Reward Loyalty · Industry guide · Illustrative settings
https://rewardloyalty.co/use-cases/climbing-gym-loyalty-program
Industry guide · Climbing & bouldering gyms
A climbing gym loyalty program for members who visit without buying
Record the visit instead of the purchase, so the member who climbs twice a week and buys nothing appears in the program, then reward them with a quiet-hour guest pass instead of a discount.
Recommended starting program
Start with one mechanism customers can remember.
Give one stamp for each entry, with no minimum purchase and one stamp per date. Twelve entries produce a small cafe or chalk item, and the 25 loyalty days milestone carries the off-peak guest pass.
Card
12 entry stamps
Qualifying purchase
None. The field stays empty
Pace control
Maximum 1 stamp per date
Reward
Cafe or chalk item, up to $4
Why this fits
The trade decides the mechanism.
This guide covers staffed indoor climbing and bouldering gyms that sell memberships, drop-in entry, and a small pro shop. It excludes outdoor guiding, instruction-led courses, competition squads, youth camps, and any gym whose entry desk is unstaffed. Class packs stay with the gym worked playbook.
A climbing member pays monthly, walks in about twice a week, and touches the till on none of those visits. A program built on spend never sees them. An entry stamp does, because the purchase amount stays optional when the card sets no minimum.
The wall is open and staffed at 10am on a Tuesday, so one more climber costs close to nothing then. At 7pm that same climber joins a crowded fall zone. Every reward here points at the quiet hours for that reason.
A weekly run needs one loyalty day a week, which matches the rest days a climber should take. A milestone built on consecutive days would reward the pattern that tears a finger pulley.
Customer journey
From the first QR to a reason to return.
The program should follow the transaction or appointment that already exists. It should not create a second queue.
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01
See it
A desk card and a locker-room notice explain the entry card. The code sits at reception, never in a fall zone.
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02
Join
The climber joins once at reception. Members and drop-ins hold the same card.
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03
Clear the desk
The check-in system confirms the waiver and any belay or lead certification. Loyalty never touches that decision.
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04
Stamp on the way out
Staff add one entry stamp as the climber leaves, so the entry desk stays free for safety checks.
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05
Follow the run
The wallet shows entries and a weekly run that needs one session a week, not one a day.
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06
Bring someone
Twenty-five climbing days puts an off-peak guest pass in the member's own wallet. Staff record its use when they bring someone, and that guest still completes the gym's own waiver and induction.
Exact program setup
Configure the base program before the campaign.
Complete the steps in order. Each documentation link opens the current 5.x setup guide for that task.
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1
Create the entry card with no purchase gate
Set 12 required stamps, which is the longest card the form offers, leave the minimum purchase empty, and cap the card at one stamp per date. The empty purchase gate is the point: a member who buys nothing still records the visit.
Create the entry card -
2
Confirm the stamp needs no purchase amount
Staff leave the purchase-amount field blank. It stays optional whenever the card sets no minimum, which is what makes a membership visit recordable.
Add an entry stamp -
3
Keep the card reward small
A member at two sessions a week fills a twelve-entry card every six weeks, so about nine times a year. That is why the reward has to be small. Use a hot drink or a chalk refill worth up to $4 and require a staff claim. Never discount safety equipment.
Configure the card reward -
4
Activate the four fixed milestones
Turn on First step, 10 loyalty days, 25 loyalty days, and 12-week regular. Keep them as recognition, and attach nothing that depends on climbing more often.
Activate the fixed milestones -
5
Place codes away from the wall
Put the join code at reception and in the locker room, where a phone is already out of the bag. Do not place it inside a climbing or fall zone.
Prepare gym QR materials
Achievement strategy
Use milestones as a supporting layer.
Reward Loyalty provides a curated catalog of predefined, one-time milestones. The business chooses which achievements to activate and whether to attach an optional reward. Names, thresholds, measured events, and formulas stay fixed.
A loyalty day records qualifying loyalty activity on a distinct business-local date. It is not a configurable product, service, branch, booking-source, or purchase-count rule. See the fixed achievement catalog and progress rules.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
First step
- Fixed milestone
- Earn your first loyalty day.
- Why it matters here
- A first recorded entry proves the zero-purchase flow works end to end: a member who bought nothing still landed on the card.
- Reward approach
- Use recognition. The member already pays a membership, so do not discount it.
- Guardrail
- It records one entry. It does not prove a waiver, an induction, or a belay or lead certification.
- 30-day check
- Members who record a first entry, and the days from joining to that entry.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
10 loyalty days
- Fixed milestone
- Earn loyalty days on 10 different dates.
- Why it matters here
- Ten distinct dates is the first honest read on whether a new member is building a habit, and it lands before the card completes.
- Reward approach
- Use recognition. The guest pass on the completed card carries the benefit.
- Guardrail
- It counts dates, not sessions. Two climbs on one date remain one loyalty day.
- 30-day check
- Completions and the median days to reach ten.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
25 loyalty days
- Fixed milestone
- Earn loyalty days on 25 different dates.
- Why it matters here
- A climber at two sessions a week reaches 25 dates in about three months, which is where a membership either holds or lapses. This is where the guest pass belongs, because a milestone is earned once per member and a completed card is not.
- Reward approach
- Attach one off-peak guest day pass as a prepaid-pass reward, with a grant cap. The pass is personal, so it lands in the member's own wallet and staff record its use when the member brings someone. Never attach a discount on a harness, rope, shoes, or a helmet.
