Loyalty
How to Create a Restaurant Loyalty Program
Creating a restaurant loyalty program takes six decisions, in this order: what you want regular guests to do more of, what they collect (visits, points or spend), which rewards you can afford and guests actually want, how they join in a few seconds, how staff handle rewards at the counter, and which numbers you will check after a few months. Keep the first version simple — one way to collect, a few rewards — and change it once you see how guests use it.
Step 1: Decide what it is for
- More visits on quiet days?
- Bigger orders — a dessert, a second drink?
- Getting first-time guests to come back a second time?
- Knowing who your regulars are, so you can thank them?
Write the goal down in one sentence. It decides the rest: a café that wants more visits rewards visits; a restaurant that wants larger orders rewards spend.
Step 2: Choose what guests collect
| Unit | Easy to understand | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Visits | Very — "every tenth coffee" | Frequency, regardless of spend |
| Points per order | Yes, if the rule is stated simply | Spend and frequency together |
| Tiers | Once guests see the next level | Long-term regulars |
Step 3: Pick rewards you can afford
- Start from items with a good margin: a coffee, a dessert, a side.
- Set the point cost so the first reward is reachable within a few visits.
- Add one bigger reward for regulars, so there is something to aim for.
- Decide whether points expire, and say so from the start.
Step 4: Make joining take seconds
Every extra step loses members. Let guests join from the menu they are already holding, ask only for what you need to recognise them, and award points automatically when they order — not when someone remembers to stamp a card. Ask separately, and clearly, before using their details for marketing.
Step 5: Brief the team
- How a guest joins, in one sentence staff can repeat.
- How a reward is given at the counter, and how the points are taken off.
- What to do when a guest says points are missing — and who may correct them.
Step 6: Review after a few months
- How many guests joined, and how many came back after joining.
- Which rewards were exchanged, and which nobody wanted.
- Whether the goal from step 1 moved at all.
For the designs to choose from, see the restaurant loyalty programs guide.
Creating a loyalty program with Thmenu
With Thmenu the loyalty program lives inside your menu. Guests join from the menu's loyalty page and earn points automatically when they order through Thmenu; staff can also add or remove points by hand. Members move up four tiers — bronze, silver, gold and platinum — as their lifetime points grow, and earn faster at higher tiers. You create the rewards and their point costs in the panel. Guests see their balance, tier and recent points on the menu; rewards are exchanged at the counter, where staff deduct the points from the member's balance. Unused points expire twelve months after they were earned.
See loyalty in Thmenu.