A birthday is the easiest visit of the year to win
Everyone celebrates their birthday somewhere. The only question is whether that somewhere will be yours — and that is decided a week before, when a reason does (or doesn’t) land on their phone.
Nobody has a birthday alone
The customer who comes back for a promotion comes alone. The one who comes to celebrate their birthday brings a table. It is the only date in the year when you give one thing away and bill four people.
To see how big this is, divide your club by twelve.
| Members with a date | Birthdays a month | A week |
|---|---|---|
| 300 | 25 | 6 |
| 600 | 50 | 12 |
| 1,000 | 83 | 19 |
| 2,500 | 208 | 48 |
And the sum that settles it: you give away a dessert that costs you €1.20 and, of those 83 birthdays, 20 come in to celebrate. You have spent €24. If each one brings two more people, that is 60 covers; at an €18 average ticket, €1,080. Plug in your own numbers: the cost is in the gift and the revenue is in the guests.
What etlas does while you open up
- It hands out the reward. Every day it checks who enters their window and puts the reward on the card in their phone. Once a year per person: nobody gets two.
- It wishes them happy birthday by name. On the day itself their phone buzzes with the greeting and their name in it; if you use the stamp image on the card, it dresses up for the party too.
- At decent hours. Nothing goes out outside 9 am to 9 pm, in each shop’s local time.
- With an honest expiry. The reward expires when the window you chose ends, not after the generic period of your other rewards. If you promise the whole month, it lasts the whole month.
Switch it on in your panel
- In Set up → The rewards, create what you are going to give (a dessert, a drink, a starter to share). If it is already in your catalogue, skip this step.
- Go to Set up → Birthday reward and switch on Give something for their birthday.
- Under When can they redeem it? choose Only their day, A few days (and type how many) or The whole month.
- Under Which reward do they get? tick the reward. With no reward ticked nothing goes out, even with the switch on.
- If you are going to ask for a table, write the Condition: optional, 200 characters.
- Save. Then in Sign-up form → What you ask, check that Date of birth is still on Show and Required.
The Birthday reward step is available from the Club plan upwards; if you are on an entry plan, the screen itself tells you when you open it. Your team has nothing to learn: when they scan the card of someone whose birthday is today, the screen tells them. And in Statistics you have the Birthdays this week block.
Only their day, a few days or the whole month
| Window | When it arrives | Valid until | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Only their day | That same day | That night | Café, passing trade |
| A few days | On the birthday | As many days as you say, from the birthday | Fast food, takeaway |
| The whole month | On the 1st of the month | The last day of the month | Sit-down restaurant, high ticket |
Here is what almost nobody sees coming: with Only their day and A few days the reason to come arrives on the day itself, when they have already decided where to have dinner. The only window that gives them notice is The whole month, because the reward lands on the 1st and sits in front of them for weeks while they decide. If you live off tables of six, that is your window; if you sell coffees, it is not: a free coffee all month is a month of free coffees.
“Come with three and the birthday guest doesn’t pay”
The Condition field is what turns a nice gesture into a table. It is free text and goes on the back of the customer’s card, under the birthday rule, and on the member’s profile, right next to their reward. But it is a sentence, not a lock: the system doesn’t count chairs, your team checks it at the table. Write it the way you would say it out loud — “come with 3 guests, all on the same bill” — not the way you would write a contract.
Depending on what you sell
- Dinner restaurant. Whole month and a table condition. If you take bookings here, the Agenda flags on the booking itself whose birthday falls that day or in the next three.
- Café or bakery. Only their day and no condition: it is a nice touch people talk about, not a plan.
- Fast food or takeaway. A few days, three or four: room to drop in without giving away four weeks.
- Hairdresser, beauty salon, shop. Whole month: the visit gets planned and the ticket can carry the gift.
The four mistakes that switch it off
- Giving a discount. 10% off excites nobody. Give something that lands on the table.
- Switching it on without choosing a reward. Switch on, nothing ticked in the catalogue: nothing goes out and nobody notices until a customer asks.
- Removing date of birth from the sign-up form. Fewer fields, more sign-ups — and six months later, a club with no birthdays.
- A short window in a booking business. If they decide a week ahead and the reward arrives on the day, you are late to your own party.
Frequently asked questions
What should you give a customer for their birthday?
A product, not a percentage: a dessert with a candle, the birthday drink, a starter to share. Something that lands on the table and that your team can hand over without a debate. Nobody celebrates a discount.
How far ahead should you tell them?
Before they make plans, which for a restaurant means a good week. Of the three windows, only the whole month manages that: the reward reaches them on the 1st. With “only their day” or “a few days” it appears on the birthday itself.
Can I ask them to bring company?
Yes, with the Condition field: you write “come with 3 guests, all on the same bill” and that sentence shows on the back of the customer’s card and next to their reward on their profile. Your floor staff check it; it is not an automatic block, so keep it short and without exceptions.
What if the customer didn’t leave their date of birth?
They’re left out: without a date, the system doesn’t know when to wish them happy birthday. The sign-up form asks for it by default and makes it required, so it is usually only missing for customers imported from a previous system.