One BonusA points system
Updated 31 August 2026
A points system has exactly two numbers in it: how much spending earns a point, and what a point is worth when it is spent. Everything else — expiry, minimums, bonuses — is a modifier on those two, and getting them wrong is what makes most points programs quietly useless.
The earn rate and the redemption rate
The earn rate says how many points a purchase produces. The redemption rate says what a point takes off a later bill. Multiply them and you get the effective give-back — the only number that matters to your margin.
They must be set together. A generous earn rate with a worthless point is the most common mistake in loyalty: customers accumulate thousands of points, discover they are worth almost nothing, and conclude the program is a con.
Make a point worth a round number
One point equal to one dram is the clearest possible design. The customer never has to convert anything, the balance reads as money, and nobody argues at the till about what they are owed.
If a point is worth some odd fraction, publish the conversion where the customer can see it. A balance whose value is unknown is not a reward, it is a number.
Expiry and minimum redemption
Expiry keeps a liability from growing forever and gives a lapsed customer a reason to return. Twelve months from the last purchase is a fair rule and a common one — expiring points from someone who is still shopping with you is punishing your best customers.
A minimum redemption stops a balance being spent one dram at a time, but set it too high and the program becomes a promise that never pays. If your average basket is small, your minimum has to be small.
Welcome bonuses and multipliers
A welcome bonus given on signup buys the second visit, which is the hardest visit to buy. It works because it starts the balance above zero, and a balance above zero is something a person does not want to waste.
Multipliers — double points on a slow weekday, extra points at a higher level — move behaviour without changing the base rate. They are the cheapest lever in a points program and the most underused.
Common questions
How do I decide how many points a purchase should give?
Pick the give-back first as a percentage of margin, then choose numbers that produce it. If you want to return five percent and a point is worth one dram, award five points per hundred dram spent. Deciding the point value first and the rate afterwards is how programs end up unreadable.
Should loyalty points expire?
Usually yes, counted from the last purchase rather than from when the points were earned. That keeps the liability bounded, gives a lapsed customer a reason to come back, and never penalises someone who is still shopping with you.
What is a minimum redemption and do I need one?
It is the smallest balance that can be spent. It stops points being redeemed one at a time and keeps the till queue moving, but it has to be small relative to your average basket or the reward never becomes reachable.
Is one point equal to one dram a good design?
It is the clearest one. The customer reads the balance as money and never has to work out a conversion, which removes the single most common source of disappointment in points programs.
Set your points rules on One Bonus
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