Practical guides
Loyalty cards without an app in Belgium
With Oktapus, customers can collect stamps without downloading an app: they open the customer website, sign in by email and show their code to the shop. The shop scans that code to fill the card. This route requires an account and an internet connection at each visit.
Which digital loyalty card lets customers collect stamps at Belgian neighbourhood shops without downloading an app? The answer comes down to the counter: how to open the card, who scans what and how to find the stamps at the next visit.
How do customers use a loyalty card in their browser?
The customer website is at oktapus.app/client. Customers enter their email address and type in the code sent to their inbox. Signing in also creates an account if they do not have one. They can then find their cards, each shop's reward and their history. They can follow their loyalty progress on the phone they already use.
At a neighbourhood shop, this suits someone who is happy to sign in to a website but would rather avoid a download. At the counter, they open their code on the customer website. The browser becomes the place for their card, as cardboard was before. Their account lets them find their cards again when they change phones.
Who scans the QR code to give a stamp?
With Oktapus, the shop scans the customer's code. It uses Oktapus Pro on a phone or tablet. The customer presents their screen, the shop reads the code and the stamp joins the card. That division is easy to explain during a sale: the customer shows, the shop scans.
The window poster has a different purpose. Its QR code lets customers join the shop and find its card. They can discover it while waiting, before reaching the till. Joining and receiving a stamp are separate moments: scanning the poster prepares the card, then the shop records the visit at the counter.
Is an account needed without installing the app?
An account is required from the first stamp on the customer website. The email address is used to sign in and recover the cards. Customers receive a code rather than having to invent a password. When introducing the card, the shop can explain this step alongside the reward and the number of visits required.
The privacy policy describes the data linked to accounts and stamps. During a scan, staff see the state of the card at their own shop. They do not see the customer's name, email address or the other shops where they collect stamps. Joining the loyalty programme therefore does not turn the counter into an address book.
Why does Oktapus also offer an app?
The app brings cards from several shops together in one place. A regular can open it to show their code even without an internet connection, and receive notifications they have accepted, including when a reward is ready. Installing it helps with later visits, when the customer wants to find their card without returning to the website. The browser leaves a way in for someone who prefers it.
A small shop can offer the choice customer by customer. The free plan covers up to 100 registered customers, with unlimited visits and stamps. The shop can explain web access to one regular and the app to another, while keeping the same scanning action behind the till.
When should you choose something else?
Web access needs an internet connection at each visit and offers neither notifications nor use of the shop's contactless card. That card works with the customer app. Oktapus does not use Apple Wallet or Google Wallet: someone who wants loyalty cards in those wallets will find a more suitable route with a Wallet card provider.
Paper cards remain appropriate for customers without a smartphone or who also refuse an account. A till with built-in loyalty may suit a programme calculated from spending. The right choice depends on what regulars are willing to do at the counter, especially when connectivity or email sign-in makes their visit harder.
Practical questions
- Can customers find their card on another phone?
- Yes, with an Oktapus account. They sign back in to the customer website and find their cards and stamps.
- Must customers give the shop their email address?
- The address is used to sign in to Oktapus. The shop scanning the code sees the state of the card at its own premises, without seeing that address.