Join the Loyalty Program — Earn Rule Example

A one-off bonus for signing up. It’s the cheapest membership you’ll ever buy, and the reason most programs get their first members.

Where: Settings → Earn points → Create rule → Account → Join the loyalty program

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What it does

Awards points when a customer joins your loyalty program.

It pays for joining the program, not for a Shopify customer record existing. Someone who has shopped with you for years but never opted in earns this the day they join.

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The fields

Section	Field	Notes
Rule Name	Rule Name	Required. E.g. Get 200 points just for joining.
Rule reward	Reward	Required. The signup bonus.
Eligibility	Require a verified email address	Only award customers whose email Shopify has confirmed.
Eligibility Period	Start / end date	Optional.
Points Holding Period	Number of days	Usually 0 — there’s nothing to claw back.
Earning Limits	—	Fixed: once per customer, ever. Nothing to set.
Inclusions & exclusions	Customer tags, products	Optional.
Rule Status	Active / Disabled

Leave the verified-email checkbox off unless you’re seeing signup abuse. Customers imported from another platform, or created at your point of sale, often don’t have a verified email — turning it on silently excludes them.

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Worked example: a 200-point welcome bonus

The goal: a new member sees an immediate balance, not an empty one. With a 1-point-per-dollar rule and a 500-point reward, 200 points puts them 40% of the way there on day one.

1. Go to Settings → Earn points and click Create rule.
2. Under Account, choose Join the loyalty program.
3. Fill in:

Field	Value
Rule Name	Get 200 points just for joining
Reward	200
Require a verified email address	Off
Points Holding Period	0
Rule Status	Active

4. Save.

Why 200 and not 50. A welcome bonus is a demonstration that the program pays. Something too small to move them measurably toward the first reward teaches them the opposite.

Why there’s no limit to set. It’s a signup bonus, so it pays once per customer and the rule enforces that itself — a member who leaves the program and rejoins isn’t awarded a second time.

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Tips

• Size it against your first reward. Somewhere between a quarter and a half of your cheapest reward makes the program feel winnable without giving it away.
• Pair it with the Welcome message so new members are told the balance they’re starting with. (See What are retention triggers?.)
• Leave verified email off at launch. Turn it on if you actually see abuse, not before.
• Check your consent wording. Shoppers join from the loyalty widget, and the statement they tick is yours to write. (See Adding Reorbit to your storefront.)

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FAQ

Do existing customers get this?

They earn it when they join the program, whenever that is. Creating this rule doesn’t retroactively pay everyone who already has an account.

Can a customer earn it twice?

No. It pays once per customer for the life of the program, and that isn’t something you can change — including for someone who leaves the program and rejoins.

Why hasn’t a customer earned it?

Check the rule is Active, that they actually joined the program rather than just having an account, and — if you’ve turned it on — that their email is verified with Shopify.

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Next steps

• Next: Points per Amount Spent — the rule that keeps them earning.
• Related: Subscribe to Newsletter · Program setups that work