Reward Overview
The Thanx platform supports a number of different reward redemption types — allowing for significant flexibility in what brands can offer to their users.
Redemption Types
Manual Rewards (in-store redemption)
These rewards are intended to be used for in-store redemption. Rewards of this
type are indicated in the API by the redeem.type set to manual with a
redeem.venue set to instore or all (both digital and in-store).
These rewards should be activated by the
customer. After activation, the user has a given number of minutes indicated by
the redeem.window attribute to use the reward in-store. We recommend
displaying a timer to the user indicating how long a user has left to redeem the
reward. In addition, we recommend adding a “mark as used” button which, when
pressed, should call the finalize reward
endpoint.
Manual rewards optionally have a code associated with it in a variety of
formats that can be displayed on the “active reward” screen to the user. Upon
activation, should a reward be configured with a code, the coupon_code
attribute will be populated. The coupon_code.type attribute is used to
indicate what format the coupon_code.code should be encoded in format
indicated by the coupon_code.type attribute. If coupon_code.display is set,
the coupon_code.code value should still be the value used for encoding, but
the coupon_code.display value can be displayed as a text label below the
encoded coupon code value.
Manual Rewards (digital redemption)
These rewards are intended to be used for digital redemption. Rewards of this
type are indicated in the API by the redeem.type set to manual with a
redeem.venue set to online or all (both digital and in-store).
Thanx is integrated with a number of online ordering providers, like Olo. Given
existing integrations with these providers, Thanx rewards can be redeemed for
a digital order via the ordering provider’s APIs. Please refer to the ordering
platform’s API documentation for additional details. Upon placement of an order
via the ordering platform’s API, the rewards in Thanx will be automatically
marked as used.
Static rewards (bonus points)
Bonus points are special rewards given to customers participating in a
points-based rewards or loyalty program. These rewards can be awarded during
specific promotions, campaigns, or when a customer advances to a new tier in
the loyalty program.
Rewards of this type are indicated in the API by the redeem.type set
to points.
However, the process for redeeming bonus points differs from regular rewards. The reward is immediately redeemed, and there is no expiry window. Consequently, once bonus points are activated, they are instantly marked as used, eliminating the need to call the finalize reward endpoint.
The digital experience is responsible for activating the bonus points when users open that experience in a logged-in state. This ensures that users who do not open the app during the period when the bonus point reward is available will not receive the additional bonus points, encouraging customer engagement.
Experience (access pass)
These rewards can be offered by brands to enable experiential incentives for
users. Rewards of this type are indicated in the API by the redeem.type set
to experience.
Despite their power, they are actually quite simple. Like manual rewards, a
user can activate a reward of this type.
Upon activation, the image specified in images.detail is intended to be
displayed to the user. The image can be optionally hyperlinked to the
redeem.url if a URL has been configured for the reward.
Given an “Access Pass” is simply a reward with an image and optional URL that can be displayed to a user upon activation, this allows for significant flexibility and creativity in what experiential reward is offered to end-users.
Automatic Rewards (statement credit)
These rewards are intended to be used for automatic application of a statement
credit directly back to a user’s credit card. Rewards of this type are
indicated in the API by the redeem.type set to automatic.
A reward of this type should be activated,
after which it will continue to be in the active state until a qualifying
purchase is detected by Thanx. Upon detection of a purchase, the reward will
automatically be transitioned to the used state and a statement credit will
be pushed directly to the user’s credit card.
If your brand would like to deploy statement credit rewards, please discuss with your success manager — as this pre-funding of a balance that can be used for statement credit rewards.