# Rewards & Loyalty

Rewards is a points program at **Admin → Rewards**. Customers earn points on what they spend and redeem them for discounts or free items.

**One balance, everywhere.** A customer who earns points ordering online and then buys lunch at the counter has a single balance. There's no separate in-store card.

## Turning it on

1. Go to **Admin → Rewards**.
2. Open **Program settings**.
3. Set:
   - **Program name** — what customers see ("Rosa's Rewards")
   - **Points label** — what you call points ("points", "stars", "beans")
   - **Earn rate** — how many points per dollar spent
   - **Holding period** — how long points are held before they can be spent
4. Save.

### Choosing an earn rate

Work backwards from what a reward should cost. If you want a free $4 coffee after roughly $80 of spending, and you award 1 point per dollar, price the reward at 80 points.

A rough guide: most restaurants aim for **5–10% back in value**. Much less isn't motivating; much more is expensive.

### Choosing a holding period

Points a customer just earned are held as **pending** before they can be spent. The default is **24 hours**, and you can set anything from immediate up to 30 days.

The holding period is what stops points from being spent on an order you then refund. Cancelling an order or refunding it in full always reverses its points — whether they're still pending or already matured. The difference is that pending points simply disappear, while matured points can only be taken back if they're still in the balance. If the customer has already redeemed them for a free item, that item is gone.

So set it to at least as long as you normally take to settle a complaint:

- **Immediately** — points are spendable as soon as the customer next opens their rewards. Best for a café where somebody might order twice in a day, and where a mistaken order is remade rather than refunded.
- **24 hours** (default) — covers same-day problems. Right for most restaurants.
- **48–72 hours** — for higher-ticket orders, or if refund requests usually arrive a day or two later.

Changing it only affects points earned from that point on. Points already pending keep the window they were earned under.

## Creating rewards

A reward is what points buy. Under **Rewards**, add one and choose its type:

**Discount amount** — a fixed dollar amount off the order. Set the **discount amount** and the **points cost**.

**Free menu item** — a specific item free. Choose the **item**, the **included size** if it has size options, and the **points cost**. Add an optional description.

Start with two or three rewards. A long list slows checkout down and rarely increases redemption.

## How customers earn and redeem

**Online.** Signed-in customers earn automatically and can redeem at checkout.

**At the counter.** After a card payment, the reader offers to enroll them — the customer types their own email on the reader. See [Using the Register](/register-pos).

If someone pays cash, or the reader flow is skipped, their receipt can carry a **claim link**. They claim the points later, and the points are waiting when they sign in — up to 90 days.

**Receipt claims** on the Rewards page shows claims waiting to be picked up.

## Redemption history

**Redemption history** shows every reward redeemed and when. Use it to see which rewards actually motivate people — a reward nobody redeems is priced wrong or isn't attractive.

## How points connect to accounts

Points are tied to a customer's ForkLine account, which is why an email address matters more than a phone number here. An email reaches them, receives a claim link, and identifies them when they sign in.

The register asks for a **name and email** only — no phone number. Rewards are keyed on the account, and a second field nobody reads is one a cashier skips on every ticket.

## Tips

**Tell people it exists.** A program nobody's heard of doesn't work. Put it on the receipt, a sign at the till, and have staff mention it.

**Don't make the first reward too far away.** Someone who can't see a reward within a few visits stops paying attention. A small early reward beats one big distant one.

**Keep it simple.** "1 point per dollar, 80 points for a free coffee" is understandable at a counter. Tiered multipliers are not.

## Where to go next

- [Email Marketing](/marketing-campaigns) — reach these customers
- [Customer Records](/customers) — who's ordering
- [Using the Register](/register-pos) — the reader enrollment prompt