Cartia

Digital loyalty card for nail salons

The fill happens at three weeks. Don’t let it slip away.

The fill sets its own calendar: three to four weeks, whatever the sales pitch. Take visits if you only do classic sets, points as soon as nail art and long services are added. The QR code is presented at payment.

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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 nail salon?

A nail salon has a rhythm a hair salon doesn’t: gel needs a fill every three weeks, or it breaks. Six fills is four and a half months: the reward comes around roughly three times a year. What doesn’t hold up is stamping a first full set at €70 the same as a fill at €35.

Hence points when the gap is wide, and visits when you only do fills. The paper card, for its part, doesn’t survive six different handbags.

QR code at reception, at the end of the service, phone already out to pay. Wallet, no app. They see their progress before booking the next date — in three weeks, not in three months.

The problem

Avoid disputes over cards lost in the handbag

A fill brings clients back every three weeks. That’s frequent enough for a card to work — as long as you don’t put the initial full set and the fill on the same stamp.

  • At the end of the set

    The scan happens once the nails are dry, when the client’s hands are free — not in the middle of the nail art.

  • Every three weeks

    If they push it back by a week, a nail breaks — and they go elsewhere. The card in the phone reminds them where their visits count.

  • For the nail salon

    You see who skipped a fill. It’s often too late for the nail — not too late for a push notification (Pro plan), right at three weeks.

  • The paper card

    The paper card gets worn, argued over, remade. The history of sets disappears with it.

  • With Cartia

    The visit history is secured and visible to your client on their Wallet pass.

The recommended program

How many visits before the reward at a nail salon?

Our setting: one stamp per appointment, the seventh fill free. Start from the fill, not from the first full set.

Every three weeks, six visits make four and a half months. The client has paid for six fills at €35, or €210, and receives the seventh: one appointment in seven, 14% of what they’ve had. A reward on the tenth visit would push it back to seven months, too far for them to think about it when rebooking.

What it really costs you is the 45-minute slot, more than the product. If your book is full on Saturdays, offer to use the free fill midweek: the client keeps their reward, and you place it in a gap in the schedule.

No full set as a reward: it blocks the table for two hours, and table time is what makes your revenue.

Visits or points at a nail salon?

  • Stamps / visits

    Visits, if your menu is tight: set, fill, removal. Prices are close, the counter stays fair.

  • Points on spend

    Points, as soon as elaborate nail art or a long-wear set costs double a plain fill. Otherwise, the biggest spender moves at the same speed as the smallest.

Look at the gap between your cheapest and your most expensive service. Past a factor of two, switch to points.

Six visits, the seventh fill free

6 stamps, one per appointment. The 7th fill, free.

What you can send next, from the Pro plan

An automatic reminder at 21 days without a visit, so they get their fill before the set breaks.

  • Open slots WednesdaySegment “Win back” · manual send early in the week
  • Three weeks of growthAutomation “If they don’t come back” · 21 days
  • New polish collectionManual send · whole customer list

Segments and sends: Pro and Business plans

Setting up

Set up your loyalty card at your nail salon

  • One appointment, one stamp

    Full set, fill, or removal: one stamp per visit, as long as your prices stay close. If an elaborate nail art costs double a fill, switch to points (€1 = 1 point).

  • A threshold built on the fill

    Six visits, the seventh fill free. It’s the gesture that comes back every three weeks: it’s the one that should trigger the reward.

  • QR code at reception

    At payment, not on the work table. Hands are busy during the set.

  • Validate before they leave

    Scan from Cartia Counter. They see the milestone and book the three-week date.

Without interrupting the work table

  • At the counter

    You validate the visit at payment, without leaving the preparation of the next set.

  • 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 only trade where the client has their return date at their fingertips

A nail salon barely depends on the desire to come back: regrowth sets the next appointment, three to four weeks later, and the client knows it before leaving. It’s a luxury very few businesses have — and a demand, because a client who goes well past this cycle hasn’t forgotten: they went elsewhere, or they stopped.

This very regular cycle makes setup simpler than in hair: the threshold can be reasoned in number of fills, therefore in months, which gives a promise the client pictures on their own. “Six fills” translates in their head as “in four months.”

  • Scale for uniform servicesOne stamp per visit, the seventh fill free: the reward comes back about three times a year. Simple to announce, simple to keep.
  • Scale when nail art weighsPoints on spend, so that the full set with designs doesn’t move at the same rate as a bare fill. It’s the only way the program stays credible to both clienteles.
  • The client past their cycleWell past the usual cycle, a win-back message makes sense. Segments and sends are part of Pro and Business; the Free plan gives you the program, not the channel.

A nail salon’s year: the three-week cycle, and what disrupts it

Regrowth doesn’t take vacations, your clients do. The moments that matter are the ones where the cycle breaks, and the ones where new clients arrive in groups.

  • May and JuneHands and feet come out, requests pick up. It’s the time to offer the card to every new client, from the first set.
  • Wedding seasonThe bride often comes with her bridesmaids, for the trial and then the set. Each of them can create a card at the same appointment: those are clients you wouldn’t have seen again.
  • July and AugustA client on vacation skips a fill or has the set removed before leaving. Their stamps wait for them. From Pro, a message in early September reminds them to rebook.
  • DecemberThe holiday book fills fast and nail art sells best. From Pro, tell your sign-ups that the year-end slots are open before they go.

The calculation

How many extra fills would cover the subscription?

With the assumptions below — €35 ticket, 75% gross margin — 2 extra sets per month would cover the monthly cost of the Pro plan.

Adjust my assumptions

If 10% of visits repeat one more time thanks to the card · €26.25 margin per set

With these assumptions, the break-even point is

2 sets / month

Beyond this threshold, the margin generated would cover the cost of the Pro plan. Formula: plan price ÷ (average basket × gross margin) = €29.90 ÷ €26.25.

  • +288sets over the year
  • €840more 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 nail salon: average ticket €35, 75% 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 nail salon

How do I set up a loyalty card at a nail salon?

You create a program in visits or points, place a QR code at reception, and validate each visit at the end of the service. Your clients install nothing.

Full set and fill: the same stamp?

Only if the prices are close. Otherwise, points tied to spend avoid penalizing the first full set and under-rewarding the fill.

Business card or loyalty card: do I need both?

The loyalty card in the phone does part of the business card’s job: on the back, the client finds your contact details and links, like your booking page or your Instagram. If you print business cards, put your program’s QR code on the back: whoever receives one creates their loyalty card without waiting for their next appointment.

Does it work with a booking platform or Instagram?

Yes. Loyalty plays out at checkout, not in the calendar. No integration is required.

They haven’t rebooked at three weeks. What do I do?

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. Right in the fill window — before the nail breaks and they go elsewhere. It isn’t a scheduling tool: you write it, you target it, you send it.

Do my customers have to download an app?

No. They scan the QR code at the counter, join the program from their browser, then add their card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. No app to install.

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

Cartia is free up to 50 customers at one location, no credit card required. Beyond 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), with no setup fees and no per-volume billing.

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