Loyalty Rewards at Checkout
Use this page to give a customer their loyalty points, rewards and tier discount at the register.
Quick steps
- Attach the customer. Type at least two letters of their name, phone, email or customer code into the customer search box in the cart and tap them — or scan their customer code or swipe their loyalty card.
- Ring up the sale as usual. If their tier has a discount, it's added by itself (for example Gold (5% off) in the totals).
- To spend points on a reward: tap Apply Discount. Under Loyalty Rewards, tap the reward. It shows as a Loyalty Reward Discount line.
- To put any number of points toward the bill: tap Apply Discount. In Cash Out Points, pick Dollars ($) or Points, type the amount and tap Apply.
- Take payment. Points are earned — and any spent points come off — when the sale completes.
No customer on the sale means no points and no loyalty discounts.
Common questions
Where do I see the customer's points? Tap Apply Discount — the Cash Out Points panel shows their balance and what it's worth. You can also tap the i next to the customer's name.
Can they use a reward and cash out points on the same sale? No, it's one or the other. Applying one takes the other off. Both can stack with the tier discount and an order discount.
The free-item reward says "Add it to the cart to redeem". Scan the item into the cart first, then apply the reward again.
How do I take a reward or cash-out off? Tap the X on its line in the cart totals.
More detail: the four parts of loyalty
Overview
Loyalty has four parts at checkout:
- Points earned: customers collect points on what they buy.
- Tier discounts: customers in a tier with a discount get it automatically.
- Reward redemption: customers spend points on rewards your admin has set up.
- Point cash-out: customers put any number of points toward the bill at their cash value.
Loyalty only works when a customer is attached to the sale. With no customer, no points are earned and no loyalty discounts apply.
If your store has turned the loyalty program off, the register gives no tier discounts and doesn't offer rewards or the Cash Out Points panel.
This page covers loyalty rewards, which customers pay for with points. Two other reward flows work separately:
- Manual rewards: comps and prizes a clerk hands out with the Reward button, costing no points. See Promo Games at the POS.
- Choice rewards: a "Choose Your Free Reward!" banner in the cart when a spend-based sale campaign qualifies. See Choice Reward Spend Thresholds below.
More detail: attaching a customer and seeing points
Attaching a Customer
To attach a customer:
- Type at least two characters of their name, phone, email or customer code into the customer search box in the cart, then tap them in the results.
- Scan their customer code (like
C10001) into the product search. - Swipe their loyalty card in the customer search box.
Once attached, the customer's name and code appear in the cart and loyalty applies to the sale.
Seeing the Points Balance
The cart doesn't show the customer's points. To see them:
- Attach the customer.
- Tap Apply Discount.
- If the customer can afford at least one reward, the Loyalty Rewards banner at the top shows their name and points (for example "Jane Smith — 450 points"), with the rewards they can redeem below it.
- If they have any points, the Cash Out Points panel shows their balance and its dollar value, for example "450 pts available · worth $9.00".
You can also tap the i button next to the customer's name to see their points balance in the customer details window.
More detail: earning points
Earning Points
Customers earn points automatically when a sale with them attached is completed. Your admin sets how many points each dollar earns.
How Points Are Worked Out
- Points are based on what the customer actually paid for the items, before tax and after discounts.
- Only products in categories set to earn loyalty count. Manual items earn points too.
- If the customer's tier has a points multiplier, or a loyalty bonus campaign is running, they earn extra.
- Points are added when the sale is completed. The customer doesn't need to do anything.
Tell the customer how many points they earned. It encourages them to come back.
When the sale is done, the sale-complete screen shows the customer's Points balance, how many points they earned and redeemed, and their tier. It's skipped when no customer was attached, and when the sale was saved offline.
The printed receipt has a LOYALTY POINTS section: balance before, points earned, points redeemed, and the new balance.
More detail: tier discounts
Tier Discounts (Automatic)
Tiers are set up by your admin. A customer moves up into a tier by reaching its lifetime spend or number of visits. If their tier comes with a discount, it's applied automatically.
How Tier Discounts Work
- When you attach a customer whose tier has a discount, the discount is added to the order automatically.
- It applies to products in loyalty-earning categories, after any order discount.
- It shows as its own line in the cart totals with the tier name and percentage, for example Gold (5% off).
| Line | Example |
|---|---|
| Subtotal | $100.00 |
| Gold (5% off) | -$5.00 |
| Tax (13%) | $12.35 |
| Total | $107.35 |
To take the tier discount off one sale, tap the X on its line in the cart totals. Removing the customer from the sale also removes it.
