Digital loyalty card in Marrakech: win back locals, not only tourists

Marrakech, a city of tourists and regulars

Wikipedia calls Marrakech the tourism capital of Morocco, with nearly 3 million visitors in 2019, and close to one million people in the city itself at the 2024 census. For a café, a snack or a juice bar, that usually means a mixed crowd: tourists who come once or twice, and residents who come back.

A loyalty card mostly serves the second group: the office worker who has a coffee before work, the student looking for a cheap lunch, the family that buys bread every morning. They keep the business going in the quieter months, and they are the ones worth bringing back.

Neighbourhood by neighbourhood, different customers

Marrakech is not one single crowd. A few landmarks to adapt to your street:

• Guéliz: the modern commercial centre built around Avenue Mohammed V, home to most banks and shops. Morning and lunchtime regulars are often people who work nearby.
• Hivernage: hotels and Menara Mall. Many passing customers, which is why a QR poster in French, Arabic and English helps.
• The Medina and Jemaa el-Fna square: orange juice stalls by day, food stalls in the evening, and lines that build fast at peak times.
• Working-class districts such as Daoudiate, Massira, Sidi Youssef Ben Ali or M'hamid (over 100,000 residents according to Wikipedia): neighbours who often come back almost every day, the best crowd for a stamp card.
• Amerchich: the letters and law faculties of Cadi Ayyad University, which has over 40,000 students enrolled in Marrakech according to Wikipedia. Small budgets, frequent visits.

How the digital loyalty card works in Marrakech

The customer pays first, scans the counter QR code with the phone camera and gets an order number. When you tap 'Ready' on the cashier screen, the phone rings and vibrates on Android. On iPhone the page rings only while it stays open on screen; the 'Enable alert' button keeps the screen on with a loud alarm.

The TV screen, on any Smart TV or Android TV, shows 'Preparing' and 'Ready' columns and announces each number out loud in Arabic, French or English. Handy in Marrakech, where all three languages are heard at the counter.

• Stamp card, 'buy N, get 1 free': you choose N and the reward, one reward per business.
• A stamp is added only when the order is confirmed Ready. The cashier sets the number of stamps for an order, for example 3 stamps for 3 coffees.
• The card is saved with one WhatsApp message and can be added to Google Wallet. Apple Wallet is not available yet.
• The reward is redeemed at the counter with a 6-digit code. A customer without a smartphone gets a ticket the cashier creates in one tap, and the number shows on the TV.

Bringing customers back, and Google reviews

An automatic WhatsApp reminder goes to customers who stopped coming (they can stop the messages at any time). You can offer a birthday gift: Stampylo asks only for the day and month.

In a city where many visitors pick their café on Google Maps, reviews often matter. After a visit, Stampylo invites the customer to leave a review: the Google button shows first for everyone, then a private rating only you can see. No stamps or gifts are ever given for a review.

A worked example, to replace with your prices

Example: a café in Guéliz sells a black coffee for 10 DH and chooses 'buy 9 coffees, the 10th is free'. A regular who comes every weekday morning fills the card in just under two weeks. The free coffee costs the business what one coffee costs to make, against 9 paid coffees. These figures are only an example: replace them with your own prices and offer.

Stampylo costs MAD 149 per month, with a 14-day free trial and no card needed. Unlimited orders, screens and customers, and no hardware to buy: a tablet or phone is enough, the TV is optional.

Questions