Glossary
What is friction?
Friction is any step that stands between a customer and joining a loyalty programme, and each additional step measurably reduces how many people complete it.
The classic friction points in loyalty sign-up are: install an app, create an account, verify an email, scan a code, fill in a form. Every one costs enrolments, and they compound. The design goal is to reduce the customer's required actions to zero, which is achievable if a staff member can enrol them from a phone number alone.
Where does friction come from in a loyalty programme?
From every action the customer has to perform between being offered the card and holding it. Each one loses a share of the people who would otherwise have joined, and the losses compound.
| Method | What the customer must do | Seconds at the counter |
|---|---|---|
| Install an app | Search, download, register | 60-180 |
| Scan a QR code | Unlock, open camera, tap through | 20-40 |
| Type an email | Type accurately on a tablet | 25-45 |
| Say a phone number | Nothing but speak | 3-8 |
Why does the last column matter most?
Because it predicts whether staff will keep offering the card. A flow that costs more than about ten seconds is skipped during busy periods, and a programme offered only in quiet periods reaches the customers who matter least.
Friction is therefore an operational problem rather than a design preference. It determines not just how many customers accept, but how often they are asked.
How is friction removed completely?
By moving the work to the person being paid to be there. If a staff member enrols the customer from a phone number alone, the customer does nothing at the counter and opens the link whenever convenient. This shifts the consent obligation onto the business, which must ask explicitly and record the answer.
See also
- Enrolment rate: Enrolment rate is the percentage of customers who join a loyalty programme when offered it, and it is the number that determines whether the programme is worth running.
- No-app loyalty: No-app loyalty is any loyalty programme that does not require the customer to install software, typically by delivering the card to the phone's built-in wallet instead.
- Digital loyalty card: A digital loyalty card is a loyalty card held on a customer's phone rather than on paper, most commonly as a card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, which records progress towards a reward and updates itself when the business adds to it.
Further reading
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.
The best digital loyalty apps for small businesses in 2026
A comparison of the main wallet-based loyalty platforms for cafés, salons and independent retailers, including where each one is the better choice.