Level Card
Level cards create VIP tiers that make customers feel special and encourage them to spend more to reach the next level.
How level cards work
Customers start at the bottom tier and earn their way up through visits or points. Each level offers better perks than the last.
Beyond the free-text perk you type per tier, each level can also have its own list of countable benefits (one-time, repeating, or always-included) — see Countable benefits per level.
Common tier names:
- Bronze → Silver → Gold
- Member → VIP → Elite
- Regular → Premium → Platinum
- Basic → Preferred → Exclusive
How customers advance
Set Level up by to Points or Visits.
By points: choose how customers earn points, exactly like a points card: Per visit, Per amount spent (for example 1 point for every $1) or Per product, plus + Extra points for specific products. Earning works from the first scan. Then set the points each level needs:
- Bronze: from 0 points
- Silver: from 500 points
- Gold: from 1,500 points
Customers can also spend points on Rewards if you add some; this is optional. Spending points never lowers a customer's level: the level follows the points they have earned. Under What do you call them? pick Points, Stars or Coins, or type your own word.
By visits: each counted visit moves a member toward the next level, and the card counts visits everywhere: "3 visits · 2 more to Silver" in the scanner, and "From 5 visits" on the back of the card.
- Bronze: from 0 visits
- Silver: from 5 visits
- Gold: from 15 visits
Turn on Customers also collect points they can spend to give members a points balance for rewards as well, separate from their level. Choose Per visit (the scan that counts the visit adds the points; your staff don't tap anything else) or Per amount spent (staff type the amount), add your Rewards, and name the points.
Do points run out? Whichever Level up by you pick, the points a customer can spend can expire. It sits under how customers earn: Never, N months after they’re earned, or Every year on a date. You can also ask customers to keep earning to stay at a level (To stay Gold: Earn 300 points every 6 months) and write a different message for each level. See Points that run out and keeping your level.
Real business examples:
Coffee shop:
- Regular: Standard prices
- Premium: 5% off all drinks + early access to new flavors
- VIP: 10% off everything + free size upgrades + monthly free drink
Hair salon:
- Member: Standard booking
- VIP: Priority booking + 10% off services
- Elite: Priority + 15% off + free hair treatment quarterly
Restaurant:
- Diner: Standard service
- Preferred: 5% off meals + reservation priority
- Platinum: 10% off + free appetizer monthly + exclusive menu items
Retail store:
- Shopper: Standard prices
- Insider: 10% off sales + early sale access
- VIP: 15% off everything + free shipping + exclusive products
Why level cards work: They create a sense of achievement and exclusivity. Customers will often spend more just to reach the next tier and maintain their status.
What the card shows on the back
This is a switch. On the levels block you'll find *Show every level on the back of the card*. It is on for every card you create from now on, and off for cards you published before it existed — those keep the back they have, showing only the customer's current level and its benefits, until you turn it on. While it is on, the back keeps itself up to date: change a level's name, points or perk and every installed card follows.
The back of the card lists Your level first, then one line per level, with the customer's own level marked ▶. For Velvet, with tiers Bronze / Silver / Gold / Platinum, a Silver member sees:
- Your level: Silver
- Bronze — From 0 points
- ▶ Silver — From 200 points · 10% off
- Gold — From 500 points · 15% off + free birthday treatment
- Platinum — From 1500 points · 20% off + priority booking
On a card that levels up by visits, each line says visits instead, for example "Silver — From 5 visits".
Each level has its own % off at the register, a small field beside the level's text. Type 10 on Silver and, if your register is connected (Lightspeed today), every Silver customer gets 10% off every sale by itself: the cashier adds Ana to the sale and the discount is there. She doesn't ask for it and nothing is taken from her points; being Silver is the benefit. Perks that are only words, like "priority booking" or "a free birthday treatment", stay words: your staff honour them at the counter as they do now.
If we reviewed your existing levels and found text that is really just a percentage ("15% off"), the level shows a suggestion: Apply puts the number in the register field and clears the text, Keep as is leaves everything untouched. Nothing changes until you choose, and Restore original brings back your own wording at any time.