Different visit patterns
Restaurants, especially cafes and quick service, see the same person often, for a smaller ticket. Retail sees them less often, with a larger basket. The loyalty rule has to follow that pattern, or the reward will feel unrelated to how people actually buy. A visit stamp matches a habit of stopping in several times a week. Points on the amount match a trip where the basket is the decision. Using one mechanic everywhere because it was easier to set up ignores the visit you already have. Watch a week of tickets before you copy a program from another industry. Frequency and basket size are the facts. Canadian restaurant and retail owners should not share one rule, because restaurant vs retail loyalty follows how often people come in and how big the basket is.
Restaurant loyalty: reward the habit
In a dining room or a cafe, reward the habit of choosing you. A free item after a short run of visits, or points that add up quickly, makes the next coffee or the next lunch feel close. The goal is to become the default stop, not to build a status ladder nobody climbs. Keep the first reward fast enough that a regular sees it while the routine is still forming. See restaurant gift cards and loyalty for the version that also sells a card at the same till. A retail-style program pasted onto a coffee line asks for math nobody does before work.
Retail loyalty: reward the basket
Retail visits are fewer and larger, so reward the spend. Points per dollar, or a tier that appears when the ticket is bigger, encourage a customer to bring the whole purchase to you instead of splitting it with someone else. A stamp card copied from a cafe makes the reward feel far away, because they may not be back for weeks. The aim is a larger basket and a reason to consolidate, not a prize for walking in. See retail gift cards and loyalty for cards and rewards on the same counter. Show the points on this sale, before the bag is handed over.
Both rely on good data
Whatever the mechanic, you need to know who came and what they spent. Use loyalty data so a visit reward and a points program both stay aimed at real guests instead of a generic blast. Run the balance in the POS so redemption happens on this check, in the dining room or at the retail counter, without a code for next time. See pricing for the program fee, or book a demo on the floor you actually run, cafe or shop. The data does not pick the rule for you. The visit pattern does.
The fifth coffee versus the larger basket
A cafe sees the same person several times a week. A clothing counter may see them once a month with a bigger ticket. The cafe should make the fifth coffee feel close, a free item after a short run of visits, so you become the default stop. The shop should reward the basket, points per dollar or a tier that appears when the ticket is larger, so the customer brings the whole purchase instead of splitting it. A cafe card copied into the shop makes the reward feel far away. Retail points copied into a coffee line ask for math nobody does before work. Match the mechanic to the visit you already have. Restaurant loyalty and retail loyalty spell out the two patterns. The fee on pricing can look similar. The rule on the receipt is what has to change.
Redeeming at the table versus at the retail counter
In a dining room the reward should come off the check while the guest is still seated. In a shop it should come off the basket before the bag is handed over. A server who applies a visit reward at the table finishes the promise in front of the guest. A closer who applies points on the same tender finishes it before the customer wonders if the offer was real. Sending either person home with a code for next time is how redemptions get abandoned. Quick visits need a fast reward. Larger, rarer visits can carry points, as long as the balance is on this ticket. Use the redemption test in loyalty programs that work, and book a demo on the floor you actually run.