Saturday morning makes your week:
build loyalty with your cheese shop's regulars
A cutting counter can't be run like a high-turnover shop: you sell by weight, you advise, and your hands are in wrapping paper and gloves. EasyFid is built around that — the customer scans the QR code while waiting their turn, you credit the ticket amount at checkout, once your hands are free. And because you sell a living product, you can push points onto whatever's at its peak this week instead of marking it down Saturday night.
In brief — EasyFid is French loyalty software for cheese shops, dairies, and fine-food stores, from €9.99/month (Starter, up to 500 customers) and €19.99/month (Pro, up to 1,500 customers and 3 staff accounts — the reinforced Saturday crew). Points are calculated on the ticket amount, not the number of visits: it's the only rule that holds up when one customer takes €6 of fresh goat cheese and the next takes a €45 platter. The customer scans the counter's QR code and their card adds to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet; you validate the amount from your phone at checkout, never between two cuts. The same card works in-store and at your market stalls, with no till to connect.
Built for a cheese shop's rhythm: sold by weight, a living product, a week anchored on Saturday
Three constraints shape your trade: a basket ranging from €6 to €60, cheeses that don't wait, and customers who come once a week at a fixed time. The program has to bend to that.
Points on the ticket's weight, not the visit
In a cheese shop, two consecutive customers can leave €6 and €48. Counting visits would reward the one buying a single yogurt as much as the one preparing a Sunday platter. One point per euro fixes that and mechanically pushes the basket upward.
Move what's at its peak, instead of marking it down
A ripe Saint-Marcellin has to sell within two days, a soft-ripened cheese with a runny center can't wait for next weekend. Boost points on this week's featured product: your regulars get to taste it, you don't discount on Saturday night, and your shrinkage drops without touching your posted prices.
Nothing to handle between two cuts
You don't touch a phone with gloves that just handled a Morbier. The customer scans the sign themselves while waiting their turn; you only credit the amount at checkout, at the moment you're already handling the card reader.
Get holiday platters booked earlier
Your Christmas-aged cheeses are ordered weeks ahead from your affineurs, and on December 24th you don't have a free hand. Boosted points on platters reserved before December 15th give you the visibility this period always lacks.
Tastings reserved for cardholders
A producer visits the shop, you open a wheel, you set up a cheese-and-wine workshop: reserve the spots for your loyal customers. It's a reward that costs almost nothing in ingredients and showcases exactly what a self-service aisle never can — your advice.
The shop and the market on the same account
If you run two or three market stalls a week alongside the shop, a phone is all you need at the stall: same program, same cards, same balances. A customer who earns points at Wednesday's market finds them again Saturday in-store.
Ready before the Saturday rush
No scale or till to connect, no business software to upgrade. Set it up on a Tuesday afternoon, your regulars will sign themselves up in Saturday's line.
Set one point per euro and the reward
One point per euro spent, and a reward around 150-200 points: at a €20 weekly basket, your regular gets there in about two months. Choose a reward that showcases your trade — a four-cheese tasting plate, a rare aged piece, a discount on the holiday platter.
Put the sign at fridge-case eye level
The right spot isn't the till, it's the waiting line, along the display case where the customer waits five minutes on Saturday morning reading labels. It's the only moment in your week when they have time and their phone in hand.
Credit the ticket at checkout
You enter the amount on your phone once the weighing and wrapping are done, at the same time as payment. Two seconds, outside the cutting area, never interrupting the advice you're giving the next customer.
The challenges of loyalty in a cheese shop
A living product: the only kind of loyalty that can lower your shrinkage
This is a constraint no other downtown business shares: your cheeses keep evolving in the case. A Saint-Marcellin or an Époisses at its peak has to sell within two days, an opened Mont d'Or has to move within the week, and a soft cheese past its optimum ends up either marked down Saturday night or thrown out. The loss plays out over a few days and comes straight out of your margin. A loyalty program that only counts euros doesn't help with that; one where you can move the dial does. By boosting points on this week's featured product — the one you want to move because it's exactly where it needs to be — you get something no posted discount ever delivers: customers who taste, discover a cheese they never used to buy, and often come back for it. You haven't cut your price, you haven't signaled to the neighborhood that you're clearing stock, and you've done your job as a cheesemonger — selling the cheese at the right moment.
