Does this sound familiar? You want to reward your loyal customers, but the old way of doing things — stacks of punch cards, confusing rebate forms, and endless manual data entry — is stealing your time and sanity.
That’s the hidden cost of friction, and it stops now.
With the right point of sale (POS) system, loyalty programs don’t have to live on paper or separate websites. eTailPet’s POS integrates with Astro Loyalty, so frequent buyer cards (FBCs), manufacturer offers, and rewards are automated right where you work.
“The Astro Loyalty integration allows merchants to get their customers through the checkout process quickly while automating the process of checking the customer’s Astro account for discount and promotion eligibility,” says Taylor Harnois, general manager of eTailPet.
In this blog, we’ll dive into the three main ways Astro Loyalty helps you reward your customers and explore how integrating through eTailPet builds loyalty without adding complexity.
Ready to get started?
3 Ways To Reward Your Customers
Astro Loyalty offers multiple manufacturer-promoted programs and rewards, fully integrated with eTailPet. These three options are designed to build customer loyalty while simplifying your day-to-day work.
1. Frequent Buyer Cards
This digital platform manages all manufacturer-sponsored frequent buyer programs in one place. When customers purchase a qualifying item, a punch is automatically applied to their digital card.
Once a customer has enough punches to redeem, redemption is completed with the click of a button. Astro Loyalty works behind the scenes, connecting you directly to distributors and delivering automated, real-time reports.
2. Manufacturer Offers
These are prebuilt promotions that let you provide exclusive deals to customers — without the hassle of paper coupons and clearinghouses. Astro Loyalty works daily with brand manufacturers to create new monthly offers.
Offers can take the form of rebates or buy/get deals. When a customer purchases a qualifying item, the offer is redeemed seamlessly at the eTailPet POS checkout page by clicking “Apply Astro Offer.” These deals are often unavailable to big-box, e-commerce, or non-Astro retailers.
Related Read: Pet Store Customer Loyalty 101: The What, Why, and How
3. Loyalty Points
This points-based loyalty program is separate from FBCs and manufacturer offers. Customers earn points by participating in store events or purchasing qualifying items.
Once enough points are earned, customers can redeem them for rewards you define. Points are added automatically at checkout, and you control which products are included in each custom program. Common rewards include discounts, free items, and instant rebates.
How the Astro Loyalty Integration Works
The seamless API — or application programming interface — connection between Astro Loyalty and eTailPet allows the two systems to securely share data in real time, automating complex loyalty functions and delivering real day-to-day advantages.
When you integrate Astro Loyalty and eTailPet, you get a range of benefits that simplify loyalty programs and make life easier for your team:
- Effortless redemption in checkout: Customers begin earning and redeeming rewards automatically through Astro Loyalty. Available FBC cards appear directly on the checkout screen and can be redeemed with a single click.
- Real-time data flow: The integration uses an API, so eTailPet automatically tracks the FBCs and programs your customers are enrolled in. Information from Astro Loyalty passes seamlessly, keeping your records up to date.
- Business intelligence: eTailPet includes the Astro Loyalty Redemption Report in the promotional section of the reports page. This report gives you and your managers an overview of the Astro Loyalty redemptions, helping with buying, marketing, and sales analysis.
- Reduced overhead: The integration lets you take advantage of Astro Loyalty programs without the hassle of paperwork or manual tracking, saving you time and effort.
“There’s no need to have Astro pulled up separately or to do manual checking or adjusting — eTailPet handles it all,” says Harnois.
Set Up Astro Loyalty & Maximize Your POS Investment
Implementing the Astro Loyalty integration requires careful setup and strategic use of promotions to maximize profitability. But our team of experts has done it hundreds of times and can get you up and running quickly.
Here are some of the ways to get the most out of Astro Loyalty once you’re connected:
- Tax compliance: Discounts that customers redeem through Astro Loyalty are usually reimbursed by the manufacturer. Tax for each transaction is calculated pre-discount, based on the full sales price.
- Product eligibility: You can choose which products in your inventory are eligible to earn Astro Loyalty Points. This is managed by checking a box on the product detail page.
- Troubleshooting: eTailPet includes a troubleshooting help section and knowledge base to resolve common issues, such as promotions not appearing as expected. And when you need extra assistance, our customer service team is ready to help answer your questions and solve any problems.
- Stack discounts: Astro Loyalty discounts — including FBC redemptions, offers, and loyalty rewards — can be combined with price slashes and “customer type” discounts (like senior discounts).
- Stacking programs: FBC redemptions and Astro Loyalty offers can be used together in one transaction if they belong to separate programs — for example, an FBC for one brand and an offer for a different brand. If they’re part of the same program, complete the free redemption in a separate transaction.
Let’s look at two examples of how stack discounts and stacking programs work.
Example 1 — Stacked: Suppose your customer is enrolled in an FBC program for Canidae dog food (buy 12, get one free). If they’re also enrolled in a Boss Dog dog food offer ($4 discount per item), they can redeem both discounts in the same order. They’ll get a free bag of Canidae dog food, along with $4 off their Boss Dog dog food.
Example 2 — Not stacked: Suppose your customer is enrolled in an FBC program for Canidae dog food (buy 12, get one free). If they’re also enrolled in a Canidae dog food offer ($3 discount per item), a customer can’t redeem both discounts in the same order. In this case, process the free redemption in a separate transaction.
eTailPet checks the customer’s Astro Loyalty account, identifies any eligible offers, and applies them to shopping cart products with active Astro Loyalty promotions — both online and in store.
“The system syncs all purchase data with Astro Loyalty,” explains Harnois. “The customer always receives every eligible offer.”
Related Read: 7 Data Reports for Multilocation Pet Stores
Make Data-Driven Decisions With eTailPet & Astro Loyalty
The Astro Loyalty integration helps make every transaction count toward customer loyalty while eliminating frustrating roadblocks. With eTailPet, you’re no longer guessing whether your promotions are working — you’re gaining valuable insights.
The Astro Loyalty Redemption Report provides the data you need for strategic planning and business analysis. It shows the current month’s activity and can be filtered by store.
It also displays:
- Employee details
- Customer data
- Transaction information
- Redeemed products and type
- Brand and quantity
- Order value and discount
- Profit and margin
- Tax collected
This focus on data-driven loyalty ensures that every discount you offer is calculated correctly, every program you run is tracked accurately, and your efforts are continuously fine-tuned for sustainable growth and long-term customer retention.
Curious to see what this looks like for your store? Click here to create a quote with our Build and Price tool.
by Jared Slye
by Taylor Harnois