Digital Loyalty Cards for Pubs: How to Build a Base of Regulars Who Actually Return
Nov 17, 2025
Twenty-nine pubs close every week in the UK.
Not because the beer is bad. Not because people stopped drinking. Because the economics shifted and most publicans didn't adapt.
Wetherspoons has economy of scale you can't match. They buy beer cheaper. They pay less rent per square foot. They can afford loss leaders you can't.
Chains have brand recognition that drives walk-in traffic. Greene King. Marston's. Fuller's. People know what they're getting.
You have... what, exactly? Location? Maybe. Atmosphere? Sure, if people show up to experience it. Food? Probably comparable to the chain down the road.
Here's what you actually have that chains can't replicate: the ability to know your regulars by name. To remember what they drink. To build genuine community. To be somebody's local, not just a pub.
But you can't do that for 200 customers without infrastructure. You can't remember everyone's preferred pint. You can't track who used to come in every Thursday but hasn't been in for three weeks. You can't message your regulars about quiz night or the match tomorrow without their contact details.
The pubs surviving aren't hoping for walk-ins. They're building databases of locals who return predictably. They're using the same infrastructure that kept independent coffee shops alive while Costa ate the market.
Here's how.
The Pub Loyalty Playbook: Eight Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back
Different pub models need different loyalty mechanics. Your traditional local needs different infrastructure than a sports pub or a gastro-pub.
Perkstar gives you eight card types because one-size-fits-all loyalty is how chains think. You're not a chain.
Stamp Cards: The Classic "Buy X Pints, Get One Free"
What problem this solves: Customers visit irregularly. You want to create a reason to choose your pub over the six others in walking distance.
How it works: Customer gets a digital stamp for each pint (or meal, or visit—you decide). After 9 stamps, they get their 10th free.
Why digital beats paper: Your regular Tony has collected 8 stamps on his paper card over three weeks. Tonight he comes in. Doesn't have the card. It's at home on his kitchen counter.
You shrug. "Can't give you the stamp without the card, mate."
Tony's annoyed. You've just punished loyalty with bureaucracy. He goes to the pub next door out of spite.
Digital stamp cards live in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. Same place Tony keeps his bank cards and driving licence. He's not leaving home without his phone.
Better: when Tony walks past your pub on Friday evening, his stamp card pops up on his lock screen. "The King's Head — 8/10 stamps. Open now."
That's not marketing. That's intercepting the "which pub tonight?" decision at the exact moment it's being made.
Real-world setup for pubs:
Traditional pub: 9 pints = 10th free Cost to you: £1.20 in actual cost (not retail price) Result: Tony visits 3x more frequently because he's completing his card
Sports pub: 8 visits during match days = free pint on the 9th match Cost to you: Same Result: You've created a reason to watch every match at your pub, not just the big ones
Gastro-pub: 5 meals = 6th meal 50% off Cost to you: Variable, but you control it Result: You're building food regulars, not just drink regulars
Reward Cards: When Spend Matters More Than Visits
What problem this solves: You want customers who spend more, not just customers who visit often.
How it works: Customer earns points on every purchase. £1 spent = 1 point. 100 points = £5 reward (you set the ratio).
Why this works for pubs: Stamp cards treat all visits equally. The customer who orders one pint and leaves gets the same stamp as the customer who has three pints and dinner.
Reward cards scale with spending. The customer who's there for the evening, ordering rounds for friends, eating, having another—they're your most valuable customers. Reward them proportionally.
The sports pub application: Match days are your high-spend days. Customer comes in, orders food, multiple pints over 90 minutes, maybe shots after the win.
They're spending £45. They're earning 45 points toward reward. They feel like they're making progress toward something valuable.
The customer who comes in for one pint on a Tuesday? Earns 5 points. Still in the program, but the economics reflect actual value to your business.
Real-world setup: Customer needs £100 in spend to earn £5 reward (5% cashback in points form). Your regular who spends £200/month earns £10/month in rewards. Cost to you: 5% margin trade. Benefit: That customer visits more often to redeem and re-earn.
