Keep customers coming back with a built-in loyalty program for your customers. Award points to customers when they order, subscribe to your SMS list, or refer friends. They can redeem those points for discounts on future orders.
How it works
Once enabled, customers will automatically begin earning points for each qualifying order placed through your storefront. The number of points earned per dollar spent is customizable — you can set this value anywhere between 3 and 10 points per $1 spent.
💸 For example, if your accrual rate is set to 5 points per dollar, and a customer places a $20 order, they will earn 100 points.
1 loyalty point is equal to 1 cent, so 100 points can be redeemed for $1 off, 1,000 points can be redeemed for $10 off.
Points are then stored in the customer’s account and can be applied to future orders for a discount. When a customer has available points, they’ll see the option to redeem them at checkout. If they choose to redeem, the corresponding discount will be automatically applied to the order, and they’ll see it reflected on their receipt.
Do customers earn points on orders if they also redeem points for a discount?
Points are earned on every dollar spent, so if customers redeem points for a partial discount, they’ll still earn points on the remaining purchase amount of the order. The cycle of earning and redemption always continues!
💸 For example, if a customer redeems 500 points for $5 off of a $20 order, they will still earn points on the remaining $15 they spend.
Enabling Loyalty Points
To turn on Loyalty Points:
Go to your Settings
Click Loyalty
Click Enable
Loyalty settings
Each of these settings can be customized in the Loyalty section of your Settings:
Points earned per dollar spent: How many points customers earn for each $1 they spend (between 3 and 10)
Minimum balance to redeem: How many points a customer needs before they can redeem them. A higher minimum encourages repeat orders
Maximum points per order: The most points a customer can redeem on a single order. This caps the loyalty discount, so a large balance can’t cover a whole order. Choose from:
No limit = Customer can redeem as many points as they have
100 points = Customer can redeem up to $1 per order
500 points = Customer can redeem up to $5 per order
1,000 = Customer can redeem up to $10 per order
5,000 = Customer can redeem up to $50 per order
💸 For example, if you set a 500-point maximum, a customer with 2,000 points can take up to $5 off their order. The other 1,500 points stay in their account for future orders.
Awarding bonus points
The best loyalty programs also reward customers for reaching milestones or engaging with your business in other ways. There are 4 ways to award bonus points:
Repeat order bonus: If this is on, customers earn extra points every few orders (for example, 500 bonus points on every 5th order placed through your storefront).
Bonus to new subscribers: If this is on, new subscribers to your storefront get a one-time credit of loyalty points.
Bonus for referring friends: If this is on, customers earn bonus points when someone they referred completes an order through your storefront.
Manually awarded bonuses: You can add or deduct points from a customer’s balance at any time, for example to reward them for something they did outside of Hotplate:
Open their customer profile
Click the three-dot menu in the bottom right
Click Adjust loyalty point balance
Some ideas: give bonus points to customers who follow you on social media, come to your events, or post about you online.
Loyalty Points with Cash, Venmo, or Zelle
Customers earn points at the moment their payment is processed. When customers pay with a credit card, their points are applied to their account automatically. If they choose to pay with Cash, Venmo, or Zelle, they’ll receive points only once you confirm payment on their order.
How do customers see their points balance?
Once enabled, customers will start seeing a message at the bottom of their order confirmation page, letting them know how many points they earned:
This is also where they’ll see their progress towards earning a repeat order bonus, if you have this set up:
On future orders, customers with a point balance will see an option to redeem those points for a discount at checkout:
Important Notes
Points can be used alongside discounts or gift cards. They stack!
Points are storefront-specific — customers can only use points earned from your storefront on future orders placed with you (not any other Hotplate storefronts)
Points never expire, and remain usable even if you later turn the feature off. You will see a note describing this if you ever turn the setting off and customers still have unredeemed loyalty points:
