Glossary
What is push notification?
A push notification is a short message delivered directly to a phone's lock screen; in wallet loyalty it is sent to the card itself rather than through a separate app.
Sending a notification to a wallet card is unusually effective because the customer has already opted in by adding the card, the message appears on the lock screen rather than in an inbox, and no app installation is involved. Because the channel is uncluttered, it is also easy to abuse. Most platforms cap the frequency deliberately, and so should you.
How does a wallet push differ from an app push?
A wallet push is attached to a change in the card rather than sent by an application, so it requires no app on the customer's phone and costs nothing per message. That combination is what makes wallet loyalty economically viable for a small business.
The constraint is that the notification has to correspond to something on the card: a stamp added, a reward ready, an offer that appears on the card. It is not a general-purpose broadcast channel, and using it as one gets the card deleted.
How often should a business send them?
No more than two or three a month for an independent business, each carrying something the customer would plausibly want. Wallet cards have an unusually low removal rate when that restraint is observed and an unusually high one when it is not.
The open rate that makes this channel valuable exists because the messages are rare. Spending it on weekly promotions destroys the asset.
Does a push need marketing consent?
A service message about the customer's own card, a stamp added, a reward ready, is what they signed up for. A promotion is marketing and needs its own opt-in under GDPR and the ePrivacy rules. When in doubt, treat it as marketing.
See also
- Wallet card: A wallet card is a digital card stored in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet (the same place people keep boarding passes, event tickets and payment cards) that can update itself remotely after it has been issued.
- Win-back campaign: A win-back campaign is a message sent specifically to customers who have stopped visiting, with the aim of restarting the habit before it is fully broken.
Further reading
Wallet card push notifications: what they can and cannot do
How Apple Wallet and Google Wallet notifications work, what a business is allowed to send, how often to send, and the limits nobody mentions before you buy.
SMS, email or wallet push: which reaches your customers?
The three channels a small business can use to reach its own customers, compared on open rate, cost, consent rules and what each is good for.