Guest Loyalty Programs

What if I told you a convenience store chain quietly built one of the most successful embedded wallets in the country? 7-Eleven isn’t a bank. But with their wallet + rewards app, they’ve become a payment layer for everyday life. 38% of all in-store transactions now scan the app. That’s not a marketing stat - it’s behavior at scale. They’ve built a wallet-led loyalty loop: Top-up. Pay. Earn. Repeat. Let’s break it down: - 55M+ 7Rewards members (more than the population of my home country of Canada) - Credit, debit, and cash top-ups accepted (This is huge because 7-Eleven still sees a high volume of cash-paying customers. Their wallet was designed to include the underbanked) - 11¢ per gallon fuel discounts for new users (and their “fuel price lock” feature lets users lock in the cheapest gas price in a 7-day window, driving repeat usage) - Gamified rewards = 150%+ more redemptions - App store rating: 4.8/5 from 300K+ reviews - In-app payments for snacks, gas, and more This isn’t a punch card. This is a brand-owned payment ecosystem - driving frequency, margin, and LTV. And the kicker? Any merchant can build this now. The stack that once took $100M+ to build is now available off the shelf. API-first. Merchant-owned. Wallet-native. The future of loyalty is in the balance. And we’re building it - for everyone else.

I’ve always found Target Circle an interesting loyalty program. At first glance, it looks like a standard discount program.But the structure is more thoughtful than that! 🎯 The offers customers see are shaped by their purchase history, which makes the deals highly personalized. 🎯 Over time, it influences how people interact with the program. 🎯Instead of browsing for coupons, customers open the app expecting to find something relevant and personal to their everyday life. Target also layered in a few mechanisms that go beyond discounts. For example, early access to sales creates a sense of priority. The community voting feature, where members help decide where Target donates, adds a key sense of participation in the brand. What stands out to me is how heavily the program relies on first-party data! The more customers shop, the better the program gets at anticipating what matters to each one of them. ∞ Many loyalty programs still rely on broad promotions that look the same for everyone. Target Circle takes a different direction where loyalty feels more personal, because the brand is actually paying attention to customer behaviour at a ‘Segment of One’ level. It’s a good reminder that the real advantage of first-party data is not in targeted ads. It’s in designing experiences that feel tailored rather than promotional. #Appstle #Loyalty #Rewards #Subscriptions #Memberships #Bundles #Shopify #ShopifyPlus

Can 🇮🇳 coffee apps do loyalty better than Starbucks? Tried both. Wasn't expecting this... Both brands fall under the specialty coffee category. But their approach to user retention is very different. For any coffee brand, loyalty = survival. But only when it’s easy to understand and rewarding to use. Here’s a quick UX teardown of the Third Wave Coffee and Starbucks India loyalty program detail screens: 1. Personalised status = instant connect Third Wave Coffee shows your Partner level as a digital card with your name and expiry date. It feels like you’ve earned something. Starbucks? Just a plain chart. 2. Real data, not vague timelines Third Wave gives an exact reset date (e.g. 30 May 25) and tracks progress. Starbucks only shows basic tier names! no clear journey or deadline. 3. Clear milestones that nudge action The path from Partner → Influencer → Ambassador is visual and gamified, with locked levels to push you forward. Starbucks doesn’t guide users toward any upgrade path visually. 4. Transparent, no-fine-print messaging Third Wave clearly explains how many days and purchases are left with notes on resets. No confusion. No misleading terms. 5. Smart use of active states Your current tier is highlighted on top, with benefits clearly mapped across levels. Starbucks just lists features in a flat comparison chart. 6. Real-world inspired badge system Partner (Bronze), Influencer (Silver), and Ambassador (Gold)! it’s familiar and aspirational. Starbucks uses Welcome, Green, and Gold! but without visual hierarchy or emotional appeal. Kudos to the Third Wave Coffee team for setting the loyalty program bar so high Ayush Bathwal, Sushant Goel, Anirudh Sharma, Sai Chethan P, Jose Saamuel, Rajat Luthra, Deepthi Poovaiah, Meran Mathew, Akshat Arora, Prabhu Meti, Hridya Bera (Sorry if I missed your name :( what you’ve built truly stands out.) #ux #userexperience #ThirdWaveCoffee

