Turn regulars into your best customers: pay-later, credit and loyalty

Every restaurant has regulars who run a tab. Done on paper, it is a source of awkward conversations and forgotten balances. Done properly, it is loyalty you can measure — and a quiet advantage over the café next door that treats everyone as a stranger.

This article covers three things that belong together: remembering who your customers are, letting trusted ones pay later, and rewarding the ones who keep returning.

A real profile for every regular

Save a customer once and attach them to an order in two taps. Their profile gathers everything staff would otherwise have to remember: contact details, a note about preferences, their favourite item, total spent, number of visits, and a record of past orders.

• Name, phone, email, date of birth, gender, location and customer type (individual or business)
• A free-text note — allergies, a preferred table, anything staff should know before they greet someone
• Favourite item, total spent and visit history, so the conversation starts with the right thing
• A list of recent orders with their bills, a click away

Pay later: two different things, both useful

‘Pay later’ means two things in practice, and it helps to keep them apart. Sending a bill without collecting payment keeps the table free while the guest finishes; the bill stays open until it is paid. A credit account is different: the sale is recorded against the customer, who settles it on their own schedule.

Credit starts open: customers can run an account with no limit and no due date by default, so you are not forced to configure anything before you can serve a regular. When you want control, set a credit limit and a payment term per customer, and the system will enforce them.

Repayments and reminders

When a customer settles, record the repayment in cash, card or online and the balance updates immediately. If someone is behind, you do not need a difficult conversation. A ready-made payment reminder can be opened in WhatsApp with the customer’s number and the amount filled in — you review it and press send. The same goes for sending a copy of a bill or a simple thank-you.

Reward the people who return

Loyalty works because it is simple. Switch it on in settings, choose how much spend earns a point and what a point is worth, and customers earn points on paid purchases and redeem them against a bill within the limits you set.

1. 1

   Decide the earn rule

   For example: one point for every fixed amount spent. Keep it easy to explain at the till.

2. 2

   Decide the redeem rule

   Set what one point is worth, a minimum number of points to redeem, and a maximum share of any bill that points can cover.

3. 3

   Let staff mention it

   A regular who hears ‘you have 120 points’ remembers it. The profile and the checkout both show the balance.

Keeping it fair and tidy

• Points are earned on paid purchases only, so credit sales do not earn points until they are settled
• Adjustments and write-offs always need a reason and are recorded with who made them
• Owners and managers control credit settings; staff roles only see what they need
• Every balance can be traced back to the bills that created it