Free resource · use it on this page
Software Selection Scorecard
A weighted selection matrix for breaking a tie between shortlisted free loyalty tools — score each finalist, total the points, and record the decision.
How this scorecard works
Use this page when your shortlist is down to two or three free loyalty tools that all look fine in the demo. The scorecard replaces "which one felt nicer" with weighted arithmetic: ten criteria, each with a pre-built weight reflecting how much it matters to a small business running a stamp or points program.
Score each finalist from 1 to 5 on every criterion, multiply each score by the criterion's weight, and add the results. The weights total 100, so a perfect tool scores 500. Each row includes an anchor for what earns a 5 and what earns a 1 — score against the anchors, not against your mood, and score all finalists in the same sitting so the comparison stays fair.
The default weights lean toward customer join friction, free-tier ceilings, and messaging cost mechanics — the places where a free tool's true cost tends to hide. If your situation genuinely differs, adjust any weight by up to 5 points before you start scoring (keep the total at 100). Adjusting weights after seeing the totals is how scorecards get bent to justify a favorite. The whole tool lives on this page: fill it in on screen or print it.
The Selection Matrix: ten criteria, weights pre-built
Write your finalists' names over Tool A, B, and C. Score 1 to 5 per row using the anchors, multiply by the weight, and total each column at the bottom.
| Criterion | Weight | Score 5 when | Score 1 when | Tool A | Tool B | Tool C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer join friction | 15 | A customer joins from a QR scan in under 30 seconds, with no app download and no account creation | Joining requires an app install, a password, and email verification before the first stamp | |||
| Free-tier ceiling | 15 | Limits on members, messages, and locations are published and cover a year of your projected growth | Limits are unpublished, or hitting them locks features your live program already depends on | |||
| Messaging cost mechanics | 15 | Reaching your full member list costs the same at 5,000 members as at 100 | Every send carries a per-message fee, so cost climbs exactly as the program succeeds | |||
| Data ownership and export | 10 | Members, contact details, and earned history export to CSV at any time, on the free tier | There is no export, or export requires a paid plan or a support ticket | |||
| Speed at the counter | 10 | Stamping or redeeming is one scan and done — faster than tapping a card payment | Staff must search a name, open a record, and edit a number while the queue waits | |||
| Upgrade path | 10 | The first paid tier is published, monthly, cancel-anytime, and priced for one small business | Upgrading means a sales call, an annual contract, or enterprise pricing | |||
| Branding control | 10 | Your logo and colors lead on the card and every message, even on the free tier | The vendor's brand dominates what customers see and cannot be removed without paying | |||
| Repeat-visit reporting | 5 | A built-in report answers how many members came back this month | Reporting shows sign-ups only; repeat behavior is invisible | |||
| Setup time | 5 | You have a working test card within an hour, without reading documentation | Setup takes days, a mandatory onboarding call, or developer help | |||
| Exit cost | 5 | You could leave next quarter with your full list, and members would keep what they earned | Earned stamps or points cannot leave, so switching resets every customer to zero |
Channel mechanics reference
Use this when scoring join friction and messaging cost. Each delivery channel has fixed mechanics that no vendor's feature list changes.
| Channel | Customer effort to join | Cost as your list grows | Where it typically breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper or plastic stamp card | None — take the card | Printing only; there is no way to message members between visits | Cards get lost or forgotten, and the earned stamps leave with them |
| Native loyalty app | App install plus account creation | Push is free once installed, but installs are the bottleneck | A dedicated app is a hard ask on behalf of a single independent shop |
| SMS or phone-number program | Give a phone number at the till | Per-message fees scale linearly with list size | Cost rises exactly when the program starts working |
| Email points program | Email address at sign-up | Near-zero send cost at any size | Messages compete with every other promotion in the inbox |
| POS built-in loyalty | Automatic at checkout | Bundled into your POS fees | The program is welded to the till; switching POS means starting over |
| Wallet pass (Apple and Google Wallet) | Tap a link or scan a QR, add to the phone's built-in wallet — no app, no account | Updates travel by wallet push with no per-message fee (the model wallet-native platforms such as PushNotice use) | Requires a smartphone with a wallet app; customers without one need a paper fallback |
Tie-breaker rules, in order
Apply these top to bottom after totaling. The point of pre-built rules is that you agreed to them before you saw the totals.
