Notifications are short messages that appear on your customers' phones through their loyalty card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. They're a friendly way to celebrate a reward, wish someone a happy birthday or remind them you're just around the corner.
This guide covers the notifications Loyaltify sends for you, the ones you can set up yourself, and location notifications.
Three kinds of notifications
Default notifications go out automatically whenever a customer's balance changes, such as earning a stamp or redeeming a reward.
Automatically triggered notifications go out when something happens that you choose, such as a birthday or a customer walking past your shop.
Marketing messages are one-off messages you send when you like, such as a weekend offer. You send these from the Marketing tab. See Marketing.
💡 Good to know: Notifications are Wallet notifications, not emails or texts. They arrive quietly on the customer's phone, without a sound.
Default notifications
Default notifications are on from the start, so customers always know when their card changes. You'll find them in the Notifications tab, where you can edit their messages or switch them off.
Customers get a notification each time they earn, such as a new stamp or points.
Redemptions use one standard message that shows the amount redeemed. It can't be set differently for each reward.
When stamps or points expire, customers get a notification automatically. Want to warn them before it happens? See Remind customers before points expire below.
Create an automatically triggered notification
Go to Notifications and click New Notification.
Select the card the notification is for.
Choose Automatically Triggered as the kind.
Choose a trigger (see below).
Write your message and save.
Triggers you can use
When the customer's points reach a certain amount. This works on every card type, and it can be sent straight away or after a delay.
Before the customer's points expire.
When the customer is eligible for a reward.
When the customer's tier changes.
When the customer's birthday is today.
When the customer is near one of your branches and has a reward.
When the customer is near one of your branches and has no reward.
Birthday rewards
With the birthday trigger, you can send a message and add a gift to the customer's card, such as extra points or stamps that expire after a week. On a Stamp Card, 1 point equals 1 stamp. Birthday notifications go out at 10:00 UTC on the day.
💡 Example: "Happy birthday! 🎉 We've added 2 bonus stamps to your card. Pop in this week to use them."
Birthday notifications need customers' birthdays, so add the birthday field to your sign-up form.
Reach a points target
Use the trigger When customer's points reach a certain amount to celebrate a milestone or nudge customers towards a reward.
Point Threshold: The number of points (or stamps) that sends the notification, such as 7.
When should this notification be sent? Choose Immediately, or After a delay and set the number of days, up to 15.
💡 Example: Set the threshold to 7 and a delay of 3 days. Three days after a customer reaches 7 points, they get: "You're so close! You have %total_amount% points. Pop in soon to unlock your reward 🎁"
Remind customers before points expire
If points on your card expire, the trigger Before the customer's points expire gives customers a friendly warning while there's still time to use them.
Warn this long before: Choose how early the reminder goes out, such as 7 days before the points expire.
Message: For example, "%expiring_amount% of your %total_amount% points expire within the next %days% days. Use them before they're gone!"
Reminders go out once a day at 10:30 UTC. The editor also shows you this time in your own time zone.
It works on Stamp, Points, Cashback and Prepaid Cards, alongside the expiration setting in the card's Advanced Settings, such as Stamp Expiration or Point Expiration. If nothing on your card expires, there's nothing to remind customers about.
Personalise your message
Add these fields and Loyaltify fills them in for each customer. The fields you can use depend on the trigger: you'll see them under Insert a field as you write, and you can click one to add it.
%earned_amount%: the points, stamps or balance just earned%spent_amount%: the points, stamps or balance just spent%total_amount%: the customer's current balance%card_name%: the name of the loyalty card%discount_amount%: the discount given%expiring_amount%: the points that are about to expire%days%: the number of days until they expire
For example: "You've earned %earned_amount% points! You now have %total_amount%. Keep going to unlock your next reward!"
Location notifications
Location notifications remind customers about your card when they're nearby. When a customer comes within about 150 metres of one of your branches, their card appears quietly on their lock screen with your message, and disappears again when they leave.
Set them up
Go to Store Settings → Branches and add the address of each location.
Go to Notifications and create a notification with the trigger near one of your branches and has a reward, near one of your branches and has no reward, or both.
Write your message, such as "You're close by! Pop in and collect your next stamp ☕".
Both steps are needed: without a branch address or without the notification, nothing shows. Cards customers already have update automatically when you change your branches.
⚠️ If one of your Redemption Campaigns costs 0 points, every customer counts as having a reward, so only the "has a reward" message will ever show.
⚠️ Location notifications can't be paused. To stop one, delete it: deleting it removes it from your customers' cards the next time they refresh.
Good to know
Customers get the message near any of your branches. It doesn't say which branch they're near.
Apple and Google decide exactly when the card appears, so it may not show every time.
Location notifications are stored on the card itself. A new or changed message reaches each customer the next time their card refreshes.
It reaches everyone who has the card, including customers who didn't tick marketing consent.
Testing it yourself? It shows when you enter the area, so walk away and come back. Make sure location access is allowed for the Wallet app on your phone.
The number of branches you can add depends on your plan.
Pin in the wrong place, for example in a shopping centre? Contact support through live chat and we'll place it by hand.
Edit, pause or delete a notification
The Status column in the Notifications tab shows whether each notification is On or Off.
Edit: Click the pencil icon next to the notification.
Pause: Click the pencil icon, switch off Active and save. The notification stops without being deleted, so you can switch it back on whenever you like.
Delete: Click the bin icon. Default notifications can't be deleted, but you can switch them off.
Location notifications are the exception: they can't be paused, so delete them instead.
Tips for great notifications
Put the full message in the notification. On iPhone, tapping it opens the card but doesn't show the message again.
Keep it short and friendly. One clear message works better than several.
Use emojis lightly. They work, but may not look the same on every phone, especially on Android.
Don't expect it to the second. Loyaltify sends straight away, but Apple and Google decide when the phone shows it.
Customer not getting notifications? See Troubleshooting common issues.
Need a hand?
We're here to help!
If you have any questions about notifications, reach out to us via live chat inside Loyaltify, or use the chat button at the bottom right of this page. Our team will be happy to help.