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How to create a subscription milestone rewards program

Relevant to: Shopify Checkout Integration Migrated Shopify Checkout Integration

Subscription milestone rewards programs let you reward customers after they reach specific subscription milestones. You can configure rewards based on the total number of subscription orders a customer has completed or the number of consecutive subscription orders they maintain without canceling. This helps encourage retention, increase customer engagement, and reward long-term subscribers.

This guide explains how to create and activate a subscription milestone rewards program.

Platform:

  • Shopify Checkout Integration
  • Migrated Shopify Checkout Integration

Before you start

  • This feature is available through Rewards. Access to Rewards depends on your plan. Check the Loyalty tab in your merchant portal to confirm whether this feature is available in your store.
  • Customers can view and manage their credits in the customer portal. See Credits for more information.

How it works

A subscription milestone rewards program tracks customer subscription activity and awards rewards when customers reach defined milestones.

You can choose one of the following milestone types:

  • Specific order number: Rewards customers after they reach a total subscription order count. Canceled orders do not reduce their earned count.
  • Specific order streak count: Rewards customers after a consecutive series of subscription orders. If a customer cancels an order, their streak resets to 0.

You can also define eligibility conditions to limit participation to specific customer groups and choose whether to display a dynamic punch card in the customer portal so customers can track their progress toward rewards.

Step 1 - Create a subscription milestone rewards program

Before you can configure milestones and rewards, create a new rewards program from the Rewards section of the merchant portal.

  1. In the merchant portal, click Loyalty and select Rewards.
  2. Click Create new.
  3. Select Create milestone program.

Step 2 - Configure program details

Start by creating the rewards program and determining who can participate. If you do not add eligibility conditions, all customers can earn rewards through the program.

  1. In the Program name field, enter an internal name for the program.
  2. Review the eligibility section:
    • Leave the program without conditions to allow all customers to participate.
    • Select Edit conditions if you want to limit eligibility to specific customers or segments.
  3. In the Configure trigger window, add trigger conditions that determine which processed orders qualify for the program. You can add one or more conditions to target specific orders, customers, subscriptions, line items, charges, or shipping addresses.
Program details section showing the Program name field and Edit conditions button.
Note: Conditions are evaluated against the items included in the recently processed order. Only customers whose orders meet all configured conditions will qualify for the program.

Step 3 - Configure milestone rewards

Choose the milestone tracking method that aligns with your rewards strategy.

Select By reaching a specific order number if you want customers to progress based on their total subscription order count.

Select By reaching a specific order streak count if you want to reward uninterrupted subscription activity and encourage customers to avoid cancellations.

  1. In the Milestones section, select either By reaching a specific order number or By reaching a specific order streak count.
  2. Click Add rewards milestone.
  3. Enter the order count or streak count required to earn the reward. This is the order on which the customer receives the reward. For example, entering 2 means the customer receives the reward on their second order
  4. Click Add reward and select one of the following reward types:
    • Add a credit reward
    • Add a discount reward
    • Add a free gift award
  5. Configure the reward. See the sections below for detailed setup instructions for each reward type.
  6. Optional: Click Add notification to notify customers when they earn a reward. See the Add a reward notification email section below for detailed setup instructions.
  7. Repeat the process for additional milestones.
Add a credit reward

Use credit rewards to give customers store credit after reaching a milestone.

  1. Select Add credit reward.
  2. Choose either Fixed amount or Percentage from the credit type menu.
  3. Enter the credit amount.
  4. Choose when the credits should expire:
    • Use credit store settings to apply your store's configured credit expiration settings.
    • After a set time period to define a custom expiration period.
    • Never expire if the credits should remain available indefinitely.
  5. Click Apply.
Add a discount reward

Use discount rewards when you want customers to receive a percentage discount, a fixed discount amount, or a discount code.