A €6-60 basket: counting visits makes no sense
The stamp-card model was invented for a single-price product — coffee, a baguette. At a cutting counter, it falls flat: the customer picking up two €3 farm yogurts would stamp as much as the one preparing a €60 wedding platter. You'd be rewarding visit frequency when your real goal is basket value and trading up — moving from a 12-month Comté to the 24-month, or adding black cherry jam next to the sheep's cheese. Amount-based counting settles that without debate, and it produces a very concrete side effect at the counter: a customer fifteen points from the threshold happily adds a piece or a grocery item to get there, which is exactly the add-on purchase you're trying to trigger. For a regular at €20-25 a week, a few extra euros per visit add up over a year to far more than the tasting you'll give them every two months.
Saturday morning, unfamiliar holiday faces, and getting ahead on platters
A neighborhood cheese shop commonly concentrates a third of its week into Saturday morning, with a line where people wait five to ten minutes — a wait that's your best sign-up window, provided the sign is along the display case and not at the till. Two other moments deserve special attention. The holidays first: between December 20 and 24, you see customers file through you won't see again until Easter, there for a €60-90 platter to impress their table. These people have strong purchasing power and no particular reason to return: getting them to scan at that moment captures, in three days, a base of occasional customers a spring reminder can reactivate. Getting ahead, second: your holiday-aged cheeses are ordered weeks in advance from your affineurs, and on December 24th you're down to two people behind a packed counter. A points bonus on platters reserved before December 15th costs a few tastings and gives you the one thing this period always lacks: visibility on your orders.
FAQ — Cheese shops and customer loyalty
Amount-based points or a punch card: which should a cheese shop choose?
The amount, without hesitation. The stamp was designed for a fixed-price product; in your shop, two consecutive customers can leave €6 and €48, and counting them equally would be absurd. Useful benchmark: one point per euro, a reward around 150-200 points. A regular at €20 a week gets there in about two months, and a customer fifteen points from the threshold happily adds a piece or a jar of jam to close it out — exactly the add-on purchase you're after.
Can I push a cheese that's at its peak instead of marking it down Saturday night?
Yes, and it's the most profitable use of the program in a cheese shop. You temporarily boost points on this week's featured product — the Époisses at its peak, the start-of-season Mont d'Or — then return to the normal rate. Your regulars taste it, you sell at the posted price instead of discounting at week's end, and you don't signal a clearance to the neighborhood. The shrinkage you avoid quickly outweighs the subscription cost.
I'm gloved at the cutting counter, and the Saturday line never lets up: how does this fit in?
You touch nothing during cutting. Sign-up happens without you: the customer scans the sign during the five minutes they wait along the case. You only step in at checkout, when you're already handling the card reader, to enter the amount — two seconds, outside the work area. If you're two or three behind the counter on Saturday, the Pro plan opens up to 3 staff accounts so everyone validates from their own station.
Does this work at my market stalls too, with no till or setup?
Yes. At the stall, a phone is enough: nothing is connected to a till or a scale, so nothing to carry or reconnect. It's the same program and the same cards as in-store, which matters a lot for a customer who buys at Wednesday's market and comes back to the shop on Saturday: they find a single balance, and you get one unified view of what they actually spend with you.
How do I bring back Christmas customers I won't see again until Easter?
Capture them while they're there, between December 20 and 24, when they come for a €60-90 platter. A card added at that moment stays on their phone with an already substantial points balance, giving them a reason to come back. The dashboard keeps the date and amount of every visit: by February or before Easter, you can see exactly who hasn't been back since the holidays and follow up.
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