25 Best Loyalty Management Software [With Pros and Cons]
Loyalty software for large businesses:
Loyalty software for medium-sized businesses:
- LoyaltyLion
- Smile.io
- Yotpo
- Kangaroo
- Zinrelo
- Square Loyalty
- Influitive
- Lootly
- LoyaltyZen
- Marsello
- Spaaza
Loyalty software for small, local businesses:
Encouraging customer loyalty is one of the most effective ways to grow ROI simply because keeping loyal customers costs less than acquiring new ones. Though most “invest less and earn more” schemes sound (deservedly) as a scam, loyalty programs are a whole different story.
I could go all day long with statistics showing that loyalty is the foundation of today’s business. I could show you how many companies implement customer loyalty programs into their strategies – but you already know that. So you’re here not to see why it is good to create a loyalty program for your customers, distributors, resellers, or business partners, but to learn which loyalty software is the best for your business.
To save you some time, I’ve prepared a list of 25 customer loyalty program software you might find helpful for your company. And – since 25 is a relatively large number – I’ll try to help you choose one. All the information I’ve gathered is publicly available on respective software websites – if you spot any inaccuracies, let me know on marketing@voucherify.io.
How to choose the best loyalty software for your business?
Since your requirements regarding new loyalty software will most likely vary depending on the size of your company, business model, and the branch you work in, I’ve created a checklist of things to consider before deciding which loyalty management software you should go with.
1. Time to market
Despite being super functional and affordable, some software takes a long time to implement into your marketing stack. So before you engage in negotiations or decide to invest, try to assess how long it will take before your company could actually use the new platform (including onboarding and testing)
2. Easiness of use
Though headless built is a desired feature of a loyalty program software, you need to consider people who will be working with the platform regularly and people who will use it (as customers). Check if the loyalty platform has a graphic UI, read some reviews – they will tell you a lot about how easy it is to use given software.
3. Support & success
Another thing you can learn from reviews is how helpful and competent the support team is. Check if they work during your working hours, and make sure which means of communication you may use to report issues that might occur. Also, please pay attention to case studies and other things that might reveal how engaged the team is in working alongside their customers to help them achieve their goals.
4. Pricing
Though many loyalty management platforms have their pricing hidden, a few still have their prices on display. Note, though, that there are a few types of pricing – some companies charge monthly, no matter how you use their resources, others offer usage-based pricing. What’s more, some platforms provide add-ons and upgrade packs.
5. Key features
Each company has its own set of features they can’t do business without. If the loyalty management software you’re considering doesn’t have one of them, even the most attractive offer won’t change the fact that using such software could become a frustrating experience. So before you decide, make a list of all those crucial features and make sure the software has it all.
6. Reception – ratings & reviews
No matter what companies say about their software on their websites, it’s always a good idea to check the internet for reviews and ratings. I did it for you this time, as I included Capterra or G2 ratings for each software I mention in this article. Also, you’ll find fragments of reviews in the ‘Advantages’ and ‘Disadvantages’ sections, so you can get a better look at what people think about specific solutions. I encourage you to dig deeper if you’re really interested – but only after narrowing down the list to three or four customer loyalty software.
7. API availability
In a world of headless applications, the need for API is more vital than before. Therefore, the software API should be well-documented, accessible, and provide developers with as many endpoints as possible – if so, your team will be able to integrate software easily with any touchpoint.
8. Personalization options
The more personalization options available, the better. Check if you will be able to tailor the loyalty program to your needs. Creating custom rewards, tiers, and reward actions is the way to make the loyalty program as successful as possible.
Knowing all this, you should be able to find loyalty software that will meet all your needs. I’ve divided the list into three categories: loyalty software for enterprises, medium-sized businesses, and small businesses, so you can quickly skip to one you are interested in.
Loyalty software for large businesses
1. Voucherify
Disclaimer: This is our product
Best for medium-sized and large businesses.
Voucherify is an API-first loyalty software that, thanks to its modular approach, allows users to build loyalty programs with minimum upfront integration. Voucherify offers plenty of customization features, including custom and time-limited reward actions, gamified program tiers, pay-with-points functionality, and integrations with popular marketing tools (such as Braze, ActiveCampaign, or Segment). Besides a variety of customization options, Voucherify is a great fit for more demanding clients thanks to their range of enterprise-grade features – dedicated data clusters, user roles, custom SLAs and account security.
Pricing: All pricing plans are preceded by a 30-day free trial. A free plan is available. All regular plans are usage-based, cancel-any-time, paid monthly.
- Startup plan – €169,
- Growth plan – €399,
- Professional plan – €599,
- Enterprise plan – custom.
User feedback: 4.7/5 (19 reviews)
Advantages:
“Tying all these validation rules together is big for us because it requires a lot of “dancing and handholding” between various data points and systems on the backend, pulling in a lot of data pieces. Thanks to Voucherify, we can launch personalized promotions at scale.” – Clorox testimonial
- Stellar support – users report that Voucherify’s support service was responsive and interested in delivering custom solutions to unique business challenges.
- Intuitive dashboard – after the initial integration, Voucherify offers an easy-to-navigate user interface where non-technical users can quickly set up program rules, tiers, and rewards.
- Pricing – Voucherify pricing is based on the API usage, not the number of features so that users can pay less when they are just getting started with the tool.
- Multiple campaign types – Voucherify offers different campaign types (unique vouchers, promotions, gift cards, referrals, and giveaways). By combining all promotions in a single tool, users can limit the number of tools in their stack and see clear ROI from their promotional activities.
Disadvantages:
“The platform takes a little bit of training as it's not completely intuitive.” – Georgia Y. via Capterra
- Mandatory onboarding – Voucherify is ready to cover complex loyalty requirements and as such, the tool is not the easiest to operate for new users.
- No front-end – Voucherify is a back-end solution for loyalty, it does not offer ready front-end elements (except for cockpits, email designer, and landing pages).
Is API available?
Yes, Voucherify offers a well-documented REST API with 50+ endpoints and 10+ SDKs for faster implementation time. See our documentation.
Personalization
Thanks to headless architecture, Voucherify provides a flexible data model that can be extended with custom objects (metadata) and events. This set of features allows users to set up any reward action, reward (both digital and physical), and segment program members on the basis of custom filters.
2. SaaSquatch
Best for medium-sized and large businesses.
SaaSquatch is a Canadian customer engagement platform with powerful loyalty and referral modules. The platform is easy to integrate, however, it also allows for more custom implementations of sophisticated, innovative programs based on any customer data or behavior. SaaSquatch is known for stellar support with implementation.
Pricing: No free trial. No free version. Pricing starts at $1750.00 per feature, per month.
