QR Codes and Staff
Customers show a QR code at the counter to earn or redeem stamps. Staff scan it using the Helm Staff portal.
Your join QR code and loyalty page
The Join QR code on the Loyalty overview is for new customers. Scanning it opens your loyalty page: a page on your own website with the loyalty widget on it. There, a customer sees your programme and its offers, joins by creating an account, and then sees their card. Customers never see your dashboard.
To set it up:
- Turn on User Accounts. Customers join by creating an account, so there's no QR code without it.
- Ask your developer to add the loyalty widget to a page on your website:
<div id="helm-loyalty"></div>
<script src="https://api.usehelm.host/api/public/customers/sdk.js" data-api-key="YOUR_PROJECT_API_KEY"></script>
<script>
HelmCustomers.loyalty.renderProgramme('#helm-loyalty');
</script>
- In Loyalty › Settings, enter that page's address as your Loyalty page. It has to be on your website.
Your QR code appears on the overview once all three are done. Until then, the overview tells you what's missing, and codes you printed earlier tell customers to ask at the counter.
The widget follows the customer's phone language: Arabic phones get Arabic, laid out right to left, and everyone else gets English. While your site is offline, the widget shows nothing and your codes say they're no longer in use.
Codes printed before the loyalty page existed still work: they forward to your loyalty page. Rotate QR token retires those older codes only. Codes that open your loyalty page aren't affected.
Customer QR codes
A customer shows one of two codes from their phone:
- Their card's QR code. Every member has one on their loyalty card on your website. It opens their card for a stamp.
- A reward QR code. When a reward is ready, the customer taps their reward on your website and gets a one-time code. It works once, for 5 minutes. If it runs out, the customer opens their card again and taps their reward for a new one.
The Staff portal
Staff use a separate, cut-down portal that shows only the stamp and redeem screen — never the rest of your dashboard. They sign in with their own email and password, kept entirely separate from your dashboard team accounts.
Adding staff
Open the Staff tab in Loyalty and invite a staff member with their name and email. They receive an invitation link by email to set their own password (the link lasts 48 hours). You can deactivate or remove a staff member at any time, and there's a limit of 20 active staff.
Scanning
Staff can find a customer three ways:
- Scan a card. The button at the top of the staff screen opens the phone's rear camera. Point it at the customer's card or reward QR code. The first code it reads opens that customer, and the camera turns off.
- The code box. The search box further down reads Search by name, email or card code. A handheld barcode scanner types the code into it and presses Enter for you. On a counter computer the box is ready as soon as the screen opens, so staff scan without clicking first. A pasted code works too: paste it and press Enter.
- Search by name or email. Type into the same box and pick the customer from the list. Customers served recently are listed underneath. From the keyboard, press Tab to move down the list and Enter or Space to open the customer. A customer who hasn't opened their card yet shows No card yet: open them and add a stamp as usual, and that first stamp starts their card.
A customer's screen shows their balance, with Add stamp and Redeem reward. Each one asks staff to confirm first.
A reward QR code opens straight on Confirm redemption. Confirming hands over the reward and uses the code up. Cancel goes to the customer's screen, and Redeem reward there still uses that code. A code that was already used, or is more than 5 minutes old, isn't accepted, and the screen asks for a new one.
If the camera can't be used (permission was refused, the device has no camera, or another app is using it), the camera view closes and the screen says to use the code box instead. The box is ready for a handheld scanner or a paste. Tap Scan a card to try again, for example after allowing the camera in the browser's settings. The Scan a card button only appears in browsers that can use a camera.