  1. Select Add discount.
  2. Choose a discount type:
    • Discount percentage
    • Fixed amount
    • Discount code
  3. Enter the discount value or select the discount code.
  4. Choose how the discount should behave if a customer skips an order:
    • Keep discount on order skip to apply the discount to the customer's next upcoming order.
    • Lose discount on order skip to remove the discount if the customer skips or unskips an order.
  5. Click Apply.
Add a free gift reward

Use free gift rewards to encourage customers to receive a product after reaching a milestone.

  1. Select Add free gift.
  2. Click Select product and choose the free gift.
  3. Choose how the free gift should be applied:
    • Automatically added to customer's upcoming order to automatically add the free gift when the customer reaches the milestone.
    • Customer claims on an upcoming order to allow the customer to claim the free gift on a future order.
  4. Choose how product variants are selected:
    • Merchant selects to assign a specific variant.
    • Customer selects any variant to allow the customer to choose their preferred variant.
  5. If applicable, select the product variant.
  6. Choose how the free gift should behave if a customer skips an order:
    • Keep free gift to apply the free gift to the customer's next eligible order.
    • Lose free gift to remove the free gift if the customer skips or unskips an order.
  7. Click Apply.
Add a reward notification email

You can notify customers by email when they earn a milestone reward.

  1. Click Add notification.
  2. Select the email language.
  3. Enter the Sender name.
  4. Enter the Sender email address.
  5. If prompted, authorize your sending domain in Email settings.
  6. Enter an email subject line.
  7. Click Edit email body to customize the email content.
  8. Optional: Select a template from the Override notification template menu and click Apply template.
  9. Click Preview notification to review the email.
  10. Click Apply.
Milestones section showing the milestone type options and Add rewards milestone button.

 

Tip: Use multiple milestones to create an ongoing rewards journey, such as rewards after 3, 6, and 12 subscription orders.

Step 4 - Configure your punch card settings

Display settings determine how customers track their progress toward rewards.

The dynamic punch card provides visibility into earned rewards and upcoming milestones directly in the customer portal. If you prefer not to display progress tracking, you can disable the punch card.

  1. In the Display settings section, choose one of the following:
    • Display a dynamic punch card in my customer portal
    • Don't display a punch card
  2. If you enabled the punch card, click Customize your punch card. See the Customize the punch card drop-down for detailed setup instructions.
Customize the punch card

Use the preview pane to review how the punch card appears to customers and make any necessary adjustments.

  1. In the Content section, enter the text you want customers to see on the punch card:
    • Use Header text to add a title or message.
    • Use Description text to provide additional details about the customer's progress or upcoming rewards.
  2. Configure the display options:
    • Enable Show order count text to display order progress on the punch card.
    • Enable Show image above the header text to display an image above the content.
  3. In the Section style area, adjust the Horizontal padding between intervals slider to control the spacing between milestone markers. 
  4. Review the Earning milestones section to customize how completed and upcoming milestones appear on the punch card. 
  5. Review the Non-earning milestones section to configure how milestones without rewards are displayed.  
  6. Click Done to save your changes.

Step 5 - Activate the rewards program

Activating the program makes it available to eligible customers. Customers cannot earn rewards from the program until you activate it.

  1. Review the program settings.
  2. Click Save to save your configuration.
  3. Click Activate.
  4. Review the activation modal. In the modal, choose how you'd like to handle past orders:
    • Past order contribute to milestones: Customers' progress will be updated based on their order history, but they will not retroactively receive past rewards. This applies to all customers, not just those who meet this program's trigger conditions.
    • Milestones start from zero: Only orders placed after activation will count. 
  5. Click Confirm: activate program.

Switch to advanced mode

Guided setup provides a simplified experience for creating and launching a subscription milestone rewards program. If you need additional configuration options, you can switch to Advanced mode.

Advanced mode is designed for more complex rewards strategies and may include capabilities such as:

  • A/B testing
  • Customer segmentation
  • Conditional branching
  • Additional program customization options

To switch modes:

  1. Open the subscription milestone rewards program.
  2. Locate the You're in guided setup mode banner.
  3. Click Switch to advanced mode.
  4. Select Confirm: switch to advanced mode.

See Creating Rewards in advanced mode for more information.

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