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Overview & Concepts

In this section, you will find a set of guides that walk you through developing and launching an In-Store Loyalty integration with LoyaltyPlant. It is intended to accompany the In-Store Loyalty API specification.

1. What the In-Store Loyalty API is​

LoyaltyPlant offers a white-label e-commerce, loyalty and marketing platform for restaurant chains. Customers make orders through the mobile or web app, collect loyalty points for online and in-store orders, and spend those points on rewards in the app.

The In-Store Loyalty API allows customers to accrue points and redeem rewards for orders that they make personally in the restaurant, not through the online channel.

In-Store Loyalty API is the LoyaltyPlant-hosted cloud API that brings this loyalty program to in-store orders — orders a customer places in person, at the cash register or a self-service kiosk. It is not for orders placed online or for delivery through the LoyaltyPlant app (those go through a separate Digital Ordering integration); the in-store API applies loyalty at the moment of a physical purchase. Your POS or kiosk calls the in-store API at key moments of the order lifecycle, and the API responds with the loyalty actions to apply — reward items, discounts, payments.

Note: "In-store" means the order is rung up at the outlet, wherever that happens — at the cash register / POS terminal (the cash desk), at a self-service kiosk, or at a table when the POS provides a portable (handheld) waiter terminal. The same in-store API serves all of them.

A working integration delivers three loyalty outcomes:

  • Point accrual — the customer scans the loyalty QR code (or a short numeric code) from the app at the self-service kiosk, or the cashier scans the customer's QR code at the cash register / POS terminal, before payment; once the order is closed, the customer receives points for it.
  • Reward redemption — the customer redeems a reward in the app and presents the same QR code: the customer scans it at the self-service kiosk, or the cashier scans the customer's QR code at the cash register / POS terminal; the in-store API responds with the reward item and the discount the POS must add to the order, at no charge to the customer.
  • Phone number-based flow (since 1.6) — the customer enters a phone number at the self-service kiosk, or the cashier enters it at the cash register / POS terminal. If the customer already has a loyalty account, the points accrue to it; otherwise a new account is created and the customer claims the points by verifying the number in the app.

Deciding which rewards apply, calculating points, and crediting them all happen on the LoyaltyPlant side — your software reports the order and applies what the in-store API returns.

2. Integration project stages​

From the first meeting to production traffic, an integration moves through five stages, each with a clear exit before the next begins.

2.1 Kickoff​

The LoyaltyPlant and vendor teams meet, walk through this documentation and the integration process, and agree on a communication channel — a direct chat with the LoyaltyPlant integrations team. LoyaltyPlant shares its development documentation, the integration checklist, a test app, test LP CRM access, and the certification test cases. The vendor stands up its own test environment and gives LoyaltyPlant access to it for testing (see §2.3). To configure that environment, you provide the POS-side identifiers LoyaltyPlant needs, such as the reward menu items (the POS-side items that stand in for LoyaltyPlant rewards, which you agree with LoyaltyPlant during onboarding) and the 100%-discount ID (a POS-side discount identifier you agree with LoyaltyPlant during onboarding; see the QR Code Loyalty Guide).

2.2 Development​

You build the integration against this documentation, starting from the QR Code Loyalty Guide, with support from the LoyaltyPlant integrations team over the direct chat. Let LoyaltyPlant know about a week before you expect to finish, so the testing slot can be scheduled and the test plan prepared.

2.3 Testing & QA review​

You run the certification test cases yourself, then send LoyaltyPlant a test report and access to your test environment. LoyaltyPlant reviews the integration against its test plan; any incorrectly working cases come back to you as a list, you fix them, and the cycle repeats until everything passes.

2.4 Certification​

You give a short demo of the key flows, and LoyaltyPlant confirms the integration as certified.

2.5 Pilot deployment​

The certified integration launches for the first client — a mutual client of LoyaltyPlant and your company. The first deployment to a POS terminal happens with LoyaltyPlant representatives present, or is recorded on video and shared with LoyaltyPlant. Once the pilot runs stably, the integration is rolled out to further mutual clients and outlets, with the format of ongoing support agreed between the LoyaltyPlant team and yours.

Next: General Requirements →