How to Create a Loyalty Programme on Shopify

Implementing a loyalty programme on your Shopify store is a great way to incentivise your customers to purchase from your business instead of other retailers, while increasing repeat purchases and engagement.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the benefits of loyalty schemes, the different types available, and some of the main loyalty scheme providers that integrate with the Shopify platform.

Implementing a loyalty programme on your Shopify store is a great way to incentivise your customers to purchase from your business instead of other retailers, while increasing repeat purchases and engagement.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the benefits of loyalty schemes, the different types available, and some of the main loyalty scheme providers that integrate with the Shopify platform.

Why Should You Have a Loyalty Scheme?

First, over 83% of online shoppers belong to at least one loyalty program, showing the huge appetite for customers to earn benefits in exchange for brand allegiance.

With a loyalty scheme in place, you can incentivise repeat purchases, increasing your customer lifetime value. In fact, loyalty schemes have been shown to convert 35% of one-off shoppers into returning customers.

This means your revenue and profits will increase.

And finally, your happy customers will talk to their friends and family about your brand, which is free marketing for you, and will help you acquire new customers.

So what are the top 3 rewards that shoppers value? According to a recent study, you’ll see the most success if you can offer one or more of the following:

  • Reward points and cash back

  • Discounts

  • Free shipping


Ecommerce Loyalty Scheme Benefits

Increase customer engagement

Loyalty programs are a great way to increase customer interaction with your brand, leading to more engagement. By rewarding customers when they buy, you can create an emotional connection and encourage them to return to your Shopify store in the future for more purchases.

More personalised shopping experiences

Offering rewards that are tailored to customers’ individual needs helps personalise the shopping experience. This can also help encourage future purchases because they’re more likely to be presented with products that they’re interested in buying.

Improves customer retention rate

Loyalty programs also help improve customer retention rate. By providing rewards for regular purchases in your store, you create an incentive for your customers to keep coming back.

Increase customer lifetime value (CLV)

Offering reward/loyalty programs also encourages your customers to spend more in your store over time, increasing their lifetime value (LTV) and boosting your sales.

Enables analysis of buying patterns and behaviour

By tracking customers’ purchases and reward points, you can get valuable insights on their buying patterns. This helps you make informed decisions when planning sales campaigns, adding new products or ranges or creating marketing campaigns.

Generate brand awareness without any efforts

Happy customers often share their buying experiences and will refer your business to friends or family. This free marketing directly boosts your brand awareness.


Different Types of Ecommerce Loyalty Scheme

There are different loyalty programmes available to suit all kinds of Shopify businesses - here’s a rundown of 5 of the most common types of loyalty programmes and their benefits.

1 - Points-based loyalty schemes

These allow customers to earn points through various methods, like making purchases, sharing on social platforms, leaving a review etc. Points can be redeemed on further purchases or for other perks.

2 - Subscription based programmes

These are ‘pay to play’ type schemes, where you pay for membership to unlock access to rewards. A good example of a subscription loyalty programme is Amazon Prime, which allows subscribers to access free shipping and other services like flash sales and music streaming services.

3 - Tiered loyalty schemes

These are similar to points-based systems, where customers earn points, but there are levels of achievement within the scheme, for example, bronze, silver and gold. The higher the tier, the higher the level of reward, discount, gift or early access. It’s a great way to incentivise customers to engage with the scheme and spend more with your brand.

4 - Value-based loyalty schemes

This type of scheme is different from the ones we’ve explored so far in that it doesn’t provide tangible rewards back to the customer. Instead, it is aligned with the company’s values - it will, for example, pledge to donate a percentage of profits to charity. It’s a way that customers can support businesses with similar values to them, forging a connection with the brand.

5 - Omnichannel loyalty programmes

Retail has evolved so that people now shop online, in high streets, and through apps and social commerce. Omnichannel loyalty allows brands to tie all of their touchpoints together under one scheme, so for example, a customer can earn points by shopping online, in-store, by attending events, checking in at places or using the brand’s app. It’s a great way of keeping customers engaged no matter how or where they prefer to interact with your brand.