If the only reward is $5 off after 500 points, you taught customers one lesson: “stay for discounts” Build a Loyalty Loop instead of a points ladder: 1. Moment 1 – Wow: unbox + surprise (hand written note, bonus sample). 2. Moment 2 – Teach: 72h later send a “pro tips” reel tailored to the item. 3. Moment 3 – Spotlight: after their first selfie tag, feature them in Stories → dopamine > dollars. 4. Moment 4 – Unlock: let repeat buyers vote on the next colorway (access, not coupons). 5. Moment 5 – Multiply: reward a referral with an upgrade, not a discount (free engraving, extended warranty). Points change price. Loops change identity.

BharatPe was an underdog in the crowded offline payments space in 2019 but thanks to Karan Khanna, we managed to onboard lakhs of merchants rapidly. Merchants had many options for UPI accepting payments, so we kept merchants engaged by offering cashbacks on an ad hoc basis. These bumped up our transactions but their effect was short-lived and transactions dropped when the cashback stopped. It became clear that we needed an organised loyalty program to drive sustainable engagement. Enter BharatPe Runs, which quickly became a hit among our merchants. Our own currency to reward their loyalty was a success because of: 1. Inclusivity: We rewarded everyone, from paan-waalas and sabzi-waalas to big retail stores. 2. Gamification: The currency had a gamified nature, rewarding all merchant activities in the BharatPe app—from taking loans to buying insurance, and of course, accepting payments. The chase for milestones was the ultimate hook. 3. Recall & Gratitude: This 'earn and burn' model fostered a deep sense of gratitude as well as brand recall. Merchants appreciated us when they earned Runs and loved us even more when they redeemed Runs for goodies. BharatPe Runs laid the foundation for my journey in the world of Loyalty and Rewards. Pawan Pathak, Gagandeep Arora, Abhishek Sharma, Subhasis Beura, Abhishek Shah, Arjun Juneja #Loyalty #BharatPe #Rewards #UPI #Cashback

Did you know the same tech behind your airline boarding pass can boost your online store retention? Yes, those mobile wallet passes that keep your boarding pass updated can be a game changer for your store. 👇🏻 Imagine this: 1. A customer adds your store's loyalty card to their digital wallet. 2. You send them daily updates with special offers. 3. They receive a push notification right on their lock screen. 4. With one tap, they're on your sales landing page, ready to buy. The power of mobile wallets lies in three key features: 1. The pass stays in the wallet, moving from old devices to new ones. 2. Just like an updated gate at the airport, your offer can change instantly. 3. Engage customers directly on their smartphones. Here's how to make it work for your store: 1. Encourage customers to add your loyalty card to their wallet with promises of points or exclusive deals. 2. Use holiday seasons to send daily deals or promotions, making your store the first they think of. 3. Include links in your notifications to guide customers straight to the checkout page. Why is this effective? During the holiday rush, inboxes overflow and ads invisible. Digital wallet passes cut through the clutter, reaching customers directly on their most personal device. Is it right for you? Consider this powerful tool if you: - Have both physical and online stores. - Run frequent promotions or sales. - Want to enhance your existing loyalty program. - Need a fresh channel to boost engagement. You don't need to start from scratch. Platforms like Vibes, PassKit, and Airship make it easy, with many options available on the Shopify app store as well! #shopify #ecommerce #loyalty #customerretention #ux #cro

Real loyalty mastery requires a deep technical understanding of accrual methods, signup methods, expiration methods, timing, messaging across multiple channels, your current market dynamics, automation around customer lifecycles, refer a friend, exit intent, and so much more. The personalization within that mess is a ton of work to make a platform automate and "Edibles buyer" isn't anywhere near the depth you need in your segmentation to recapture customers and make loyalty really shine. All you're going to do is spam the wrong people at the wrong time and get high unsubscribe rates. Smaller targets that are more personalized is far better for long term compounding of member counts. Lowering your opt-out rate with compelling messages yields HUGE gains with multiple years under your stores belt. On top of that, refilling your funnel with new members to replace the opted out users every week becomes far easier when you get velocity from all angles: - popup modals (exit intent triggered, time delay, on top of your ecomm) - signup forms (qr codes, embedded on site, shared via refer a friend automations) - post order review flow - in web member wallets - Apple & Google native apps leveraging their store users and push - direct mail QR code - in store signage (stickers on counter, flyers, etc) - kiosks in store - event collectible codes requiring a signup to attach the earned collectible to their profile (Snapple caps, Zyn, McDonald’s Monopoly) - POS customer records or flat files exported and imported which then trigger double optin (less velocity because you’re slowing down the checkout process. Recommend singup forms elsewhere. Toast and Square get this part wrong in a big way. Essentially forcing breakage reports to bloat because they have no real forms of expiration logic and everything is about discounting… that’s not what loyalty is for… it’s simply a marketing hook) - e-commerce checkout (Go with AI budtender flow with Terpli types or signup popup flow on specific URLs as well). It’s far more optimized to convert and some ecomms don’t even allow you to get your customer record to keep you in their moat.)

