SpenVest

Overview

SpenVest links eligible restaurant sales to digital rewards while leaving the existing POS in place. Its appeal is the combination of loyalty workflows and optional online ordering; the trade-off is that it does not promise a two-way, live connection to inventory or POS orders.

Key features

The Rewards Engine covers points, stamps, store credit (SVC), cashback, reward thresholds, campaigns and bonus rules. Redemption authorisations and refund reversals give merchants ways to govern redemptions and account for returned sales. A dashboard tracks members, recent reward activity and redemption history, useful for reviewing engagement without replacing the restaurant’s checkout system.

Square supports 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 carry events into connected workflows. These options support loyalty-linked transaction handling, but they do not amount to live stock sync or writing commerce orders back into connected POS providers. Restaurants that need those operational flows should not treat SpenVest as a full POS integration.

Eligible products can be sold through an online catalogue and checkout, with click and collect or local delivery. Payments are processed by the merchant’s connected payment provider and settle to the configured merchant-owned account; SpenVest says it does not hold sales revenue. Its privacy policy describes safeguards that may include access controls, encryption or secure transport, authentication and credential controls, logging and monitoring, and need-to-know access limits. It aims to handle personal information consistently with Australian privacy requirements, including the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles where they apply.

Pricing

The plan structure separates basic connection, loyalty, ecommerce add-ons and POS capabilities. Prices below are in the published plan currencies; the Rewards Engine and POS prices are per location and exclude GST.

Connect’s one-location ceiling and lack of SpenVest reward calculation make it a narrow starting point. Rewards Engine adds the core loyalty mechanics, but the 100-product limit and usage-based SMS can matter as a catalogue or messaging needs grow. Higher POS plans add register and operational features, though several restaurant-specific functions sit in plans marked coming soon.

Platforms

SpenVest supports Android, iOS, web and API access. The company says the platform serves businesses across Australia while participating merchant coverage is expanding; it is built for Australian independent businesses.

Who it's for

It is best suited to Australian independent restaurants that want points, stamps, cashback or campaigns attached to eligible sales while retaining an existing POS. It is less suitable for operators who need live inventory synchronisation, POS order write-back, full inventory accounting on the loyalty plan, or table and kitchen operations immediately.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Rewards cover multiple mechanics, including cashback and refund reversals, giving merchants more control than a simple stamp-card workflow.
• Pros: Square, Shopify POS, Clover and API event paths support several ways to connect sales and refunds without requiring a POS replacement.
• Pros: Optional hosted checkout supports click and collect and local delivery, with payments handled by the merchant’s connected provider.
• Cons: The stated integrations do not include live stock sync or writing commerce orders back into POS systems, so they cannot support every two-way workflow.
• Cons: Rewards Engine caps active storefront products at 100 and charges for SMS by usage; larger catalogues or frequent messaging require care.
• Cons: Cloud POS and Enterprise offerings are marked coming soon, and Lite Cloud POS omits table, waiter and kitchen operations.

Alternatives

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

Choose Loga if its free tier’s 100-member and one-admin allowance is a better starting point, or if the Starter plan’s 1,000 members, five admins, one reward and three coupons suit your needs; it is freemium across Android, API, iOS and web.

Loyalty Interchange Protocol is the alternative for teams seeking a free, Apache-2.0 open-source stack that they can self-host.

Slant Loyalty may fit a smaller outlet that can work within 100 orders per month and limited invoices on its free plan, or wants its paid plan priced at $32 a year and billed per month, per outlet billed annually.

CardFree Loyalty is another paid option, with pricing available by contacting CardFree for a demo.

Hang is another paid option.

PAR Engagement is another paid option.

The Stampit is another paid option; its Basic plan is £24.99 a month for a single location and unlimited users.

Como Sense is another paid option.

Verdict

Choose SpenVest if you run an Australian independent restaurant and want reward mechanics tied to eligible sales without replacing your current POS. Its strongest reason to buy is the breadth of loyalty tools plus optional ordering; look elsewhere if your decision depends on live inventory sync, POS order write-back or mature table and kitchen operations.