Playbook
Restaurant Loyalty Program Playbook
A fill-in loyalty program playbook for restaurants, with a worked example: the earn rule, reward costs, tiers, rules, and a launch plan.
Fill in the playbook before you build anything
A loyalty program is a handful of decisions. Write each one down on a single page before you touch any software, because every field below changes what the program costs you.
The table below is the whole playbook. Copy it, keep the first two columns, and replace the example with your own answers.
The rest of this page walks through how to fill in each field.
| Field | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Program name | Short enough for staff to say at the counter | Taco Points |
| Earn rule | One line a guest could repeat back | 1 point for every dollar on direct orders |
| Minimum order to earn | The smallest ticket that counts | $8 |
| Rewards | Three or four, each with its point price | Chips and salsa at 50 points, a side at 100, an entrée at 200 |
| Tiers | Each tier's name, what reaches it, and what changes | Regular after six orders in 90 days, earning 1.25 points per dollar |
| Expiry | When unused points lapse | After twelve months with no orders |
| Refunds | What happens to points on a refunded order | The points earned on that order come back off |
| Balance changes | Who can add or remove points, and what they record | Managers only, with a reason each time |
| Start date | The first day guests can earn | The first Monday of the month |
| Joining bonus | Points a new member starts with, and what that costs | 50 points, which costs $1.50 for each member who redeems |
| Where it's announced | Every place a guest will see it | Menu page, checkout, receipt, and that week's Google Business post |
Decide whether you reward spend or visits
Points per dollar rewards spend. Points per visit rewards frequency. They push guests in different directions, so pick one on purpose instead of keeping whatever a past vendor set up.
Visits suit a place where every ticket looks alike, like a coffee counter. Spend suits a menu where one guest orders a $9 lunch and the next orders $60 for the family.
A visit rule needs a minimum order, or guests split one order into three. Set it near your cheapest full meal, for example $8.
Write the rule as one line a guest could repeat back to you. For example: "Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend when you order direct."
Pick rewards your margin can carry
A free side costs a fraction of a free entrée, and the guest still leaves with something free. The math below shows what each one costs you.
Do the math before you print anything. Divide the food cost of the reward by the spend it takes to earn it. A side that costs you $3, earned at 100 points on points per dollar, gives back 3% of that spend.
Run the same math on every reward. An entrée that costs $6 to make, at the same 100 points, gives back 6%. Price it at 200 points and it drops to 3%.
Guests value a reward at its menu price, and you pay its food cost. If that side sells for $4.50, the guest feels $4.50 back on every $100. You spend $3.
Visit programs use the same arithmetic. Say a coffee costs you $0.60 to make, the average ticket is $6, and the tenth coffee is free. Nine paid visits come to $54 of spend, so the reward costs about 1.1%.
Pick one band for reward cost as a share of spend, and hold every reward inside it. Plan as if every point gets redeemed. Points that go unused are a bonus, not a budget.
The table below prices three rewards this way. Each sits between 2.5% and 3% of the spend that earns it.
| Reward | Point price | Menu price | Food cost | Cost as a share of spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chips and salsa | 50 | $3.00 | $1.25 | 2.5% |
| Side of rice and beans | 100 | $4.50 | $3.00 | 3% |
| Burrito | 200 | $13.00 | $6.00 | 3% |
Save tiers for the regulars you already have
Tiers give your best guests a reason to keep coming. They also keep your most valuable reward away from someone on their second visit.
Set the thresholds from your own orders, not from a guess. Pull the last 90 days and count how many guests ordered six or more times. That group is your top tier.
A higher earn rate is the simplest tier perk, and its cost is easy to work out. At 1.25 points per dollar, the $3 side is earned after $80 of spend. That's 3.75%. At 1.5 points per dollar it takes about $67, so the cost climbs to 4.5%.
Two or three tiers is plenty for one location. More than that and staff can't explain the difference at the counter.
Write the rules for refunds, expiry, and abuse
A refunded order should take back the points it earned. Otherwise a guest can order, cancel, and keep the balance.
Expiry keeps old balances from piling up. A common rule is that points expire after twelve months with no orders, so an active guest never loses any. Whatever you pick, put it in the program terms.
Limit one account per email and phone number. Decide which staff can add or remove points, and ask for a reason every time someone does.
When a guest disputes a balance, look up the order first. Most disputes turn out to be a refund or an order placed under a second email.
Enroll guests at checkout, not in an app
Each extra step loses people. Joining while paying adds no step, and downloading an app first adds several.
Show the points balance while the guest is ordering. It only changes what they pick if they see it while choosing.
Appetier builds loyalty into the direct ordering checkout. Guests join while they pay, see their balance before they choose, and redeem on the same order. A reward uses the item and price from your POS when one is connected.
Announce it where guests already order
Put the program on your menu page, at checkout, on the receipt, and in that week's Google Business post. Give staff the one-line version so they can answer at the counter.
A joining bonus gets the first week moving. Fifty points is half of a 100-point side, so it costs you $1.50 for each member who redeems it.
Keep a paper punch card running for two or three weeks if you had one. Swap each finished card for points, then stop printing new ones.
Read the numbers after 90 days
Check four numbers. What share of direct orders come from members? How many members have redeemed once? What do rewards cost as a share of member spend, and how many members reorder within 30 days?
Nobody redeeming usually means the first reward sits too far away. Add a cheaper reward at a lower point price rather than handing out extra points.
Reward cost above your band means a reward is priced too low. Move the $3 side from 100 to 120 points and its cost falls from 3% to 2.5% of spend.
Few guests joining points back to checkout and the counter. Make sure the join option is visible before payment, and ask staff to mention it on pickup orders.
Once the program runs, Sous suggests rewards and bundles from what your guests actually order, and you choose which go live. Lapsed members can get a winback with a reward attached, never bigger than the discount you allow.