User feedback: 4.5/5 (10 reviews)
Advantages:
“SaaSquatch was easy to use, they have good documentation and great support. We had a direct line to a dedicated support engineer to help us work through any problems we had.” – Jeremy L. via Capterra
- Program library – SaaSquatch offers ready templates and widgets that can greatly accelerate the implementation time.
- Support – as reported by users, the SaaSquatch support team is kind and responsive. They are also open to help with custom integrations and unique requests.
- Referrals – SaaSquatch comes with a powerful referral module on top of their loyalty software.
Disadvantages:
“There were some limitations in terms of customization and fitting it into our platform to be exactly as we wanted down to a tee.” – Edgar Z. via Capterra
- Limited customization – the loyalty program front-end and widgets have limited customization options.
- Pricing – compared to other providers, SaaSquatch is expensive.
- Focus on referrals – currently, SaaSquatch remains primarily a referral software, with not enough focus paid to their loyalty module which may make loyalty upgrades less frequent.
Is API available?
Yes, SaaSquatch offers a REST API with over 30 endpoints for a highly customizable way of connecting the user’s application with SaaSquatch.
Personalization
Users can build their own customer loyalty programs and add extra information using custom fields and user events passed via API.
3. AnnexCloud
Best for medium-sized and large businesses.
AnnexCloud is a comprehensive loyalty solution that also offers referral, UGC, and gamification modules. Besides point-based reward schemes, AnnexCloud also offers paid membership program out-of-the-box to allow users to target the most valuable customers. However, as noted by some users, the software could be easier to integrate and provide better documentation and onboarding to make the implementation trouble-free.
Pricing: No free trial. No free version. Hidden pricing (available upon initial contact).
User feedback: 4.2/5 (37 reviews)
Advantages:
“A great solution for businesses to add social log-ins and loyalty programs on their site, as well as many other available features.” – Joseph D. via Capterra
- Complex & custom programs – AnnexCloud is not a plug-and-play solution, allowing users to launch fully-customized loyalty programs with a custom front-end.
- Great ongoing support – as reported by users online, AnnexCloud offers a range of helpful resources and a stellar customer support service.
- Modular built – users can start small and incrementally add more modules to their program, without large upfront costs.
- Advanced configuration – with AnnexCloud, users can set up custom reward actions, gamified tiers, and any rewards (which can also be generated within AnnexCloud thanks to their internal coupon system).
Disadvantages:
“Not much to dislike other than we had bumps in the road during implementation. The UI and dashboards are also in desperate need of an update.” – Brandon M. via Capterra
- Time-consuming implementation – the integration process of the loyalty module can be time-consuming and resource-intensive for less experienced development teams.
- Hidden pricing – it may be difficult to estimate the product value straight away as AnnexCloud require prior contact before sharing pricing information or showcasing the tool.
- Outdated UI – as noted by some of AnnexCloud users, the platform UI could be more intuitive and modern to reflect the needs and preferences of today’s digital teams that need to operate the platform daily.
Is API available?
Yes, AnnexCloud offers API and over 100+ technology integrations.
Personalization
Thanks to the API and the custom integration approach, it is possible to personalize the program based on the user’s business needs (custom fields, events).
4. Talon.One
Best for medium-sized and large businesses.
Talon.One is a headless Promotion Engine with a flexible loyalty module. As an API-first tool, Talon.One requires initial custom development to get started. After the integration, the simple rule and effect principle makes it easy to set up custom earning rules, rewards, and loyalty logic. Talon.One also integrates with plenty of the most popular marketing technology tools that can support your retention goals.
Pricing: No open trial (available on request). No free plan. All pricing plans are custom. Usage-based pricing model with some features limitations. Talon.One’s pricing is based on an annual contract – after the starter contract ends, the company is known to increase the pricing.
User feedback: 4.7/5 (13 reviews)
Advantages:
“The biggest selling point for us is the flexibility that Talon provides.” – David K. via Capterra
- Extended flexibility – being a headless tool, Talon.One lets users build a loyalty program with tailor-made logic.
- Support – as reported by multiple reviews, Talon.One’s support team is responsive, kind, and knowledgeable.
- Many campaigns, single tool – besides the loyalty module, Talon.One also offers discounts, referrals, and product bundles that can be easily incorporated into the loyalty program.
Disadvantages:
“My number one most frustrating thing about Talon One is the lack of training and tool descriptions” – Luke S. via Capterra
- Pricing – based on a number of reviews posted online, it can be estimated that Talon.One pricing can be steep for smaller teams. (”Cost can be expensive, depending on your scale. It depends on your ability to mobilize actions internally to make this a profitable addition.” – Johnny Quatch, CTO at Hostelworld).
- Poor onboarding – Talon.One’s Rule Engine is a powerful, but poorly explained feature that can make the setup of a loyalty program difficult for less technical teams. As reported by one of the users, “the technical language inside of Talon.One's GUI interface is not exactly straightforward. It takes some prolonged usage before one quite understands how to build a campaign from scratch.”
- Single builder – Talon.One offers a single Campaign Manager for all campaign types, making the UI confusing for new or inexperienced users.
Is API available?
Yes, Talon.One offers a well-documented API divided into Management and Integration API. The platform also provides 7 SDKs for faster implementation.
Personalization
Talon.One follows the headless model, allowing users to quickly extend and customize the program rules, rewards, and tiers with custom fields and actions.
5. Emarsys
Best for large retail and e-commerce businesses, preferably SAP clients.
Emarsys is an omnichannel customer engagement platform (which is now a part of SAP corporation). It offers a personalization engine, marketing automation as well as data-driven, built-in analytics allowing users to implement their strategies to each marketing channel they actively use. It works best in concert with SAP Commerce Cloud for complete data ownership.
Pricing: Emarsys offers 100% custom pricing – there are no visible plans you might choose from. To get a pricing offer, you need to contact Emarsys’ sales team.
User feedback: 4.2/5 (9 reviews)
Advantages:
“It's great if you have a large database, with lots of segmented info which you can drill down into to get the most out of the system. However, if you are a small/medium-sized company with not a lot of in-depth information on your database, then this can fast become an expensive lesson to learn.” – Anonymous via Capterra
- Complete data ownership – if you operate on other Emarsys systems and add loyalty on top, you can gain deep customer insights beyond transaction history.
- Actionable tactics – Emarsys loyalty dashboard offers ready loyalty tactics to achieve different business goals.
- Support for large databases – users can automatically synchronize customers, events, and products with Emarsys to unlock sophisticated tactics, smart segmentation, and real-time personalization.
Disadvantages:
“I still try to avoid creating a customer service ticket at Emarsys if I can, because most of the time the answers/help is unsatisfying.” – Anonymous via G2
- Support issues – Emarsys has some support problems including a long customer service response time.
