Cartia

Digital loyalty card for hair salons

Bring clients back every 5 weeks, not every 8.

Count in visits if you only do cuts, in points as soon as color and technical services are added: between a cut and a full color, the same stamp doesn’t represent the same thing. The QR code is presented at checkout.

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Free plan: up to 50 customers, no credit card.

Last updated October 23, 2026.

The short answer

What kind of loyalty program works for a hair salon?

A salon isn’t a bakery, and that’s the first thing to sort out before choosing a program. Your clients come back every five to eight weeks, sometimes less often. A ten-visit card modeled on the coffee shop would take over a year to reach the reward. Nobody sticks with a program for a year.

Two settings work in hair salons. The first: a low threshold — five or six visits — with a reward that has real value, such as a conditioning treatment, a blowout, or money off a color service. The second: a points program tied to spend, which recognizes the gap between a €25 cut and an €80 full color.

The rest is a question of timing. The card is offered at the end of the service, at checkout, when the client already has their phone out to pay. They scan a QR code, their card goes into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and they install nothing.

The problem

Your client list deserves better than a drawer of cards

When a client goes from six to eight weeks between appointments, that’s two services lost over the year. And nobody warns you: they simply stop rebooking. Cartia shows you who is drifting away, and lets you reach out before the salon next door does.

  • At checkout

    Scanning takes a single gesture, while the bank card is already coming out. No paper card to dig out of a drawer, no stamp to track down.

  • Between two appointments

    Six weeks separate two visits. The card stays in the phone and shows where their progress stands — a paper card would have had six weeks to get lost.

  • For the salon

    Six to eight weeks of silence, and they’ve already tried the salon next door. A push notification on their phone (Pro plan) — not a text message, not a booking-app reminder. In hair, a client never says they’re leaving: they just stop rebooking.

  • The paper card

    A client comes every 8 weeks instead of 5. You lose two services a year without even noticing, and the paper card gives you no way to contact them.

  • With Cartia

    You spot at a glance your loyal clients and those drifting away. Contact details are collected cleanly at sign-up.

The recommended program

How many visits before the reward at a hair salon?

The math has nothing to do with a drop-in business, and that’s where most salon programs fail.

Start from the real rhythm. A client who comes every six weeks makes eight to nine visits a year. A ten-visit threshold makes them wait more than a year: they’ll have forgotten the program long before finishing it. A five-visit threshold gives them a reward every seven to eight months — still long, but reachable, and above all credible when you announce it.

Then size the reward to what it really costs you. Unlike a product, a free service mostly costs you chair time. A treatment or a blowout takes a short slot and leaves a strong impression; a free color ties up a station for two hours. The ratio between perceived value and real cost is not remotely the same.

Visits or points: which to choose

  • Stamps / visits

    Visits, for a cut-only salon: services look alike, the client immediately understands what’s left to do, and you have no amount to key in.

  • Points on spend

    Points on spend, as soon as color, highlights, smoothing or technical treatments sit alongside cuts. It’s the only way the client who leaves three times as much at the register moves three times as fast.

Cut only: visits. Cut plus technical services in the same salon: points. The ticket gap decides, not the size of the salon.

Reward regularity without breaking your prices

5 stamps (1 cut or technical service = 1 stamp). A deep conditioning treatment or a blowout, free on the 6th visit.

What you can send next, from the Pro plan

Send a direct notification to the screen of clients who haven’t been in for 6 weeks to suggest a color refresh.

  • Two chairs open Tuesday afternoonSegment “Win back” · manual send on Sunday
  • Your color is six weeks oldAutomation “If they don’t come back” · 42 days
  • December fills up fastSeasonal manual send · whole customer list

Segments and sends: Pro and Business plans

Setting up

Set up your loyalty card at your hair salon

  • Choose between visits and points

    Visits if your services are priced alike, points if the gap between a cut and a full color is large.

  • Set a threshold you can reach within the year

    Five to six visits, not ten. Start from the real rhythm of your regular clients, not from the model of drop-in businesses.

  • Display the QR code at checkout

    On the counter, next to the payment terminal. It’s the only moment the client is standing still, available, and already on their phone.

