This is version 1.0 of the loyalty model, and it's published: these weights are final. The table below is generated from the model itself, so its weights are always the ones we use.
We score what a restaurant lives with once the program is running:
- Cost for one location. What a restaurant with one location pays over a year for the cheapest plan with a loyalty program, plus the text messages of a modest campaign program and any setup fee. If the program only comes inside a POS plan, that plan is the price. Optional add-ons are shown, not added, and a price that isn't published counts as missing, never as zero.
- The loyalty program. How guests earn (points for spending, visits, items bought or levels), whether they earn and redeem on the restaurant's own online orders, and whether you get an app with your brand.
- Guest list and campaigns. Guest profiles with their history, automatic campaigns (a birthday, a guest who stopped coming), text and email campaigns, and guest feedback.
- Gift cards. Digital and physical gift cards. Fees that are a share of each gift card sold are shown, not added, because they depend on how many you sell.
- Your POS. Whether it only works with its own POS or connects to several, against the same closed list of POS systems for every platform.
- Contract, leaving and support. The initial term, the early termination fee, the notice to avoid a renewal, whether you can take your guest list with you, and live support hours. Every platform gets the same contract template.
In the Spanish edition of this site, the Spanish-language criteria count too: guest sign-up and messages, support, the owner's dashboard, the website and the terms in Spanish. In this English edition they aren't part of the score.
Platforms that only sell gift cards are listed with the same template and no score. Third-party ratings, referral programs, promotions and anything commercial never count toward the score. A platform needs enough verified data before it enters any ranking.
Criteria and weights
Spanish-language criteria count only in the Spanish edition
These criteria count only in the Spanish edition of this site: guest sign-up and messages in Spanish, support in Spanish, owner's dashboard in Spanish, website or help center in Spanish, and terms in Spanish. In this English edition they aren't part of the score, and the weights in the table add up to 100% without them. So a platform can have a different RTC Score in each edition.
Listed, not scored
Gift cards only: we list these products with the same template and sources, but we don't score them. They're bought differently, usually by quote, or they serve other platforms.
| Criterion | Pillar | Weight | What we measure | How it's scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-month cost (reference restaurant) | Cost | 20% | 12-month cost | 12-month cost of the reference restaurant: full score at $600, zero at $3,600 |
| Ways to earn rewards | Loyalty program | 8% | How guests earn | By option: Points for spending → 2.5/10; Visits → 2.5/10; Items bought → 2.5/10; Tiers or levels → 2.5/10; Birthday rewards → 0/10; Referring friends → 0/10 |
| Rewards on your online orders | Loyalty program | 6% | Earn and redeem on online orders | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| App with your brand | Loyalty program | 6% | App with your brand | By option: Included → 10/10; Paid add-on or higher plan → 5/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Digital gift cards | Gift cards | 6% | Digital gift cards | By option: Included → 10/10; Paid add-on or separate product → 5/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Published pricing | Cost | 5% | Published pricing | By option: Published → 10/10; Partly published → 5/10; Quote only → 0/10 |
| Automatic campaigns | Customer list and campaigns | 5% | Automatic campaigns | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Text message campaigns | Customer list and campaigns | 5% | Text message campaigns | By option: Included with an allowance → 10/10; Paid per message → 6/10; Paid add-on or higher plan → 4/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Not tied to one POS | POS and equipment | 5% | Works with which POS | By option: Connects to several POS systems → 10/10; Works without a POS connection → 6/10; Only with its own POS → 2/10 |
| POS systems it connects to | POS and equipment | 5% | POS systems it connects to | By option: Toast → 1.4/10; Square → 1.4/10; Clover → 1.4/10; Shift4 POS → 1.4/10; Lightspeed → 1.4/10; SpotOn → 1.4/10; Heartland (Genius) → 1.4/10; TouchBistro → 0/10; PAR → 0/10; Others → 0/10 |
