Loyalty Program Migration Checklist

How to use this checklist

Most loyalty migrations do not lose members because data goes missing. They lose members because nobody re-invites them, because a stamp balance gets zeroed out, or because an old QR code on the counter keeps enrolling people into a program that no longer exists. Every task below exists to close one of those gaps.

Two rules govern the whole process. First: export everything before you change anything, because your access to the old tool is never more complete than it is today. Second: never cancel the old subscription until the new program is live, balances are verified, and the dispute traffic has died down. The monthly fee for one overlap cycle is cheap insurance.

Work through the sections in order on this page, or print it and keep it with your launch notes. The steps overview shows the whole flow; the three checklists break it into tasks; the export table and the switchover planner at the end are the two artifacts you fill in as you go.

The six-step migration flow

Each step gates the next. Do not start an import before the export is verified, and do not go live before you have walked the member journey yourself.

1. 1

   Audit your current program

   Before touching any settings, inventory what you actually have: how many members are active, what the earn rules are, who is mid-card, and every place a join link or QR code is published.

2. 2

   Export your data

   Pull member contacts, consent records, balances, and redemption history while you still have full access. Verify the files open and the counts match your dashboard.

3. 3

   Build the new program

   Recreate your rules and card design in the new tool. Where old and new rules cannot match exactly, err in the member's favor. Test the full journey yourself before any member sees it.

4. 4

   Import and reconcile

   Load members and balances, starting with a small test batch. Reconcile imported counts against the export and spot-check balances for regulars you know personally.

5. 5

   Switch over

   Announce the change, update every enrollment touchpoint from your audit, re-invite members through channels you have consent for, and keep the old tool readable during the transition.

6. 6

   Retire the old tool

   Only after go-live is stable: take a final export, cancel per the notice terms, archive the data securely, and remove every trace of the old program from your signage.

Steps 1 and 2: audit and export

Complete every item here before you configure anything in the new tool.

• Count your real member base

  Compare total signups to members active in the last 90 to 180 days. Decide now whether dormant members get migrated or just re-invited later; it changes your import file.

• Document your current earn rules exactly

  Stamps per visit, points per amount spent, reward thresholds, expiry rules. Screenshot every settings page; rules are rarely included in data exports.

• List every unredeemed earned reward

  A completed card that has not been claimed is a promise you must honor. These are easy to miss because the member may show a zero balance after earning.

• Inventory every enrollment touchpoint

  Counter signage, receipt footers, website, Google Business Profile, social bios, table tents, staff scripts. Write the list down; you will update each one at switchover.

• Check your export options before cancelling anything

  Confirm what the current tool actually lets you export, in what format, and whether full export requires a paid tier. Find this out while you can still upgrade for a month if needed.

• Read the cancellation terms

  Note the notice period, what happens at the end of the billing cycle, and how long your data is retained after the account closes.

• Verify marketing consent

  Confirm which members opted in to being contacted and under what terms. You can carry contact data to a new tool only within the scope members originally agreed to.

• Export the member list with contact details

  Name, phone or email, join date. This file is the single most important asset of the whole migration; without it you rebuild from zero.

• Export balances and redemption history

  These are often separate exports from the member list. History settles future disputes and shows you who your heaviest users are.

• Spot-check every export file

  Open each file, verify the row count against your dashboard, and check the balances of a few regulars you know by name.

• Store exports securely

  This is personal data. Keep it in one access-controlled place, do not email copies around, and note where it lives for later deletion.

Steps 3 and 4: build and import

Nothing in this section is member-facing yet. Take the time to get it right in private.

• Recreate your program rules in the new tool

  Match the documented rules from your audit. Where the tools differ and an exact match is impossible, choose the version that is more generous to the member.

• Write down your balance policy in one sentence

  Either balances import exactly, or you define an honest fallback such as rounding everyone up or granting equivalent credit. Never zero anyone out, and give staff the sentence verbatim.

• Rebuild the card or pass design

  Logo, colors, reward wording. Keep it recognizable enough that a regular immediately sees it as the same program in new clothes.

• Plan a fresh install if you are moving to wallet passes

  Apple and Google Wallet passes are tied to the issuing provider and cannot be transferred between vendors, on PushNotice or any other platform. Your contact export is what gets each member onto the new pass.

• Map export columns to import fields

  Name, contact, join date, balance. Watch date formats and phone number formats; mismatched formats are the classic silent import failure.

• Run a test import with five to ten rows

  Verify those records look right in the new tool, including balances, before committing the full list.

• Import the full list and reconcile counts

  Members imported must equal members exported, minus any dormant members you deliberately excluded. Investigate any other gap before go-live.

• Spot-check balances for known regulars

  Pick the same people you checked at export time and confirm their balance survived the round trip.

• Walk the full member journey yourself

  Join, earn a stamp, reach the reward, redeem it, on a real phone at the real counter. Do this before any member does.

• Brief your staff

  Cover the new redemption flow and give everyone the same one-line answer to the question they will hear all week: what happened to my old card?

Steps 5 and 6: switch over and retire the old tool

This is the only member-facing phase. Keep the gap between final export and go-live as short as possible.

• Pick a low-traffic switchover day

  Any stamps earned between your final export and go-live will not carry over, so choose a quiet day and keep that window to hours, not days.

• Announce the change before it happens

  Tell members what is changing, when, what they need to do, and, most importantly, that their balances carry over.

• Update every enrollment touchpoint on your audit list

  New QR on the counter, new link on the website and Google Business Profile, new receipt footer. One stale QR quietly keeps enrolling people into the dead program.

• Re-invite existing members directly

  Send the join or install link through the channels you have consent for. This message, not the import, is what actually moves members across.

• Keep the old tool readable during the transition

  When someone says they had seven stamps, look it up instead of arguing. Read-only access for a few weeks resolves nearly every dispute.

• Track re-enrollment for the first two to four weeks

  Measure how many active members have joined the new program. Send two or three spaced reminders to non-movers before treating them as lapsed.

• Let staff resolve balance disputes in the member's favor

  A free stamp costs less than a lost regular. Give staff standing permission so disputes end at the counter.

• Cancel the old subscription only when three things are true

  The final export is verified, go-live has been stable, and dispute questions have stopped. If in doubt, keep it one more billing cycle.

• Take a final export at cancellation and archive it

  Balances changed during the parallel run; the final export is your permanent record. Store it with the same care as the first one.

• Remove or replace all old-program signage

  Do a physical walk of the shop and a search of your website and profiles for the old join link.

• Delete archived personal data when its purpose ends

  Once the dispute window is well past, delete the old exports in line with your privacy obligations instead of keeping them forever.

Data to take with you

Use this as your export inventory. Tick each row off only after you have opened the file and checked it.

Switchover planner

Fill this in once and share it with everyone involved. Every date should have a name next to it.