A Loyalty Card With No App for Customers to Download
By Alva Chew · Updated
In short You can run a loyalty program without an app. Customers join by scanning a QR code and keep the card as a phone-number record at the till, a web card in the browser, or a pass in Google Wallet or Apple Wallet. That matters because about half of US smartphone users download no new apps at all in a typical month (comScore, 2017).
Can you run a loyalty program without an app?
Yes. A loyalty program without an app asks the customer to do one thing at the counter: scan a QR code and enter an email or phone number. After that, the card lives somewhere the customer already has. That can be a record your staff look up at the till, a web page in the phone’s browser, or a pass saved to Google Wallet or Apple Wallet.
The difference shows up at the moment of joining. Asking a customer to visit an app store, find your app, wait for it to install, create a password and accept notifications is five steps in a queue, and each one is a point where the customer can give up.
Why do customers resist downloading a shop’s app?
Because most people barely install new apps at all, and the apps they keep are the ones they open every day. A shop’s app has to win a place next to messaging, maps, banking and social media. The best public data comes from two research reports that measured this directly.
| Finding | Scope | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 51% of smartphone users downloaded no apps in a month | US, age 13+, three-month average to June 2017 | comScore, 2017 |
| A user’s top 10 apps take more than 95% of their app time | US, 2017 | comScore, 2017 |
| 1 in 4 installed apps is never used | US, 8,470 smartphone users aged 18 to 64, September 2014 | Google and Ipsos, 2015 |
| 26% of installed apps are used daily | Same survey | Google and Ipsos, 2015 |
| 38% would download an app if a brand required it to complete a purchase, and half of those would then uninstall it | Same survey | Google and Ipsos, 2015 |
| A third of people who stop using or uninstall an app say they lost interest | Same survey | Google and Ipsos, 2015 |
Sources: comScore, The 2017 U.S. Mobile App Report (MobiLens data). Google and Ipsos, Mobile App Marketing Insights: How Consumers Really Find and Use Your Apps, 2015.
These are the most recent public figures we could trace back to the original reports, and both are US studies from some years ago. Read them as the shape of the problem rather than a current count. The pattern they show is consistent: people install few new apps, ignore many they do install, and drop an app they were made to download once the reason has passed.
For a loyalty card, the last finding is the one to remember. The Google and Ipsos study found that when an app is required, a large share of people install it, use it once and remove it. A loyalty app that a customer installs only to claim a sign-up reward behaves the same way. The member then exists in your system but has no card on their phone.
What are the options for a loyalty card with no app?
There are four common ways to run a card without asking for a download. Each one moves the work to a different place: the customer’s pocket, the till, the browser or the phone’s wallet.
Paper cards
A printed card that staff mark or stamp at each visit. It costs almost nothing to start. It also records nothing. You never learn who your regulars are, cards get lost or left at home, and a card can be marked by anyone with the right pen or stamp. Paper also pushes you towards counting visits rather than spend, which treats a small bill and a large one the same.
Phone-number lookup at the till
The customer gives a phone number, and staff find the account on the till or a tablet. Nothing to carry, and it suits customers who don’t want anything on their phone. The cost is speed and privacy. Staff type a number during a rush, mistakes credit the wrong person, and customers say their number out loud in a queue. The customer also can’t check a balance between visits unless the system sends one.
Web cards in the browser
The customer opens a link after joining and sees a card page with a balance and a code. No install is needed and it works on any smartphone. The weak point is finding it again. The customer has to keep a bookmark, a saved link or an email, and some will be searching their phone for it at the counter.
Google Wallet and Apple Wallet passes
The customer saves a pass to the wallet app that already sits on the phone: Google Wallet on many Android phones, Apple Wallet on iPhones. The pass shows your name, a balance and a code staff can scan, and it sits next to the customer’s payment cards. Depending on the software, the balance updates after each purchase without the customer doing anything. The trade-off is coverage. Each wallet belongs to one phone family, so check what each group of your customers gets. Google publishes its loyalty card pass format for developers if you want to see what a pass can hold.
