Open loop or closed loop? How to decide where rewards can be spent.

Every reward programme answers one question before anything else: where can people spend what they earn? On Kaman, the answer is a setting, not a rebuild. Every product (gift cards, loyalty points, discount cards and Save & Invest) can run open-loop or closed-loop on the same platform, with the same admin console and the same reporting.

Open loop: the whole network

In an open-loop programme, value is spendable across Kaman’s 100+ partner merchants, spanning groceries, F&B, fashion, electronics, e-commerce, entertainment and lifestyle. A gift card works at the supermarket and at the cinema; loyalty points burn wherever the member wants them to.

• Best when the goal is perceived value: people redeem more when they can choose.
• Typical for employee rewards, where the employer doesn’t sell anything employees need.
• The network grows every month, and every new merchant becomes available automatically.

Closed loop: only with you

In a closed-loop programme, value is spendable only inside your own outlets, or inside a merchant group you nominate. The spend stays in your ecosystem, which makes closed loop the natural choice for retailers and brands running customer loyalty.

• Gift cards redeemable only at your stores.
• Points that burn inside your brand only.
• Discounts at your stores or a group you choose.

You don’t have to pick forever

Because the loop is a configuration, not a different product, programmes can start one way and change. A brand might launch closed-loop to keep spend in-house, then open part of the catalogue to partner merchants to lift redemption.

Same platform, same admin console, same reporting. The loop only decides where the value can be spent.