| Guest profiles with history | Customer list and campaigns | 4% | Guest profiles with history | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Email campaigns | Customer list and campaigns | 4% | Email campaigns | By option: Included → 10/10; Paid add-on or higher plan → 5/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Physical gift cards | Gift cards | 4% | Physical gift cards | By option: Included → 10/10; You buy the cards or pay an add-on → 6/10; Not offered → 0/10 |
| Initial term | Contract and exit | 4% | Initial term | By steps: Up to 11 months → 10/10; 12–23 months → 7.5/10; 24–35 months → 5/10; 36–47 months → 2.5/10; 48 months or more → 0/10 |
| Live support hours a week | Support | 4% | Live support hours a week | Linear: full score at 168, zero at 0 |
| Early termination fee | Contract and exit | 3% | Early termination fee | By option: None → 10/10; A fixed amount → 5/10; Fees left in the term → 2.5/10; Another formula → 2.5/10 |
| Guest feedback | Customer list and campaigns | 2% | Guest feedback | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Your guest list when you leave | Contract and exit | 2% | Your guest list when you leave | By option: You can download it yourself → 10/10; On request → 5/10; Limited or lost access after you leave → 0/10 |
| Notice to avoid renewal | Contract and exit | 1% | Notice to avoid renewal | Linear: full score at 30 days, zero at 90 days |
| Dedicated specialist | Support | 1% | Dedicated specialist | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
The formula
Each criterion gives a partial score from 0 to 1. The RTC Score is 10 × the weighted average of the criteria we could verify, reduced when data is missing: × (1 − 0.5 × (1 − completeness)). Completeness is the share of the total weight we could verify.
Below 60% completeness, a platform is marked as not having enough data and isn't ranked. That check always uses the base weights, so a ranking by type of business never includes a platform the overall ranking leaves out. A price the platform doesn't publish counts as missing: it lowers completeness, and with too little data the platform isn't ranked.
Reference profile for cost
Reference: 1 location, 500 text messages a month, 12 months: 1 location(s), 15 people with an account and 0 screen(s) per location, over 12 months.
Assumptions behind the cost criteria
- The cost adds the cheapest plan that covers the reference restaurant (priced per account, location, user or screen), the monthly and yearly fees, usage fees (per guest, text message or invoice) and one-time setup and hardware.
- Optional add-ons are shown on each pricing page but not added. A module the reference restaurant always needs is added.
- A price the provider doesn't publish never counts as $0: the estimate stays incomplete and the cost criterion counts as missing.
- Promotions, like free months, are never taken off the cost and never count in the score.
Weights by type of business
Rankings by type of business multiply some weights. The overall ranking always uses the base weights.
| Type of business | Adjustments |
|---|---|
| Small restaurants on a budget | 12-month cost (reference restaurant) ×1.25 · Initial term ×1.25 · Early termination fee ×1.25 · App with your brand ×0.5 |
| Coffee shops and quick service | Ways to earn rewards ×1.25 · Digital gift cards ×1.25 · Physical gift cards ×1.25 |
| Multi-location | 12-month cost (reference restaurant) ×0.8 · App with your brand ×1.5 · POS systems it connects to ×1.5 · Dedicated specialist ×2 |
What never affects a score
Commissions, affiliate deals, sponsorships and price requests. The scoring engine has no access to them, and every vendor gets the same rubric.
Changelog
v1.0.0 ·
Published version. The weights of the 0.1.0 draft are now final, so no score changes with this version. This section is no longer a draft.
v0.1.0 ·
First draft for loyalty, CRM and gift card software. The score covers 12-month cost for one location with text campaigns (25%), the loyalty program (20%), the customer list and campaigns (20%), gift cards (10%), how it works with your POS (10%), contract and leaving with your guest list (10%) and support (5%). In the Spanish edition, Spanish-language criteria count for 10% and every other weight is scaled by 0.9. Gift-card-only platforms are listed without a score. Third-party ratings, referral programs and promotions don't count toward the score. Weights are pending external validation.