For years, point-based loyalty programs were the standard. But let’s be honest - points are problematic. They sit idle in an app, expire, and rarely feel they’re worth anything. Worst of all, they are more than often forgotten, captured in third-party apps or cardboard punch cards.

So here’s the question: if your loyalty program isn’t making guests return more often or spend more each time… what’s the point in points-based systems?

What’s the alternative to a points-based loyalty program?

Points-based programs are confusing for customers. How many points equal a coffee? When can you redeem them? What’s the value? That lack of clarity kills engagement.

They rarely change behaviour. There’s no way to nudge customers to come on quieter days, spend more, or visit again soon.

And they’re nearly impossible to customise or alter post-issuance. Creating rewards for VIPs, testing promotions in just one venue, or adjusting campaigns for different times of day is hard. 

That’s why more operators are switching to Liven Loyalty - a system designed to move the key levers in hospitality: recency, frequency, and spend.

Currency Beats Points, Every Day

What if instead of points, you could print a currency unique to your venue and program that currency to do whatever you want. What if that currency could be issued as a percentage of any purchase, say 10% daily rewards, or 15% during slower periods? What if you could sell that currency, banking future dining intent? And what if all of this could be offered through your own white labeled loyalty program - no third-party apps, no brand dilution, your own wallet, all branded your way?

These questions - and more - are answered by Liven Rewards and Liven Brandollars - both cornerstones of the Liven Loyalty Platform.

• Brandollars are a venue-branded digital currency. Customers earn them like real money and can only spend them at your venue. They hold perceived cash value and are designed to drive loyalty through future intent—"I’ve got credit to use here, I’ll come back."

Currency is of significantly higher value than points, which are typically redeemed for an absolute amount - 10 points equal a free coffee, for instance. Your venue currency can be redeemed easily as part of a purchase, encouraging not just a return visit but also increased spending. 

• Liven Rewards are programmable incentives based on specific behaviours (e.g., spend $50, get 10% back). They’re built for targeted promotions, quick nudges, and campaign-based loyalty logic.

You can do this without writing code, relying on a dev team, or layering on another platform. Liven Loyalty connects with your POS, ordering, CRM and payments so every reward is timely, contextual, and measurable.

This isn’t points, repackaged. It’s loyalty reimagined and rebuilt around outcomes.

But the real win is what you can do with next-generation loyalty

Traditional loyalty tools stop at issuance. You give points. The customer eventually redeems them. That’s the whole cycle. But it’s passive. Disconnected. And it leaves out everything in between.

Liven Loyalty takes a different approach—one that ties rewards to action, not just transactions.

With Liven, every incentive can be:

• Triggered by behaviour: visits, spend levels, time of day, item-specific purchases, or channel used (e.g. online vs. dine-in).

• Targeted by customer type: new vs. returning guests, VIPs, lapsed users, or weekday regulars.

• Delivered across channels: POS, table ordering, kiosk, QR menus, or web flows—all tied to one customer profile.

Most systems limit you to static rules (e.g. 1 point per dollar), Liven gives you a full campaign engine. 

You can:

• Deliver incentives through the Liven Magic App—a fully branded, no-download mobile experience customers access via QR. It combines loyalty, ordering, payments, and offers seamlessly.

• Offer differentiated rewards for different venues, brands, or customer segments.

• Run automated journeys through Liven Engage—send SMS or email offers after a first visit, or prompt a second purchase within 3 days.

• Track every redemption in real time, and optimise campaigns with data, not guesses.

And it all happens in one system. No spreadsheet exports. No connecting three platforms to make loyalty work. No lag in reporting.

In short, Liven doesn’t just issue rewards. It helps you use them to drive spend, shift behaviour, and retain your best customers automatically.

Loyalty shouldn’t be a line item—it should be a lever for growth.

If your current setup still relies on points, disconnected systems, and manual guesswork, it’s not just outdated—it’s underperforming.

With Liven, loyalty becomes a source of revenue, not cost. And that’s what real loyalty should do.