Lesson · The points system · Page 2 of 2
Points are owed until they're spent.
Every guest cup puts a little of its price into the points jar, for the regular who dropped the bag. That money isn't the café's. The café owes it, as points, until they're spent.
Only when points expire unspent does their money move from the points jar to the till and become the café's. That's the regular's loss, so it's a bonus, never a plan.
The setup
When the bag runs out
Points each of them has
1,200 points
From a 500g bag, 50 lattes sold. Enough for 12 lattes at menu price, with 48 points to spare.
In the points jar for each
1,200 THB
24 THB from each of those 50 lattes, as on page 1.
Points stay valid for
12 weeks
The café chooses, and says so when it accepts the bag.
Mint
Comes in every week and spends points on a latte.
Ploy
Spends points on three lattes, then moves to Chiang Mai and forgets about them.
Try it
Twelve weeks at the counter
Pick a regular and slide through the weeks. Watch money move from the points jar to the till as they spend, and what happens on the last day.
Regular
Week 12, points expire
- A latte paid with points
- No visit
Points jar
0 THB
Till
1,200 THB
- Lattes paid with points3 × 96 points
- 288 points
- Points Ploy still has912 points expired
- 0 points
- Still owed, in the points jarThe regular's, not the café's
- 0 THB
- Moved from the points jar to the till, for lattesEach one pays for its latte like a cash sale
- 288 THB
- Moved from the points jar to the till, at expiryNo drink made for it
- 912 THB
- Now the café's, from expired points
- 912 THB
Ploy's loss, the café's gain
Ploy stopped coming after three lattes. When the points expired, 912 points were still unspent, so the 912 THB set aside for them moved from the points jar to the till with no latte made. The café gains it and Ploy loses it.
Don't spend the points jar
It's tempting to count the points jar as takings, especially when someone hasn't been in for weeks. Until their points are spent or expire, it's money you owe. Keep it apart, and check it against the Still owed column on your Contributors page.
How paying back works, in the café guideSpending points costs nothing extra
When a regular spends points, you serve what they order and move the money set aside for those points from the points jar into the till, as if they paid cash. It covers the order and its profit. The guest cups that earned the points paid for it long before.
Setting how long points last
- You choose how long your points stay valid, and tell the regular when you accept their bag.
- Give people time to spend them. At a latte a week, a 500g bag's points take about three months.
- Don't count on expiry in your prices. The calculator counts every point at full value, and expired points are a bonus.
- If a regular deletes their account, their unspent points are lost, and the money set aside for them moves from the points jar to the till, as if they expired.
- You can only close your café on BeansDrop once you owe nobody points or cash.