The card is in a drawer and the app was deleted three weeks after install. That is why the scheme is not working.
Why the usual schemes fail
Physical cards require the customer to carry them, and the moment they forget it once the scheme is dead to them. Apps require an install, which most small businesses cannot justify asking for.
Both fail for the same underlying reason: the programme lives somewhere the customer does not go. WhatsApp is somewhere they already go several times a day.
How the WhatsApp version works
- A store record per outlet, with activity tracked separately
- A customer record with the fields your business actually rewards on
- Points added manually by counter staff, or automatically by an automation
- A running wallet balance the customer can check in the chat
- WhatsApp updates when a customer is created or a transaction changes
Deciding how points are earned
Manual issuance covers the counter case where nothing is integrated. Automated issuance is better wherever an event exists: a purchase, a referral converting, a review being left.
The automated cases are the ones that make a programme feel alive, because the customer gets a message they did not expect within seconds of doing something.
- Create the store, or one per outlet.
- Define the customer fields you will reward on.
- Decide the earning rules and whether they are manual, automated or both.
- Turn on WhatsApp transaction updates.
- Tell existing customers it exists, using a campaign to your opted-in list.
The communication is the programme
A loyalty scheme nobody hears about is an accounting exercise. The reason WhatsApp works is that you can tell people their balance moved, tell them they are close to a reward, and remind them the points exist.
Keep that messaging honest and infrequent. Balance updates are welcome; three promotional messages a week wearing a loyalty badge are not.