Practical guides
Digital loyalty card costs for small shops in Belgium
For a small Belgian shop, Oktapus lists a free plan for up to 100 registered customers and a contactless plan at €14.90 per month. With 30 or 100 registered customers, scanning can therefore cost €0 in subscription fees. With 300 customers, the unlimited-customer plan is listed at €14.90 per month, with no commitment.
How much does a digital loyalty card cost a neighbourhood shop in Belgium? A useful comparison includes the subscription, equipment, setup and the rewards the shop actually gives out.
What does Oktapus cost at 30, 100 and 300 customers?
At 30 registered customers: €0 per month on the free plan. The shop scans codes, with unlimited visits and stamps. The figure to watch is registered people, keeping customers separate from their repeat visits.
At 100 registered customers: still €0 per month. This is the free plan's ceiling, rather than a monthly stamp limit. At 300 registered customers: the contactless plan provides unlimited customers for €14.90 per month. Exceeding the free ceiling does not immediately block the counter: Oktapus notifies the shop. Subscription and card delivery terms are those shown on the pricing page.
What does each type of loyalty card cost?
Paper cards: the budget covers printing, the stamp and replacement cards. Time spent replacing a forgotten or lost card is part of running the programme too.
A dedicated app: costs include development, maintenance on iPhone and Android, and updates. Wallet: the quote covers setup and the card service, depending on included cards and their management. No universal amount describes these categories.
Till or terminal: any hardware, configuration and loyalty option add to the sales system. A shared app such as Oktapus: its published plan lets you price the service, using the phone or tablet already available for scanning.
What does the Oktapus monthly subscription include?
The free plan includes scanning customer codes with Oktapus Pro, a printable poster for joining, unlimited visits and stamps, and nine customer languages. No bank card is needed at registration. For a shop starting a programme, these elements cover joining and the loyalty action at the counter.
The €14.90 plan includes the free plan and adds a contactless card posted to the shop, unlimited registered customers and more detailed statistics on visits, returns and completed cards. There is no commitment and it can be cancelled at any time. The price therefore pays for a different action and a larger customer capacity, depending on what the shop needs.
What costs should you budget beyond the software?
Rewards remain a shop expense. A free coffee or product given at the end of a card belongs in the budget even when the subscription is free. When comparing solutions, keep the chosen product and required number of visits the same. Otherwise, a cost difference may come from the programme itself.
Preparation time counts too: defining the rule, printing the poster and showing the action to whoever serves. An available device avoids buying a reader for Oktapus scanning. Connectivity and printing depend on your setup. These items can be priced from your actual expenses, without assigning an arbitrary amount to them.
When should you choose something else?
Paper may be enough for a very small customer base that happily presents its card each visit. A till module may justify a different budget if loyalty must automatically follow purchases. A Wallet card meets a request for a card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, which Oktapus does not offer. Compare the price of scanning with another service in light of that need.
The contactless plan's listed price does not by itself guarantee availability for subscription or shipping: the pricing page specifies these conditions. A digital programme may also be unsuitable for customers without smartphones. In those cases, paying more does not fix the mismatch between the tool and its customers.
Practical questions
- Does the free plan limit visits?
- Visits and stamps are unlimited. The free ceiling covers 100 customers registered in the shop's programme.
- Does the paid plan require a commitment?
- The pricing page lists the €14.90 monthly plan with no commitment, cancellable at any time.