Membership Cards: Building Predictable Revenue
What problem this solves: Your revenue swings wildly. January is dead. December is packed. You want £X guaranteed every month.
How it works: Customers pay monthly or annual fee for member benefits. 10% off drinks, priority seating for sports, members-only events, whatever creates value worth paying for.
The economics for pubs: 200 members paying £5/month = £1,000/month recurring revenue = £12,000/year before you pour a single pint.
This covers your baseline costs. This smooths January when nobody's going out. This is the difference between hoping to make rent and knowing you'll make rent.
What makes membership worth it (customer perspective):
Bad: "Join our members club for occasional discounts!" Nobody pays for "occasional." That's uncertainty.
Good: "£5/month gets you 10% off all drinks, reserved seating for big matches, members-only beer tastings quarterly, and a free pint on your birthday."
The customer who visits 2-3 times/month saves £6-9 on the discount alone. Plus status. Plus exclusive experiences.
Real-world pub membership models:
The local: £50/year membership. Benefits include 10% off drinks, members-only Sunday sessions, first access to rare beers, priority for private room bookings.
The sports pub: £8/month membership. Benefits include guaranteed seating for Premier League matches, 15% off food on match days, members-only predictions league with prizes.
The gastro-pub: £120/year membership. Benefits include quarterly chef's table events, 20% off wine, priority reservations on weekends, exclusive tastings.
Multipass Cards: Prepaid Revenue You Need Today
What problem this solves: Cash flow. You need money in December to cover quiet January.
How it works: Customer buys a bundle: 20 pints for £70 (normally £80). They get discount. You get cash upfront. They're committed to returning.
Why this works brilliantly for pubs: Your regular drinks 3 pints a week. That's £12/week, £48/month, £576/year.
Offer them a 20-pint pass for £70 (they save £10, you get £70 upfront).
They buy it in December. You've secured £70 revenue you'll deliver over January-February when traffic is slow.
They've committed to 20 visits. They're not choosing between pubs 20 times. They've chosen you once.
The local pub application: Your locals are your bread and butter. They come in reliably. Offer them a pass that rewards their frequency with bulk discount.
"Regular's pass: 30 pints for £90" (normally £105).
Your true regular buys this. Saves £15. You get £90 cash immediately. They're locked in for the next 2-3 months of visits.
Real-world setup: Pub sells "30 Pint Pass: £90" to regulars. Sells 40 passes in December = £3,600 cash in December for drinks served over January-March.
That's January payroll covered. That's predictability. That's sleeping better.
Discount Cards: For Specific Segments
What problem this solves: Tuesday afternoon, six customers in a pub that seats eighty. You're paying for eighty seats worth of overhead.
How it works: Specific customer segment gets discount card. Students get 20% off Monday-Thursday. Locals get 15% off all the time. Shift workers get 20% off before 6pm.
The key: controlled distribution You're not offering discounts to everyone. You're targeting segments that fill your slow periods or reward your core base.
Students won't come Friday night (too expensive). But Monday-Thursday with 20% off? Maybe.
Shift workers finishing at 4pm won't stay for evening rush (they're going home). But 20% off before 6pm creates a reason to stop in.
Real-world pub discount strategies:
Community pub gives "Local's Card" to residents within 1-mile radius. 15% off everything, all the time. You're building neighborhood loyalty and creating a regular base.
University pub gives student discount cards (25% off food, 20% off drinks, Monday-Thursday only). Students fill your dead weeknights. They're not coming expensive weekends anyway.
Sports pub gives season ticket holder cards for local football club. Show your season ticket, get the validation code, 10% off on non-match days. You're capturing the football crowd beyond just match days.
Coupon Cards: Converting One-Time Visitors
What problem this solves: New customer walks in once. Enjoys it. Never returns because they forget you exist or fall into a different pattern.
How it works: First-time customer gets coupon (free appetizer, £5 off first food order, etc.). After they use it, the coupon automatically converts to a loyalty card—stamp card, points card, membership offer.
Why this matters for pubs: Traditional coupon: Customer gets free starter. Uses it. Leaves happy. Never returns.