  • Record the visit at the end of the service

    One scan from Cartia Counter and the visit is recorded. The client sees their progress before leaving, which gives them a reason to book their next appointment.

A modern image from the moment of payment

  • At the counter

    The scan happens at payment, while the bank card comes out. If the client doesn’t have their phone, look up their record by name from your dashboard.

  • In the Wallet, not in an app

    The card sits next to the bank card, in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. The customer scans the QR code, fills in a short form, and adds it — there is no app to install.

In your business, concretely

The gap between two appointments is the only number that matters here

In hair, nobody says they’re leaving. A client cancels nothing, they space out. The usual cycle — five to eight weeks depending on the cut and color — is what makes absence readable: beyond it, it’s no longer a delay, it’s a client who went elsewhere. The paper card will never tell you, because it leaves with them.

It’s the one piece of information the digital card really gives back: you see who is in their cycle and who has left it. What you do with it is then an editorial choice, not an automatism. From Pro, you can write to a segment of clients who haven’t been in for a while: you write the message, you pick the moment, you send it.

  • A card with the salon’s identityThe salon’s name, logo and colors can be set from the Free plan: in the phone’s wallet, the card carries your sign, not ours. That’s what sets it apart from the other passes the client already has.
  • Winning back after an absenceSegments and sends are part of Pro and Business. None of it is included in the Free plan, which remains a complete loyalty program but without a reminder channel.
  • It’s not a booking systemCartia doesn’t take appointments and doesn’t plug into your booking software. It works on the client’s return, not on the schedule — the two tools coexist without replacing each other.

The calculation

How many extra visits would cover the subscription?

With the assumptions below, a single extra visit per month would cover the monthly cost of the Pro plan — a salon’s ticket is high enough that the threshold drops to one. You still have to earn that visit: the calculation doesn’t promise it.

Adjust my assumptions

If 10% of visits repeat one more time thanks to the card · €31.50 margin per visit

With these assumptions, the break-even point is

1 visit / month

Beyond this threshold, the margin generated would cover the cost of the Pro plan. Formula: plan price ÷ (average basket × gross margin) = €29.90 ÷ €31.50.

  • +346visits over the year
  • €1,296more revenue each month, with this assumption
  • €0.98per day for the Pro subscription
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Illustrative estimate, not a revenue promise. Starting assumptions at your hair salon: average ticket €45, 70% gross margin, 24 days open per month. Cartia measures neither your revenue nor your return on investment: replace these values with your own.

Frequently asked questions

Replacing the paper card at your hair salon

How do I set up a loyalty card in a hair salon?

You create a program in visits or points, display a QR code at the checkout counter, and record each visit at the end of the service from a phone or a browser. Your clients install no app.

How many visits before offering a reward in a hair salon?

Five to six visits is a good benchmark. A client who comes every six weeks makes eight to nine visits a year: a ten-visit threshold would make them wait over a year, which is discouraging. You’re free to set the threshold and to change it later.

Stamps or points: which should a salon choose?

Visits suit you if your services are priced alike. Points suit you if the gap between a cut and a full color is large: they reward actual spend rather than the simple fact of showing up. Pick the mode before you launch: it is fixed when the program is created, while the threshold and the rewards can be adjusted afterward.

Does it work for salons that take appointments?

Yes. The program triggers at checkout or at the end of the service, independently of your booking tool. No integration is needed.

Do my clients have to install an app?

No. They scan the QR code displayed at the counter, join the program from their browser, then add their card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet — no account to create, no password to remember.

How do I win back a client who hasn’t rebooked?

From the Pro plan, you send a push notification to their phone. Not a text message, not a WhatsApp: no message credits to top up. Typically at six or eight weeks without a visit, or to fill a gap in the afternoon. It isn’t a booking platform, and it doesn’t send automatic appointment reminders: you write it, you target it, you send it.

How much does a loyalty card for a hair salon cost?

Cartia is free up to 50 customers at one salon, no credit card required. After that, the Pro plan is €29.90/month, tax included, with unlimited customers and a 14-day free trial (credit card required to start it). No setup fees.

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