Growth//6 min read

Customers & Loyalty

Manage customer profiles, issue gift cards, and set up loyalty programs.

Building Customer Relationships

BarBud goes beyond basic transactions by offering built-in CRM and loyalty tools. Rewarding your regulars is one of the easiest ways to increase lifetime value and maintain a steady flow of business.

1. Creating Customer Profiles

Customer profiles allow you to track individual order histories and preferences.

  1. Navigate to the Customers tab in the sidebar.
  2. Click the large + Add Customer button.
  3. Enter their basic details (Name, Email, Phone Number).
  4. Add any relevant Notes (e.g., "Prefers corner booth", "Allergic to peanuts").

Once a profile is created, you can link it to an open tab. This makes it easy to remember names and speeds up the checkout process.

2. Managing Gift Cards

You can issue digital gift cards directly to a customer's profile.

  • Open a customer's profile.
  • Locate the Gift Card Balance section.
  • Click Add Funds.
  • Select the payment method used to purchase the gift card and enter the amount.

When settling a tab, if a customer is linked to the transaction, you will see an option to apply their gift card balance towards the total.

3. Loyalty Campaigns

Reward your most frequent patrons with automated loyalty features.

  • Punch Cards: Set rules like "Buy 10 coffees, get 1 free." BarBud automatically tracks purchases of qualifying items when a customer is linked to the tab.
  • Reload Bonuses: Encourage larger upfront commitments. For example, "Load $100 onto your gift card and receive an extra $15 bonus."

Pro Tip

Encourage bartenders to ask for a name or phone number when opening tabs. The more data you collect, the better you can tailor your loyalty programs in the future.