected plan continues after the trial. Each plan’s new customers a month and active cards are on the pricing page; total enrolled customers are unlimited.

Sources and method

The information on cancellation rights and guarantees comes from the «Returns» and «Guarantees» pages of the European Commission’s Your Europe portal, read on 11 October 2026 (Italian version; the rules are EU-wide). It is not legal advice: for your shop’s exchange and returns policy, talk to an adviser. In the UK, consumer rights are set by UK law, so check the rules that apply to you.

Targets, rewards, shares given back and timings are hypothetical calculations with amounts chosen as examples, not data collected from real shops. The information about Iterum describes the product as of 11 October 2026, as shown on its public pages and in the card editor, and does not promise more sales or more customers.