Where attendance is a habit, loyalty helps keep it one.
Through our partnership with SumUp, we can offer fitness studios, gyms, activity providers, and bookable venues a card-linked loyalty programme to catch the quiet drop-off before it becomes a loss. The automated tools handle follow-up — but they work in proportion to how well enrolment is established at the point of payment.
An honest framing
This is not the strongest loyalty fit for every activity or recreation business. The model works well where three things are true: attendance happens on a weekly or monthly rhythm, visits are transactional through SumUp, and drop-off happens quietly before full churn is obvious.
Where attendance is one-off, event-led, or funded mainly through annual membership rather than repeat transactional visits, the case for loyalty is weaker. We will tell you honestly which side of that line your business sits on.
For businesses where habitual attendance is genuinely the model, the main win is automated reactivation — catching people early, before the habit has fully broken.
What SumUp Loyalty can do
Catch drop-off before it becomes churn
AutoPilot spots when a regular breaks their usual pattern — before they have fully stopped coming. A prompt at the right moment brings some back.
Fill the sessions that run below capacity
A promotion for a quiet Monday morning or a slow midweek slot can shift attendance into times that currently sit half-empty.
Give regulars a reason to stay consistent
A stamp or points mechanic rewards people for maintaining the habit — and gives them a visible reason not to drift.
Run retention without any ongoing effort
AutoPilot is configured once. At-risk prompts, lapsed-member offers, and birthday messages run automatically without your involvement.
AutoPilot — retention without the admin
AutoPilot runs five campaign types automatically based on customer behaviour. You configure them once. The system identifies the right customers and sends the right message at the right time — without any ongoing effort from you.
Sign-up reward
A welcome offer when a new customer joins — an immediate reason to use the account from day one.
At-risk prompt
Sent when a customer breaks their usual visit pattern, before they fully lapse.
Lapsed customer offer
An offer to customers who have not visited in a defined period — a prompt to come back.
Lost customer win-back
A stronger offer for customers who have been absent longest — the last prompt before they're gone.
Birthday campaign
An offer timed to a customer's birthday. Tends to land well.
AutoPilot handles the follow-up automatically once it is configured. The part that requires your involvement is the initial setup and making sure your team consistently prompts customers to join at the point of sale. The system works in proportion to the enrolled customer base you build.
Points or stamps — choose the one that fits how your customers spend
Available to our merchants through our SumUp partnership, this loyalty programme gives you two reward mechanics. Use the one that matches your transaction pattern.
Stamp card
One stamp per transaction. Simple, visible, and easy for customers to track. Best where transaction amounts are consistent and visit frequency is the main driver.
Good for: cafés, barbers, fast food, newsstands, food trucks.
Points-based loyalty
Points accumulate with spend. Customers who spend more earn more. Best where basket size varies meaningfully between visits.
Good for: spas, restaurants, grocers, florists, alcohol retailers.
Important: switching between stamps and points resets your customers' progress. Choose at the start and stay consistent.
Promotions — targeted, timed, and effort-free
Manual promotions let you run time-limited offers to enrolled loyalty customers. You choose the window, the offer, and the audience. The system handles the rest.
Quiet periods
A slow Tuesday evening or a mid-afternoon dip can be addressed directly with a timed offer.
Seasonal pushes
Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Black Friday — a promotion timed to a trading moment turns passive interest into a visit.
New launches
Introduce a new product, service, or location with an offer that gives existing customers a reason to come in and try it.
Tactical trading windows
A promotion during a specific date range or time of day, targeting only enrolled loyalty customers.
Promotion reach depends on the number of enrolled customers who have the SumUp Local app and have opted in to receive offers.
How it works in practice
Specific merchant scenarios — chosen for fit, not for coverage.
First-month retention
A yoga studio saw a clear pattern: new clients who attended at least four classes in their first month stayed long-term. Those who attended once or twice rarely came back. The challenge was the first four weeks.
What changed
A stamp mechanic — one stamp per class — gave new clients a visible reason to keep coming back early on. Combined with an AutoPilot at-risk prompt when a new client missed a week, first-month retention improved.
Catching gradual drop-off
A bouldering gym noticed that members rarely stopped suddenly. They visited less frequently over a few weeks before stopping altogether. By the time they had fully lapsed, reactivation was difficult.
What changed
AutoPilot identified clients who had broken their usual visit pattern and sent a prompt before they were fully gone. A portion came back. The earlier the intervention, the easier the return.
Group reactivation
A 3G football facility found that casual groups who hired pitches weekly were the hardest to retain. When one player dropped out or schedules shifted, the whole group stopped booking. Off-peak weekday slots ran chronically underused.
What changed
An AutoPilot prompt sent when a group's booking frequency dropped brought some groups back. A promotion for off-peak slots moved a portion of weekend-only groups toward quieter weekday evenings, improving overall utilisation.
Keeping the routine in the first six weeks
A boxing gym found that drop-off was highest in the first six weeks. New members arrived with enthusiasm but attendance became irregular before stopping. There was no system to notice this or respond.
What changed
AutoPilot's at-risk trigger identified members breaking their attendance pattern in the first weeks. A simple reminder — their loyalty stamps were waiting — was enough to bring some back into the routine before the habit fully broke.
Parent-led drift
A weekly children's activity class found that parents who attended regularly sometimes missed a week or two through schedule pressure, then never rebooked. The absence was quiet rather than deliberate.
What changed
An AutoPilot prompt sent after a missed session gave parents a low-effort reason to return. The prompt arrived before the habit had fully broken. Return rates among prompted families were noticeably higher.
Who this is strongest for
Stronger fit
- Yoga, pilates, and class studios where first-month retention is the challenge
- Climbing gyms and martial arts gyms where drop-off is gradual and quiet
- 5-a-side and pay-per-session sports facilities where group drift is common
- Children's activity providers with weekly attendance rhythms
- Any venue with measurable off-peak sessions that promotions could support
Weaker fit
- Event or concert-style venues where each visit is a one-off
- Sports clubs or organisations where revenue is primarily annual membership
- Tourism-led venues where local repeat attendance is minimal
- Businesses where revenue does not flow through repeat SumUp transactions