Loyalty program vs. game: which brings customers back?

Punch cards, points apps and games all claim the same thing: repeat business. They work differently, cost differently and ask different things of the customer. Here is the honest comparison.

What each one asks of the customer

• Punch card: remember to bring it, and come back nine more times before anything happens.
• Points app: download an app, create an account, remember to scan. The sign-up alone loses most people.
• Game: scan a code, play a minute, get a reward now or next visit. No download, no account.

When the reward arrives

This is the real difference. Punch cards and points pay out far in the future, which is why most are abandoned. A game pays out at the end of level one, which is today, and sets the next reward for the next visit. The behavior you want (coming back soon) is the behavior that gets rewarded.

What it costs you

• Punch card: printing, plus the free item on visit ten.
• Points app: typically $50 to $150 a month per location for the small-business tools, more for the branded-app tier, plus the reward liability that builds up on your books.
• Game: $249 a month for a single location with the build fee spread over the year, with rewards you set and can change quarterly.

What you learn

Punch cards tell you nothing. Points apps tell you a lot, if people use them. A game tells you plays, clears and redemptions, which is a direct measure of how many people engaged and how many came back because of it.

Which one should you run?

If you already have a points program that people use, keep it and let the game feed it: make level rewards into points, and the game becomes the reason people open your app. If you have a punch card nobody carries, replace it. If you have nothing, start with the game, because it is the only option that works on the first visit.