Short answer

PerkClub is membership software that helps independent businesses create recurring revenue through customer subscriptions. In practice, that means a tool to design a paid membership, charge customers a recurring fee, issue them a wallet pass, and let staff redeem perks at the counter. It replaces the guesswork of stamp cards and discounts with a predictable monthly income floor, turning your regulars into paying members who visit more often and spend more while they're there.

If you run an independent business, you've probably been pitched a stamp card, a points app, or a discount platform at some point. Membership software is a different category entirely. Put simply, PerkClub is membership software that helps independent businesses create recurring revenue through customer subscriptions. This guide explains what that means in practice — what the software does, how it works day to day, who it's for, and how to judge whether it's right for your shop.

What is membership software?

Membership software is a tool that lets a business sell paid memberships and run them without the admin. Instead of charging customers for each visit, you set up a recurring plan — say £40 a month for a daily coffee — and the software handles the billing, the membership pass, and the perk redemption at the counter. It sits in the same family as subscription management software and recurring revenue software, but it's built for the high street rather than for SaaS startups.

Because it earns revenue upfront rather than rewarding spending after the fact, membership software is best understood as a customer loyalty alternative. A loyalty scheme gives something back once a customer has spent. Membership software flips that round: customers pay in advance for guaranteed perks, so the relationship becomes contractual and the income becomes predictable. We unpack that contrast in full in membership vs loyalty.

How does membership software work?

Good membership software handles four jobs end to end, so you don't have to stitch tools together:

  • Plan setup. You decide the perk, the usage cap, and the price, then publish a branded join page. Most PerkClub shops complete this in under 30 minutes.
  • Recurring billing. The software charges each member's card on a set cadence and pays you out — PerkClub uses Stripe, with payouts arriving weekly. This is the subscription management software part of the job.
  • Wallet pass technology. Each member gets a membership pass added straight to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet — no app to download, no card to lose.
  • Counter redemption. Staff scan the member's QR code on any device the shop already owns. The software checks the membership is active and logs the visit.

For the customer, sign-up takes about 30 seconds: scan a QR code, pick a plan, enter a card, and the pass lands in their wallet. You can see the whole flow on how it works.

Who uses membership software?

Membership software suits any independent business with a regular visit rhythm — somewhere customers come back daily, weekly, or monthly. As small business SaaS aimed at the high street, it's especially well matched to hospitality technology use cases:

  • Coffee shops and cafés running a daily-coffee membership
  • Barbers and salons selling a monthly cut, trim, or blow-dry
  • Bakeries offering a daily-pastry plan
  • Florists with a weekly-bouquet subscription

If you'd like to see the model applied to a specific trade, our guide for coffee shops walks through perks, pricing, and the sign-up conversation in detail.

Membership software vs loyalty programs

The simplest way to see the difference is in where the value sits. A loyalty programme is reactive — the customer spends, then earns a stamp or points towards a future reward, and the business gives away margin later. Membership software is structural — the customer pays upfront for ongoing perks, and the business earns recurring revenue whether or not they visit this week.

That makes membership software a genuine customer retention software tool rather than a discount mechanism. Members have already committed, so the question shifts from "should I come in today?" to "have I used my membership this week?" If you're weighing the two models, the full breakdown lives in membership vs loyalty, and a direct comparison with bigger SaaS loyalty tools sits on memberships vs loyalty platforms.

How much does membership software cost?

Membership software typically charges a monthly platform fee plus a small per-transaction fee. PerkClub's published tiers run from £59 a month up to £199 a month depending on member count, with a 1.5% + 20p fee per payment to cover Stripe processing. Most independent shops cover the platform fee with their first two or three members, so the software pays for itself quickly.

The fee only matters relative to what membership earns. As recurring revenue software, the point is the income floor it builds: fifty members at £40 a month is £2,000 locked in before the doors open on the first. The full cost breakdown and a calculator live on the pricing page, and we explain why that predictability matters in recurring revenue, explained.

What features matter most?

Not every feature is equal. When you're choosing membership software, the ones that actually move the numbers are:

  • Wallet pass technology, not an app. Customers won't download an app for a coffee. Native Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes mean zero app downloads and far higher sign-up rates.
  • No new hardware. The redemption screen should run in a browser on a phone or tablet you already own — no card readers, no scanners, no new till.
  • Reliable recurring billing and payouts. This is the subscription management software backbone. Look for proper Stripe integration and predictable payouts.
  • Usage caps and clear redemption. A daily cap protects your margin and keeps the perk profitable even for heavy users.
  • Retention reporting. As customer retention software, it should show you renewal and churn so you can spot a perk that isn't landing. Healthy programmes see at least 80% of members renew by month three, and members typically spend 15–25% more on add-ons than they did before joining.

Is membership software right for your shop?

If your business has regular customers and a steady visit rhythm, membership software is one of the highest-impact changes you can make — it turns your best regulars into paying members who visit around eight times more than they did before joining, and gives you revenue you can plan around. To go deeper on the economics behind it, read recurring revenue, explained and what a membership business model is. When you're ready to see the numbers for your own shop, the calculator on the pricing page shows what fifty members would do for your monthly revenue.