Tier Discount Stacking
The tier discount stacks with other discounts:
- Tier discount + order discount: both apply
- Tier discount + item discount: both apply
- Tier discount + freebie campaign: both apply
- Tier discount + loyalty reward: both apply
- Tier discount + point cash-out: both apply
A Gold customer can get their tier discount and redeem a reward on the same purchase. The only combination that isn't allowed is a reward together with a point cash-out.
More detail: redeeming rewards
Redeeming Loyalty Rewards
Rewards are set up by your admin and cost a set number of points.
Example Rewards
| Reward | Points Required | What the customer gets |
|---|---|---|
| $5 Off Your Purchase | 100 points | $5.00 off |
| 10% Off Entire Order | 200 points | 10% off |
| $10 Store Credit | 300 points | $10.00 added to their store credit |
| Free Pre-Roll | 100 points | One pre-roll off the bill |
Redeeming a Reward
- Attach the customer.
- Tap Apply Discount.
- The Loyalty Rewards section lists the rewards the customer can afford. Each shows:
- The reward name
- Its description, if there is one
- What it's worth (for example "$5.00 off", "10% off", "$10.00 credit" or "Free Pre-Roll")
- The points it costs
- Tap a reward. The window closes and the reward is added to the order.
Redeeming a reward or cashing out points is the customer's own earned value, so clerks can do it without a manager's PIN, even if they need one for other discounts. If your store has switched off Redeem Loyalty Rewards & Points for a role, that role needs a manager's PIN for these too.
What Happens When a Reward Is Redeemed
- A discount reward shows as a Loyalty Reward Discount line in the cart totals. It's separate from any order discount, so the two stack. Tap the X on that line to take the reward off.
- Changing or removing the customer clears the reward, so points never come off the wrong account.
- The points come off the customer's balance when the sale is completed.
- A store credit reward is added to the customer's store credit balance when the sale is completed.
- The receipt lists the reward with its points cost in the YOU SAVED section.
Points aren't taken when you tap the reward, only when the sale completes. If a completed sale is later voided, the points spent are given back, and the points earned on it are taken away again.
If the Points Can't Be Taken
The points for a reward or a cash-out are checked again when the sale completes. If the customer no longer has them (for example, they were spent at another register a moment earlier), the sale isn't saved, the cart stays as it is, and the register's "Sale failed" message says why. For a reward it includes:
Couldn't redeem $5 Off Your Purchase for Jane Smith: Insufficient points: has 40, needs 100. The sale was not saved — remove the reward and try again.
For a cash-out it starts "Couldn't cash out 250 points for Jane Smith" and ends "remove the points redemption and try again". Take the reward or cash-out off the sale, then complete it again.
Reward Eligibility
A reward only appears if:
- The customer has enough points.
- The reward is active and within any start and end dates your admin set.
- The customer's tier is high enough, if the reward is limited to certain tiers.
- The customer hasn't used up the reward's redemption limit, if it has one.
If the customer can't afford any rewards, the Loyalty Rewards section doesn't appear.
Free Product Rewards
A free-product reward ("Free Pre-Roll", 100 points) takes one of that item off a bill it's already on:
- Scan or tap the pre-roll into the cart as usual.
- Tap Apply Discount, then tap the reward.
- One pre-roll's price comes off, and the points are spent when you complete the sale.
Because the item is rung up normally, stock still goes down and returns work the usual way.
If the item isn't in the cart, the reward shows "Add it to the cart to redeem". Complete the sale anyway and the customer pays full price, but keeps their points. Add the item and apply the reward again.
More detail: cashing out points
Cashing Out Points
Customers don't have to wait until they can afford a reward. They can put any number of points toward the bill. Each point is worth the Cash value per point your admin set ($0.01 if it hasn't been changed).
- Attach the customer and tap Apply Discount.
- In the Cash Out Points panel, choose Dollars ($) or Points.
- Type what the customer asked for ("$5" or "250"). A preview confirms it, for example "Redeem 250 pts for $5.00 off".
- Tap Apply. The window closes.
The cart then shows a "250 pts redeemed" line with an X to remove it.
| Line | Example |
|---|---|
| Subtotal | $100.00 |
| 250 pts redeemed | -$5.00 |
How it works:
- It stops at the limit. You can't redeem more than the customer's balance or more than the order is worth. Type too much and it uses the most allowed, showing "(capped at 430 pts)".