- Difficult management – users point out that the platform is not particularly easy to use (“‘It might be hard to create different email templates”, “Sometimes it is really complex and when you try to change the schema of an e-mail or SMS you need to navigate in a very manual way and it is a cause of time loss for your company”, “The biggest issue I have with the platform so far is the difficulty with reporting. Identifying testing results forces me to create two campaigns to see the level of detail I'm looking for.”) These are just a few examples from G2 reviews.
- Expensive pricing – some customers report a very high price point (in comparison to other loyalty software).
Is API available?
Emarsys comes with not one, but 4 APIs: Suite, Loyalty, Loyalty V3, and SMS API. All of them are REST-styled and the Suite API alone consists of over 140 endpoints.
Personalization:
There are some customization options available, however, the Emarsys loyalty add-on is built with quick installation in mind. For example, users can customize some elements of the customer interface (color, placement, font).
6. White Label Loyalty
Best for mid-sized and large companies working in retail, ecommerce, and B2B areas.
White Label Loyalty can be used as a standalone marketing platform or as a loyalty add-on. White Label Loyalty logic is based on the Loyalty Engine, an event-based loyalty powerhouse that is responsible for the program logic. Thanks to event-based architecture, the system is ready to reward any high-value brand interaction and with the rewards API, the system can offer third-party rewards.
Pricing: There’s no publicly available pricing for White Label Loyalty – businesses interested in signing up have to fill out the contact form on the WLL website to request a demo and get a pricing proposition.
User feedback: 5/5 (2 reviews)
Advantages:
“‘As it was a learning process for us as a business having never dealt with apps before, there were some elements we were uncertain of going into it, but WLL worked with us throughout to make changes, additions, and improvements to get it to where it needed to be.’ – Olivia P. via Capterra
- AI module – with White Label Loyalty’s AI, users can personalize the loyalty program based on customers’ predicted value and churn probability. On top of that, the system can capture high-value interaction to discover the most cost-efficient customer retention strategy.
- Progressive web & mobile apps – White Label Loyalty offers ready solutions for customer interface for both web and mobile.
- Receipt scanning technology – White Label Loyalty uses intelligent computer vision powered by machine learning to capture transaction data from any receipt.
Disadvantages:
‘Like most digital platforms there is a learning curve and understanding the functionality requires a little guidance and tuition.’ – Phil G. via Capterra
- Unintuitive setup – some time is required to learn how to use the platform effectively.
- Expensive – though the prices are hidden, some reviewers say that prices start at $2,799/month, which is out of reach for most SMBs.
Is API available?
White Label Loyalty claims to be API-first – it offers rewards, events, users, venues and marketing API, as well as a JavaScript SDK.
Personalization:
White Label Loyalty processes loyalty interactions as a stream of events, allowing users to set up any event flow that reflects real-world customer activity. The platform can be managed via API and be connected to any data source allowing for comprehensive customization options.
7. Open Loyalty
Best for medium-sized and large businesses.
Open Loyalty is an API-driven loyalty engine that makes it easy to integrate points, actions, and rewards into any business model. With a flexible set of over 50 API-based building blocks, businesses can quickly build personalized reward programs by picking and choosing what loyalty features they need. To guarantee cost-effective scalability, Open Loyalty is built on top of the API, not the other way around.
Pricing: Open Loyalty offers two pricing plans – for SaaS and on-premise solutions. The prices are hidden and there is no open trial.
User feedback: 4.7/5 (7 reviews)
Advantages:
“The software has been easy to use and understand. The API documentation is kept up to date and is easy to consume. The team at Open Loyalty are great, they consistently provide good service and are willing to help if required.” – Mark P. via Capterra
- Pre-built accelerator projects – Open Loyalty provides ready loyalty projects that can speed up the implementation process or be used to build a PoC.
- Open-source – Enterprise clients get full access to the source code.
- Full customization – as an API-driven tool, Open Loyalty is ready to accommodate custom loyalty scenarios, including fee-based, charity, or B2B programs.
Disadvantages:
“We experienced some issues during the initial setup as our tech team was not familiar with all of the tech stacks used, some of our requirements are not supported, and our tech team experiences some challenges in customizing it." – Joris S. via Capterra
- Difficult multi-instance management – the configuration of different program variants for different stores is not easy to achieve.
- Mandatory custom development – a development team is needed to implement Open Loyalty, therefore it might be the best platform for smaller projects with limited resources.
- Limited out-of-the-box features – as the platform is geared towards customization, some basic loyalty mechanics or integrations with other tools have to be coded from scratch.
Is API available?
Yes, Open Loyalty business model is based on the API. Note that the solution is geared towards loyalty projects based on the Symfony Framework.
Personalization:
Following the headless model, Open Loyalty offers an open API that can be used to incorporate custom reward schemes into any frontend layer.
8. Antavo
Best for large businesses from the apparel & fashion industry
Antavo is a popular fashion & retail loyalty platform with quick POS integration to power omnichannel retention strategies for both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses. The platform is versatile in its offering, providing solutions for all types of loyalty scenarios – paid loyalty programs, referrals, communities, and tier-based solutions.
Pricing: Antavo pricing is a custom quote. To receive more information, contact with their team is necessary.
User feedback: 4.3/5 (15 reviews)
Advantages:
“Antavo are not only bothered about their own success, but their customers’ success as well. The advice and support they gave me really encouraged me and helped my marketing strategy.” – Anonymous via Capterra
- Building a community – Antavo allows companies to build exclusive experiences by creating private shopping clubs and special interest groups.
- In-store focus – Antavo offers a variety of innovative in-store technologies, including mobile wallets and loyalty experience kiosks.
- Loyalty AI – Antavo provides specialized loyalty AI, which helps to reduce churn and predict the next best action.
Disadvantages:
“I primarily gave it a one star because there was no support... but there were a handful of marketing-related emails.” – Daniel D. via Capterra
- Poor customer support – some reviews online suggest that Antavo’s support team is not responsive enough.
- Platform bugs – the number of available features makes the platform buggy and sometimes difficult to navigate for new users.
Is API available?
Yes, Antavo offers a set of RESTful APIs. The platform is modular, which means that specific loyalty features are grouped into API modules that can be quickly added and removed.
Personalization:
Besides a set of APIs that can be connected to any touchpoint to build custom loyalty programs, Antavo also offers building blocks for white-label loyalty apps that can be implemented straight away as a new app or plugged into an existing solution.
9. Xoxoday
Best for mid-sized and large businesses.
