u/yuceleroglu

Hi, I'm Yucel, founder of Yoybo. I'd like to share the story behind why we built it.

Yoybo is a customer loyalty platform that makes the loyalty programs used by almost all major brands accessible to small businesses.

Over the past six months, we have studied loyalty programs used by small businesses in different countries and spoken with businesses that have used these systems about their experiences.

In our research, we identified three common problems: fixed monthly subscription fees, the requirement for customers to download an app, and the requirement to share personal information in order to join the loyalty program. Despite these obstacles, many small businesses continue to use these systems in the hope of increasing customer loyalty.

This observation was exactly what led to the creation of Yoybo: If we could eliminate these three problems, could we design a loyalty program that would be usable for more small businesses? We wanted to find out.

• Cost – With Yoybo, businesses only pay when loyalty is actually created. There is no charge for a customer's first visit; businesses only pay 5% of the reward amount they give to the customer when that customer returns for a second visit. For example, if a customer spends $50 and the reward rate is 10%, the business gives the customer a $5 reward, while Yoybo earns $0.25 from that transaction. Invoices below $10 are carried over to the following month, while the monthly invoice cap is $200. We believe this model eliminates cost risk for small businesses.
• Ease of use for customers – There is no need to download an app. Customers access the browser-based digital loyalty program via a QR code. After signing in, customers use a single QR screen for all businesses that use Yoybo. They do not need to carry separate loyalty cards or dozens of different QR codes in their phone wallet; they can earn or redeem points using the same screen.
• Privacy and user experience – Customers can join the program without sharing their personal information. This simplifies the registration process and increases participation because customers do not have to worry about receiving unwanted promotional emails. By default, customer information is not shared with businesses. However, if customers choose to share their information, businesses can access it.

Setup takes approximately 3 minutes. Businesses can configure reward rates, first-purchase and birthday bonuses, reward validity periods, and redemption rules in just a few steps.

In addition, thanks to the customer survey we present on the rewards screen, businesses can encourage customers to leave reviews on Google Maps. Many of our customers say that this feature alone is enough reason for them to use Yoybo.

Today, Yoybo supports 20 languages.

My goal in sharing this is genuinely to get honest feedback and opinions from business owners about this model. Happy to answer any questions in the comments.

Hi, I'm Yucel, founder of Yoybo. I'd like to share the story behind why we built it.

Yoybo is a customer loyalty platform that makes the loyalty programs used by almost all major brands accessible to small businesses.

Over the past six months, we have studied loyalty programs used by small businesses in different countries and spoken with businesses that have used these systems about their experiences.

In our research, we identified three common problems: fixed monthly subscription fees, the requirement for customers to download an app, and the requirement to share personal information in order to join the loyalty program. Despite these obstacles, many small businesses continue to use these systems in the hope of increasing customer loyalty.

This observation was exactly what led to the creation of Yoybo: If we could eliminate these three problems, could we design a loyalty program that would be usable for more small businesses? We wanted to find out.

• Cost – With Yoybo, businesses only pay when loyalty is actually created. There is no charge for a customer's first visit; businesses only pay 5% of the reward amount they give to the customer when that customer returns for a second visit. For example, if a customer spends $50 and the reward rate is 10%, the business gives the customer a $5 reward, while Yoybo earns $0.25 from that transaction. Invoices below $10 are carried over to the following month, while the monthly invoice cap is $200. We believe this model eliminates cost risk for small businesses.
• Ease of use for customers – There is no need to download an app. Customers access the browser-based digital loyalty program via a QR code. After signing in, customers use a single QR screen for all businesses that use Yoybo. They do not need to carry separate loyalty cards or dozens of different QR codes in their phone wallet; they can earn or redeem points using the same screen.
• Privacy and user experience – Customers can join the program without sharing their personal information. This simplifies the registration process and increases participation because customers do not have to worry about receiving unwanted promotional emails. By default, customer information is not shared with businesses. However, if customers choose to share their information, businesses can access it.

Setup takes approximately 3 minutes. Businesses can configure reward rates, first-purchase and birthday bonuses, reward validity periods, and redemption rules in just a few steps.

In addition, thanks to the customer survey we present on the rewards screen, businesses can encourage customers to leave reviews on Google Maps. Many of our customers say that this feature alone is enough reason for them to use Yoybo.

Today, Yoybo supports 20 languages.

My goal in sharing this is genuinely to get honest feedback and opinions from business owners about this model. Happy to answer any questions in the comments.

Hi, I'm Yucel, founder of Yoybo. I'd like to share the story behind why we built it.

Yoybo is a customer loyalty platform that makes the loyalty programs used by almost all major brands accessible to small businesses.

Over the past six months, we have studied loyalty programs used by small businesses in different countries and spoken with businesses that have used these systems about their experiences.

In our research, we identified three common problems: fixed monthly subscription fees, the requirement for customers to download an app, and the requirement to share personal information in order to join the loyalty program. Despite these obstacles, many small businesses continue to use these systems in the hope of increasing customer loyalty.

This observation was exactly what led to the creation of Yoybo: If we could eliminate these three problems, could we design a loyalty program that would be usable for more small businesses? We wanted to find out.

