Every loyalty solution solves the same problem, recognising a customer in a shop, and they differ on one thing only: who does the work. The customer (download, sign up, take out a card, type a number), the team (stamp, validate, type), or the technology. Lecy is, to our knowledge, the only solution where neither the customer nor the team does anything, and where the customer stays anonymous. This comparison judges every family of solutions on the same criteria, then answers the questions a shopkeeper asks before choosing.
The table
| Solution | What the customer does | What the team does | Cheating | Till integration | Anonymous customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stamp card | Carry it, not lose it | Stamp at every visit | Easy (friendly stamp, borrowed card) | No | Yes, but nothing is measured |
| Dedicated app | Download, create an account, open the app at the till | Explain, help those who get stuck | Variable | Often | No |
| Card in the wallet | Add the card, find it, present it | Scan the card | Easy (static code, shared) | Sometimes | Rarely |
| QR code at the till | Scan, often identify yourself | Nothing, or validate | Easy (image photographed, shared) | No | Depends on the solution |
| Number on a tablet | Type your number in front of everyone | Nothing, or help | Moderate | No | No |
| Programme built into the till | Identify yourself at every visit | Look up and enter the customer | Variable | Required | No |
| Lecy | Hold up your phone, open the link | Nothing | Nearly impossible (unique, short-lived link, delay between two points) | None | Yes, by default |
The questions we are asked before choosing
A stamp card is free. Why pay?
The card is not free: it costs rewards given away unmeasured, till time, and a disappointed customer with every lost card. It says nothing: how many customers come back, how often, which ones have gone. Lecy costs from €35 a month per point of sale, and answers those questions every day.
We already have an app. Why add Lecy?
For everyone who will never download it, which is to say most in-store customers. Lecy does not replace the app; it adds a frictionless layer for the others. The two coexist.
What is the difference with a card in the wallet?
The wallet card asks the customer to add it, then to find it and present it at every visit, and its code is static: photographed once, it works everywhere. Lecy asks for nothing to find or present, and the link changes at every scan.
Isn't a QR code at the till the same thing as an NFC tag?
No. A QR code is a fixed image: it can be photographed, shared, printed, and gives points from anywhere. The Lecy tag generates a different, encrypted, short-lived link at every scan: you have to be in front of the tag. It is the difference between an address and proof of presence. The details are in the article on dynamic NFC.
And compared with a tablet where the customer types their number?
Typing your number at the till is slow, it is public, and it is an open door to spam: many customers refuse. With Lecy, the customer has nothing to type and stays anonymous; they only give their number if they want to receive a promo code or your news.
Our till offers a built-in programme. Why not use it?
Because the customer has to be identified at every visit, which means a gesture from the team or the customer, and because the programme is locked into the till: changing tills means losing the programme. Lecy does not touch the till; it works with all of them, and without one.
What about cheating?
The point comes from the customer's phone on the tag, not from a staff gesture; the link is unique and short-lived; a minimum delay separates two points. A human who awards, stamp included, is the usual source of fraud: with Lecy there is none in normal operation.
We want to reward the amount, not the visit.
That is Lecy's real limit, and we say so: the point rewards the visit. For a shop people come back to often with a steady basket, switching to the visit with an adjusted threshold is simpler and fairer to the loyal customer. For a shop where the basket varies enormously from one time to the next, Lecy is not the right tool.
Does it need to be integrated with the till?
No, and that is the principle: zero integration is what makes it possible to deploy by placing a tag, in one shop or a hundred.
Will our customers use NFC?
It is the gesture they already make to pay, and there is nothing to download. A Paris restaurant built loyalty with 350 customers in four months this way.
And GDPR?
The customer is anonymous by default: no name, no email, no number. Points are tied to an access key on their phone, not to an identity. They only leave their number for the texts they asked for.
No budget, not the right time?
No commitment, from €35 per site. And if it is not the right time, just say so.
Next article, and the most important of the series: the Lecy way, put yourself in the customer's shoes. To see the tap for real, the contact page: in Paris and the Paris region, we come round with a tag.