Xoxoday is a reward program software that offers powerful incentives and benefits infrastructure for customers, employees, and partners. Xoxoday is not a traditional loyalty platform as it does not handle the program logic, however, their extensive rewards catalog can be an extension of the loyalty logic managed by another provider or in-house. Their catalog consists of 20 000+ rewards in 20+ categories, which makes it easy to find a solution that will work for almost every persona. A number of native integrations allows companies to include Xoxoday in their current marketing flow seamlessly. They also offer support for payouts automation and a range of social benefits to foster a happy workforce.
Pricing: Xoxoday Plum comes with three different plans – Starter, Pro, and Enterprise. The platform offers a free trial.
- Starter plan is free, so users can try out the solution and see if it works for them
- Pro plan costs $299 per month and includes 100 free reward links each month, as well as 3 integrations and most of Xoxoday’s features.
- Enterprise plan costs $599 per month, and with unlimited rewards and premium support, it marks the top of Xoxoday’s functionality.
User feedback: 4.3/5 (56 reviews)
Advantages:
“Their online platform is relatively simple to use when placing orders, especially when you take into consideration that our systems aren't integrated.” – Daniel L. via Capterra
- High-quality support – the support team is responsive and knowledgeable about the product offering.
- Loads of ready options – the rewards catalog offered by Xoxoday is huge when compared with other loyalty providers.
- Friendly UI – users report that the Xoxoday dashboard is friendly and easy to use for non-technical teams.
Disadvantages:
“Customisation options are decent enough but need improvement.” – Praburam S. via Capterra
- Limited customization – with the broad range of options available, Xoxoday may be limited in terms of customization for some users.
- Not a dedicated loyalty solution – Xoxoday is primarily a rewards platform. The logic behind the loyalty program needs to be executed elsewhere.
Is API available?
Yes, Xoxoday offers an API that allows integrating their Rewards Catalog into any application.
Personalization:
The platform comes with a list of pre-built integrations and rewards. The customization is limited.
Loyalty software for medium-sized businesses
1. LoyaltyLion
Best for small and medium-sized ecommerce stores, preferably hosted on Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento.
LoyaltyLion is a one-click integration loyalty platform targeted at ecommerce businesses that host their stores with Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento. It provides both the back-end for the program and the front-end, with a CSS theme editor that ensures that the loyalty program matches the style of the store. LoyaltyLion also provides API integration for custom stores for a customized and consistent brand experience. However, the custom integration requires the purchase of at least the Advanced plan (from $699).
Pricing: A 14-day trial with all functionalities is available. A free plan is available. LoyaltyLion offers an order-based pricing model.
- Classic plan – from $399
- Advanced plan – from $699
- Plus plan – from $1 500
- Enterprise plan – custom.
User feedback: 4.8/5 (15 reviews)
Advantages:
“The most powerful one-click integration rewards program out there!” – Danny T. via Capterra
- Referrals – LoyaltyLion also comes with referrals, making it easy to combine the loyalty program with word-of-mouth marketing.
- Notifications – with LoyaltyLion, users can send on-site loyalty notifications and email messages to prevent customer churn.
- Social media – the platform makes it easy to award points for social media likes, shares, follows, and brand hashtag mentions
- Analytics – the platform show detailed analytics of the program performance that allow not only for program optimization but also for identifying at-risk customers.
Disadvantages:
“Not much designing you can do on your end, you just have to stick with what they give you.” – Anonymous via G2
- Limited customization – custom rewards and earning actions require development work to set up and may require manual fulfillment. They are also available in higher plans only.
- Tiers – tiers are available only for the Advanced and Plus plan. Tiering is now considered a basic loyalty mechanism and restricting them may be a big turn-off for smaller businesses.
- Lack of design flexibility – as a one-click integration tool, the loyalty program's final look is limited by default options.
- Lack of custom support – as reported by multiple reviews posted online, the support service provided for more unique needs is greatly limited.
Is API available?
Yes, LoyaltyLion offers API for integration with custom ecommerce and a single JavaScript SDK.
Personalization
LoyaltyLion offers plenty of customization features out-of-the-box, however, introducing custom reward actions, rewards, or tiers requires some development work and higher pricing plans to access their API.
2. Smile.io
Best for small and medium-sized ecommerce brands on Shopify, BigCommerce, or Wix.
Smile.io is a plug-and-play loyalty app intended for Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix. The platform also integrates with custom ecommerce, but the access to API comes with an Enterprise subscription only. Smile.io users can reward customers with plenty of rewards for a number of actions (including social media behavior). Their VIP module allows users to set up gamified tiers that entice users to stay around longer. The app also comes with a referral module that can be combined with loyalty for maximum engagement.
Pricing: No open free trial. A free plan is available. Smile.io operates on a feature-based pricing.
- Starter plan – $49
- Growth plan – $199
- Pro – $599
- Enterprise – starts at $1000
User feedback: 4.6/5 (16 reviews)
Advantages:
“The UI is fantastic and the functionality of the software enables us to stay in contact with our most loyal customers..” – Anonymous via Capterra
- One-click integration – as reported by users, Smile.io is easy to set up and operate.
- Nudges – users can send timely notifications to customers reminding them about unused loyalty points.
- Integrations – the app comes with 20+ popular integrations, making it easy to make Smile.io a part of the stack. However, the number of available integrations is limited by the pricing plan.
- Referrals – Smile.io also offers a referral module, allowing users to combine loyalty and referral engagement into a powerful growth driver.
Disadvantages:
“Because they designed the app to be plug-and-play, it limits the customization which causes issues for branding and user experience.” – Anonymous via Capterra
- Widget customization and placement – the loyalty widget offered by Smile.io is not open for customization and its placement is fixed on the site, causing problems with CX if the store also offers live chat support (“For example, if I want to have a chat features, now I have two widgets floating around” – Bianca L.P. via Capterra).
- Limited API access – advanced configuration is available only for Enterprise clients.
- Pricing – as reported by Smile.io users, the tool can get expensive fast for the functionality it provides making it poor value for money.
- Loyalty rewards – rewards offered in the program are limited by the ecommerce platform you run the program on (primarily discounts).
Is API available?
Yes, Smile.io offers API and a JavaScript SDK for customizing the front-end and adding features and functionality that are specific to the user’s product. However, the API is only available for the Enterprise plans (starting at $1000).
Personalization
Advanced loyalty program configuration is available only for the Enterprise plan and possible via API integration (custom earning actions, webhooks front-end customization, pay-with-points).
3. Yotpo
Best for small and medium-sized businesses ecommerce brands.
Yotpo is an ecommerce marketing platform that made a name for itself as a user reviews and UGC management software. With the incorporation of Swell Rewards into their system, Yotpo started to offer loyalty and referral modules as part of their solution. Given the number of features offered, Yotpo can adapt to any type of business, be it small, large, or medium-sized.
Pricing: Free version available. Silver plan from $29, Gold plan from $249, Platinum and Enterprise plans are custom. Billed monthly based on the number of orders and features needed.