• Cost – With Yoybo, businesses only pay when loyalty is actually created. There is no charge for a customer's first visit; businesses only pay 5% of the reward amount they give to the customer when that customer returns for a second visit. For example, if a customer spends $50 and the reward rate is 10%, the business gives the customer a $5 reward, while Yoybo earns $0.25 from that transaction. Invoices below $10 are carried over to the following month, while the monthly invoice cap is $200. We believe this model eliminates cost risk for small businesses.
• Ease of use for customers – There is no need to download an app. Customers access the browser-based digital loyalty program via a QR code. After signing in, customers use a single QR screen for all businesses that use Yoybo. They do not need to carry separate loyalty cards or dozens of different QR codes in their phone wallet; they can earn or redeem points using the same screen.
• Privacy and user experience – Customers can join the program without sharing their personal information. This simplifies the registration process and increases participation because customers do not have to worry about receiving unwanted promotional emails. By default, customer information is not shared with businesses. However, if customers choose to share their information, businesses can access it.

Setup takes approximately 3 minutes. Businesses can configure reward rates, first-purchase and birthday bonuses, reward validity periods, and redemption rules in just a few steps.

In addition, thanks to the customer survey we present on the rewards screen, businesses can encourage customers to leave reviews on Google Maps. Many of our customers say that this feature alone is enough reason for them to use Yoybo.

Today, Yoybo supports 20 languages.

My goal in sharing this is genuinely to get honest feedback and opinions from business owners about this model. Happy to answer any questions in the comments.

Over the last several months, I’ve been building a loyalty platform for small businesses. Along the way, I’ve spoken with business owners in different countries and spent a lot of time studying how existing loyalty programs work.

A few patterns kept coming up.

The first was pricing. Many business owners weren’t comfortable committing to a monthly subscription before knowing whether the program would actually bring customers back.

The second was customer adoption. Requiring customers to download another app often created unnecessary friction.

The third was registration. Asking customers to provide personal information before they could even collect their first reward discouraged participation for some businesses.

As we continued working on the product, two more operational challenges became obvious.

The first was staff adoption. Even when a business purchased a loyalty system, employees sometimes forgot—or simply didn’t bother—to award points consistently. Without staff engagement, even a well-designed loyalty program loses much of its value.

The second was fraud. Giving staff the ability to issue rewards also creates opportunities for abuse if there aren’t enough safeguards in place.

These have probably been the biggest lessons we’ve learned so far.

One thing that surprised me is that building the software has turned out to be the easier part. The real challenge seems to be designing a system that fits naturally into a business’s daily operations, is consistently used by staff, and earns the trust of both the business and its customers.

These have simply been my observations so far. I’m interested to see whether they resonate with other small business owners who have first-hand experience with loyalty programs.

For those of you who have used a loyalty program in your business, do these observations match your experience? Or did you find a completely different challenge that mattered more?

Over the last several months, I’ve been building a loyalty platform for small businesses. Along the way, I’ve spoken with business owners in different countries and spent a lot of time studying how existing loyalty programs work.

A few patterns kept coming up.

The first was pricing. Many business owners weren’t comfortable committing to a monthly subscription before knowing whether the program would actually bring customers back.

The second was customer adoption. Requiring customers to download another app often created unnecessary friction.

The third was registration. Asking customers to provide personal information before they could even collect their first reward discouraged participation for some businesses.

As we continued working on the product, two more operational challenges became obvious.

The first was staff adoption. Even when a business purchased a loyalty system, employees sometimes forgot—or simply didn’t bother—to award points consistently. Without staff engagement, even a well-designed loyalty program loses much of its value.

The second was fraud. Giving staff the ability to issue rewards also creates opportunities for abuse if there aren’t enough safeguards in place.

These have probably been the biggest lessons we’ve learned so far.

One thing that surprised me is that building the software has turned out to be the easier part. The real challenge seems to be designing a system that fits naturally into a business’s daily operations, is consistently used by staff, and earns the trust of both the business and its customers.

These have simply been my observations so far. I’m interested to see whether they resonate with other small business owners who have first-hand experience with loyalty programs.

I’m curious if loyalty programs are starting to annoy customers more than they help businesses.

A lot of local businesses ask customers to give their phone number or email just to collect points… and then customers start getting endless campaign emails and SMS messages they never really wanted in the first place.

Most people probably end up muting them, marking them as spam, or ignoring everything completely after a while.

Meanwhile, businesses keep sending discounts and campaigns thinking they’re building loyalty — but are they actually getting any real value from it?

I’ve asked people around me about this, but I still haven’t heard many convincing answers, so I wanted to ask here too.

From the product/developer side, these systems are usually presented as “features” because, at the end of the day, adding email marketing tools and customer data collection increases the perceived value of the platform.

But I genuinely wonder:

Do businesses actually track whether these campaigns are working?

Or are they just sending emails because the system allows them to?

And from the customer side:

If you’re already shopping there regularly, shouldn’t that alone be enough to deserve rewards?

Why do customers have to trade personal information just to participate in a loyalty program?

Curious to hear both business owners’ and customers’ experiences.