You spent £3 in food cost to acquire them. They gave you one visit. You're down money.
Coupon that converts: Customer gets free starter. Uses it. Now they have a stamp card showing 1/10 progress toward free meal.
They're invested in a journey, not just redeeming a one-off coupon.
Real-world pub setup: New pub opens. Offers "Grand Opening: Free dessert with any main course" coupon.
Customer redeems. Enjoys the meal. Their coupon automatically becomes a stamp card: "Welcome! You've got your first stamp—9 more visits and your 10th meal is free."
You've converted acquisition cost into loyalty infrastructure.
Cashback Cards: For Your Big Spenders
What problem this solves: Your top 20% of customers generate 65% of revenue. You want to reward them specifically.
How it works: Customer earns percentage back on spending. Spend £100, earn £10 credit toward next visit.
Why this works for pubs: Your regular who brings his mates on Friday, orders rounds all night, gets food, stays late—he's spending £80-120 per visit.
That's £320-480/month if he comes weekly.
He should be rewarded differently than the customer who comes in for one pint on a Tuesday.
Cashback does this. The more he spends, the more he earns. He's getting value that scales with his value to you.
Real-world setup: Pub offers 10% cashback to regulars. Customer spends £400/month. Earns £40/month in credit. Effectively getting 10% discount, but it's framed as earning rewards, not getting discounts (psychology matters).
He's incentivized to keep spending because he's earning. You're rewarding your best customers without looking discount-heavy to everyone else.
Gift Cards: Upfront Revenue and New Customer Acquisition
What problem this solves: You want revenue today. You want new customers to try your pub.
How it works: Customer buys digital gift card for £25, £50, £100. Recipient gets it in Apple/Google Wallet. Redeems at your pub.
Why every pub should offer these: Father's Day. Birthdays. Christmas. Corporate gifts. People want to give pub experiences.
If you don't offer gift cards, that money goes to a restaurant or retail instead.
If you do offer them, you're getting:
Upfront revenue (cash in June for redemption in July)
New customer acquisition (recipient might never have visited otherwise)
Higher spend than card value (£50 gift card typically results in £67 spend—recipient buys more than the card covers)
The hidden economics: 15-20% of gift cards never get fully redeemed. That's pure profit on money you already collected.
Even cards that do get redeemed often bring new customers who become regulars. Your gift card acquisition cost is £0 (someone else paid for it).
Real-world setup: Pub offers digital gift cards for £25, £50, £100. December: Sell £8,000 in gift cards (Christmas gifts, office parties). January-March: Cards get redeemed when you actually need the traffic.
You smoothed revenue. You acquired new customers at zero cost. Some cards won't even fully redeem. Three wins.
The Infrastructure That Makes Pub Loyalty Work
Having eight card types means nothing if the infrastructure doesn't work behind the bar on a Friday night.
Here's what actually matters.
Scanner App: Because Bar Staff Are Busy
Most loyalty systems require expensive POS integration or manual entry (which won't happen when you've got 20 people waiting for drinks).
Perkstar's scanner app runs on any smartphone or tablet.
Workflow:
Customer shows digital loyalty card from their phone
Staff opens scanner app, scans the QR code
Stamp issued / points awarded / membership verified
Takes 5 seconds total
No expensive hardware. No complicated POS integration. No interruption to service flow.
Your bar staff can do this while pulling pints. That's the requirement. If it's more complicated than that, it won't get used during actual service.
Push Notifications: Filling Seats on Demand
Paper loyalty cards can't message customers. Digital cards can.
Geo-notifications: Your regular walks past your pub at 7pm on Wednesday. Notification: "The King's Head — You're nearby. Quiz night starts at 8pm. Show your card for 2-for-1 pints tonight."
Not spam. They're loyalty members. This is helpful information when they're literally nearby.
Event-based notifications: Big match tomorrow. Send notification to all sports members: "United vs. City tomorrow at 3pm. Show your member card for guaranteed seating and match day specials."
You're filling seats for events that drive revenue. Can't do this with paper cards.
Weather-triggered campaigns: Raining. Your beer garden is empty but your indoor is fine. Send notification: "Rainy day special — free bar snacks with any pint. Today only."
You're using external conditions to create timely offers.
Time-sensitive promotions: It's Tuesday at 5pm. You've got 8 customers in a pub that seats 80. Send notification to loyalty members: "Quiet Tuesday — show your card for 20% off all drinks until 9pm."
You're monetizing empty seats in real-time.
Automation: Set It and Forget It
You don't have time to manually send birthday messages or win-back campaigns. You're pulling pints and managing staff.
Automation handles engagement:
Birthday pints: Automatically send customers a free pint voucher on their birthday. You set it once. It runs forever. Customers feel remembered.
Win-back campaigns: Customer used to come every Thursday. Three weeks without a visit. Automatic message: "We miss you! Come back this week and get double stamps."
You're identifying churn risk through data and intervening automatically.
Milestone celebrations: Customer hits their 25th visit. Automatic message: "25 visits! You're a proper regular. Here's a free pint on the house."
These touches cost you £1-3 each in actual cost but create loyalty worth hundreds.
Quiz night reminders: Every Wednesday at 4pm, automatic reminder to all loyalty members: "Quiz night tonight at 8pm. Team spaces filling up—arrive early!"
You're driving attendance to events that increase revenue.
Google Review Rewards: More Reviews = More Walk-Ins
When someone searches "pubs near me," Google shows pubs with:
High ratings
Recent review activity
High review count
More reviews = better ranking = more discovery = more walk-ins.
Perkstar automates this:
Customer visits
Automatic message 24 hours later: "Enjoyed your visit? Leave us a Google review and get a free pint next time."
Customer leaves review
System detects it, automatically awards free pint voucher
Customer redeems, you get the visit
You're not manually tracking reviews. You're not manually issuing rewards. It's automated incentive for the thing that drives more walk-in traffic than almost anything else.
Referral Program: Your Customers Recruit New Customers
Your best marketing isn't Facebook ads. It's your regular bringing his mates and saying "this is my local."
Referral programs systematize this: "Bring a friend. When they visit and join our loyalty program, you both get a free pint."
Now your regulars are actively recruiting. Because both parties benefit.
Cost to you: £2.40 in actual cost (two pints) for acquiring a new customer. Cost of Facebook ad for same customer: £15-25 with no quality guarantee.
The referred customer also comes in with social proof. They're more likely to become a regular themselves.
Customer Analytics: Know Your Regulars
You know Tony comes in every Thursday. You know Sarah orders G&T. But do you know:
Who are your top 50 customers by lifetime spend?
Which regulars used to visit weekly but haven't been in for two weeks? (Churn risk)
What's the average visit frequency for loyalty members vs non-members?
Which promotions actually drive visits vs which ones just give discounts to people who'd come anyway?
What's your busiest day/time and how can you shift some demand to quieter periods?
Perkstar's analytics show you:
Customer visit frequency and trends
Lifetime spend per customer
Redemption rates on different promotions
Churn risk indicators
Which events/promotions drive the most attendance
This data changes how you run your pub. You can save your best customers before they drift away. You can test what actually drives behavior. You can optimize around what works.
Built-In CRM: Remember Your Regulars
"What are you having, Tony?"
That question—knowing what your regular drinks without asking—is the entire point of being a proper local.
But you can't remember 150 regulars' drink preferences, allergies, and quirks without help.
Perkstar's CRM stores:
Customer names and contacts
Visit history
Preferences ("always has lime in his lager," "vegetarian," "supports Arsenal—don't mention football")
Lifetime spend
Last visit date
Staff notes
Your bar staff can check the system before serving a regular. "The usual, Tony?" when Tony hasn't told you what he drinks creates the exact "this is my local" feeling that keeps customers coming back.
At scale. Without relying on memory.
Real-World Pub Workflow
Theory doesn't matter. Here's what this looks like during actual service:
New customer's first visit:
Enjoys their drinks
Bartender mentions: "Want to join our regulars program? Free pint after 10 visits. Just scan this QR code."
