How to set up a loyalty program for your café or restaurant

You don't need to build an app or order plastic cards to run a café loyalty program. Guests scan the QR code on the table or at the counter with their phone camera, and the digital loyalty card drops straight into Apple Wallet. Your staff add the stamp at the till, and every visit shows up in the dashboard.

This post covers the three decisions you make during setup, where to put the QR code, what to tell your team and what to expect in the first two weeks.

Make three decisions first

Setup in the dashboard starts with three choices. If you print the QR code before they're settled, you'll end up changing things later.

1. Card type: stamp, points or tiers.
2. Goal: how many visits earn what.
3. Reward: which product or discount.

A stamp card is the easiest to understand: a clear goal like "buy 8 coffees, get 1 free". A points card adds up every purchase, and a tier card gives your most frequent guests their own level. If you're just starting, begin with a stamp card and add points or tiers after a couple of months.

When picking the reward, look at your margin: the smaller the reward, the lower you can set the stamp goal. Keep the reward well below what the guest spends on that visit.

Where to put the QR code

Guests have to see the QR code before they can use it. The spots that work best:

• A table card next to the till
• A small stand on each table
• The window or front door
• A short note with the QR code at the bottom of the receipt

One QR code is enough, but a QR code nobody sees doesn't work. Print-ready table card and poster templates are waiting in the dashboard; add your logo and print.

What to tell your team

The stamp is added by the person at the till, not the guest. So three sentences are all your team needs:

1. At payment, ask whether the guest already has a card.
2. If not, point to the QR code on the table and ask them to scan it with their phone.
3. If they do, add the stamp at the till and check that it shows up in the dashboard.

The most common mistake with a new program is putting up the QR code and not telling anyone. Repeat these three sentences at every payment during the first week and it quickly becomes a habit.

What to expect in the first two weeks

A loyalty program doesn't take off on day one. Some guests won't notice the QR code, some will scan it, and some will scan again on their second visit. Sign-ups grow with how visible the QR code is and how often your staff mention it.

I won't promise you any number other than your own: the dashboard shows how many guests saved the card, how many stamps were added and how many came back. After two weeks, look at those three numbers and adjust the QR placement and the goal.

The three numbers to watch in the dashboard

• Guests who saved the card
• Stamps added per day
• Share of returning guests

All three appear in live analytics, and staff tracking shows who added each stamp. Because no payment card details are collected, the picture stays simple. If you want to send marketing messages, you'll need your guests' explicit consent under GDPR.

FAQ

Do guests need to download an app? No. They scan the QR code with their phone camera and the card is added to Apple Wallet.

Does it work with Google Wallet too? On Android, the card opens as a saveable page in the phone's browser, and stamping by QR works the same way. The QR flow at the counter is the same.

How long does setup take? Choosing the card type and goal and printing the QR code takes about 10 minutes. You can test the first guest experience with your own phone.

The 7-day free trial is all you need to set up your own card: start at https://dokun.io/en/signup. Compare plans and pricing at https://dokun.io/en#pricing. I've also collected five ways to get more repeat guests in cafés and restaurants in this post: https://dokun.io/en/blog/kafe-ve-restoranlarda-musterinin-tekrar-gelmesini-artirmanin-5-yolu