Loyalty program for a flower shop: a winter plan from Advent to Valentine's Day

A loyalty program for a flower shop has one job this winter: turn the people who come in once for an Advent wreath or a Christmas bouquet into people who come back before Valentine's Day. The setup that fits is a cashback card at 5%, offered at the till from late November, no extra promotions in December, one message in mid-January and one a week before 14 February. Below is the dated plan for winter 2026/27, with the messages to copy.

When I searched for this today, the top results for "loyalty program for flower shop" were lists of ideas without a single date or number. A florist doesn't need ideas in November. You need to know what happens on which day, because from the first Advent weekend you won't have time to think about it.

Why cashback suits a flower shop

A flower shop's bill swings more than almost any other shop's: a single rose at 4 €, a table bunch at 25 €, an Advent wreath at 50 €, a wedding order at several hundred. A stamp for each visit would treat the rose and the wreath the same. Cashback follows what people spend, which is why it is the card we suggest on our page for flower shops. If you want the longer reasoning, I wrote about choosing between points and stamps separately; a flower shop fails the "same bill every time" test on day one.

I'd start at 5%. Ten sounds generous in November and feels expensive on 23 December, when every wreath walks out the door anyway. Here is an example: a customer buys a 50 € wreath on the first Advent weekend and a 30 € bouquet before Christmas. That is 80 € spent and 4 € on the card, waiting for January.

Remember that money back costs you its full value when it is spent, unlike a free item, which costs you only its cost price. I went through that difference in what a loyalty reward really costs. At 5% it is a cost you can plan for.

The winter at a glance

Six dates carry the whole plan: two to get the card into people's hands, three messages, and the rush itself.

16 to 27 November: ready before the first wreath

The first Sunday of Advent is 29 November, so the wreath weekend is 27 to 29 November. Everything below has to be done before then.

1. Create a cashback card at 5%, in your colours.
2. Print the QR poster twice: one for the till, one for the table where the wreaths stand. The wreath table is where the once-a-year customers stop.
3. Agree on one sentence for everyone at the counter: "Would you like 5% back on this? Scan here and it goes into your phone wallet."
4. Decide who adds the sale. The easiest moment is while the bouquet is being wrapped: the customer is waiting anyway.

Messages need the customer's consent. We record it for each customer when they join, so ask for it then rather than chasing it in January.

28 November to 24 December: let December fill the cards

My advice for December is to do less. No double cashback, no special offers on the card, no weekly messages. People come in December whatever you do; the only goal is that as many of them as possible leave with the card.

The one message I would send is practical. Christmas Eve is a Thursday this year, so on Monday 14 December:

Lipa Flowers: Christmas table flowers can be ordered until Sunday 20 December. Order now, pick up on the 23rd or 24th.

If you sell gift cards for Christmas, those are a second way to meet new people in January. I listed the gift card mistakes to avoid a few days ago.

27 December to 10 January: count, then rest

Before you close for a few days, write down one number: how many new cards you got between 27 November and 24 December. That is your January list. Everyone on it bought something seasonal, has a small balance, and has no habit of coming to you yet.

11 to 24 January: the first message

January is quiet for every florist. The British Florist Association even has a page about the January blues, which I found oddly comforting. Its suggestion, houseplants for the customers who just threw out their Christmas tree, fits nicely with a message like this:

Lipa Flowers: the Christmas flowers are gone, your cashback isn't. Fresh tulips and new houseplants are in this week.

Send it on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, not on a Monday when people are digging out of their inbox. One message, not three. Anyone who came in December and comes back in January is the start of a regular.

1 to 8 February: the Valentine's message

Valentine's Day 2027 is a Sunday. That means the real rush is Friday 12 and Saturday 13 February, and anything you can move to pre-orders makes those two days calmer. Send this on Monday 8 February:

Lipa Flowers: Valentine's Day is Sunday 14 February. Order by Thursday and pick up on Friday or Saturday. Your cashback counts too.

This is the message the whole winter was building towards. A December customer with 4 € on the card and a reason to buy flowers is exactly who you want to hear from you that week.

12 to 14 February: keep the queue moving

During the rush, nobody explains the card. The poster on the counter does the work, the sale goes on the card while the bouquet is wrapped, and anyone who wants to know more can read the card later in their wallet. A queue of twelve people with roses is not the place for a sales pitch.

The real test is March

I'd judge the whole winter by one number: how many of the people who joined in December bought flowers again by the middle of March. In Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Ukraine many people buy flowers on 8 March, and Mothering Sunday in the UK is 7 March 2027, so the first few weeks of March give the card one more chance to prove itself. If a third of your December list comes back by then, the card is doing what it should. If almost nobody does, the problem is rarely the percentage. It is usually the sentence at the till, or the fact that nobody said it during the busiest weeks. Which of the two would it be in your shop?