How do the options compare?
| Paper card | Phone-number lookup | Web card | Wallet pass | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer installs anything | No | No | No | No |
| Customer carries something | Yes, the card | No | A saved link | Pass on the phone |
| Counter step | Mark the card | Type a number | Scan a code | Scan a code |
| You know who your members are | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customer can see balance between visits | Count the marks | Usually not | Yes, if they find the link | Yes, in the wallet |
| Hard to copy or fake | No | Fairly | Yes | Yes |
| Rewards spend, not just visits | Rarely | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The wallet pass and the web card both record purchases against a named member and let staff scan rather than type. The wallet pass wins on the one thing that decides whether a card gets used: the customer can find it in two seconds.
What should you check before choosing?
Ask these questions of any no-app loyalty software before you print a QR code.
- How many steps does joining take? Count them on your own phone, standing at your own counter. One scan and one field is the target.
- Is there a password? A password is the step most likely to stop a sign-up. A one-tap sign-in link sent by email avoids it.
- Where does the card live after day one? Check whether the wallet pass stays on your plan, or whether new members get a browser card after a trial period. Our guide to free loyalty program apps lists which plans keep the wallet card.
- Which phones are covered? Ask what an Android customer gets and what an iPhone customer gets, and decide whether that fits who walks through your door.
- What happens at the counter? Staff should be able to add or redeem on a phone or tablet you already own, with no new terminal.
- Does the balance work at every outlet? If you run more than one branch, a customer should earn at one and spend at another.
- What will it cost as you grow? Look at the price for one outlet, then for three. Our loyalty program cost guide shows how per-member and per-location fees build up.
Why points suit a card with no app
A wallet pass or web card has room for one line that the customer reads at a glance. A points balance shown in dollars (“You have US$6.50 to spend”) answers the only question the customer has. Points also earn in proportion to the bill, so the customer who spends US$60 gets more back than the one who spends US$4.
Stamp cards, tiers and voucher schemes add rules the customer has to learn, and a small card on a phone screen is a poor place to explain them. If your menu is mostly one item at one price, a fixed points award per item gives the same simplicity as a stamp card while keeping larger orders fair. Our page on points-based loyalty programs explains how to set the earn and redemption rates, and the café guide covers the morning-rush version.
How Gimify works without an app
Customers join Gimify by scanning a QR code and entering their email, with no app to download and no password, and they sign in later with a one-tap email link. The points card lives in Google Wallet with a live balance and a code staff scan on any phone, and the free plan covers one outlet with unlimited members.
Questions owners ask
Can I run a loyalty program without an app?
Yes. A customer can join by scanning a QR code and entering an email or phone number. The card then lives as a record your staff look up, a web page in the browser, or a pass saved to the wallet app already on the phone.
Why don't customers download a shop's loyalty app?
Most people install few new apps. comScore found 51% of US smartphone users downloaded no apps in a month in 2017, and a Google and Ipsos study found 1 in 4 installed apps is never used. A one-shop app competes with the handful of apps people open every day.
Is a wallet pass the same as an app?
No. A wallet pass is saved inside Google Wallet or Apple Wallet, which are already on most phones. The customer installs nothing new, and the pass can show a balance and a code for staff to scan.
What about customers who don't want a digital card at all?
Serve them the same as before. Some programs let staff look a member up by email or phone number, so the customer needs no card on the day. Never make a regular feel they pay more for skipping the card.
Should a no-app loyalty card use points or stamps?
Points. A points balance in dollars is easy to read on a wallet pass or web card, and it rewards a large bill more than a small one. Stamps count visits, so a US$4 coffee and a US$60 dinner earn the same.
Read next
Start free
Gimify is free for one outlet with unlimited members and no time limit. Unlimited outlets are one flat monthly price.
See plans