+22% Repeat Purchases in Just 30 Days—with Bonus Activation through Face Recognition at Checkout

A major retail chain specializing in vitamins, dietary supplements, and sports nutrition was rapidly expanding its loyalty program—offering bonus points and personalized service to boost customer engagement among in-store shoppers.

However, the checkout experience was proving to be a consistent pain point. Customers often forgot their loyalty cards, couldn’t recall their registered phone numbers, or struggled with the store’s mobile app—especially when their phones were out of battery or freezing up at the register. As a result, many were unable to redeem their bonus points, which not only hindered engagement but also diminished the likelihood of repeat purchases.

To remove these friction points and make loyalty rewards more accessible, the company launched a pilot project using face identification technology at checkout. Powered by 3DiVi Omni Platform, the system enabled automatic customer recognition—no card, phone number, or mobile app required. Shoppers simply walked up to the POS, and the system took care of the rest.

Accuracy in real-world conditions
The system had to perform reliably under varying lighting conditions (artificial store lighting / natural daylight) and recognize faces partially covered by glasses, hoods, or even masks. Fine-tuning both cameras and computer vision algorithms was essential to ensure high recognition accuracy while minimizing false positives.

Real-time speed and responsiveness
To keep checkout lines moving smoothly, face recognition needed to happen in under one second. Communication with the CRM system had to be near-instantaneous as well, ensuring bonus points were applied without delay and customers could complete purchases without interruption.

Data privacy and security
As biometric data was involved, the project had to strictly comply with data protection regulations such as GDPR. Ensuring the secure storage and processing of face templates was a top priority, as the team aimed to eliminate any risk of personal data breaches.

Face database creation
A reliable, up-to-date face database needed to be built from scratch, with customers opting in voluntarily and providing explicit consent to use their biometric data for loyalty program access.

Scalability across all stores
Finally, the system had to scale across the retailer’s 18 locations, each handling multiple customer checkouts simultaneously—requiring consistent performance across the entire network.

To simplify participation in the loyalty program, the company introduced face identification at checkout—powered by 3DiVi Omni Platform. The goal was simple: eliminate the need for loyalty cards or phone numbers. To redeem bonuses, customers now only needed to show up at the counter.

Smooth integration with existing systems
The solution was designed to work smoothly within the retailer’s digital ecosystem, including:

• The mobile loyalty app
• The CRM system for storing customer profiles and purchase history
• POS terminals at checkout (the POS provider supplied an SDK for integration and feature extension)

Face registration via the mobile app
The mobile app, already in use for loyalty management, was updated to support face registration. During signup, users provided their standard details—such as name, phone number, and email—and were prompted to take a reference photo. This photo was securely linked to their CRM profile, but only after obtaining explicit consent to process biometric data, ensuring full compliance with privacy regulations.

Contactless in-store identification
At checkout, customer identification was handled by the camera on an Android-based POS terminal. Once the customer was recognized, their profile—complete with bonus balance—was instantly displayed. Following the purchase, the system automatically linked the transaction to the customer’s profile, applied any relevant bonuses, activated personalized offers, and updated their status accordingly. All of these changes were then synchronized with the CRM in real time, ensuring that the customer’s rewards and preferences were always up to date.

The pilot launch, rolled out across three stores, was completed in just 1.5 months. Thanks to the modular architecture of 3DiVi Omni Platform and its open API, the solution was effortlessly integrated into the company’s existing digital ecosystem, requiring minimal changes to the infrastructure.

Technical Workflow:

1. Face Detection at Checkout
The experience begins as soon as the customer approaches the checkout. A custom-built app, utilizing the POS provider’s SDK, combines payment processing with loyalty program authentication. When payment starts, the app captures the customer’s face through the front-facing camera, instantly matching it against the loyalty program’s database via 3DiVi Omni Platform API.

2. Matching Against the Loyalty Member Database
On a dedicated server within the local network, 3DiVi Omni Platform extracted the facial biometric templates and quickly cross-referenced them with the loyalty program database to ensure accurate matching.

3. Profile Display on the POS Terminal
After successful face identification the customer’s profile is automatically displayed on the POS terminal, showing their bonus balance and any rewards available for the transaction. If the customer hasn’t registered their face yet, the system smartly prompts them to use their loyalty card or input their registered phone number—keeping the process smooth and quick.

4. Transaction Linking and Bonus Application
With the payment complete, the system sends the transaction data to the CRM in real time. The purchase record is updated, bonuses are applied, and any personalized promotions are activated automatically. The whole process ensures the customer leaves with a smooth shopping experience and rewards that are instantly available.

The pilot launch across three stores quickly demonstrated the powerful impact of facial recognition on loyalty programs and customer experience. Within just one month, the stores saw significant shifts in shopper behavior:

+37% Loyalty Program Engagement
With no physical card or phone number needed the number of purchases where loyalty benefits were applied surged by 37%. Face identification made it easier than ever for customers to redeem their rewards.

+22% Repeat Purchases
Customer retention also saw a noticeable boost, with repeat purchases among identified customers increasing by 22% compared to the previous period. This highlighted the system’s positive effect on fostering customer loyalty.

Improved customer satisfaction
An internal survey revealed that 76% of customers found the new face recognition method to be “convenient” or “very convenient”. Shoppers especially appreciated the ability to access their rewards without the hassle of searching for a card or dealing with a phone app.

Looking to boost conversions from your loyalty program? Let’s get in touch—we’ll show you how face recognition can simplify customer interactions and increase ROI for your business.