How Do You Create a Loyalty Program on Shopify?

As we’ve seen, there are lots of options when it comes to choosing a Shopify loyalty scheme, but in order to choose the right one for you, you need to define exactly what you want to get out of it. Here are a few pointers to get started.

  1. Define your objectives for your Shopify loyalty program

Before choosing a provider, you need to identify what goals you want to achieve with a loyalty program. For example, do you want to increase customer retention, encourage customers to share purchases on their social media as UGC, and grow your customer database?

Establishing key objectives upfront will help you create an appropriate reward system later on.

  1. Determine the level and type of rewards

After deciding the objective of the Shopify loyalty program that you want to run on your Shopify store, it’s now time to select which type of rewards are best suited for your Shopify store - take a look at the 5 types of loyalty programmes above and decide which one best suits your business.

  1. Set up the Shopify loyalty program on your store

After determining the rewards level and type of your loyalty program, you’re ready to choose a specific provider and start implementing it on your store.

Go to the Shopify app store and search for ‘loyalty’ apps. (We’ve listed a selection of some of the most popular and comprehensive options in the following sections.)

Choose a third-party Shopify loyalty app and click the ‘add app’ button.

Follow the instructions given by the app’s documentation to create a loyalty program.

  1. Promote your loyalty program

Once your loyalty programme is up and running, it’s key to promote it so you can increase engagement from your existing customer base while bringing new customers in.

Take advantage of different marketing channels like email, social media, paid ads, etc., to create awareness.

You can also share customer reviews or feedback on your Shopify store which will help other shoppers learn about the benefits of your loyalty scheme.

Finally, make sure you clearly signpost your scheme on your website, highlighting its advantages and making it easy for people to become a member.


Best Loyalty Scheme Providers for Shopify

When it comes to creating a loyalty program for your Shopify business, the good news is that there are loads of great apps out there that make it really easy to get started. They each have different features but they all allow you to create a bespoke loyalty scheme that suits your business.

You can choose to reward customers for social follows, writing a review, submitting referrals, creating an account or making a purchase. It’s also possible to create exclusive membership perks, and make it fun for your customers to spend their rewards.

Smile.io

Points, VIP, and referrals work together to create the ultimate loyalty program for your business Shopify. Shoppers can earn points with a store account or as a guest - this means they don’t have to create an account and are therefore more likely to use the scheme. Price-wise, Smile has 3 plans, depending on the number of monthly orders: the plans cost $50, $200 or $1,000 per month.

LoyaltyLion

LoyaltyLion has been around for over 10 years and gives customers a personalised, interactive loyalty page to help them earn (and spend) their points. Integrated analytics helps businesses understand the impact of their loyalty schemes on their bottom line. The platform also integrates with other apps like Klaviyo, Gorgias and Recharge. LoyaltyLion starts at $200 per month.

Yotpo

Yotpo is a customer retention platform, and over the years has built out different modules, one of which is loyalty. It lets you build customised rewards and referral programs to engage existing customers and reach new ones. You can incorporate your referral program throughout the customer journey, including post-purchase, customer accounts, and email marketing. It starts with a free plan for smaller businesses, with a $200 Pro Plan as your order numbers increase.

Beans

Beans uses an on-site widget, rewards dashboard and email notifications to engage customers at every step of their purchase journey. They can earn points on their birthday, for social actions, reviews and repeat purchases. For up to 100 orders, it costs $29 per month, up to 2,000 orders it is $160, and then custom pricing beyond that.


Using all of the above, you should be well-positioned to implement a loyalty programme on your Shopify store and start reaping the rewards.

Our MD, James, posts daily videos on TikTok and Instagram, for example covering how stores can benefit from a loyalty programme and the types of loyalty programmes options available. Drop him a follow on both platforms (james.radiant) to get daily tips, updates and advice on everything Shopify and ecommerce.