Switching your cafe's ordering app without losing customers

What moves and what does not

• 01Square Loyalty follows the phone number. Square tells customers to use the same phone number for every way they pay, because rewards are tied to it (Square). Its developer docs say the Loyalty API lets third-party mobile apps use Square Loyalty, and each loyalty account belongs to a profile in your Customer directory (Square Developer). So if your old app earned points in Square Loyalty, the points never lived in the app.
• 02A vendor's own program is a migration. Moving points between programs takes an export and an import. Per Diem documents the reverse case: it asks Square for a CSV of phone numbers and balances, then loads them into Per Diem Loyalty and turns Square Loyalty off (Per Diem). Leaving any vendor-run program means asking for the same file before you cancel. One seller who changed programs found customers kept their old stars but they did not convert (Square Community).
• 03Customers stay in Square. Anyone who paid through Square is in your Customer directory, and Square Dashboard exports it under Customers, Import / Export (Square).
• 04Gift cards are Square's. Square says eGift cards are redeemable at all of your locations (Square), and gift cards redeemed by third-party apps through its Orders or Payments API show up in your Square reports (Square Developer).
• 05Promos may not carry. A cafe using Per Diem reported that customers could not use promos such as a birthday $5 off in the third-party app, and the thread had no answer when we read it (Square Community). Plan launch offers inside the new app instead.

Your App Store listing

Reviews, ratings and existing installs belong to the App Store listing, and the listing belongs to whichever developer account published it. Apple lets the Account Holder of that account transfer an app to another account while it stays on sale; the app keeps its reviews and ratings and users keep getting updates (Apple). Only the Account Holder can start it, and a pending transfer expires after 60 days (Apple). Google Play moves users, download statistics, ratings and reviews with a transfer, and both accounts must be registered and active (Google).

So the first question for your current vendor is whose account the app is in. If it is yours, you control what happens to it. If it is the vendor's, ask whether they will transfer it before you give notice. If they will not, plan for a new listing and a clear message to regulars that the old app is going away. Some vendors charge for the store accounts themselves; Orda, for example, lists a $124 setup fee for Apple and Google registration (Orda).

Switching to Crate

Crate builds your own iOS and Android ordering app on your Square menu. Orders, Square Loyalty and Square gift cards all stay in your Square account, so when your points already live there, the switch is mostly about telling customers where to order.

• 01Square Loyalty balances come with your customers. We set your app to use Square Loyalty. A returning customer who confirms the same US phone number in the app sees the balance they had, redeems rewards, and earns on every app order in that same program.
• 02A welcome that says so. The app can greet returning customers with a note that their rewards come with them and send them straight to phone sign-in.
• 03Square gift cards keep working. Once we switch gift cards on, customers add a card they already hold by its number, check the balance and pay with it, or buy a new one. The same card works at your register.
• 04Orders keep landing in Square. Each app order is a real Square order with its pickup time, paid through your own Square account, so your reports carry on without a break.
• 05A link for every old QR code. Your menu also gets a Crate ordering web page, so website buttons and printed QR codes have somewhere to point on day one, and promo codes give regulars a reason to download the app.
• 06One flat price. $80/month for up to five locations, rewards included, with no Crate per-order fee. Per Diem, for comparison, lists $99 per location per month plus $0.50 per pickup order (Per Diem).

Where it may still fit: If your points live in your current vendor's own loyalty program rather than Square Loyalty, Crate does not import them today, so a vendor that will load your export may fit better, or you can ask Square's loyalty team about moving them into Square Loyalty first. In the app, a gift card has to cover the whole order; it cannot be split with a credit card yet.

For what each app costs, see Per Diem alternatives for Square cafes and a branded ordering app for your Square business. For Crate's app itself, see Crate cafe ordering.

A switch checklist

1. 01Ask your current vendor where your loyalty points live: in Square Loyalty or in their own program. If it is their own, ask for a CSV of phone numbers and balances.
2. 02Export your Square Customer directory as a backup, and ask the vendor for any customer list they keep outside Square.
3. 03Ask whose Apple and Google developer accounts hold the app, and whether they will transfer the listings to you.
4. 04Check that the new app accepts Square gift cards and earns in the loyalty program you plan to keep.
5. 05Keep the old app running until the new one is live in both stores, then overlap for a week or two.
6. 06Replace every website, social and QR code link, put a sign at the register, and launch with a promo code.
7. 07Give notice to the old vendor only after the new app is taking orders.

Questions

Will my customers lose their loyalty points if I change ordering apps?

Not if the points live in Square Loyalty. Square ties each balance to the customer's phone number in your Square account, and any app built on Square's Loyalty API reads that same balance. Points kept in the old vendor's own program are different: you need an export of phone numbers and balances from that vendor, and the new vendor has to load them.

Do I keep my customer list when I switch?

Customers who paid through Square stay in your Square Customer directory, and you can export them as a CSV from Square Dashboard. What does not move is each customer's login in the old app; they sign in once in the new one. Ask the old vendor for any list they kept outside Square before you cancel.

Do Square gift cards still work in a new app?

Yes, as long as the new app supports Square gift cards. The card belongs to your Square account, Square says gift cards are redeemable at all of your locations, and redemptions made by third-party apps through Square's APIs show up in your Square reports.

Can I keep my App Store listing and reviews?

Only if the listing can be moved. Apple lets the Account Holder of the account that holds the app transfer it to another developer account, and the app keeps its reviews and ratings. Google Play transfers users, ratings and reviews too. If the listing sits in your old vendor's account, they have to start the transfer, so ask before you cancel.

How do I tell customers about the new app?

Replace every website, social and QR code link that points at the old app, as Square told Go Parrot sellers to do, then announce it at the register and online. A launch promo code gives regulars a reason to download it the first week.

Does Crate import points from my old app?

No. If your points are in Square Loyalty, there is nothing to import: we set your Crate app to use Square Loyalty, and a returning customer who confirms the same US phone number sees and redeems their balance. Crate does not load stamps or points kept in another vendor's own program. Crate is $80/month for up to five locations, with no Crate per-order fee.