User feedback: 4.6/5 (297 reviews)
Advantages:
“The ease of use is incredible. The dashboard is very easy to navigate and make changes that will help your business.” – Cody N. via Capterra
- Seamless integration with big ecommerce platforms – even though Yotpo supports custom ecommerce implementation, the tool is targeted at users of the most popular ecommerce platforms: Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud. As such, custom implementations may require additional development resources and generate hidden costs.
- Excellent customer service – Yotpo users report excellent quality of customer service (score 4.6/5 for over 200 reviews).
- Friendly UI – Yotpo is an aesthetic tool that is easy to use for non-technical teams.
Disadvantages:
“It is rather frustrating how many of the features are locked behind certain tiers and payment levels.” – Meghan W. via Capterra
- Overwhelming features – users report that the number of features is overwhelming and some of the concepts are hard to grasp.
- Expensive – for smaller businesses or companies who are not sure how to use the platform to its full potential, Yotpo’s pricing may be steep.
- Not dedicated to loyalty – given other key modules of the platform, Yotpo is not a dedicated loyalty solution and their retention functionalities may not be developed further (their loyalty module was acquired from Swell Rewards).
- External scripts – for more customization, Yotpo users need to use pre-made scripts from Yotpo that may slow down the site speed and negatively impact the SEO.
Is API available?
Yes, Yotpo offers REST API to integrate rewards into a user’s business or application. Yotpo also offers a JavaScript SDK that enables users to perform many loyalty functions programmatically.
Personalization
Yotpo offers custom rewards and reward actions that can be set up via the UI or programmatically. Yotpo also offers pre-made on-site modules with ready front-end elements, however, their customization is limited.
4. Kangaroo
Best for local small and medium-sized businesses.
Kangaroo Rewards is a loyalty solution targeted at brick-and-mortar businesses or smaller e-commerce stores on BigCommerce or Shopify. Kangaroo Rewards allows for multiple loyalty strategies targeted at different customer segments – from point-based programs to custom points multipliers, tier-specific rewards, and partnership prizes. Kangaroo Rewards integrates primarily with POS, IOS/Android tablets, and major e-commerce platforms.
Pricing: 30-day free trial available. All other plans billed monthly:
- Attract plan – $59
- Keep plan – $99
- Connect plan – $149
- Grow plan (white-label license with proprietary app) – $299
User feedback: 4.5/5 (49 reviews)
Advantages:
“The ease of use is incredible. The dashboard is very easy to navigate and make changes that will help your business.” – Cody N. via Capterra
- Customer mobile app – customers can access the program through a Kangaroo app, allowing users to capture in-store buyers. This point can also be a disadvantage, more on that later.
- Foot traffic booster – Kangaroo is equipped with other automation and engagement tools, such as geolocated promo notifications.
- Gamification – Kangaroo Rewards offer several modules to make loyalty programs more engaging – contests, social sharing, raffles, and referrals.
Disadvantages:
- Requires an app download – Kangaroo Rewards is primarily a POS loyalty solution and requires a mobile app to work, which may hinder custom implementations. In addition, a white-label app comes only with the Grow plan ($299/month).
- Feature-based pricing – hiding crucial features (tiers, system integrations, or API access) behind a paywall may make the product assessment process more difficult.
- Limited customization – Kangaroo Rewards is not a good software choice for custom deployments. Getting the on-brand look for all loyalty touchpoints may be impossible with what the provider currently offers.
Is API available?
Yes, Kangaroo Rewards offers API (only for the highest plan) to allow developers to build a custom app. To simplify integration, Kangaroo Rewards provides REST Server SDKs and samples available on Github (in PHP only).
Personalization:
Kangaroo Rewards offers some degree of personalization (reward personalization, geo-targeting), however, it may prove to be too little for clients who need a more custom approach to loyalty.
5. Zinrelo
Best for mid-sized businesses.
Zinrelo is a loyalty rewards platform focusing on five types of loyalty: transactional, social, behavioral, advocacy and engagement. The main focus of Zinrelo is providing 360-degree loyalty programs, allowing businesses to reward their customers for a broad range of actions. The platform offers ready front-end elements with customizable styles and texts.
Pricing: Zinrelo offers two pricing plans – SMB and Enterprise. Both are hidden, though, and you need to contact Zinrelo to learn the actual price. There’s also a free trial available.
User feedback: 4.8/5 (36 reviews)
Advantages:
“Zinrelo's platform truly creates a 360-degree engagement program for end-users. That has been very important for us to increase our customer retention.” – Dylan D. via Capterra
- Easy customization – users point out numerous customization options as well as the overall easiness of making Zinrelo work the way they expected.
- Machine learning – Zinrelo offers data science & machine learning services to generate actionable insights to improve the loyalty program performance.
- Helpful support – the folks working at Zinrelo are happy to help not only during the implementation but also with any other issues customers may struggle with.
Disadvantages:
“While the platform itself is easy to use, we did have some difficulty with integration, and getting all of the web orders to track.” – Kathy. S via Capterra
- Usage issues – some Zinrelo users notice that their customers won’t use particular features, such as social media sharing or sharing their personalized codes.
- No stage view – users struggle with running tests in the platform. They need to run another instance in order to try out some changes without making them visible to everyone.
- Confusing customer interface – some users describe the customer dashboard as confusing (“The interface also does not seem as friendly to our older customers as we get frequent emails about misunderstandings.” – Anonymous, G2 review).
Is API available?
Yes, Zinrelo offers a limited API (only 10 endpoints), as their standard integrations are done through JavaScript or pre-integrated shopping carts (e.g., Shopify or Magneto).
Personalization:
Zinrelo offers advanced customization with their Business Rules Engine (available only for Enterprise plans). Custom reward actions are possible to set up via a custom API integration.
6. Square Loyalty
Best for mid-sized, especially for Square users.
Square Loyalty is a digital rewards software integrated with the Square Point of Sale application. It allows customers to build loyalty programs directly from their points of purchase or via Square Online. Retailers use Square Loyalty to run loyalty programs, communicate with participants, and measure its effectiveness with Square Dashboard.
The platform allows users to quickly enroll and reward customers directly from the POS or Square Online, making the time-to-market jaw-droppingly fast.
Pricing: The pricing is usage-based – the more loyalty visits* per month, the more users have to pay for the service. The pricing is divided into four tiers:
- $45 for up to 500 loyalty visits
- $75 if the number doesn’t exceed 1 500
- $105 for up to 10 000 visits.
All above that quantity requires contacting Square’s team for a custom offer.
*Loyalty visit – when a customer signs up for or returns to your loyalty program.
