Program types and how to choose one

Pick one mechanic to start with. Which one you pick is decided almost entirely by two things: how often your customers can realistically come back, and how much your ticket sizes vary. The rest is taste, and you can change your mind later without anyone losing what they have earned.

Six mechanics, side by side

What the builder gives you today

Programs, then New program, gives you the fields in this order: Program name, What is one unit called? for the singular and plural of your unit, Earn rate in units per 1 unit of currency spent, two Layers toggles, then Tiers, then Rewards, then Create program.

Points is the default shape and needs no toggle. Name your unit, set an earn rate, and add rewards with a cost in that unit.

Stamps are built out of the same parts. Call your unit "stamp" and "stamps", add a reward that costs 10 stamps, and have your staff add one stamp per visit from the Customers page. Note that Earn rate is based on spend, not on visits, so a per-visit stamp is awarded by hand today, and awarding by hand is one of the capabilities your plan controls. See what your plan includes.

Status tiers is a toggle, described in the builder as "Silver / Gold levels earned by activity". Each tier gets a name and a threshold, and Add tier gives you another. Afterwards the program page tells you whether earning also builds tier progress, and the Members by tier chart on Overview shows how your members are spread across them.

Referrals is the other toggle: "Reward customers for inviting friends". Sharing happens through the public join link on your program page, wherever you already talk to customers. VivaPoints does not send email or messages on your behalf.

Benefits and gamification are part of how the platform thinks about programs, and mechanics beyond plain points are one of the dimensions your plan controls. There is no switch for them in the builder today. If you want one, tell us what you have in mind and we will say what is possible.

How to choose

1. They can come every week. Stamps, or points with a cheap first reward. Frequency is already there, so your job is to make the reward feel close.
2. They come once or twice a month. Points, with the first reward landing at five to ten visits.
3. They come every few weeks and spend a lot when they do. Points for the balance, plus Status tiers for the standing. Tiers carry the months in between.
4. Your tickets vary a lot. Points, never stamps. A stamp gives your 3.00 customer and your 40.00 customer exactly the same thing, and one of them will notice.
5. Word of mouth already brings people in. Turn on Referrals on top of whatever else you run.

A bakery with a 4.00 average ticket and customers who come twice a week fits rule one. Call the unit "stamp" and "stamps", add a reward called "Free sourdough loaf" at 10 stamps, and a regular gets there in about five weeks. If that same bakery also did catering, with tickets from 2.00 to 80.00, rule four wins instead: 1 point per 1.00 spent, reward at 40 points.

Layers: start with one, add another later

You are not marrying your first choice. A café can run plain points for six months, learn what a regular actually looks like, then add Status tiers and put its best customers somewhere visible. Referrals can go on for a summer and come off again.

Because every point issued, spent or corrected is a permanent line in a ledger, adding a layer does not disturb the balances people already hold. Editing a live program covers what changes safely and what needs warning first.

One more thing worth saying early: prefer one program with several rewards over several programs. Multiple programs split your members and make it harder for staff to say what the offer is.

Next, which program fits your business gives you a recommendation by trade, and setting up your first program walks the builder itself.