SpenVest

Overview

SpenVest is restaurant loyalty software that links eligible sales to digital rewards while a business keeps its existing POS. It is best for Australian independent restaurants that want loyalty and ordering tools without replacing their current checkout system. Its rewards and integration options are useful, but it is not a full inventory or restaurant-operations platform.

Key features

The Rewards Engine covers points, stamps, store value credit (SVC), cashback, reward thresholds, campaigns and bonus rules. Redemption authorisations and refund reversals help keep rewards controlled and aligned with returned sales. A dashboard shows members, recent reward activity and redemption history, giving merchants a focused view of loyalty rather than a replacement for their POS reporting.

Square integrations support sales, refunds and product catalogue data; Shopify POS and Clover support sales and refunds. Merchants can also send authenticated sale and refund events through the API, while signed webhooks connect activity to other workflows. These paths provide flexibility, but SpenVest does not claim live stock sync or writing commerce orders back into connected POS providers. Restaurants that depend on those two-way operational functions should choose another system.

Eligible products can be sold through an online catalogue and checkout, with click and collect and local delivery. Customer payments go through the restaurant’s connected payment provider to its configured merchant-owned account; SpenVest says it does not hold sales revenue. This keeps payment handling with the merchant’s provider, while making the provider and account setup part of the restaurant’s own workflow.

The privacy policy describes safeguards that may include access controls, encryption or secure transport, authentication and credential controls, monitoring and need-to-know access. The company aims to handle personal information in line with Australian privacy requirements, including the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles where applicable. Support links cover general, merchant, customer and driver needs. The platform is available to businesses across Australia, while participating merchant coverage is expanding.

Pricing

The free Connect plan costs nothing and is limited to 1 location. It leaves an existing rewards provider authoritative and does not include SpenVest reward calculation, cashback, campaigns, native checkout, orders, inventory or POS. It suits a business exploring the connection model, not one seeking SpenVest to run its rewards program.

Ecommerce & Shipping costs $19 a month as an optional add-on on eligible products. It adds product variants, hosted checkout, Australia Post and tracking. Its add-on structure makes it relevant to merchants who need those commerce and shipping functions, but it is not a standalone rewards plan.

Rewards Engine costs $39 a month, billed monthly per location, excluding GST. It includes Connect plus points, stamps, SVC and cashback, and supports up to 100 active storefront products. SMS is usage-based, and the plan excludes full inventory, suppliers, purchase orders and Cloud POS. It is the clearest fit for a restaurant prioritising loyalty at one location; businesses with broader stock-management needs will outgrow its scope.

Lite Cloud POS costs $59 a month, billed monthly per location, excluding GST. One browser/PWA register supports simple products, services, menus, QR self-ordering and appointments, but not full inventory accounting, stock transfers, tables, waiter service or kitchen operations. It is a modest register option, not a complete hospitality POS.

Cloud POS costs $89 a month, billed monthly per location, excluding GST, and is coming soon. It is planned for two registers, inventory, suppliers, purchase orders and barcode scanning, but excludes table, waiter and kitchen operations. Cloud POS Hospitality costs $119 a month, billed monthly per location, excluding GST, and is also coming soon. It is planned for three waiter devices and two kitchen-display devices, with tables, open bills, split payments, courses, dine-in and table QR ordering. Both are future-facing choices rather than current solutions.

Enterprise has custom pricing under negotiated terms and is coming soon, with custom integrations, reporting, security, onboarding and SLA. It is aimed at businesses needing tailored arrangements rather than a published per-location price.

Platforms

SpenVest supports Android, iOS, web and API access. That combination accommodates customer-facing mobile access, browser-based use and integration workflows, though the specific register and hospitality capabilities vary by plan.

Who it's for

SpenVest is most compelling for Australian independent restaurants that want digital loyalty tied to eligible sales and refunds while retaining their existing POS. It is less suitable for operators who need live inventory synchronisation, POS order write-back, or full table, waiter and kitchen operations today.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Multiple reward types, campaign rules, authorisations and refund reversals support more than basic stamp-card loyalty.
• Pros: Square, Shopify POS, Clover, API events and signed webhooks provide several routes for connecting eligible sales activity.
• Pros: Hosted ordering can add click and collect or local delivery without SpenVest holding merchant sales revenue.
• Cons: The free plan does not calculate SpenVest rewards or provide native checkout, so it is not a complete free loyalty setup.
• Cons: Rewards Engine caps active storefront products at 100, charges usage-based SMS and lacks full inventory tools.
• Cons: The more complete Cloud POS and hospitality plans are coming soon, and even their stated scope excludes some operational functions.

Alternatives

Restaurant Loyalty Software is the broader category to browse when comparing restaurant-focused loyalty options.

Choose Loga if a freemium loyalty platform with a defined member and admin allowance suits your needs: its free tier permits 100 members and one admin, while Starter provides 1,000 members, five admins, one reward and three coupons for 490 THB a month.

Loyalty Interchange Protocol is a free, self-hosted Apache-2.0 open-source stack for teams that prefer to operate their own loyalty infrastructure.

Slant Loyalty offers a free tier capped at 100 orders per month with limited invoices and email support, so it is worth considering when that allowance fits better than SpenVest’s location- and product-based plan structure.

Hang is another paid option.

PAR Engagement is another paid option.

Loyalzoo may suit businesses seeking loyalty alongside basic SMS, email and push marketing, subscriptions and memberships; its GROW plan is $77 a month.

CardFree Loyalty is another paid option, with pricing based on the functionality needed.

ChefDesk is another paid option.

Verdict

Choose SpenVest if you run an Australian independent restaurant and want points, stamps, cashback and related reward controls connected to eligible sales without changing your existing POS. Its main advantage is the range of loyalty mechanisms and integration paths; its main drawback is that inventory synchronisation and full restaurant operations are outside the current fit. Restaurants that need those capabilities should look elsewhere.