User feedback: 4.8/5 (2 reviews)
Advantages:
“The most helpful concept of Square Loyalty is that it is so user-friendly. Beginners will find Square loyalty easy to use.’” – Lorrie E. via G2
- Square Dashboard – the dashboard allows users to track the total number of loyal customers, rewards, loyalty-attributed sales, and other useful metrics in one convenient place.
- Suitable for beginners – users claim that even beginners won’t have any problems using Square Loyalty which is great considering the fact that a large chunk of loyalty software requires at least some technical knowledge.
Disadvantages:
“One of the biggest caveats to Square Loyalty is the fact that in order to use it, you will have to already be using Square POS (at the very least); if you have a different system, this is not the loyalty program you have been looking for.” Wesley Kriz for Merchant Maverick
- Limited integration scope – Square Loyalty is strongly attached to the Square products family. It could be an advantage only for people who already use some of their solutions.
Is API available?
Yes, Square Loyalty provides API with 14 endpoints (mostly for program management) just for the loyalty part and webhooks for real-time notifications.
Personalization:
Square Loyalty offers a decent level of program customization with multiple reward levels, different reward actions (purchases, order size, visits), and custom currencies. However, no custom actions are supported, making Square Loyalty programs limited in terms of enterprise-level customization.
7. Influitive
Best for mid-sized businesses.
Influitive is a platform focused solely on bringing retention solutions to their customers, including loyalty programs, community management, and referrals. Influitive helps to turn regular customers into advocates, by rewarding them specifically for writing reviews, referring other customers, and encouraging all types of user-generated content. It also uses gamification to make participating in loyalty programs even more rewarding.
Pricing: There are two plans available – Customer Advocacy and Digital Community. The first starts at $1,499 per month, which makes Influitive one of the pricier solutions in this comparison. The latter is an advanced plan, offering even more for a custom price. No free plan or free trial available – users interested in getting to know Influitive better need to request a demo.
User feedback: 4.4/5 based (333 reviews)
Advantages:
“The Influitive platform is intuitive and easy to use. It allows us to easily connect with users and create meaningful relationships by sharing content that is most important to them.” – Kathleen O. via G2
- In-depth metrics tracking – users can build dashboards for the most important metrics, and there’s also a report functionality.
- Large resources library – Influitive offers a repository of resources to help users create meaningful content for their customers.
- Integration with TangoCards – Influitive offers a native integration with TangoCards for 3rd party rewards, such as Amazon gift cards.
- Helpful support and easy to use platform – some reviewers claim that even with no technical background they found it easy to navigate the platform and whenever they needed assistance, the support team was there to help.
Disadvantages:
“Like any platform, there is some red tape with things that cannot be done. For our team, we run into issues with being able to customize some of the features. Specifically, with the campaigns they provide, we are not able to customize them to our exact needs so we are having to create them all from scratch.” – Anonymous via G2
- Lack of platform stability – some users reported that Influitive struggles with the number of bugs that make the platform unpredictable (“The software is often unreliable, with our team finding bugs and issues almost daily.” – Mike S. via Capterra)
- Expensive – compared to other solutions on the list, Influitive definitely presents a worse value for money ratio.
- Challenges structure – all the challenges and activities are built similarly – there is no room for customization, which may be unattractive for advocates.
- Not dedicated to loyalty – Influitive loyalty module works well when combined with other modules, on its own it may fall flat in comparison to other tools. Also, the tool is focused on referral/advocacy rather than retention.
Is API available?
Yes, Influitive offers a REST API with 10 endpoints. The API is mostly dedicated to logging in external events into the Influitive app. These actions can then trigger badges, rewards, and points or be used for dynamic segmentation.
Personalization:
Influitive offers some degree of customization when it comes to the front-end look of the customer interface with custom HTML and CSS. The platform also supports custom events.
8. Lootly
Best for mid-sized ecommerce businesses.
Lootly is a loyalty points, rewards, and referrals platform. It’s primarily focused on incentivizing customers to perform various actions as well as tracking and measuring brand ambassadors’ performance to determine who’s responsible for bringing the most sales. The platform is primarily targeted at ecommerce stores hosted on the most popular platforms, such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento. However, custom implementation is also possible via API.
Pricing: Lootly offers a 7-day free trial, 60-day money-back guarantee, and three plans:
- Pro – $249
- Enterprise – $599
- Custom Solutions – starting at $1 500
User feedback: 4,5/5 (2 reviews)
Advantages:
“Ultra easy to set up, took me 15 minutes to build out the earning and spending actions. The interface is very intuitive. Installing on the site is ultra simple.” – Michael W. via Capterra
- Ease of use – Lootly definitely stands out when it comes to platform intuitiveness and dashboard UI.
- Automatic reminders & points expiration – users can send reminders whenever their customers are about to lose gathered loyalty points due to the expiry date.
- 1-click social sharing – to make driving new customers even easier, let your customers share their thoughts about your store on the Internet and spread the word in exchange for loyalty points and other rewards.
- Muti-store syndication – users can share points between multiple stores to allow customers to earn and spend across all of your stores.
Disadvantages:
“There were a lot of bugs we had to work through on the initial launch, so be prepared for that.” – Devin S. via Capterra
- Lack of integrations – users point out that most of Lootly’s integrations require Zapier to work properly, Also, there aren’t many POS integrations available.
- Technical issues – some Lootly customers complained about difficulties they’ve stumbled upon during the initial launch of the platform.
Is API available?
Yes, but only in the Enterprise plan. The API is divided into three categories – Customers, Order, and Ecommerce.
Personalization:
Lootly supports custom earning actions created via Zapier or API integration. There is also a possibility of setting up custom rewards. Lottly offers ready frontend solutions with some degree of customization (texts, colors), however, it may not be enough for more demanding users. The highest plans, on the other hand, come with custom features development and frontend.
9. LoyaltyZen
Best for marketing agencies in need of white label loyalty solutions as well as for manufacturing companies looking for B2B or B2C loyalty programs.
LoyaltyZen is a white-label loyalty platform offering incentive programs for both B2B and B2C customers. LoyaltyZen users may not only create loyalty programs for their customers, but also for their employees, partners, and distributors.
Pricing: LoyaltyZen comes with three plans: Base – $179, Business – $349, and Enterprise. The last one requires setting up custom pricing. There’s also a free trial, which ends after a user registers the 25th customer to the loyalty program.
User feedback: 5/5 (1 review only)
Advantages:
“The best feature of the software is the members portal. It is easy to use for loyalty program members. The design of the portal can be changed with no coding.” – Anonymous via Capterra
- Suitable for B2B and B2C – LoyaltyZen allows users to construct loyalty programs for both customers (B2C) and distributors, resellers, or business partners.
- Rewards management – Loyalty Zen offers a dedicated order management panel for administrators to track the status of reward orders.
