The Loonine blog
Loyalty programme guides
Practical guides to setting up and running a digital loyalty programme: choosing a mechanic, setting the reward threshold, launching in a week, and what the rules require.
23 loyalty programme ideas that work for small businesses
Specific, costed loyalty mechanics for independent shops, cafés and service businesses, with the ones that reliably fail and why.
Running one loyalty programme across multiple locations
How to run a single loyalty programme across two or more sites: one card or several, who pays for a reward redeemed elsewhere, and what changes with franchisees.
Do you need POS integration to run a loyalty programme?
Whether a loyalty programme needs to connect to your till, what integration buys you, and when running alongside the POS is the better choice.
What your loyalty programme terms and conditions need to say
The clauses a small business's loyalty terms need, the ones that cause disputes when they are missing, and why expiry is the most important decision in the document.
How much should a loyalty reward cost?
How to cost a reward properly using cost of goods rather than menu price, what percentage of customer spend is sensible, and the rewards that look generous while costing very little.
11 loyalty programme mistakes that quietly kill the results
The failures that do not announce themselves: thresholds nobody reaches, enrolment that decays after launch, rewards that read as mean, and messages that train customers to ignore you.
How much does a loyalty programme cost a small business?
A full cost breakdown for digital loyalty in 2026: software, SMS, reward margin and staff time, and how to work out whether it pays for itself.
Stamps or points: which loyalty mechanic should you use?
How to pick the right loyalty mechanic for your business based on ticket variance, visit frequency and what you want customers to do more of.
GDPR and loyalty programmes: what a small business must do
The practical compliance checklist for running a digital loyalty programme in the EU: lawful basis, consent for marketing, retention limits and data subject rights.
How to launch a loyalty programme in one week
A day-by-day plan for going from nothing to a running digital loyalty programme, including what to decide, what to skip, and how to brief staff.
Loyalty programmes that do not need a customer app
Why asking customers to install an app destroys loyalty enrolment, and how wallet cards deliver the same benefits without the download.
How to switch loyalty platforms without losing your customers
Changing loyalty platform means re-enrolling everyone, because wallet cards cannot be transferred. Here is the migration plan that keeps your regulars and their balances.
How many stamps should a loyalty card have?
Setting the reward threshold too high kills motivation and too low erodes margin. Here is how to pick the number for your business.