Customer Cards

Support for existing customer cards and customer loyalty programs is provided by the efsta Wallet. It allows customers and bill recipients to get their bills directly in the efsta Wallet. All they have to do is present their existing physical customer card or their digitally supplemented copy from the efsta Wallet during the checkout process. Bills created and linked to the customer in this way are then automatically transferred to the efsta Wallet the next time it is started and the list of transactions is reloaded. Afterwards it can be viewed by the customer without needing to scan another QR code or requiring further interaction between the customer and company.

The customer numbers do not have to be added manually. They are offered as an option for the user when opening or adding a digital receipt in the efsta Wallet app - this eliminates the need to enter said information manually, which would be prone to errors. In addition, the customer also has a way of legitimizing the ownership of the customer account via the digital receipt, since it was issued only for them. Deliberately creating an incorrect entry in order to add another customer's account to their own wallet using brute force or similar is thus also prevented.

Necessary Adjustments

Only a few things need to be implemented on the cash register software side to ensure smooth operation:

• The cash register must support recording of the customer number (scanner hardware, input or comparable option for receiving the customer number / account information)
• When posting the transaction(s), the customer number must be supplied to the EFR both under ESR.XID and in the customer object under ESR.Ctm.CN
  • ESR.XID is the identification feature for the automatic delivery of the document to the respective end customer / document recipient
  • ESR.Ctm.CN is required for adding the customer's number to their account in the efsta Wallet
• To allow the addition of a customer account or its number to their efsta Wallet, at least one efsta Digital Receipt must be opened while being logged in or by creating a new account. If the customer number is then recognized by the app, the user will be offered to add it

info

The internal efsta customer card (i.e. delivery of receipts without a separate customer management- or loyalty system) can be used with the efsta customer number. This can be read directly from the customer's app using a QR code or typed in manually. If the information is typed in manually, the prefix EFSTA_ is required when sending the information (e.g. EFSTA_1234567890123). This is a useful option to directly deliver the Digital Receipt to users who already have an efsta Wallet account, but the company itself does not have existing customer data and / or a loyalty program.

Settings for the efsta Wallet

The display and behavior of the company's loyalty card can be adjusted in the management settings. In order to be enabled at all, it needs to be activated first. When deactivated, no suggestion to add the a customer card (provided via ESR.Ctm.CN) will be shown, preventing users from using this feature. The other options allow better customization and control of the customer card within the efsta Wallet.

Customer Card Appearance

By providing a background image, the visual representation of a customer card can be modified for your company. The image can be uploaded similar to the layout or company logo, and will be displayed both in the preview and in the flyout of the card (when clicking it in the efsta Wallet to get to the barcode / QR code). It should be provided in a 16:9 ratio and not be too large (since it is primarily displayed on mobile devices). The file size may not be larger than 300KB. Please also be aware of the card's appearance in both the light and dark theme of the efsta Wallet app! Use the preview of the customer card tro get an idea of the look and feel in both themes.

Customer Card Name

The name of the card can be changed as well. This text will be used in the flyout of the customer card (when clicking it in the efsta Wallet to get to the barcode / QR code). This allows specifying a dedicated name for the card or loyalty program related to the customer number (e.g. Rest & Relaxation Bonus Card or Shopping Card Deluxe).

Display Type

The customer card supports two different modes to show its value in (i.e. the customer number). Depending on the available hardware, it may be necessary to display either a QR code or a barcode. In general, a QR code is recommended (and therefore the default option) as this is the modern approach. However, if the scanner hardware in use by the POS does not support QR code scanning, it is possible to switch to a barcode instead.

note

CODE128B is used for barcodes, as this has the best character support.

Prefix and Suffix

It might be necessary to add additional (e.g. control) information to the QR code or barcode value, which can be set with a dedicated prefix or suffix. These values will be added at the beginning or end of the actual customer number of the customer card. Example: "Customer numbers with 0 as the first character no longer receive a print receipt from the cash register." => Set 0 as a fixed prefix if wanted.

Important

If several companies have the same customer account or the same customer loyalty system (e.g. for franchise companies or across different countries), please contact your efsta partner manager / consultant or efsta Support. They can take care of the correct configuration for you via the corresponding organizational level or advise you accordingly as this is currently not possible via self-service.

Integration options for customer loyalty programs

The Digital Receipt and the efsta Wallet offer various ways to onboard your own customers into a customer loyalty program and to set up such a program (or to extend an existing one in a meaningful way).