- Members portal – LoyaltyZen’s members portal can be fully customized without coding and is a great alternative to a dedicated loyalty app.
Disadvantages:
“It is quite difficult to start using it. Requires some support at the beginning.” – Anonymous via Capterra
- Steep learning curve – as reported by users, LoyaltyZen’s dashboard could be more intuitive.
- Closed platform – LoyaltyZen doesn’t offer open documentation or open free trial to test the tool independently.
Is API available?
Yes, but only for the subscribers of Business and Enterprise plans.
Personalization:
It is possible to build a custom solution on top of the platform with the use of LoyaltyZen’s API. With Business plans or higher, users can fully customize the visual brand, including adding custom CSS code.
10. Marsello
Best for mid-sized retail businesses, both in-store and ecommerce.
Marsello is a dedicated retail marketing solution that besides a loyalty module offers a number of other revenue-generating features – marketing automation, email and SMS campaigns, feedback surveys, and marketing lists management. The platform can be integrated with both in-store POS and ecommerce. However, custom implementations may be hindered by blocked API access (additional fees).
Pricing: Marsello offers custom pricing based on the number of customers, sites, and add-ons (API, SMS campaigns). The platform also offers a 10xROI challenge – where trial accounts can get in touch with an onboarding expert and if they don’t achieve 10x ROI within 30 days, the cost of the first subscription is skipped.
User feedback: 4.4/5 (86 reviews)
Advantages:
“Easy to use for the customer, lots of functionality for the retailer” – Liz Y. via Capterra
- Omnichannel loyalty – Marsello can integrate both with digital and brick-and-mortar touchpoints allowing for a more cross-channel loyalty experience.
- Loads of features – Marsello as an all-in-one platform for retail marketing, offers plenty of helpful features that can help with the loyalty program’s success (e.g., loyalty pre-launch email campaign).
- Helpful support – Marsello’s team is committed to their client’s success which is proven by loads of positive feedback and the Premium Onboarding service they provide.
Disadvantages:
- Default scenarios – as a ready-to-go solution, it is difficult for Marsello users to create dynamic flash offers or special loyalty events.
- System glitches – some users report that the platform can be buggy at times (“Sometimes the hardware has issues. Charge doesn't work properly and screen flicks.” – Mel V. via Capterra).
Is API available?
Yes, Marsello offers API, however, access to API is treated as an add-on that has to be additionally paid for.
Personalization:
Marsello offers ready frontend elements (loyalty tab, widgets, explainer page) that can be customized to some extent (theme color, layout, font, text). Also, besides 13 reward actions, users can use the API to create custom actions.
11. Spaaza
Best for offline & online mid-sized businesses.
Spaaza is an incentive marketing platform for modern commerce. Besides loyalty programs, the platform offers a range of features including social selling, referrals, and personal pricing. Spaaza offers an open API for custom implementations; it is also possible to connect the platform with POS or use pre-built integrations with popular ecommerce platforms (Shopify and Magento).
Pricing: The pricing options are hidden. There is no free trial or plan available.
User feedback: 4.4/5(8 reviews)
Advantages:
“Spaaza is a complete loyalty software program. Implementation is generally straightforward.” – Maurits V. via Capterra
- Spaaza Store – Spaaza Store is a web application that can be used by staff in a physical environment, usually a retail store.
- Spaaza Embed – Spaaza Embed provides a personalized program user experience that works out of the box and can be embedded in a website or app as an iframe.
- Omnichannel loyalty – Spaaza’s loyalty programs from Spaaza work in ecommerce, physical stores, apps, and partner sales channels.
Disadvantages:
“Ease of integration and adding new features. Yes, their API integration works with any platform however integrating it with our 25-year-old POS system was very difficult.” – Timmy V. via Capterra
- Bumpy integration – despite versatile API, some Spaaza users report that the integration process could have been smoother and the documentation more comprehensive.
- Hidden pricing – Spaaza doesn’t allow users for an open free trial or plan to try out the tool before committing to anything.
Is API available?
Yes, Spaaza offers an open API that can be used to integrate the platform with plenty of digital touchpoints.
Personalization:
Thanks to API, custom implementations are possible. However, they may require some additional development work.
Loyalty software for small, local businesses
1. Glue Loyalty
Best for local businesses with a small number of loyal customers.
Glue Loyalty is a dedicated loyalty software targeted at local business owners. Glue Loyalty makes it easy for small businesses to implement a branded loyalty club via a white-label app. Glue Loyalty is a good fit for smaller businesses looking to set up a loyalty club with weekly engagement plans and loyalty incentives based on customer data.
Pricing: Glue Loyalty comes with five plans based on the number of loyalty program members:
- Free plan (up to 7 members)
- $29.90 for 8-50 members
- $59.90 for 51-120 members
- $119.90 for 121-500 members
- Custom for 501-2500 members
User feedback: 4.7/5 (3 reviews)
Advantages:
- Members Club app – as soon as users sign up with Glue, they get access to a branded mobile app.
- Usage-based pricing – users get access to all features even with the free plan.
- Geofencing – Glue offers geofenced-based push notifications that can increase foot traffic.
Disadvantages:
- Outdated UI – the dashboard is not as user-friendly as other similar tools.
- Small scale – bigger loyalty projects are not a good fit for Glue.
- Limited customization – Glue offers only basic customization options (colors, texts).
Is API available?
Yes, Glue Loyalty offers a REST API with 38 endpoints in each pricing plan. The API can be used to connect Glue with external websites.
Personalization:
There are some customization options available. For instance, users can customize their Members Club Apps with their own branding and colors.
2. Fivestars
Best for local businesses and brick-and-mortar stores.
Fivestars describes itself as the loyalty and retention platform for local brick-and-mortar businesses. Fivestars also helps their users in payment proceeding to increase retention and, of course, profit. The platform also offers a marketing automation module with their AutoPilot feature which automatically sends relevant promotional offers to selected customers.
Pricing: Fivestarts offers two pricing plans – Essential and Pro. The pricing is hidden, there is no open free trial or free version to try out the tool first.
User feedback: 4.6/5 (1218 reviews)
Advantages:
“Good tool for rewarding customers. You and your customers can keep up with their "loyalty points" or some kind of reward program and it is easy to add and redeem points.” – Melanie M. via Capterra
- Quick implementation – Fivestars is a quick way to set up a loyalty program if you don't already have one. You don't need to be the size of a chain store to provide one and this has better customer marketing than the traditional punch card/stamps.
- Easy POS integration – customers can use Fivestars Connect software, which can run on a Fivestars-provided tablet, or integrate the platform directly on the custom POS.
- Merchant Directory – as a Fivestars user, your business will go into their network of local businesses which can help you get discovered by potential customers.
