# What is a reward threshold?

This is how many stamps or points a customer needs before they get the reward, such as nine stamps for a free coffee. It is the most important number in your programme. It decides both what the programme costs you and whether people believe they can finish it.

Source: https://fidella.app/glossary/reward-threshold
Last reviewed: 2026-08-30

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Most businesses set this number by copying somebody else. That number encodes
another venue's margins and another venue's visit frequency.

## Two forces pulling in opposite directions

A higher threshold costs you less per reward and makes the finish line feel
further away. A lower threshold is more motivating and gives away more,
including to people who would have come anyway.

## The check worth doing

Work out how many stamps a regular collects in a normal week. Then see how many
weeks it takes them to finish. If it comes to more than about six weeks, most people quietly stop counting. A
card nobody finishes costs you money and buys you nothing.