Yoco's new loyalty programme, launched at Yoco Next, gives independent merchants something large retailers have had for decades - a simple, built-in way to reward the customers who keep them alive.

Walk into any major South African retailer and the loyalty pitch begins before you've even reached the till. Scan your card. Earn your points. Download the app. It's a seamless, well-oiled machine - and it's been the exclusive territory of big business for far too long.

For the hundreds of thousands of independent merchants who power South Africa's economy - the café owner in Woodstock, the boutique in Melville, the nail bar in Soweto - building that same kind of customer loyalty has historically meant a drawer full of stamp cards, a spreadsheet that no one updates, or simply hoping people come back out of habit. The playing field has never been level.

That changes now.

At Yoco Next, the company's flagship product event held recently, Yoco announced the launch of its Loyalty Programme - a fully integrated, no-fuss rewards system built directly into the Yoco point-of-sale experience. It's the simplest platform designed specifically for South African SMEs, offering loyalty as a native feature. And the implications for small business owners are significant.

The problem with loyalty - until now

Loyalty programmes work. The data is unambiguous. According to Yoco's own figures, 76% of South Africans actively participate in loyalty...