Skip to main content
The NZ-built alternative to standalone loyalty

A Marsello alternative that puts loyalty
in your POS, not next to it.

Marsello is a strong loyalty layer that sits on top of your existing POS. SmakSpace is the alternative that bundles loyalty, bookings, online ordering and kitchen display into one platform — one flat NZD subscription, one place to manage everything. On request we load your Marsello customer list and seed loyalty points for your regulars during onboarding — free.

Get a free loyalty audit Start free trial →
14-day trial · Loyalty included on Pro & Enterprise
Updated
In one paragraph

SmakSpace is the New Zealand-built alternative to Marsello for hospitality operators who want loyalty bundled with the rest of their hospitality stack rather than as a second monthly subscription. SmakSpace includes digital punch cards, points, tier-based rewards, birthday automation, email and SMS campaigns and customer segmentation on Professional and Enterprise plans — alongside POS, online ordering, bookings, kitchen display on a flat NZD subscription, while your EFTPOS terminal stays exactly as it is. Operators replacing Marsello with SmakSpace typically consolidate two monthly bills into one. NZ business-hours support.

What's the best Marsello alternative for NZ hospitality?

The best Marsello alternative for NZ hospitality is the platform that bundles loyalty with ordering, bookings and kitchen display rather than adding a second monthly subscription. SmakSpace is the NZ-built bundled option — Professional NZ$99/mo and Enterprise NZ$179/mo include digital punch cards, points, tiers, birthday automation, segmentation and email + SMS campaigns alongside self-order kiosks, online ordering, bookings and kitchen display. Replacing Lightspeed + Marsello with SmakSpace consolidates two subscriptions into one.

Marsello vs SmakSpace

A direct comparison for NZ hospitality.

Marsello (as a layer)
SmakSpace (bundled)
Product scope
Standalone loyalty + marketing platform (POS-agnostic)
Self-order kiosks + online ordering + bookings + KDS + loyalty in one
Pricing model
Standalone monthly subscription on top of your POS subscription
Flat NZD subscription, loyalty included on Pro and Enterprise
Pricing visibility
Tiered plans published; venue-size variations
Public NZD pricing on /pricing
POS coverage
Integrates with Shopify, Lightspeed, Clover, Cin7 and others
Loyalty is native to SmakSpace — no integration to maintain
Loyalty depth
Best-in-class — points, tiers, referrals, campaigns, segmentation, AI suggestions
Punch cards, points, tiers, birthday automation, segmentation, campaigns
Email + SMS campaigns
Built-in marketing engine with templates and segmentation
Built-in email + SMS, NZ-aware segmentation, included in plan
NZ EFTPOS / payments
N/A (loyalty layer)
Keep whatever terminal you run today — it operates independently, and we never surcharge it
Contract term
Monthly / annual plan options
Month-to-month, cancel anytime
Built and supported in
Wellington, NZ — global customer base
NZ-based, NZ-focused support
Data export
Available on request
Full CSV export of customers, loyalty, history anytime
Migration support
You move yourself
On request we load your customer list and seed loyalty points for your regulars, and rebuild your campaigns with you — free

Comparison reflects publicly available Marsello materials (marsello.com) and the typical "POS + standalone loyalty layer" hospitality stack as of May 2026. Marsello is a strong specialist layer; SmakSpace is a bundled platform. The right answer depends on whether you value loyalty depth (Marsello) or consolidation (SmakSpace).

Migration

From two subscriptions to one bill.

Day 0

Free audit

We review your current Marsello plan, POS pairing, loyalty program structure (points / punch / tiers), active campaigns and integrated platforms (e.g. Lightspeed, Shopify).

Day 1

Customer + loyalty setup

Send us your Marsello export and we set it up by hand: on request we load your customer list into SmakSpace, seed points balances for your regulars so they keep what they have earned, and rebuild your campaigns with you. None of it is a machine import, so you sign off on the loaded list and the seeded balances before we go further.

Day 2

POS migration

If you are also moving off your existing POS to SmakSpace, we load your menu items, prices and categories for you in parallel from our CSV template — or from a photograph of the menu that the AI turns into a draft list for you to sign off — and set up modifiers with you (item photos we add by hand on request for larger menus; historical sales are not imported — export them first). If you are keeping your POS, talk to us — SmakSpace is best as a full replacement, not a Marsello-only layer.

Day 3

Soft launch

Loyalty live on SmakSpace QR and online ordering for customers who sign in (kiosk orders don't earn, and there is no phone-number loyalty at the counter yet). Existing Marsello cards / app continue to work in parallel for the transition window. Honour both for 2–4 weeks.

Day 30

Switch and cancel

Once customers are using SmakSpace loyalty natively, cancel Marsello at the next renewal. We help with the customer comms ("your stamps moved here").

Marsello migration FAQ

Real questions from NZ operators consolidating their stack.

Not exactly. Marsello is a best-in-class standalone loyalty + marketing platform; SmakSpace bundles loyalty into a broader hospitality POS. If you want the deepest possible loyalty toolkit (referrals, AI-suggested campaigns, deep segmentation) and you are happy paying two subscriptions, Marsello is excellent. If you want loyalty bundled with your POS, bookings, ordering and kitchen display on one bill, SmakSpace is the consolidation play.
Not as an automated import — we do it by hand. Send us your Marsello CSV export and, on request, we load your customer list into SmakSpace and seed loyalty points for your regulars so they keep what they have earned, then rebuild your tiers and campaigns with you. It is included in our free migration support for NZ café and restaurant partners, and you sign off on the balances before you go live.
Marsello publishes plan tiers based on customer count and feature mix. Compare the total monthly outlay: Marsello subscription plus your existing POS subscription, versus SmakSpace Professional NZ$99/mo (which includes POS, loyalty, bookings and KDS) or Enterprise NZ$179/mo (adds multi-location and AI features).
Yes — that's the most common SmakSpace replacement scenario. You consolidate two subscriptions into one and avoid maintaining the POS↔loyalty integration. See our Lightspeed alternative page for the POS migration side, and this page for the loyalty side.
Technically possible via Marsello's open integrations, but it defeats the bundling rationale. We don't recommend it — operators tell us the value comes from one platform handling everything end to end. If you specifically want Marsello's loyalty depth on top of a different POS, Marsello's own integration page is the better resource.
Yes — we recommend honouring both for 2–4 weeks. Existing Marsello cards continue to work; new sign-ups go to SmakSpace loyalty natively. We help with the customer comms when you fully switch.
Yes. SmakSpace Professional and Enterprise plans include email and SMS campaign tools, customer segmentation (by order history, spend, location, last-visit), birthday automation and promo-code rules. Less deep than Marsello's full marketing suite, but covers the campaigns most NZ hospitality operators actually run.
Still curious? Book a 15-min call →

More for NZ operators

Loyalty Software Lightspeed Alternative Shopify POS Alternative Kounta Alternative Vend Replacement Toast Alternative

Take back the relationship.
And the margin.

Launch direct ordering, QR menus, bookings, and loyalty. 14-day free trial. No card required. Cancel anytime.

Start Free Trial Get Free Setup Review

We use essential cookies to run SmakSpace. With your consent we also load Google Analytics, Meta Pixel and Microsoft Clarity to see which pages help venues find us. Nothing loads until you choose. See our Privacy Policy.