Loyalty & Rewards: Turn Regulars Into Revenue

Loyalty is the cheapest marketing you have — a regular who comes back weekly is worth more than any ad click. The difference between a rewards program that drives visits and one that just discounts everything is whether every point is earned, tracked, and redeemed against a real customer record.

Points that bring guests back

• Award points per dollar at the register so regulars build balances without staff doing mental math or stamping cards.
• Let guests see and redeem balances at checkout so the reward feels instant — a free appetizer today beats a vague promise next month.
• Set earn rules per category so high-margin items drive more visits instead of rewarding only the cheapest orders.

Tiers give regulars status to protect

• Graduate repeat guests into tiers with real perks — priority seating, birthday rewards, early access — that cost little but feel exclusive.
• Tie every tier to the customer record so status survives a lost phone number and follows the guest across locations.
• Review tier thresholds yearly so the top tier stays aspirational instead of quietly including half your customer base.

Redeem without leaking margin

1. Cap redemption value per check so a big points balance means a discount, not a free banquet.
2. Expire idle points on a clear schedule so liability stays bounded and dormant balances nudge lapsed guests back.
3. Report points issued, redeemed, and expired with your sales so you see the true cost of loyalty next to the repeat revenue it earned.

Use Swagger UI or OpenAPI for the current loyalty, points-balance, and redemption request shapes.