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A loyalty card without an app: how a card saved to Google Wallet works
Downloading yet another app for the sake of one café is a big ask. It is not needed: a loyalty card can be a web page on the customer's phone, which on Android can also be saved to Google Wallet. Here is how it works, and where its limits are.
How the card gets onto the phone
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They scan the QR code
From the poster on the counter or the door, with the phone's camera.
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They enter an e-mail address
They accept the terms and receive a one-time code at that address. There is no password.
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The card is already on their phone
It opens as a web page, with the QR code that is scanned at the counter.
If the customer does not want to scan the QR code, staff can sign them up with their e-mail address. They can collect straight away, and redeem once they have confirmed the address with the link we e-mail them.
A web page that works as a card
The card is a web page with its own address. It shows your shop's name and logo, the customer's QR code, the stamps or points, and what can be redeemed right now.
The customer can add it to the phone's home screen, so it opens like an app. If they collect at several Loyaltee shops, their cards are in one place, but no shop can see that the customer is a member elsewhere.
The card belongs to the customer's e-mail address, not to the phone. If they get a new phone, they join again with the same address and get the same card back, balance included.
The card in Google Wallet
On Android the card page has a button that saves it to Google Wallet with one tap. The card goes into the wallet with your colour, your logo and your shop's address, and shows the same QR code as the web page.
After every purchase and redemption the balance updates in the wallet too; the customer does not have to do anything. Saving to Google Wallet needs a Google account, like anything else in Google Wallet.
A notification on the lock screen
Your campaign message appears on a card saved in Google Wallet as a notification on the customer's phone, with a vibration, and costs nothing per message. That is why the automatic channel tries it first; anyone who has not saved the card gets an e-mail.
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At most three a day
Google allows three notifications per card per day. A fourth message lands on the card silently, without a vibration.
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A reminder nearby
The card carries your locations, up to ten. Whether the phone brings the card up nearby is Google's decision; we never see where the customer is.
And the iPhone?
On iPhone the card opens in the browser, can be added to the home screen, and is scanned at the counter just the same. Saving to Apple Wallet is not available yet, so on iPhone your messages arrive by e-mail, or by SMS if nothing else reaches the customer.
What the counter needs
Nothing new. Staff scan the customer's card with their own phone or a tablet, and with an NFC Android phone one tap is enough. The stamp or points are on the card straight away, in Google Wallet too.
Try it in your own shop
Two minutes to sign up, no card required.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does it work on iPhone too?
Yes. On iPhone and Android alike the card opens in the browser, can be added to the home screen and is scanned at the counter the same way. Saving it to Google Wallet is available on Android.
What if the customer doesn't save it to the wallet?
They collect just the same: their card is a web page on their phone. Your messages then reach them by e-mail or SMS.
Does the customer need a Google account?
To save it to Google Wallet, yes, as for anything else in Google Wallet. Without one, the card still works in the browser.
What happens to the card if the customer gets a new phone?
The card belongs to the customer's e-mail address. On the new phone they join again with the same address, confirm it with a code, and get the same card back, balance included.
What do notifications cost?
E-mails and notifications to a card saved in Google Wallet cost nothing. SMS comes out of the plan's monthly allowance, and the automatic channel only sends an SMS to someone it can't reach any other way.
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