When a loyalty app fails, the digital card in the mobile wallet keeps working

Over the past two weeks, several loyalty apps experienced outages. At first glance, it's the same problem, but in reality, two completely different stories. A comparison of the impact of a mobile app outage at a grocery chain and a restaurant chain shows why a digital card in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet is a key component of a modern loyalty program.

One of the grocery chains lost valuable shopping data. A restaurant chain from Slovakia apologized to customers directly on their phone screens, and their loyalty program ran continuously without interruption. A digital card for Apple and Google Wallet made all the difference.

When the grocery store's customer app failed, customers couldn't show their loyalty code at the checkout. From the customer's perspective, the chain did the right thing – it continued to provide discounts and benefits even without the app.

The customer left satisfied. However, their purchase was not recorded in their profile. The checkout register had no idea who was shopping. Throughout the outage, the chain was selling blindly.

A discount without customer identification is a discount given away without receiving anything in return. A loyalty program is not built on discounts. It is built on data.

During the outage, the chain lost:

These gaps usually cannot be filled in retrospect. A receipt without a customer remains anonymous.

Some PassMachine clients, including a restaurant chain from Slovakia, have their own mobile app. They also offer customers a second option: a digital loyalty card in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, with no need to download an app.

When their mobile app went down, the card kept working. Customers showed it at checkout just like always. Benefits were applied and purchases continued to be linked to specific customers.

Moreover, the restaurants also had a channel for communication. Thanks to the card, the restaurants were able to send a notification to their customers and apologize for the app complications. The message arrived right on the phone's lock screen – precisely at a time when the app was silent.

The digital card is not part of the app. It is stored directly in the mobile wallet on the phone. You can use both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet; it can be linked to the app via a deeplink, but it functions independently.

The app and the card do not mutually exclude each other. The app handles different situations, while the card is more resilient and always available. Those who have both do not rely on a single medium for their loyalty program and are never left without data.

An outage can happen to anyone. What matters is whether customer contact and data collection disappear along with it.