Disadvantages:
“Pricing is subscription-based, per month pricing. It's not inexpensive but they do provide the install kit. It may take some time at first to see real benefits if you are not aggressive with promotions.” – Zack K. via Capterra
- Not global – Fivestars only supports US and Canadian businesses.
- Vulnerable to fraud – with FiveStars, users can set up automatic discounts and coupons for customers to receive. This is great until customers notice that they receive them regularly after not returning for X amount of days. It can be easily abused by customers to consistently get free discounts by just waiting a little longer to come in.
- Poor customer service – some users reported that FiveStarts support could be more responsive.
Is API available?
No, there is no API available for FiveStars users
Personalization:
The whole FiveStars platform operates on a mobile app, which provides users with limited options – they can select types of rewards they want to grant to their clients, but there’s no custom reward feature. The mobile app layout is also fixed.
3. Loyal Zoo
Best for small local businesses.
Loyal Zoo is a loyalty software aimed towards local businesses that allows companies to run digital membership programs quickly, ditching traditional punch cards. Loyal Zoo is geared towards POS businesses and offers ready integrations with the most popular POS systems (Clover, Square, or Epos Now). Businesses can customize their rewards by choosing a point-based program or run a "Prime-style" paid membership program with no separate mobile app required.
Pricing: For point-based programs, Loyal Zoo charges $57/month per store. Customers need to pay an additional $30/month for the SMS notifications. For subscription programs, Loyal Zoo charges a 1% transaction fee. There is a free trial available.
User feedback: 4.4/5 (95 reviews)
Advantages:
"We had a loyalty program with printed paper cards before, but the clients would lose it or forget the cards. Now they have all their points recorded online and they love it." – Anonymous via Capterra
- Good value for money – as reported by online reviews, the number of features offered for a relatively low price makes Loyal Zoo a great option for smaller brands.
- Multi-location support – customers can accumulate points and redeem rewards at all of the business’ locations.
- No-app setup – Loyal Zoo doesn’t require an app download from customers.
Disadvantages:
“While it is generally user-friendly, editing points or merging customers could be improved upon to make the experience more user friendly.” – Brittany G. via Capterra
- Some UI hiccups – there are a few software functionalities that could be improved from the UX perspective, such as analyzing points history, or managing customer profiles. Some users also complained that the dashboard is outdated and in need of an update.
- System glitches – as noted by some users online, the software sometimes glitches causing errors (“The software sometimes glitches and keeps customer info up so the former customer is getting the points from the current customer's sale.” – Pierre P. via Capterra).
- Limits on messages – some users find the messaging limits imposed by Loyal Zoo frustrating.
Is API available?
No, Loyal Zoo doesn’t offer an open API. The software uses direct integration with POS systems instead of web-based API communication.
Personalization:
Loyal Zoo offers limited customization in terms of reward actions, segmentation, or rewards compared to other API-based digital solutions for loyalty.
4. Loyalty Gator
Best for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar small businesses.
Loyalty Gator is an easy-to-use web-based loyalty platform that allows smaller businesses to manage customer loyalty programs, gift card programs, or employee rewards. As a web-based solution, Loyalty Gator is easy to integrate with other platforms, including POS, CRM, checkout, or social media.
Pricing: Loyalty Gator pricing is based on the number of customers and is billed monthly:
- Bite plan – $88 + $49 setup fee for up to 9,999 customers.
- Snack plan – $198 + $49 setup fee for up to 24,999 customers.
- Meal plan – $298 +$49 setup fee for up to 49,999 customers.
- Feast – custom for over 50 000 customers.
There is a 30-day free trial available.
User feedback: 4.4/5 (10 reviews)
Advantages:
“The simplicity of the software is great. When I first did research, a lot of software seemed overly complicated. I really enjoy Loyalty Gator's simple approach to rewards programs.” – Kevin K. via Capterra
- Complete data ownership – unlike some loyalty providers, Loyalty Gator doesn’t retain loyalty data which makes it easier to switch providers if need be.
- Competitive pricing – Loyalty Gator pricing and no transaction fees policy make them a good fit for smaller brands experimenting with loyalty.
- In-store kiosk mode – users can introduce a tablet/kiosk in-store to allow customers to earn points automatically by simply checking in.
Disadvantages:
“I wish there was a way to integrate Loyalty Gator with our POS system. There are times where the front desk team forget to add the points because they have to go into another system.” – Natalie R. via Capterra
- Lack of advanced configuration – LoyaltyGator offers plenty of features, but most of them are very basic and don’t allow for customization.
- Need for more POS integrations – while cloud-based POS systems are easily integrated with third-party solutions, traditional POS systems are not.
Is API available?
Yes, Loyalty Gator offers an API that allows businesses to integrate loyalty programs with their apps, POS, and other platforms. However, the API is only accessible for clients which can make the product assessment process longer.
Personalization:
Loyalty Gator offers some customization features, however, most of the program mechanics are set to default and may require custom development to change.
5. Candybar
Best for local brick-and-mortar businesses.
Candybar is a loyalty platform targeted at local merchants. Their solutions offer retention-boosting features such as loyalty cards, prepaid bundles, promo messages, and store credit. The platform supports in-store loyalty programs where cashiers manually manage the program the checkout via a Candybar device.
Pricing:
Candybar offers two pricing plans – Standard ($45 monthly) and Enterprise ($3,999 annually). Both plans offer an unlimited number of stamps, customers, and rewards, however, the Enterprise plan comes with unlimited messages and premium support service.
User feedback: 4.6/5 (7 reviews)
Advantages:
“It’s easy to use and operate and I don't have to have a specially dedicated iPad to use.” – Deborah G. via Capterra
- No app download – Candybar doesn’t offer a separate app for customers, which means that clients don’t have to download a separate app to collect points.
- Great support – Candybar support is reported to be helpful and responsive.
- Segmentation – the platform offers basic segmentation mechanisms (e.g., slipping customers) that can be later targeted with promo messages.
Disadvantages:
“Features are still limited but it has tons of potential.” – Bea S. via Capterra
- Limited functionality – Candybar can manage basic loyalty scenarios, however, some users report the need for more advanced features, especially for members management.
- Privacy concerns – Candybar requires the customer's phone number. Some clients may prefer to sign up with an email address.
Is API available?
Candybar does not offer API.
Personalization:
Users can customize the number of tiers, milestones, and rewards they want to use.
Let’s launch a loyalty program!
Enough of browsing through the list – I hope that you managed to find two or three loyalty software worth at least trying out in this article. Now it’s time to dive into the free trial (if available) of one of those and see if the chosen software is capable of everything you need it to. Choose the best one and deliver the most engaging loyalty program to your customers – they deserve it!
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