Want your rewards program to work as well as Amex or Starbucks? Here are 5 perks hub features I've seen succeed across our merchants: 1) One-Click Card Linking When a customer connects their credit card to Uber and shops at Sweetgreen, Kalder instantly pulls that data from Mastercard, Amex, and Visa. They get an immediate notification about their earned rewards—no coupons or ecom links, just their everyday card. 2) Strategic offer testing You need different offers at the start to test what your customers like. If you have spending data already, use it. But the key is volume—launch various offers, analyze the data, then optimize based on what customers actually use. 3) Fast, iterative launch Wanting to test doesn't mean waiting to have 100 offers until you go live. Start with 5-10, get your program running, and add more on a rolling basis. The sooner you can collect customer data and revenue, the more you grow. 4) Mix of preset and local partners Whether you're in Columbus, Ohio or Turkey, you need both preset and local options. Your customers might want offers from the local pizza shop or grocer more than HelloFresh. The offers customers actually use are what drive revenue—not a preset of unused options. 5) Simple, filtered design The dashboard needs easy-to-use categories and filters so customers can browse offers quickly. Many programs fail because customers get overwhelmed by the experience. Keep the UI clean, and keep customers coming back. What's a reward or loyalty experience you enjoy most?

Every app is pulling in festive users eager to buy. Our customer success team has been working closely with our power users, working on experiments to optimize conversions AND sustain engagement well beyond the holidays. Some conversion campaigns you can test: → Highlighting exclusive benefits (eg: free gift wrap/dynamic financing options) right when someone drops off from a transaction window → Show a spin-to-win/ scratch card/ gift box if a user’s session time is on the higher side and they haven’t added any items to the cart → Deploy a countdown timer for deals valid only in the next few minutes when a user returns with a pending purchase from the previous session (works best for low-ticket size items) Some retention campaigns you can test: → Share relevant educational material with your users (eg: how to use the product/ what to buy next/ upcoming launches) as in-app stories → Spotlight secondary actions that might drive less revenue but are more high-frequency use cases (eg: bill payments, tracking portfolio) → Create milestones for referrals/ leaving reviews/ sharing wishlists that unlock loyalty tiers (eg: early access to new products) #appgrowth #userengagement #userretention #userexperience

Loyalty can be complicated. But it can also be very simple. Especially with Canvases in Braze. Recently, two clients have replaced their loyalty platform with functionality in Braze. And to be clear, this isn't for everyone. Many loyalty programs are very intricate and complex. However, for a QSR and a pizza company, they decided to scrap complicated for simple & straightforward. For the QSR company, we decided that any purchase over $5 gives you a badge. After 10 badges, you get $5 off. For the pizza company, we did any purchase over $10 gives you a badge and after 10 badges you get a free pizza (up to a $20 value). How does it work in Braze? 1) Every purchase, either from the POS or online, is tracked and stored as an event on the Braze profile (including amount). 2) Using a Canvas, we monitor every purchase event and if it clears the $5 or $10 threshold, it increments an attribute (e.g. loyalty_badges) on their Braze profile. 3) A canvas monitors the loyalty_badges attribute. Once it hits 5 or 10, we send messages to the customer with their reward (pulled from the POS / eComm platform) + reset the counter. 4) Throughout this process, the customer sees their progress in their email (through a content block), in their mobile app (through content cards) and on the web (content cards again). Everything the customer sees, the badge count, the progress toward the reward, the reward itself, comes off data living on their Braze profile.