• Complete integration and inclusion of the receipt display in an existing app
• Use of an existing identification source (e.g. app, physical customer card, manual search, etc.)
• Onboarding via an external source (e.g. CRM) and use of the efsta Wallet as an app alternative

Option 1: Full Integration

If the company already has its own app (such as a web app or a native app on mobile platforms), this can be expanded to include the receipt archive and a view to display the digital receipt. This requires the customer to be identified, the relevant information to be sent with the receipt from the cash register (XID in the ESR data model) and the receipt link to be saved for the identified customer. In this way, a list of the receipts received can be displayed through the customer account. When clicking on the receipt, you can either switch to a reduced view of the normal Digital Receipt view (new browser tab in a WebApp or open in the standard browser from a native app) or directly implement a display in the middle of the app with a browser control or an iFrame.

Information

Depending on which data is saved in addition to the receipt link, additional operations / features can also be implemented in your own app. Example: Filter by date, search by content (article name, store location, etc.). A notification system can also be triggered in this way. This implementation option offers the greatest flexibility for a company, but usually also means the most effort in implementation, as various existing systems have to be expanded.

Option 2: Existing Identification

For companies that do not have an existing app ecosystem or only a simple customer loyalty system, the efsta Wallet can be used as a receipt archive in which end customers can store their receipts securely and permanently. The prerequisite for this is that there is already an existing customer account and that it can be identified during the checkout process (e.g. by scanning a physical card or through manual customer search) and that a QR code can be displayed for the customer (e.g. on a customer display or a mini receipt).

If the customer number is recognized / scanned / entered at the checkout, the information must be provided by the checkout software both as XID (in the ISR data model) and in the customer data (Ctm.CN). This information can be used to detect that the receipt is assigned to a customer account when the receipt is opened in the efsta Wallet app and also to automatically deliver the receipt to already registered users with this customer account. This initial receipt also serves as legitimation that the registered user in the efsta Wallet is allowed to have access to this customer account and the related receipts.

Option 3: External System

If the company does not yet have an infrastructure of any kind, the efsta Wallet offers alternative solutions for onboarding in a new customer loyalty system. This requires a general solution for registering a customer in the company (e.g. directly at the checkout, via a website of the companies CRM, etc.). In the course of registering the customer data, the customer can then be given a (possibly temporary) source of identification (customer number, QR or barcode). This information can then be used to make a purchase and issue a digital receipt linked to the customer. The POS software needs to set the XID on the ESR data model and the CN to be set for the customer object Ctm in the ESR.

Onboarding a customer in the efsta Wallet (for options 2 and 3)

As soon as the transaction has been completed during the checkout process and the Digital Receipt can be retrieved (e.g. by displaying a QR code on the customer display, printing out a minimal receipt with the QR code or sending the link to the email address stored in the customer account), the customer can then open the receipt. A new account can then either be conveniently created there (with the option "Add to efsta Wallet") or, in the case of an existing account, the receipt can be automatically added to this account. Since customer information was also added to the receipt received in this way, the efsta Wallet now automatically offers to add this customer account to the user's Wallet account. This prompt only appears if the customer account has not already been added to this Wallet account. From this moment on, the customer card is available in the app as part of the Wallet features, can be scanned from there when purchases are made and receipts can be sent directly to this customer. Scanning the finished receipt is no longer necessary after completing the checkout process and the customer can leave instantly without delaying the next checkout process.

Examples

Online

The customer registers for the customer loyalty program via an online platform. They then receive a (one-off) QR code in a confirmation email. This can be used to register the customer account and create a digital receipt for the customer account during the next purchase / next use; a QR code for the digital receipt is displayed.

Terminal

The customer can create a customer account at the terminal (e.g. self-checkout or via an employee at the checkout) and book the current purchase directly to it. The customer account is created and used directly by the company employee without the customer having to do anything.

Blank Account

Blank forms with unique customer numbers and a scannable QR/barcode are available in a store/at a checkout, which can be used directly during checkout. This allows a receipt to be linked directly to an initially generic account and a digital receipt to be created. The customer can then fill out the blank form after checkout and hand it over to the cashier. This can then be entered centrally. As soon as this has been done, the customer account can be switched from a generic blank account to an account assigned to the customer.

Use after scanning

After scanning the respective receipt, the customer creates an efsta Wallet account or logs in to an existing one (if not already done before). When viewing the receipt just received, the customer is shown that a customer card is stored here and whether this should be added to their own efsta Wallet account. If the customer confirms this, a connection is established between the customer account and the efsta Wallet account and the customer card can be retrieved from the efsta Wallet. In addition, from this moment on, newly created receipts with this customer card are automatically sent to the app - it is no longer necessary to scan new receipts.

Information

By adding the receipts to an efsta Wallet account, the options of the efsta Wallet can also be used and, for example, the receipts can be searched for using a full-text search - the customer thus retains an overview without having to program an app themselves.