- Guardrail
- Do not present it as a grade, a level, or proof of skill.
- 30-day check
- Completions, and the share of completers still recording entries a month later.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
12-week regular
- Fixed milestone
- Earn a loyalty day in 12 weeks in a row.
- Why it matters here
- A weekly run needs one session a week, so it recognises the rest-day pattern a climber should keep. A milestone built on consecutive days would push a finger injury.
- Reward approach
- Use recognition. Add no reward that pays a member for climbing more often.
- Guardrail
- Never reward consecutive-day climbing, grades, or completed routes. Reward Loyalty records dates, not sends.
- 30-day check
- Runs started against runs held for twelve weeks.
Before attaching value, review achievement reward availability, expiry, and grant caps.
Reward economics
Show the arithmetic before approving the reward.
Illustrative calculation
Illustrative example: a member on a $70 monthly membership who climbs twice a week records 12 entry stamps in about six weeks, across roughly $97 of membership revenue. That card produces a cafe or chalk item worth up to $4.
That is about 4% of the membership revenue behind each completed card, and that member fills about nine cards a year, so budget roughly $35 of drinks and chalk against $840 of membership. The off-peak guest pass sits on the 25 loyalty days milestone instead, so it is earned once per member rather than nine times a year, and it costs the gym a quiet mat rather than a paying entry.
Cost the guest pass against off-peak capacity, not against the $20 counter price. On a quiet Tuesday morning the wall is open and staffed, so the direct cost is reception time and a mat space. On a full evening the same pass gives away a paying entry and adds a climber to a crowded fall zone. Gear hire stays a separate paid line.
Margin protections
- Restrict the guest pass to named off-peak hours. A crowded evening fall zone is a safety limit, not a comfort limit.
- Exclude instruction, courses, belay and lead certification, youth squads, camps, competitions, and private hire.
- Never discount safety equipment. Harnesses, ropes, shoes, and helmets stay at full price.
- Award one entry stamp per date. Two sessions on one day is still one stamp.
- The form offers 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12 stamps, so twelve is the ceiling. If members complete it faster than the reward can be absorbed, cut the reward value rather than lengthening the card.
Where to promote it
Put the invitation inside the existing visit.
- Reception desk: one line where members already stop to check in.
- Locker room: a notice where the phone is out of the bag.
- Route-reset board: the reset already brings climbers back, so name the card beside it.
- Membership onboarding email: state that entries count without a purchase.
Staff script and operating routine
One line, at the right moment.
“Every visit adds a stamp, even when you buy nothing. Twelve visits gets you a drink, and twenty-five climbing days puts an off-peak guest pass in your own wallet.”
- Best moment
- As the climber leaves, never as they arrive. The entry desk is running waiver and certification checks and must not be held up by a loyalty scan.
- Operating habit
- Add one stamp per climber per date and leave the purchase amount blank.
- Common staff mistake
- Stamping on the way in puts a loyalty queue in front of the safety check.
- If a scan or lookup fails
- If the QR will not scan with chalky hands, search for the member by name or email at the desk and add the entry stamp on the way out.
First campaign
Wait until the base program works.
A campaign should address one observed behaviour. It should not compensate for missed awards, unclear terms, or an untrained team.
- Audience
- If the account includes Member segments, save one for members with no visit for 21 days. Otherwise use the built-in Inactive Members audience, which carries no day setting of its own.
- Offer
- No discount. The membership is already paid, so a price cut buys nothing. Send a short note naming the current route reset and the quiet hours.
- Timing
- Send after four weeks of clean entry stamps, timed to a route reset the gym has already scheduled.
- Intended behaviour
- Bring a paying member back to a wall they already fund, without adding any reason to climb on consecutive days.
- Measure
- Delivered emails against later recorded entries. Reward Loyalty does not track email opens or clicks, so do not claim a read rate.
30-day review
Use the first month to fix operation and economics.
Thirty days can reveal adoption, workflow, progress, and reward-cost problems. It is too early to claim proven lifetime value or long-term retention.
Join-to-first-entry rate
A low rate means the desk is not stamping. Fix the handoff before you touch the reward.
Entries per active member each week
Compare it with the gym's own door count. A wide gap means staff skip the stamp on busy evenings.
12-week regular runs held
A weekly run is the retention signal worth watching. A 30-day read does not prove annual retention.
Guest passes claimed, and guests who return
The pass earns its cost only when guests come back. If none do, it is a giveaway.
Guest-pass use by hour
If guest passes land in the evening peak, narrow the eligible hours before changing the card.
Common mistakes
What to stop before launch.
- Setting a minimum purchase, which erases the member who buys nothing.
- Stamping at the entry desk and slowing the safety check.
- Rewarding grades, sends, or consecutive climbing days.
- Letting a guest pass into a full evening session.
- Discounting a harness, rope, shoes, or a helmet.
Printable launch checklist
Climbing & bouldering gyms launch plan
- Name the off-peak hours the guest pass may use.
- Confirm the guest pass costs reception time, not a paying entry.
- Create the 12-entry card with no minimum purchase.
- Set one stamp per date and a small card reward.
- Exclude instruction, certification, squads, camps, and private hire.
- Activate First step, 10 loyalty days, 25 loyalty days, and 12-week regular.
- Brief the desk to stamp on the way out.
- Place codes at reception and in the locker room.
- Book the 30-day review against the door count.
Owner: __________________
Launch: ________________
30-day review: __________
Implementation guides
Open only the setup pages this program needs.
These links point to the current Reward Loyalty 5.x documentation.