Adreon Kiplinger, owner of Crescent Bakery in Frankfort, was tired of riffling through the loyalty punch cards on file while people waited in line. Customers who forgot theirs or couldn’t find it would have to start a second, third or fourth card toward a free coffee or treat.

So he computerized his loyalty program; now customers simply present their card for scanning or provide their phone number. “It (automatically) tracks the points,” says Kiplinger.

Two local companies now seek to do the same for businesses all over town. Shaun Quinn of Yo2Mo, a Traverse City marketing agency, says his company’s just-launched Northern Michigan Rewards is geared to help businesses gain and retain customers.

“We start with an offer, anywhere from 10 to 50 percent off, to come in the first time,” Quinn says. The client businesses use a tablet and scan in a QR code at a point per penny spent. It’s up to the business to then determine how to reward customers for continued patronage.

Studies show loyalty programs are worth it, especially for small businesses. And the marketing mavens at Hubspot estimate current customers spend 67 percent more than new ones.

Rewards programs have also come a long way: starting with S&H Green Stamps, which were popular in the U.S. from the 1930s to the 1980s. Participating stores gave the stamps to customers based on the amount of their purchase, and customers could redeem them for merchandise. By the 1960s, gas stations giving away glassware and boxes of laundry soap containing towels were part of the mix.

But today’s cell phone-toting customer was the impetus for Mike Wittig and David Knop’s TC Loyalty App, which combines a loyalty program with a Happy Hour finder.

“The mobile phone is the new marketing tool,” says Knop. “We mobilized and digitized the punch card.”

So far the duo has enlisted more than 20 businesses, including Brew, The Copy Shop, the Crown Golf Club, Eastfield Laundry, and the Stained Glass Cabinet Company.

“It’s the responsibility of the business to make customers aware of it,” says Wittig. “The businesses that create awareness will be successful.”

Though loyalty programs have definitely gone high tech, some still opt for the tried-and-true approach. For each loaf of bread customers buy at Bay Bread and the Bakeshop in Traverse City, they get a punch toward a free loaf.

Cuppa Joe coffee shops offer a twist: the Pay It Forward Punchcard Project allows patrons to donate their filled cards at all three Cuppa Joe locations. They are then given to Safe Harbor and the Women’s Resource Center, which distribute them to those in need.

Still, some companies eschew such programs altogether. Tom’s Food Markets discontinued its program several years ago.

“We offer our sales prices and special promotional pricing to every customer that walks through our doors,” says Christy Kuhnke, the president of Tom’s.