Gift cards on the register
Sell and redeem gift cards at the counter. Every balance, and the total still owed on unspent cards, sits in one ledger you can open any time.
Customer loyalty
Customer loyalty software built into your register
Points, member offers and gift cards run from your free Esplanda POS, in store and online, with profit counted after rewards.
No monthly fee, no setup fee, no contract. See Esplanda pricing.
Illustrative example
Your customer list
A customer list that builds itself
Most local stores have thousands of customers and a list of almost none of them. Esplanda builds the record from sales you were already making, so your loyalty program and your CRM are one list.
Start with a phone number
A record starts the first time a sale can be tied to a person: a phone number, an email, a loyalty scan or an online order. Every later purchase attaches on its own.
What they bought, not just a name
What, when, at what price, how often and what they stopped buying. A mailing list tells you who to contact; a record tells you what to say.
Duplicates merged
The same person often shows up once at the counter and again online. Esplanda merges matching records and flags unclear ones instead of guessing.
Sign-ups without holding the line
Take a phone number and nothing else at the counter, and collect the rest later by email, or by text if they opted in.
Customer groups that tell you what to send
| Group | Who is in it | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly regulars | Buy about every seven days, or more often | Protect them. No discount: they were coming anyway |
| Lapsed customers | No purchase in 60 days, when their own usual gap is far shorter | Usually the most valuable message you can send |
| Best customers by margin | The top tenth by margin over the past year, not by spend | Early access, allocations or a phone call, rarely a coupon |
| One-visit customers | One purchase ever, more than three weeks ago | A reason for a second visit, tied to what they bought |
| Category buyers | Repeat purchases in one department | New arrivals in that category, not a store-wide blast |
Keep the register you have, or use ours. With Esplanda POS the customer and the purchase are captured together at the counter. A register you keep is bridged through our POS integrations, and the record is built from its sales data. Details on our POS system with inventory management.
Choosing a program
Points, visits or spend, and which one fits
The right loyalty program for small business owners depends on your average basket and how often people come in, not on what sounds generous. Retail loyalty program software should show you the cost before the first reward goes out.
| Program | Suits | What goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Visit-based | Small baskets and frequent trips: coffee, convenience, quick service | Rewarding a visit that was already a habit |
| Spend-based | Bigger, less frequent baskets: wine, apparel, specialty retail | Thresholds set so high that nobody reaches them |
| Points | Mixed baskets and mixed visit rhythms; the most flexible | An earn rate so low the reward is months away |
| Tiered | Stores with a real group of high-value regulars | Tiers that give status but no real benefit |
How to start a loyalty program
- Pick the type by your basketMatch it to your average basket and how often people come in, using the table above.
- See what it would have costEsplanda runs the rules against your own past year of sales, so the reward is set with the math in front of you.
- Sign people up with a phone numberOnly the number at a busy counter, so the line keeps moving. The rest of the record fills in later.
- Measure it against a held-back groupMembers are compared with matched customers who didn't get the offer, so you see the margin after rewards.
Why most programs fail. The reward sits too many visits away, so people stop tracking it, and sign-up happens at a busy counter where nobody wants to spell out an email address. Both are set-up problems, not card-design problems, and Esplanda's setup handles both: the reward is set with your own past year of sales in front of you, and sign-up takes only a phone number.
Offers and gift cards
Promotions that ring up right
Coupons, member offers, promotions and gift cards live in the same system as the register, so every one rings up the same way at the counter.
Coupons and promotions
Set a rule once, such as a percent off a category or a buy-two deal, and it applies at the register and online.
Inside your limits
Every discount stays under the ceiling you set. Esplanda suggests the offer, prepares it for your one-tap OK, or sends it inside your discount ceiling: that setting is yours. Refund requests always come to you. Read why Esplanda is safe to trust.
Member offers and deals carry over to online orders, since Esplanda is a POS with online ordering. Case prices and mix-and-match wine deals are on our liquor store POS system page; “any three tees” deals for boutiques are on our retail store POS page.
What it earned
Loyalty measured in margin, not sign-ups
If a weekly regular redeems a reward on a trip they were making anyway, that isn't new revenue. It's a smaller margin dressed up as a marketing win.
- A held-back group. Esplanda keeps a matched set of comparable customers out of each offer and reports the difference: extra margin from members, minus every reward redeemed.
- Best customers by margin. High-value means the most margin over the past year, not the most spend. A customer who buys only your thinnest-margin items isn't automatically your best one.
- Every result on the record. Each program is reported in margin after rewards, next to your other results, so you keep what pays and change what doesn't; see how we measure results.
Win-back and birthday messages go out through email and SMS marketing; campaign plans through marketing automation.
Questions
Loyalty questions owners ask
What is customer loyalty software?
Customer loyalty software keeps track of who your customers are and what they buy, and rewards them for coming back with points, visit rewards or member offers. Esplanda's version runs from the register and your website on one customer list, and measures each program in margin after the rewards it gave away.
How does loyalty software improve customer retention?
It gives customers a reason to come back and catches the ones drifting away. Esplanda measures each customer against their own buying rhythm, spots who has lapsed or visited only once, and lines up an offer tied to what they bought. You choose whether Esplanda suggests it, prepares it for your approval or sends it inside your discount ceiling.
How do I choose customer loyalty software for a retail store?
Choose software that runs from your register, so points and offers ring up the same way at the counter and online; signs people up with just a phone number; shows what a program would have cost on your own past sales before launch; and reports margin after rewards, not sign-ups. Esplanda does all four.
Should my loyalty program use points, visits or spend?
Visit-based suits small baskets and frequent trips, because the reward arrives quickly. Spend-based suits larger, less frequent baskets such as wine or apparel. Points are the most flexible and the easiest to make meaningless, because the earn rate often ends up too low.
How does a gift card program work for a small business?
Customers buy a card now and spend it later, and the program keeps track of every balance. In Esplanda, gift cards are sold and redeemed at the register, and every balance and the total still owed on unspent cards sit in one ledger, as part of the free Esplanda POS.
How do I know if my loyalty program makes money?
Esplanda compares members with a matched group of comparable customers who didn't get the offer, and reports the extra margin minus the cost of every reward redeemed. A reward redeemed on a trip that was already happening is a cost, not new revenue.
Do I need separate small business CRM software?
For most local stores, no. A stand-alone CRM can't see item margins or stock, so it can report who opened an email but not what an offer cost you. Esplanda keeps the customer record next to your sales, costs and stock.
How much does customer loyalty software cost with Esplanda?
Nothing. Loyalty, member offers, promotions and gift cards are part of the free Esplanda POS, with no setup fee and no contract. Keep Square, Clover, Lightspeed or KORONA if you prefer; they connect with no change at the counter. Win-back and birthday emails and texts go out through Marketing — Do It Yourself, a separate line you add only if you want it.
Give regulars a reason to come back
Start free today, or book a demo and we'll set up points and a first member offer for a store like yours.
Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed. Add paid tools only when you want them.
