For paints, pipes, wires, adhesives, tiles and spare parts, the person who decides what goes on the job is often not the buyer. A homeowner asks the painter which brand to buy; a car owner lets the mechanic pick the part. Brands that win over these tradespeople win the sale. That is what an influencer programme is for.
Who wrote this guide
The EZ Solutions team wrote this guide. We build Engage360, loyalty software for product companies that run trade and influencer programmes. The guide explains how such programmes work in practice; the last section shows how Engage360 runs them.
What is an influencer loyalty programme?
An influencer loyalty programme rewards tradespeople for using a brand’s products: painters, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, mechanics and contractors. It differs from a dealer scheme, which rewards the shops that stock the product. The influencer is the one holding the brush or the spanner. The channel loyalty glossary entry covers the wider idea.
How tradespeople join
Joining has to be quick, since most members sign up on a phone at a shop counter or on site:
- Sign up on the brand’s app with a mobile number and OTP.
- Complete KYC so the brand knows who it is paying.
- Add bank or UPI details, verified before any payout.
- Pick a member type, such as painter or contractor, which decides the points each product earns.
Many programmes also link a member to an upline, such as the dealer or contractor who brought them in, so that person can earn too.
How do members earn points?
Members earn points mainly by scanning the unique QR code printed on each product as they use it. Where a QR code is not practical, a member uploads the purchase invoice as proof, and the claim is checked before points are added. The guide to QR code rewards covers the scan side in detail.
The points for each product are set per member type. A litre of premium paint might earn a painter more than a contractor, or the other way round, depending on whom the brand wants to win.
Schemes keep the programme alive
A programme with the same points all year goes quiet. Time-bound schemes give members a reason to act now:
- Multiply points on a new product during its launch month.
- Add a bonus for buying a set quantity in a season.
- Replace the usual points with a special rate in one region.
Previewing how a scheme changes the points before it goes live avoids costly surprises.
Rewards and payouts
Tradespeople value cash most, so payouts matter. Points convert to money paid to a verified bank account or UPI ID. Some members prefer goods, so a rewards catalogue of physical items and e-vouchers, with delivery tracking, sits alongside. TDS applies to some payouts, so a TDS register per programme keeps the brand’s records in order.
Keeping the programme honest
Every programme of this kind attracts some cheating: copied QR codes, repeated invoices, points added by staff without approval. The controls that matter are simple: each code works once, duplicate claims go to review, manual point changes need a second person, and nothing in the points ledger can be edited after the fact.
How Engage360 runs influencer programmes
Engage360 is built for brands that reward painters, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, mechanics and contractors:
- A branded member app in English and Hindi, with OTP sign-up, KYC and bank or UPI details.
- Unique QR batches per product, exported ready to print, with scan activity and reversals.
- A product point matrix per member type, set without formulas.
- Schemes that multiply, add or replace points, with a calculation preview.
- Invoice claims with duplicate flags, a rewards catalogue and bank or UPI payouts with a TDS register.
- Consent capture and data masking designed around the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
Each brand gets its own installation, database, app and catalogue, so programme data is never shared with another brand.
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