Stamp Card Reward Calculator
Use this stamp card reward calculator to price simple visit-based programs such as buy-nine-get-one, coffee cards, salon visits, and restaurant rewards.
How this calculator works
Calculate the effective discount and customer spend required for a stamp card or visit-based reward.
Spend to earn reward = stamps required × average purchaseEffective discount = reward value ÷ (spend to earn reward + reward value)
Why the discount is divided by spend plus reward
A buy-ten-get-one card is not a 10% discount. The customer receives eleven items for the price of ten, so the discount on everything they took home is one eleventh, about 9.1%. The calculator uses that total so the effective discount reflects what each sale actually carries.
Choosing how many stamps to require
Too many and customers abandon the card; too few and the discount rate climbs. For a daily habit such as coffee, eight to ten stamps is the usual range. For a monthly service such as a salon visit, five or six is more realistic. Divide spend to earn reward by what a customer spends in a month to see how long the first reward takes; if it is more than three or four months away, the card is unlikely to change behaviour.
The reward's real cost is lower than its price
Reward value in the calculator is the customer-facing figure, which is what the effective discount should be based on. Your cost is the cost of goods of the free item, usually well under its price: a $12 item with 30% cost of goods costs $3.60 to give away. Use the effective discount to understand how the program looks to customers and the cost of goods figure for the profit and loss.
Common mistakes
Giving a stamp on any purchase size, so a single pastry earns the same as a full order. Cards with no expiry, which accumulate as an open liability. Not tracking completion rate; a card program where one in five cards is ever filled is a cost without much behaviour change behind it.
These calculators are intended for planning and benchmarking. Use your own finance, attribution, and campaign data before making final budget decisions.
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Frequently asked questions
Is a digital stamp card better than a paper one?
The economics are identical. What a digital card adds is data: you can see how many cards are started, how many are completed, and how long completion takes, which is what you need to tune the number of stamps required.
What completion rate should a stamp card have?
It varies widely with the category and the number of stamps, so there is no single figure to aim for. The useful signal is the trend: change the stamps required or the reward and watch whether completion moves.
Can a stamp card run alongside a points program?
Yes, as long as one of them is the headline offer so members are not asked to understand two currencies. Use this calculator for the stamp component on its own and the points reward calculator for the other.
Does giving the first stamp free make a difference?
Often, yes. A twelve-stamp card issued with two stamps already filled tends to be completed more often than a ten-stamp card issued blank, even though both require ten purchases. Model it in the calculator as ten stamps required; the pre-filled stamps change behaviour, not the economics.
Worked examples
Each example runs the same formulas as the calculator above, using figures typical of that kind of business.
Beauty salon
A nail and hair salon using a classic punch card to reward frequent services with a complimentary treatment.
| Stamps required | 6 |
|---|---|
| Average purchase | 42 $ |
| Reward value | 40 $ |
| Spend to earn reward | $252 |
|---|---|
| Reward value | $40 |
| Effective discount | 13.7% |
Bakery cafe
A neighborhood bakery offering a buy-nine-pastries-get-one-free card to drive consistent weekday traffic.
| Stamps required | 9 |
|---|---|
| Average purchase | 8 $ |
| Reward value | 7 $ |
| Spend to earn reward | $72 |
|---|---|
| Reward value | $7 |
| Effective discount | 8.9% |