Run a gift card and loyalty program in 3rdSpace

Two of the most reliable levers a local business has are gift cards and loyalty. Gift cards pull cash forward and bring in people who were given a reason to try you. Loyalty gives those people a reason to keep coming. In 3rdSpace, both live in the Gift Card and Loyalty tool, and both feed the same customer record, which is what turns a promotion into a program.

This guide covers how to launch each one, what to reward, and how to avoid the common mistake of running them as disconnected gimmicks.

Why run gift cards and loyalty from one place

It is tempting to treat these as separate one-off tactics. The reason to run them together is that they are two halves of the same retention story.

• A gift card is acquisition. Someone buys it for a friend, the friend shows up, and you have a new customer you did not have to find.
• Loyalty is retention. It gives a first-timer, including that gift-card recipient, a reason to come back a second, third, and fourth time.

When both connect to your CRM, the handoff is automatic: the new face becomes a known customer, the known customer earns toward a reward, and the reward brings them back. Run them in two disconnected apps and you lose that thread.

Step one: launch digital gift cards

Start with gift cards, because they are the simpler of the two and they bring in revenue immediately.

1. Set your denominations. Offer a few fixed amounts plus a custom option. Fixed amounts make the buyer's decision easier.
2. Brand the card. Use your logo and a clean design so a gift card feels like a gift, not a receipt.
3. Decide where they redeem. Gift cards are most useful when they spend where customers actually transact, so connect them to your bookings and Products and Menu so the balance applies at checkout.
4. Make them easy to buy. Put the purchase link on your site, your social profiles, and a QR code at the register. The easiest gift card to sell is the one a customer can buy from their phone while standing at your counter.

Gift cards are especially strong around holidays and for businesses people buy as gifts: restaurants, spas, salons, escape rooms, and experience classes. If that is you, plan a small seasonal push.

Step two: design a loyalty program people actually use

A loyalty program works when the reward is desirable and the path to it is clear. 3rdSpace supports points-based loyalty, where customers earn toward a reward. The design choices that matter most:

• Pick one simple earn rule. Points per visit or points per dollar. Pick one and state it plainly.
• Make the first reward reachable. If the reward feels years away, no one starts. A reachable first reward creates the early momentum that turns a first-timer into a repeat visitor.
• Reward the behavior you want more of. A cafe might reward frequency. A brewery might reward club membership. A bowling alley might reward league regulars. Match the reward to the visit pattern that actually sustains your business.
• Let points redeem at checkout. When loyalty is integrated with your bookings and menu, points apply where the customer spends, which is what makes the reward feel real.

Step three: tie it back to the customer record

This is the step that separates a program from a gimmick. Because Gift Card and Loyalty writes to the CRM, a loyalty signup or a gift-card purchase creates or updates a customer profile. That means you can:

• See who your most loyal customers are, by visits and spend.
• Tag and segment members for targeted offers.
• Notice when a member goes quiet and win them back.

Retention is where the math gets compelling. A frequently cited body of research finds that increasing retention by even a few points can lift profit substantially, that loyal customers spend more than new ones, and that keeping a customer costs far less than acquiring one (Invesp, Markinblog). A loyalty program tied to your customer record is one of the most direct ways to act on that.

Step four: promote it without nagging

Once both are live, give people a reason to opt in. Mention the loyalty program at checkout, put gift cards in your seasonal email and campaigns, and add a signup prompt to your booking confirmations. The goal is steady, low-friction reminders, not a hard sell. People join loyalty programs for places they already like; your job is to make joining effortless at the moment they are happy.

The payoff

Gift cards put money and new customers in the door. Loyalty keeps them. Running both from one place, tied to one customer record, is what makes the two reinforce each other instead of fading as separate promotions. The first-timer becomes a member, the member becomes a regular, and the regular is the most valuable customer you have.

Gift Card and Loyalty is included from the Pro plan. Start free to set up your customer record, then turn the program on when you are ready to grow it.