Understanding pricing for Loyalty: Will I be charged if I'm not accepting sales for a few months?

[Covegirl]

We have a seasonal business that accepts no sales from October until mid-May.  Am I understanding the new loyalty program pricing correctly that there will just not be any fees for those months?  I will only be charged on the sliding scale for the months we are taking sales?

[Helen · Accepted solution]

@Covegirl You would still be charged $45 per month for your Loyalty subscription, even if you had no sales during that time. But the good news is you can cancel your subscription. When you re-subscribe in October, or whever you need, all your Loyalty information (rewards/points) will automatically be restored. 

[Covegirl]

Thanks, Helen!  That answered my question:).

[pessosices]

Thanks so much for the question @Covegirl , and for the info @Helen !

Are there any downsides or other effects of cancelling & resubscribing? 

[Helen]

@pessosices Let me double check - I'll be back as soon as I can!

[Helen]

@pessosices I'm back! If you were to cancel your subscription to Square Loyalty customers can't earn points/enroll - and you won't be able to see their Loyalty status in the app or from your online Dashboard either. You would still have access to the Loyalty reports. If/when you resubscribe everything would be restored. Hope that helps! 

[pessosices]

Thanks so much @Helen!

A couple of follow up questions - when unsubscribed:

1. What happens to when there are expiration dates on points? We're seasonal and will set our points to expire after 12 months, so the points should expire when we're resubscribed. Will that original correct expiration date continue, or will it delay it, or will it expire early, or will it cancel the expiration date alltogether?

2. What happens when someone checks their own Loyalty Status from the link in a text message?

Thanks again!

[Helen]

@pessosices Answers to your questions below! 

What happens to when there are expiration dates on points? We're seasonal and will set our points to expire after 12 months, so the points should expire when we're resubscribed. Will that original correct expiration date continue, or will it delay it, or will it expire early, or will it cancel the expiration date alltogether?

If you cancel your subscription it won't affect the expiration of your customer's existing stars/points. So if they're set to expire in 12 months and you cancel, they'll still expire in 12 months. One thing to keep in mind though is that while your subscription is canceled your customers won't receive reminder texts which are sent 14 days before the expiration date! 

For any other seasonal business reading this as a workaround you could shorten the expiration timeframe to 'fit' the season your business is open, or remove the expiration date.

What happens when someone checks their own Loyalty Status from the link in a text message?

Customers will still be able to check their Loyalty Status from the Welcome SMS message if you cancel your subscription. The Loyalty team is gathering feedback about this - would you like customers to see a specific message along the lines of 'this business is closed for the season' or something else? Or nothing at all? 

[pessosices]

Wonderful! Thank you so much for the answers, @Helen !

Super helpful!

That's a pretty cool idea! I like the idea of customers seeing a message - maybe a custom message that I can edit the wording of, giving our Re-opening date, and something along the lines of "Don't worry, you won't lose your points!"

Super cool idea!

[Helen]

No problem, thanks for asking! Ooh I agree a custom message would be very handy - I'll share that with the Loyalty team! 

[Covegirl]

Great idea, @pessosices!  I love the changable message idea.  Keeps everyone calm:).  Thanks @Helen  for the quick info.