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What a returning customer is worth, with your numbers

Enter the price and costs of a dish, choose a reward and see what it costs, what a loyal customer leaves you and how many extra visits cover a plan. The result shows at once, with no sign-up.

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Margin and loyalty calculator

Four steps, with your numbers. The result updates as you type, with no sign-up. Editable examples in Canadian dollars, before sales tax.

All calculations run in your browser. Financial inputs and results are excluded from session replay.

Your business (optional)

  1. Step 1 of 4

    Your dish

    The price and what the dish costs you. The margin shows right away.

    Your dish
    example

    Exclude sales tax and tips.

    example

    Include ingredient losses and yields.

    example

    Per serving. Zero for dining in.

    example

    As a percentage of the price. Your fee statement gives the real figure.

    example

    The portion of labour you assign to this serving.

    Margin of the dish
    $9.46
    Share of selling price
    52.6%
    Cost of the dish
    $8.54
    Ingredient cost
    30%

    Formula. Margin = $18.00 − ($5.40 + $0.60 + $0.54 + $2.00) = $9.46

    Assumptions
    • This is a contribution before fixed costs: rent, overhead, financing and taxes still have to be covered. It is not profit.
    • Payment fees are calculated as a percentage of the price. Adjust them to your statement.

  2. Step 2 of 4

    Your reward

    What you give, and after how many paid visits.

    Your reward
    Reward type

    Counted at its cost, not its price.

    example

    The free visit is not one of them.

    Cost of one reward
    $8.54
    Cost per paid visit
    $0.85
    Share of one visit’s margin
    9%

    Formula. Cost of the free item = ingredients + packaging + fees + labour = $8.54. Cost per visit = $8.54 ÷ 10 = $0.85

    Assumptions
    • A free item is counted at its actual cost. It does not include the full-price sale it might replace, or capacity limits.
    • A discount is counted at the amount you give up.
    • This assumes every customer who reaches the reward redeems it: the most expensive case.

  3. Step 3 of 4

    What a returning customer is worth

    Your scenario for one returning customer: what they leave you once their rewards are paid.

    What a returning customer is worth
    example

    What you see with your regulars. Decimals are allowed (1.5).

    example
    example

    Leave blank to keep rewards out of the break-even.

    Margin kept per returning customer
    $314.94
    3 reward(s) earned
    For 100 customers
    $31,494
    For your 100 customers
    $31,494

    Your scenario, calculated with your assumptions. It is not a forecast.

    Formula. 36 visits × $9.46 − 3 × $8.54 = $314.94

    Assumptions
    • This counts all of a loyal customer’s margin, whether or not they would have come back without a programme. It does not measure sales the programme adds.
    • Margin is a contribution before fixed costs.
    • The number of rewards is rounded down: a reward not yet reached is not counted.

  4. Step 4 of 4

    Your break-even

    How many extra visits a month cover a Minerva Flow plan.

    Your break-even
    Plan to cover

    Price per location, per month, before tax. Flow Core is $129 each for 2 to 5 locations. Growth and Partner start after a call, by written agreement. Setup ($0 to $1,990) is not included.

    Extra paid visits per month
    43
    About 0.43 more visit per customer, per month
    Monthly cost to cover
    $405.20
    of which $256.20 in rewards redeemed

    With each plan

    • Flow Core · $14943 visits
    • Flow Growth · $749107 visits
    • Flow Partner · $1,490185 visits

    Formula. Break-even = $405.20 ÷ $9.46 = 43, rounded up

    Assumptions
    • Only visits the programme adds count. Visits you would have had without it cover nothing.
    • Rewards redeemed each month = active customers × visits per month ÷ visits to earn one, if all of them take part.
    • The plan is its monthly price only, with no setup and no tax.
    Start from a target margin

    Choose the margin you want to keep. The calculation shows what the reward can cost, or the price it would take.

    example

    As a percentage of the price, after the reward cost per visit.

    Maximum cost of one reward
    $4.60
    That is $0.46 per paid visit, at the current price.
    Price for the target, no reward
    $17.02
    −$0.98 compared with the current price
    Price for the target, reward included
    $18.84
    +$0.84 compared with the current price

    The reward from step 2 is above this maximum.

    Formula. Price = costs before payment fees ÷ (1 − target margin − payment fees − reward share), all as a fraction of the price

Keep your scenario

Get the report with your numbers, their formulas and a link to change them, or talk it over with the team.

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Talk to the team

A person goes through these numbers with you and replies within one business day.

To see a customer’s journey: Try the demo

Reading the result

Each step shows its formula with your numbers and its assumptions. Nothing here is an industry average or a forecast.

The margin of the dish
The price minus what the dish costs: ingredients, packaging, payment fees and direct labour. It is a contribution before fixed costs, not profit.
The cost of the reward
A free item is counted at its actual cost, a discount at the amount given up. Spread over paid visits, it compares with the margin of one visit.
The returning customer
The margin a loyal customer leaves you over the time you choose, once their rewards are paid. It is your scenario, not what a programme adds.
The break-even
The extra paid visits a month that cover the price of a plan and the rewards redeemed. Only visits the programme adds count.

Questions about the calculator

What the calculation counts, what it leaves out and what happens to it.

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