Points per Amount Spent — Earn Rule Example

The backbone of most loyalty programs: every unit of currency a customer spends turns into points.

Where: Settings → Earn points → Create rule → Orders → Points per Amount Spent

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What it does

Awards points in proportion to what the customer spent. Set the rule to 1 and a $80 order earns 80 points; set it to 5 and the same order earns 400.

This is the rule that decides what a point is worth, so it’s worth setting deliberately — every reward you price later is denominated in it.

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The fields

Section	Field	Notes
Rule Name	Rule Name	Required. What customers read in the widget — e.g. Earn 1 point per $1 spent.
Rule reward	Reward	Required. Points per unit of currency spent.
Eligibility Period	Start / end date	Optional. Leave blank to run indefinitely.
Points Holding Period	Number of days	Leave at 0. Order rules ignore it — see below.
Earning Limits	Maximum uses per customer + Frequency	Leave Unlimited for a standard rule.
Inclusions & exclusions	Customer tags, products	Optional restrictions.
Rule Status	Active / Disabled

This rule’s Points Holding Period does nothing. Order rules don’t honour it — whatever you type in the box, the points land as soon as the order pays. Setting it isn’t harmful, but it isn’t protection either. The real hold is When points become available on the Earn points page. See Order Points Settings.

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Worked example: 1 point per $1, worth 1%

The goal: a customer earns points at a rate where 500 points buys a $5 reward. That’s a 1% program — the usual starting point.

1. Go to Settings → Earn points and click Create rule.
2. Under Orders, choose Points per Amount Spent.
3. Fill in:

Field	Value
Rule Name	Earn 1 point per $1 spent
Reward	1
Points Holding Period	0
Earning Limits	Maximum uses blank, Frequency Unlimited
Rule Status	Active

4. Save.

Now pair it with a reward so the points mean something: a Fixed Amount Discount costing 500 points for $5 off. A customer spending $80 earns 80 points, so roughly six orders of that size earns them a reward — and you’ve spent 1% of revenue to get there.

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Choosing your rate

Work backwards from what you’re willing to give back:

You want to give back	Points per $1	500-point reward is worth
1%	1	$5
2%	2	$5
5%	5	$5

The points-per-dollar number and the reward price move together — what matters is the ratio between them, not either number alone. Bigger numbers simply feel more generous: “earn 5 points per dollar” reads better than “earn 1”, for exactly the same economics.

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Tips

• Set this rule first, then price every reward against it. Doing it the other way round leads to a program where nothing quite lines up.
• Round numbers travel further. 1, 2, 5 or 10 points per dollar are easy for a customer to do in their head. 3 is not.
• Use the program’s order-points hold, not a stricter rule. A few days on When points become available is the cleanest defence against refund abuse and costs honest customers almost nothing. Tightening this rule instead just pays your good customers less.
• Don’t scope this rule to products unless you have a reason. It’s your baseline; use separate rules for promotions.

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FAQ

Does this count tax and shipping?

Not by default — both are off, so points are calculated on what the customer spent with you rather than tax you collected or shipping passed through at cost. You can turn either on under How order points are calculated on the Earn points page, but it’s a real increase in points issued for the same revenue. (See Order Points Settings.)

What happens to fractions of a point?

They’re rounded, and you choose the direction — Rounding on the Earn points page, which defaults to rounding up. An $84.50 order at 1 point per $1 earns 85 points.

Can I run a double-points weekend?

Yes — create a second Points per Amount Spent rule with a higher value and an Eligibility Period covering the weekend. When two rules of the same type match the same order, the higher-paying one pays; they don’t stack.

Can I pay more points to VIP members?

Yes, with a tier rule. (See Setting Up VIP Tiers.)

When do the points appear?

As soon as the order is paid — unless you’ve set When points become available, in which case they show on the widget straight away as pending and become spendable after that many days.

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Next steps

• Next: Creating a Reward Rule — give the points a purpose.
• Related: Order Points Settings · Order Placed · Minimum Order Value