How Much Does a Loyalty and Rewards App for Retail and Restaurants Cost in Saudi Arabia in 2026?

A loyalty programme is a simple deal with your customer: the more you buy, the more you get. The app is the window where the customer sees their balance and rewards, but the heart of the project is elsewhere: an engine that calculates points accurately from every purchase, a panel where you set rules and offers, and a connection to the till that records the sale without holding up the queue.

So the cheapest part of the project is the screens, and the most expensive is the integration and the rules. A quote that promises a handsome loyalty app without saying how in-branch purchases will be recorded is an incomplete quote. The first question, which decides everything else: how does the system know that this customer just spent this amount?

Every item on this list is a business decision before it is a technical one, and settling it early saves weeks:

The most successful loyalty programmes are the simplest. A rule the customer understands in one sentence beats a table of tiers and multipliers nobody remembers. A practical first version: sign-up by mobile number, a balance shown in the app, a QR code or mobile number at the till, a list of redeemable rewards, a notification on every earn and burn, and an admin panel for rules, members and reports. This usually costs SAR 15,000–75,000.

What can wait: tiers, referrals, a wallet, games and challenges, and a programme shared with other brands. What we do not recommend postponing if you have more than two branches: automatic POS integration. Manual entry works in the first week, then cashiers skip it when it gets busy, points stop arriving and the customer loses trust in the programme.

There are three ways to record a purchase. The first is direct integration with the POS: the cashier enters the customer’s number or scans their code, points are calculated from the invoice automatically and redemption is applied as a discount. This is the best experience, and it depends on the POS vendor offering an API. The second is a separate screen beside the till where the amount is typed by hand, which is cheaper but open to error and neglect.

The third is for the customer to scan a code printed on the receipt with their app, so points are added with no work from the cashier. It is a workable middle route when integration is not possible. Ask your POS vendor whether integration is possible before you request app quotes, and name the system in your request. The membership card can also be issued to the phone’s wallet on iPhone and Android, so the customer shows it without opening the app.

Ready-made loyalty solutions run on a monthly subscription, and some are already connected to common POS systems, so you start within days. That is a good choice for a shop or café with a few branches that wants to test the effect of loyalty on repeat purchases. Their limits: the customer usually uses the provider’s app rather than yours, the rules are confined to what the platform allows, and the subscription grows with branches and members.

A custom app carries your name alone; you own the code and your member data, build your own rules, and can combine loyalty with ordering and booking in one app if you wish. A working rule: if loyalty is an experiment you want to measure, start ready-made. If it is part of your brand and you plan to grow across branches and channels, custom development is cheaper over three years. Either way, ask: can I export members and their balances?

Every point you grant is a promise of a later discount, which makes it a liability on your business. So agree with your accountant on the value of a point, how long it is valid and how it is treated in the books before you announce the programme. Ask the system for a report showing total outstanding points and their value at any moment, a log of every earn and burn that cannot be edited, and permissions that stop staff adding points for themselves or people they know.

If the programme becomes a cash balance that is topped up and spent, or points that can be redeemed with other parties, there may be regulatory requirements, so consult a specialist before adopting the model. Members’ numbers and purchase history are personal data under the Personal Data Protection Law, and marketing messages need the customer’s consent and an easy way to stop them. We do not give legal advice; we build the system so that it helps you comply.

Ask for a complete test: a purchase recorded, points showing on the phone within seconds, a reward redeemed, then the sale refunded so you can see what happens to the points. At Fortune Code we start with a written scope and a contract, payments tied to delivery, a written delivery date that we keep, and fast technical support after launch. The code and accounts are yours, and we send a written proposal within 24 hours.