Square Loyalty Program: Is It Worth It?

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Square Loyalty Program: Is It Worth It?

September 02, 2025

You’ve probably heard before that retaining customers is cheaper than acquiring new ones.

But what you might not have heard is that it really doesn’t take much in the retention department to start reaping the rewards of getting your customer to stick around.

Increasing your customer retention rates by even 5% can boost your business’s ROI by up to 95%... which is where the importance of a loyalty program comes into play.

According to the 2024 Bond Loyalty Report, consumer interest in loyalty is at an all-time high.

More than 8 in 10 consumers say loyalty programs make them “more likely to continue doing business” with a brand, while 79% state they’d be more likely to recommend a brand to a friend if they had a good loyalty program.

But the icing on the loyalty cake? You don’t need to invest in new hardware or an upgraded tech ecosystem… especially if you’re already a Square user.

What is Square Loyalty?

So, does Square have its own loyalty program, then?

It sure does — and it’s a good one, too.

Square Loyalty is a digital rewards program designed to fully (and seamlessly!) integrate with the platform’s range of other solutions, like POS, Marketing, and payment processing.

With Square Loyalty, business owners gain access to a ton of features that help operations run smoothly and their customers feel valued, including:

✔ Quick program customizations and changes through the Square Dashboard

✔ Exclusive deals, recurring promos, and bonuses to amplify customer engagement

✔ Fast and easy loyalty program enrolment with just a phone number (more on that later)

✔ Integrations with “built-in CRM tools” to promote a more personalized customer experience

✔ Hundreds of high-rated app integrations like Intuit QuickBooks, Craver, Wix, Acuity, and more

Factor in their straightforward sign-up process, transparent pricing, and free trial period, and Square Loyalty quickly becomes a must-try for coffee shops and restaurants alike.

How much does Square Loyalty cost?

Square Loyalty’s pricing model is simple:

The fewer locations and monthly loyalty visits your business has, the less you pay for Square Loyalty. The more locations and monthly loyalty visits your business has, the more you pay for Square Loyalty.

Here’s what that looks like for businesses in the US:

Monthly Loyalty Visits*	Price Per Location
0–500	45 USD/month
501–1,500	75 USD/month
1,501–10,000+	105 USD/month

*Square Loyalty defines a loyalty visit as “when a customer enrols in your program, earns a loyalty point or redeems a reward.”

Square Loyalty’s pricing is one of the most straightforward on the market because it’s tailored to your business’s transaction volume and customer activity — there aren’t any hidden fees or secret variables beyond the two listed above.

And, the icing on the pricing cake?

Square Loyalty doesn’t require any hardcore, long-term contracts, so you can pay on a month-to-month basis as long as the price is right for your business model.

→ Pro Tip: If your restaurant or coffee shop is growing fast, add regular loyalty pricing reviews to your schedule. That way, you can check whether your loyalty pricing is scaling with your business in a budget-aligned way! checking out using a square POS

Create the loyalty program your customers deserve with Craver x Square Loyalty.

How do you set up Square Loyalty?

Creating your Square Loyalty program starts in your Square Dashboard.

The first step is setting some ground rules about what your Square Loyalty program will look like. There are three things in particular you’ll need to decide on in our Square Dashboard:

1. Terminology

How will you describe your loyalty earnings and/or rewards? Will you go with “stars” like Starbucks, or “points” like Dunkin’?

2. Earning structure

How will your customers earn stars or points? For example, will earnings be tied to spending or visitation frequency?

3. Customer rewards

How will you reward your customers for earning points? For example, will you offer a discount on a sale or a free item?

From there, you’ll head to the “Loyalty” tab in your Square Dashboard, follow the step-by-step prompts on creating a Square Loyalty program, and voilà!

Your brand-new loyalty program is up and running.

How does Square Loyalty work?

Once your coffee shop or restaurant has been set up with Square Loyalty, it works like most other loyalty programs — your customers spend money and earn rewards.

But what makes Square Loyalty really stand out is how easy and customizable it is.

With Square Loyalty, there are three easy ways for your customers to join your loyalty program (all by phone number):

At a Square POS in-store
When paying a Square invoice
When completing a purchase online

You can pick which loyalty sign-up method works best for your business based on where most of your business comes from.

You also get to customize everything else about your loyalty program too, from what you call your rewards — whether customers “earn loyalty stars or points” — to how they redeem them — whether that’s “a discount on the entire sale, a discount on a specific item or item category, or a free item.”

Then, once your customers have signed up for your loyalty program, they can start earning loyalty points “no matter how they pay.” Square Loyalty offers a ton of other customer-centric features, too, like:

✔ Tracking rewards progress — Customers can view their rewards balance through Square Loyalty text updates, email receipts, or Cash App.

✔ Customized VIP tiers — Reward your most loyal customers (literally and figuratively) with Square Loyalty’s VIP tiers and points multipliers.

✔ Bonus points and promos — Encourage customers to come back and keep earning with “limited-time or recurring promotions” through Square Loyalty.

Craver and Square Loyalty is a match made in rewards heaven. Let us show you how.

Is Square Loyalty worth it?

With its reliable pricing structure and solid range of features, Square Loyalty is absolutely worth it for most coffee shops and quick-service restaurants.

Here are some of Square Loyalty’s most worthwhile features for businesses looking to ramp up their loyalty offerings.

✔ Ease of use — Customers can easily sign up for your Square Loyalty program at the POS, through your website, or via invoices. Plus, it’s easy to set up, and staff don’t need extra training to use or maintain it!

✔ Clear return on investment — According to an internal study on food and drink businesses, customers who use Square Loyalty spend 46% more and visit 57% more often than non-Square Loyalty customers.

✔ Built-in integration — Square Loyalty seamlessly integrates with other Square programs (like POS and Marketing) and third-party apps like Craver, Incentivio, and Grubbrr — all without extra hardware or software.

✔ Real-time data — With Square Loyalty, you get instant access to your program’s data, showing everything from who your top loyalty customers are to the average spend of loyalty vs. non-loyalty customers.

How to make Square Loyalty even more powerful.

Square Loyalty sets a great foundation for building loyalty among your coffee shop or restaurant’s customer base…

But what if you’re looking to take your loyalty offerings one step further?

That’s where Craver comes in.

With Craver, you can:

Send push notifications to keep your customers engaged and your business top of mind
Streamline pickup, curbside, and delivery orders while building loyalty with fast, accurate service
Offer customers mobile ordering, loyalty tracking, and personalized promotions, all in one place

Plus, Craver integrates directly with Square, so you don’t have to leave Square Loyalty behind — instead, you can make it work even harder for your business.