The five integrations a café loyalty app needs (and the one it usually does not)

A loyalty app is a thin layer over a handful of systems the business already has. Which systems it is connected to, and how well, decides whether the app feels instant or feels like paperwork. These are the five we build for, and the one we usually talk brands out of.

1. The till

The connection that makes points land the moment a receipt is confirmed. Without it, points are entered by hand or appear hours later, and the trust that makes the stamp card work is gone. This is the integration we scope first, because it depends entirely on which till the shop uses.

2. Payments

The app should not become a wallet unless the business is ready to be one. Payments stay with the provider the shop already uses. The app's job is to connect the purchase to the member, not to move the money.

3. The menu

Items, photos, prices, allergens and campaigns, managed by the shop through a simple tool, with changes appearing in the app the same day. A menu that needs a developer to update will be out of date within a month.

4. Push notifications

For the moments that carry news: a reward is ready, a campaign the member opted into has started. Connected to the loyalty data so that messages are about the member's own state, not blasts to everyone. We have strong views about what not to send.

5. Analytics

Which members come back, how often, what they buy, how long the till transaction takes. This is what the paper stamp card could never tell the shop, and the reason the app pays for itself over time.

The one you can usually skip: social login

Brands ask for sign-in with social accounts because other apps have it. For a café loyalty app it adds a dependency, a privacy question and a support headache, and most regulars would rather sign up with an email or a phone number in ten seconds. Apple's own sign-in is required if you offer any third-party option, which is one more reason to keep it simple.