| Situation | Pre-built rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Any finalist scores 1 on Data ownership or Free-tier ceiling | Eliminate it regardless of its total | One unrecoverable criterion outweighs a winning sum |
| Totals differ by more than 25 points (out of 500) | Take the higher total and stop | The weights already encode your priorities; relitigating them afterward defeats the exercise |
| Totals are within 25 points | The higher raw score on Customer join friction wins | Join friction taxes every future member; nothing recovers the customer who never joined |
| Still tied | The higher score on Data ownership and export wins | An exit door makes every other mistake recoverable |
| Still tied | The cheaper published first paid tier wins | Free tiers are on-ramps; assume you will upgrade within a year if the program works |
| You keep wishing the loser had won | Adjust weights by up to 5 points each (total stays 100) and re-score once | A wish is information — but it goes into the weights openly, not into bent scores |
| Every cell says 3 | Stop scoring and open trial accounts | Middling scores usually mean untested tools; score only what you have actually touched |
Decision record
Fill this in once the matrix is scored. A decision you can re-read beats a decision you have to reconstruct.
Shortlist
The two or three finalists worth scoring — not every vendor you found. Write their names over the Tool A, B, and C columns above.
Weighted total — Tool A
Sum of score times weight across all ten criteria. The maximum is 500.
Weighted total — Tool B
Same arithmetic. Totals only compare fairly if both tools were scored in the same sitting.
Weighted total — Tool C
Leave blank on a two-tool shortlist.
Hard-gate check
Did any finalist score 1 on Data ownership or Free-tier ceiling? Name it here and remove it before comparing totals.
Margin
Winner's total minus runner-up's. A margin of 25 points or fewer sends you to the tie-breaker table.
Tie-breaker applied
Which rule decided it, if the totals alone did not. Future-you will want the reasoning, not just the winner.
Decision, date, and review date
The winning tool, today's date, and a date about 90 days out when you will re-score against real usage — caps hit, messages sent, staff friction observed.
Verify before you commit
Run these checks on the winner before announcing anything to customers. Each one takes minutes and has changed real decisions.
Run the full customer loop yourself
Join, earn, and redeem on your own phone, start to finish, before any customer does.
Join on the other platform too
Test on both an iPhone and an Android; a flow that works on the owner's phone can still fail on the other platform.
Time the counter interaction
If stamping takes longer than tapping a card payment, staff will quietly stop offering it.
Export your test data
Open the CSV and confirm it contains contact details and earned history, not just names.
Screenshot the published free-tier limits
Copy the exact member, message, and location numbers into your decision record; pricing pages change.
Learn what happens at the cap
Pause, freeze, or auto-charge? If the docs are silent, email support — the answer and the response time are both data.
Price the tier you would actually need
Quote the upgrade at double your projected member count, not the cheapest tier on the pricing page.
Send one message to yourself
Note where it lands — lock screen, SMS inbox, or the promotions tab. That placement is where every future campaign will land too.
Find the cancel path now
Locate account deletion and final data export before you depend on the tool, not after.
Run a staff dry run
Have your least technical team member stamp a card unaided and note every hesitation.
Read who owns the list
Search the terms of service for member data ownership and whether the vendor may contact your customers directly.
Book the 90-day re-score
Put a calendar date on it; the scorecard is only honest if reality gets a vote later.
From the guide: Free Loyalty Software: The 2026 Guide
This resource accompanies the full article — worth reading before you commit to a tool.