Digital Loyalty Programme for a UK Small Business: 5 Checks Before You Pay

Before you pay for a digital loyalty programme, check five things. App or no app. Cost at your member count. What the till needs. What a second site costs. What the free plan leaves out. meed, a wallet-based stamp card platform, publishes its answers: free to start, and Pro is £40/month.

Most owners choose from the demo. The demo shows month one. These checks are about month six.

TL;DR

• "No app" should mean no app in every setup.

• Price the plan at the member count you expect in six months.

• The right till setup is the one staff still use during a rush.

• A second site shows how a platform is really priced.

• On meed, custom notifications and advanced analytics are Pro only. The Free plan has the core features.

About the Author: Written by the meed team. meed runs wallet-based stamp cards for independent cafes, salons, gyms, takeaways and retailers. Every plan detail here comes from meed's published pricing.

Does your customer need to download an app?

Every other check depends on people joining, so start here.

meed's answer: no. Customers get an Apple Wallet or Google Wallet card, depending on their phone. They join by QR code, NFC tap or link, in the browser.

The label tells you nothing about what the customer has to install. Each extra step at sign-up is another point where someone holding a coffee gives up.

Ask any other platform:

• Does any setup require my customer to download an app?

• Can someone join from a QR code poster before their order is ready?

• What happens if they skip the Wallet prompt?

What will it cost at your real member count?

Once joining is easy, the question becomes what you pay when people do join.

meed's answer: the Free plan covers up to 50 members with core features. Pro is £40/month or £400/year, with unlimited members.

Platforms use three pricing models.

• Flat fee: the bill stays the same as you grow.

• Tiers by active customers: cheap until you get busy.

• Per location: fine for one shop, but the cost multiplies with each new one.

Illustrative, round figures: a regular who buys a £3 coffee twice a week spends about £300 a year. Fifty of them is £15,000 of trade. For a busy coffee shop loyalty app, 50 members is a trial. For a tailor with 40 regulars, it may be the whole plan.

Ask any other platform:

• Is pricing flat, capped by members, or per location?

• When I pass the cap, do sign-ups stop or does the price change?

• What does paying annually save?

What does it need at the till?

Price is the number on the invoice. The till is where a digital stamp card costs you staff time.

meed's answer: it needs no POS integration. Staff can stamp cards in the meed for Business app on any phone or tablet. Customers can also stamp their own cards:

• NFC tap: an off-the-shelf NFC tag at the counter.

• Checkin QR: the customer scans a code for a stamp.

• Receipt scan: the customer photographs a receipt. meed's AI reads it and adds the stamp, based on spend if you choose.

You can use one method or all three. Your customers already tap.

Ask any other platform:

• Do I need new hardware or a POS link?

• Who stamps cards when the queue is out the door?

• How are double taps and duplicate receipts handled? On meed, check-ins default to once every 24 hours, and stamps from duplicated receipts can be revoked.

What happens when you open a second location?

Growth is where pricing models stop looking alike.

meed's answer: you get one programme and one dashboard, and members use one card at every site. Location QR codes track each site separately. Pro includes the first two locations, and each extra location adds a monthly fee.

If stamps are stored per shop, a customer starts over at your other site across town.

Illustrative: two sites on meed Pro cost £40 a month, because the first two locations are included.

Ask any other platform:

• Does one card work at every site?

• Can I see each site's numbers separately?

• What does a third site add to the bill?

What does the free or entry plan leave out?

A demo shows everything. A plan doesn't always include everything.

meed's answer: the Free plan includes digital stamp cards, QR, NFC and link sign-up, Apple and Google Wallet cards, nearby notifications and multi-language support. There is no trial clock. The Free plan leaves out:

• Custom notifications: messages you write and send yourself. Pro only.

• Advanced analytics: member, location and campaign performance. Pro only.

Nearby notifications on meed (available on both Free and Pro) fire automatically when a past visitor is close. Custom notifications are messages you choose to send, available on meed Pro only. If you want to message members who haven't visited in 30 days, you need meed Pro.

Marketing messages also come with rules. UK GDPR covers how you collect data. PECR, enforced by the ICO, requires consent for marketing.

Ask any other platform:

• Which features from the demo are on the plan I'm buying?

• Is the free option permanent, or a trial?

• Can I message lapsed customers on this plan?

How do meed, Perkstar and Stamp Me compare?

"Ask vendor" means the detail wasn't stated. It does not mean the feature is missing.

Platform	Customer app?	Paid price	Free option	At the till	Extra sites
meed	No. Apple Wallet or Google Wallet	Pro £40/month or £400/year	Free plan, up to 50 members, core features	Staff app, NFC tap, QR, AI receipt scan. No POS integration	Two included on Pro, then a monthly fee each
Perkstar	No app download. Apple Wallet or Google Wallet	£15, £30 or £65/month, one location included	7-day free trial	Cards shared by QR, link, email or SMS	£10/month or £120/year each
Stamp Me	Ask vendor	£39, £49 or £129/month	30-day free trial	StampPod NFC pod, Stamp Tag NFC lanyard, OneStamp product QR	Ask vendor

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the best digital loyalty programme UK small business owners can choose?

The best one is whichever passes all five checks at your member count and number of sites. Run the checks before you sign anything.

Is there a free loyalty card app for small businesses?

Yes. meed's Free plan covers up to 50 members with core features, including Wallet cards, QR sign-up and nearby notifications.

Do I need a POS integration?

Not with meed. Staff stamp cards from a phone or tablet, and AI receipt scanning works without any integration.

Can I message customers who've stopped coming?

On meed, that's a custom notification, which is available on Pro only. You also need marketing consent under PECR.

Is a loyalty programme regulated in the UK?

Data collection falls under UK GDPR, and marketing falls under PECR. Both are enforced by the ICO.

How long does setup take?

Setup with meed takes minutes, not hours.

About meed

meed is a digital loyalty platform for independent and small-to-medium businesses. It delivers stamp cards through Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, so customers never download an app. Customers earn stamps through staff stamping, NFC tap-in, QR check-in or AI receipt scanning, with no POS integration needed, and businesses with several sites run one programme from one dashboard. The Free plan covers core features for up to 50 members, and meed Pro adds unlimited members, custom notifications and advanced analytics.

Run the five checks against meed's Free plan before you pay anyone. Start at https://www.meedloyalty.com/.

References

1. UK GDPR guidance: data minimisation (ico.org.uk)