- One or the other. A cash-out and a reward can't both be on a sale. Applying one clears the other.
- Changing the customer clears the cash-out, so points never come off the wrong account.
- Points leave the balance when the sale completes, not when you tap Apply.
- No points, no panel. The panel only appears once a customer with points is attached.
More detail: "Choose Your Free Reward!" spend thresholds
Choice Reward Spend Thresholds
Some sale campaigns are choice rewards. When the cart reaches a spend threshold, a "Choose Your Free Reward!" banner appears and the customer picks a free item (for example, "Spend $160, get a free ounce"). Your admin sets these up as sale campaigns, not as loyalty rewards.
Manual items count toward the threshold
Manual items (off-catalog charges added with the Manual Item button) count toward a choice reward's spend threshold. For example, $115 of products plus a $45 manual item reaches a $160 threshold.
This works even when the cart holds only manual items. A $500 tab keyed in by hand earns the reward just like a $500 catalog sale.
The threshold uses the Total including tax
A spend-based choice reward checks the Total with tax, not the subtotal before tax. A "$160 spend" reward unlocks when the Total with tax reaches $160, even if the subtotal before tax is lower.
This only applies to choice rewards. Other campaign types, like freebie thresholds, BOGO and quantity deals, still go by the subtotal before tax and item quantities.
If the banner does not appear
Look under the cart total for a small warning: "Offline pricing — promotions may be out of date". It means the register couldn't reach the server in time and priced the cart with the deals it had saved, so a recently added or changed promotion may be missing. This can happen on a slow connection even when the register looks online.
If you see it and expected a deal, check the connection and recalculate (remove and re-add an item) before telling the customer the promotion has ended.
More detail: combining loyalty with other discounts
Combining Loyalty with Other Discounts
The Apply Discount window puts the loyalty rewards at the top, with the text "or select another discount below". Scroll down for manual discounts and sale campaigns. If your role needs a manager's PIN for discounts, you'll see Other discount (manager PIN) there instead. If the rewards list has been hidden, tap ← Back to loyalty rewards to bring it back.
Rewards Stack With the Order Discount
A redeemed reward is kept separate from the order discount, so it adds on top of a manual or preset order discount instead of replacing it:
| Line | Example |
|---|---|
| Subtotal | $100.00 |
| Senior Discount (order, 10%) | -$10.00 |
| Loyalty Reward Discount ($5 Off) | -$5.00 |
| Discounted subtotal | $85.00 |
Tax is then worked out on the discounted subtotal. You don't have to choose between the senior discount and the reward. Apply both.
Choosing Between Options
Help the customer get the best value:
- A tier discount is automatic and costs no points.
- A loyalty reward costs points but may be worth more.
- A point cash-out works for any amount, but can't be combined with a reward, so compare the two first.
- A sale campaign costs nothing and may be more generous than a reward.
- A manual discount is fully flexible but needs the right permission.
More detail: when the register is offline
Offline Loyalty Support
When the register is offline, loyalty uses the information it saved earlier:
- The Apply Discount window shows: "Using cached loyalty data. Points balance will be verified when online."
- The saved points balance may not include the customer's latest purchases.
- You can still select and apply rewards.
- When the sale syncs, the server checks the points again. If the customer no longer has enough, the sale isn't saved (see If the Points Can't Be Taken). It stays in Sales History as a queued sale showing its last error, and after five tries it's marked FAILED.
- The cart totals show "Offline pricing — promotions may be out of date" whenever the cart was priced on the register instead of by the server. This can happen on a slow connection too.
- The sale-complete screen doesn't show the loyalty summary for a sale saved offline.
More detail: setting up the program (admin)
Loyalty Program Setup
The loyalty program is set up in the admin panel:
- Program settings: Settings → General tab. This is where you turn the loyalty program on and set Points Per Dollar Spent and Cash value per point ($). The cash value is what the Cash Out Points panel uses.
- Tiers and rewards: the Customers page → Loyalty button (shown when the loyalty program is on).
For setup instructions, see:
What's Next?
- Applying Discounts: manual discounts and how they combine with loyalty
- Sale Campaigns and Freebies: automatic promotions
- Promo Games at the POS: the Reward button and manual rewards
- Completing Payment: taking payment after discounts
- Customer Loyalty Points and Tiers: loyalty from the customer's side