Customer scans QR code at the bar
Digital stamp card appears in their phone
They're enrolled (you have their email, you can engage them)
Customer returns (2nd-10th visit):
Shows digital card from phone
Bartender scans with scanner app
Stamp issued automatically
5 seconds, no interruption
Customer returns (11th visit):
Card shows 10/10 stamps—free pint earned
Bartender scans, confirms reward, pours the pint
Card resets to 0/10 for next cycle
Customer continues journey
Ongoing (automated behind the scenes):
Customer gets birthday message with free pint
If they don't visit for 30 days, automatic win-back message with bonus stamp offer
When quiz night approaches, automatic reminder
If it's a big match day, automatic notification about guaranteed seating for members
You're tracking:
Who's visiting regularly
Who's at risk of churning
Which events drive the most attendance
Which customers are your highest value
What actually works vs what's just giving away margin
This isn't theory. This is how pubs are building loyal customer bases while others are hoping for walk-ins.
The Economics: Why This Pays for Itself Immediately
Cost: Perkstar starts at £15/month. That's £0.50/day. Half a pint.
Return: If loyalty increases visit frequency from 1.5x/month to 2.3x/month across just 100 enrolled customers:
100 customers x 0.8 additional visits x £18 average spend = £1,440/month additional revenue Minus £15 platform cost = £1,425/month net gain
That's 95x ROI on a conservative estimate.
Even if it only increases frequency by 50%—£720/month—you're still at 48x ROI.
The question isn't whether this pays for itself. The question is why you're not using it while your competitor down the road is.
Who Should Use This (And Who Shouldn't)
This works for most pubs. Not all.
You should implement loyalty infrastructure if:
You want to build a regular customer base
You're competing with chains (Wetherspoons, Greene King, etc.)
You run events (quiz nights, sports viewing, live music) and want to drive attendance
You want more predictable revenue
You're tired of empty weeknights while competitors are busy
You probably don't need this if:
You're already at capacity 7 days a week (different problems)
You're closing next month (obviously)
Your entire business model is passing trade with zero repeat behavior (rare for pubs)
For the 95% of pubs trying to build a base of regulars who choose you deliberately—this is infrastructure, not optional.
Getting Started: First Month Timeline
Week 1:
Sign up for Perkstar
Choose one card type (start with stamp cards—simplest)
Set it up (9 pints = 10th free, or whatever makes sense)
Print QR codes for the bar
Week 2:
Train staff on pitch: "Want to join our regulars program? Free pint after 10 visits—scan this."
Soft launch with your known regulars
Get their feedback
Week 3:
Public launch: bar mats, social media, tell everyone
Track enrollment
Optimize pitch based on what's working
Month 2:
Add automation (birthday pints, win-back campaigns)
Set up Google review rewards
Test push notifications for events
Month 3:
Add second card type if needed (membership for top regulars, maybe)
Optimize based on data
Scale what's working
Don't overthink it. Start simple. Add complexity as you learn.
The Competitive Reality for Pubs in 2025
Twenty-nine pubs close every week because they're competing on price with chains that have better buying power, or they're competing on nothing and hoping for walk-ins.
The pubs surviving are building infrastructure that creates preference beyond price and location.
Your competitor might implement loyalty this quarter. Once your shared regulars have 8/10 stamps there, they're not splitting visits evenly with you anymore. They're completing their card.
This is a land grab. First mover advantage in your local market is real.
The technology has democratized. What used to require enterprise budgets is now £15/month. What used to require developers is now QR codes.
The barrier isn't technology or cost. It's deciding to build infrastructure instead of hoping things improve.
Your Tuesday nights are quiet either way. Your revenue is volatile either way. Your best regulars are visiting irregularly either way.
Build the infrastructure that makes them choose you deliberately, or watch your competitor do it first.
Stop hoping for regulars. Start building a base of locals who actually return. Perkstar gives pubs everything covered here: eight card types, automated campaigns, event promotion tools, and infrastructure that works behind the bar during Friday night rush.
The pubs winning in 2025 won't have the cheapest pints. They'll have the most loyal customers.
