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Overview

The Birthday Reward turns a client’s birthday into a genuine treat. Set it up once and Bella Booking recognises a client around their birthday and applies the discount automatically — online or at the till — once a year. A friendly greeting goes out on the day, and a reminder nudges the client before the reward expires. Capturing a client’s date of birth is free. The reward and its two messages are part of Messages Plus. See Settings — Messaging to subscribe.
Find it under Programmes → Birthday in the sidebar, or go to Settings → Birthday. A dedicated phone number is not required to set up the reward — it’s only needed if you want the messages to go out by SMS.

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How it works

  1. A client has a date of birth on file (see Capturing a birthday).
  2. On their birthday, a birthday greeting goes out (if you’ve turned the message on).
  3. The client’s reward is live for a validity window — 30 days by default.
  4. When the client books or is checked out during that window, the discount is applied automatically to their bill.
  5. If they haven’t used it, a reminder nudges them before it expires — and stops the moment they redeem it.
  6. The reward applies once a year.

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Setting up the reward

Go to Settings → Birthday (or Programmes → Birthday). Access: requires the Manage campaigns permission and an active Messages Plus subscription.

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Turn the reward on

The Reward row switches the reward between Paused and Active. You can’t activate a reward until you’ve set a value above zero.

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Choose the discount

  • Type — a percentage off, or a fixed amount off.
  • Reward value — the percentage (up to 100%) or the amount.

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Validity

Set how long the reward lasts, counted from the client’s birthday. The default is 30 days — roughly their birthday month. Quick-pick options cover 14, 30, 60, and 90 days, or enter your own (up to a year).

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Minimum spend (optional)

Set the least a client must spend before the reward applies, or leave it as No minimum.

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How it’s applied

  • Auto-apply (default) — nothing is required from the client; the discount is applied automatically when an eligible client books or checks out during their window.
  • Code — the client enters a code at online booking, or gives it to you at the till. Choose your own code (letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores). The code only works for clients whose birthday reward is live.

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Who gets the reward

By default, every client with a birthday on file is eligible. Set an audience to narrow it down using the same client filters as campaigns — last visit, total spent, no-shows, and more. You can also exclude an individual client from their profile. An excluded client still receives the birthday greeting — they just don’t get the discount.

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The birthday messages

Two automated messages support the reward. Both need Messages Plus to send, and you turn each channel (email and SMS) on yourself once you’ve added your own wording.
  • Birthday Greeting — goes out on the day, at around 9 am in your business’s timezone. It’s treated as an announcement, so it reaches every client who hasn’t opted out of announcements — no separate marketing opt-in needed. Each client gets it at most once a year.
  • Birthday Reward Reminder — sent once, a few days before the reward expires, and only if the client hasn’t used it yet. It stops automatically the moment the reward is redeemed, and only goes to clients who are eligible for the reward.
Edit the wording — and show the reward inside it with the {{RewardAmount}}, {{RewardExpiry}}, and (in Code mode) {{OfferCode}} variables — in Automated Messages.
Within Messages Plus, the birthday email is included and uses no message credits, while SMS is metered and needs an active dedicated number — the same rule as campaigns. Without a number, the SMS is skipped and the email still goes out.

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Capturing a birthday

A client’s date of birth (the year is optional) can be recorded in several ways — and capturing it is free, on every plan:
  • Client profile — open a client and edit their details.
  • Client import — map a Date of birth column when importing clients; ambiguous numeric dates are read using your business’s country format.
  • Online booking profile — a signed-in client can add or update their own birthday from their account on your booking page.
  • Family members — a birthday can be recorded for each family member a client adds.
  • After booking — the confirmation screen invites the client to add their birthday (they can skip it).
Birthdays added by clients online appear on their profile in your dashboard automatically.

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At online booking and the till

  • Online booking — when an eligible client books during their window, the discount appears in their cart before they confirm.
  • At the till — when you check out an eligible client, the discount is applied to the sale.
The reward applies once a year and stacks with your other discounts (loyalty, referral, new-client offer, and manual discounts) — each is applied in turn and capped so the bill never goes below zero.

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Tracking redemptions

The Birthday Summary report shows, day by day, the birthday rewards redeemed and the discount value given. A snapshot at the top shows how many clients have a birthday this month and the percentage of your active clients with a date of birth on file. Open it from Programmes or Insights → Reports (it appears once the reward is enabled). See Reports.

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FAQs

Q: Is capturing birthdays free? A: Yes. Recording a client’s date of birth is free on every plan. The reward and the two birthday messages are part of Messages Plus. Q: How often does a client get the reward? A: Once a year, during the validity window that runs from their birthday. Q: Do clients need a code? A: Not by default — the reward is auto-apply. Switch to Code mode if you’d rather the client entered a code; it only works for clients whose birthday reward is currently live. Q: Can I stop one client getting the discount but still wish them happy birthday? A: Yes. Exclude them from their profile — they keep the greeting but not the reward. Q: Do I need a dedicated phone number? A: Not to set up the reward, and not for the birthday email. A dedicated number is only needed to send the birthday messages by SMS. See Settings — Messaging. Q: What happens to clients born on 29 February? A: In non-leap years they receive their greeting on 28 February. Q: Does the reward stack with my other discounts? A: Yes. It stacks with loyalty, referral, the new-client offer, and manual discounts. Each is applied in turn and capped so the total never drops below zero.