The best tanning salon loyalty scheme is one your staff can explain before the kettle boils. Give points on the sales you choose, add a referral reward, and win back customers who’ve gone quiet. Keep sunbed frequency out of the prize, because a scheme that pushes people to tan more often is one you won’t want to defend.
We run three tanning salons, and Luxe Glow Studio has a live loyalty scheme with real customers. These are the ideas we’d talk through with another owner. If you’d rather see one running, here’s how our loyalty scheme works.
The ideas
| Idea | What it’s good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Points on eligible sales | Giving every visit a small reason to come back to you | Decide which categories earn before launch |
| Salon credit | A reward that brings them back in the door | Set clear terms on when it can be used |
| Referral reward | New customers who already trust you | Sunbed customers must be 18 or over |
| Birthday treat | A warm message that isn’t a sales pitch | Keep it to adults, and make the treat a lotion or a spray tan |
| Win-back message | Regulars who’ve drifted off | You need permission to send marketing |
| Quiet-time bonus | Filling a slow weekday morning | Bonus points on a purchase, with no push for extra sessions |
| Status tiers | Making your best customers feel noticed | Two levels is plenty |
Stamp cards still work if you want to start on paper. They’re cheap, and they’re easy to lose down the back of a sofa. A paper card also tells you nothing about who stopped coming.
What we’d leave out
Rewards for frequent sunbed use. The UK Health Security Agency advises against repeated sessions to build a quick tan. A streak bonus or “tan five days in a row” challenge sits badly with that. Reward spending across the salon, and put a limit on how often a customer can earn.
Anything that sounds like a health benefit. Your scheme’s wording is marketing, so the Advertising Standards Authority’s advice on sunbeds applies. Don’t call sunbeds safe, and don’t mention vitamin D.
Points for Google reviews. Google’s policy bars offering incentives such as discounts or free services in exchange for a review. Ask for reviews separately, and keep rewards well away from them.
Anything aimed at under-18s. Check every referral and birthday message for this. Your customer list should only hold adults for sunbeds.
Work out the cost first
Do the sums before you print anything. Here’s a made-up example: if £1 spent earns one point and 100 points gets £5 of salon credit, you’re giving back 5% of eligible sales. Some of that credit will never be spent, and some of it brings in a sale you’d have lost anyway. Test those numbers against your own margins, especially on any category you’ve already discounted.
Lotions may give you more room than discounted minutes, but only your own figures can confirm that.
Looking for regular monthly income rather than repeat visits? That’s a different tool, and tanning salon memberships covers it.
How to run it without extra admin
- Pick one place for the balance to live, and make sure staff can see it at reception.
- Write the rules on one page: what earns, what it’s worth, when it expires and who decides.
- Train every member of staff, including the Saturday team.
- Get consent for marketing messages when customers join. The ICO has guidance on direct marketing.
- Review it after three months, and drop whatever nobody uses.
Paper, an app or your till
Your till or tanning software may already include points, so check there first. A separate app can look like your salon and give customers somewhere to see their balance.
At Luxe Glow Studio, customers have accounts in the salon’s own branded app, which installs to the home screen as a web app. Points are awarded on eligible sales from the salon’s reports, through a process staff review, and the salon decides which categories count. App Store and Google Play versions are on the roadmap. You can see how it fits together on our salon growth system page.
Loyalty works best once customers can find you, so read how to get more tanning customers too.
Sources
Checked on 30 October 2026: