Every loyalty card comes down to one number: how many purchases before the free one. Set it too high and customers give up. Set it too low and you give away your margin.

There is no single right answer, but there is a way to find yours.

Start with how often your regulars buy

Think about a regular, not a walk-in. How many times a month does that person buy from you?

A reward that takes too long to earn is a reward that customers forget. As a rule of thumb, aim for a reward that a regular can earn in one to two months.

If someone buys from you twice a week, ten stamps take five weeks. If they buy once a week, ten stamps take more than two months. For that shop, six or eight stamps fit better.

Then do the math on the free item

A "buy 9, get the 10th free" card gives away one item for every nine you sell. What matters is what that item costs you to make, not its price on the menu.

Here is an example with made-up numbers. Put in your own.

  • You sell a milk tea for ₱100.
  • It costs you ₱40 in ingredients and packaging.
  • Nine paid cups bring in ₱900.
  • The free 10th cup costs you ₱40.

The reward costs you ₱40 for every ₱900 in sales, which is about 4.4%. Run the same math with your own price and your own cost. If the result is more than you can give, raise the stamp count or pick a cheaper reward.

Common stamp counts

  • 5 or 6 stamps. This suits higher-priced items, or customers who visit less often, such as at a weekend stall. The reward comes quickly, so keep its cost low.
  • 8 stamps. A middle ground for a café where regulars come once or twice a week.
  • 10 stamps, or "buy 9, get the 10th free." This is the one most customers already know. It suits low-priced items that people buy often, such as milk tea, coffee, or street food.
  • 12 stamps or more. This is only for shops where regulars buy almost every day. For everyone else, the reward is too far away.

Reward ideas you can copy

The free item does not have to be your best seller.

  • The same item, free. This is the easiest to explain: "Your 10th cup is free."
  • A free upgrade or add-on. A large size, extra pearls, or an extra shot of espresso. It costs you little, and it still feels like a treat.
  • A free side. A cookie with a coffee, or a drink with a rice meal. If your main item costs too much to give away, use this.
  • A new item to try. Make the reward a product that you want more people to taste.

Pick one reward. A card with three tiers and a list of conditions is hard to explain at a busy counter. A customer who does not understand the card does not fill it.

Two rules that prevent arguments

Decide these before you start, and tell your staff.

First, decide what earns a stamp: one per visit, or one per item. Our guide on how to start a loyalty card for your food cart covers how to choose.

Second, decide how soon a customer can earn the next stamp. Without a limit, one person can collect ten stamps in one afternoon. LoyaltyHero has a scan cooldown for this. The default is 45 minutes between scans at the same shop, and you can change it.

Change the number when the results tell you to

Your first number is a guess. After a month, look at how many customers earned a second stamp and how many reached the reward.

If almost nobody reaches the reward, lower the count. If the rewards cost more than you planned, raise it. Give your customers notice first, and honor the cards that are already close to full.

A change is not a failure. Take a shop that sells more in December than in July. It can run a shorter card in the slow months, then return to the usual count.

Set it up

In LoyaltyHero, you set the stamp target and the reward at signup, and you can change both later. The dashboard shows your total scans and your most frequent customers, so you work from numbers and not from memory.

It is free for 30 days. After that it is ₱299 / month.