Start with the customer’s next step
What is a tiered loyalty program?
A tiered loyalty program gives customers different benefits at defined levels. In a spend-based program, members qualify for higher levels as their eligible purchases accumulate. The next level might unlock a larger discount, access to exclusive products, or a different membership benefit bundle.
For example, a member with $350 in eligible spending is $150 away from a $500 Gold threshold. The useful message is specific: how much remains, what Gold includes, and which purchases count.
Points and tiers answer different questions. Points give customers a balance they can earn and redeem; tiers determine which benefits they qualify for. You can offer both, but explain each separately. Quantity discounts are different again: buying ten items in one order is not the same as reaching a loyalty level across several purchases.
Memberply’s Spend Tiered Discounts benefit supports cumulative eligible spending during the current calendar year or across a member’s lifetime. At each threshold, choose a discount or access to another membership tier’s benefits.
Three tiered loyalty program examples
These are fictional planning examples. The thresholds and benefits illustrate different approaches; they are not customer results or a forecast of performance.
1. A beauty store with annual spending levels
| Level | Eligible annual spend | Example discount |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | $0 to less than $500 | 5% |
| Gold | $500 to less than $1,200 | 10% |
| Platinum | $1,200 or more | 15% |
This model suits a store planning around repeat replenishment. Configure the base level at a $0 threshold and higher levels at $500 and $1,200. Members receive the highest spend-tier discount they have reached, rather than adding the three percentages together. Explain the January reset before customers start qualifying.
2. A coffee club with lifetime recognition
Start with a member discount, then use a $600 lifetime threshold to unlock a tier with exclusive products or a monthly free-product benefit. Configure those benefits on the destination tier. The aim is to recognise accumulated purchasing without an annual reset.
A monthly free product is claimed by the member and checked out through Shopify; it is not an automatically shipped subscription box.
3. An approved trade program
A homewares supplier could approve designers into a trade membership, then offer 10% at entry, 15% at $5,000 annual eligible spend, and 20% at $10,000. Model the cost against the actual products those customers buy.
Membership applications control who enters the program. Spend thresholds determine what an active, approved member can earn afterwards. Decide whether eligible orders placed before approval should count. Start with our trade account application guide to plan eligibility questions and reviews.
Choose thresholds from purchasing patterns and benefit costs
Start with your store’s data: typical order value, time between purchases, spending across the qualification period, and product margins. Look for a first threshold that a repeat customer can reasonably reach, then reserve higher benefits for meaningfully higher spending.
If a typical eligible order is $75, a $500 threshold represents roughly seven such orders. Compare that with how often customers actually replenish. A threshold that works for weekly coffee purchases may be unrealistic for furniture.
Keep the benefits distinct. A higher level might give better savings, a free-shipping benefit, or access to a restricted collection. More levels are only useful when customers can explain what changes between them. See our membership benefits examples for options beyond discounts.
A spend-tier discount is one possible reward. Another is a benefit upgrade: reaching a threshold unlocks the benefits of a configured membership tier. In Memberply, this changes benefit access while billing remains on the member’s current membership tier. It is not an automatic move to a more expensive subscription.
Annual versus lifetime qualification
| Decision | Current calendar year | Lifetime spend |
|---|---|---|
| What counts? | Eligible spending in the current year | Eligible historical and future spending included in the program |
| When does it reset? | Each January in your Shopify store’s timezone | No annual reset |
| Planning consideration | Members need a clear explanation of requalification | Budget for long-term access to higher benefits |
| Useful fit | Programs organised around yearly purchasing | Programs recognising cumulative customer spending |
A calendar year is not a rolling 12-month window. A member joining late in the year has less time before January. Make the qualification period visible alongside the thresholds and decide how to handle earlier eligible purchases.
Set the rules customers will ask about
- Tax and shipping: choose whether each counts towards eligible spend.
- Membership purchases: Memberply excludes membership products from qualifying spending.
- Shopify store credit: store-credit payments are excluded from newly recorded and newly imported orders. An eligible $200 order paid partly with $50 of store credit contributes $150. Previously recorded spend is not automatically recalculated.
- Earlier purchases: optionally count eligible spending before joining or approval, within the selected period. Shopify access to older orders can limit the history available.
- Refunds and cancellations: these reduce tracked spend. Choose whether they can also reduce an earned level, or whether the member keeps their highest level during the qualification period.
Use the same definition of eligible spend in your program explanation and customer communications. Shopify’s lifetime store-spend total can differ from the amount used to qualify for a Memberply benefit.
Make the next reward easy to understand
Customers should be able to find their eligible spend, the qualification period, and the amount remaining to the next tier without contacting support.
When Spend Tiered Discounts is enabled with at least one configured tier, active Memberply members see Your spend progress in Shopify’s new customer account Member Hub. No additional progress-display setting is needed.
The card uses the same eligible spending as tier qualification. It confirms when the highest level has been reached, and updates after members reload following newly recorded orders or completed historical imports.
How to set up spend-based loyalty tiers on Shopify
Create the membership customers will join
Choose a free or paid membership tier, and define its entry benefits. If your program is restricted to verified businesses, configure the application and approval process first.
Enable Spend Tiered Discounts
In Memberply, open Benefits, choose Edit Benefits for the membership tier, enable Spend Tiered Discounts, then select Edit.
Define eligible spend
Choose tax and shipping treatment, current-calendar-year or lifetime qualification, whether earlier purchases count, and whether refunds can lower an earned level.
Add each spend level
Enter the tier name and spend threshold. Choose a discount type and value, or select Upgrade to membership tier for benefit access. Add a minimum purchase amount if the discount should require a minimum order value.
Explain the program and verify the experience
Save the configuration. Publish the levels, benefits, and qualification rules on your membership landing page. Check a member below a threshold, at a threshold, and at the highest level, including the progress shown in their customer account.
Use the Spend Tiered Discounts setup documentation for detailed instructions. For the broader choice between paid access and earned status, read our VIP loyalty program guide.
Measure more than the number of members in each tier
Before launch, record repeat-purchase rate, purchase frequency, and contribution after variable costs for the customers you plan to serve. Afterwards, track tier participation, time to reach a threshold, benefit use, and the cost of rewards alongside those measures.
Higher-tier customers may already have been your best buyers. Their higher spending alone does not prove the program caused an increase. Compare similar customer groups over equivalent periods and account for seasonality, returns, and promotion costs.
Use the results to improve the program: an unreachable first threshold may need changing; an expensive but rarely valued reward may need replacing. Clearly communicate future rule changes so members understand what happens to the status they have already earned.
Tiered loyalty program questions
What is a tiered loyalty program?
A tiered loyalty program gives customers different benefits at defined levels. In a spend-based program, eligible purchases move members towards the next level, where they can unlock a larger discount or another set of benefits.
How many loyalty tiers should a store have?
Three levels are a useful starting point for planning, not a rule. Use only as many levels as you can make meaningfully different. Choose thresholds from your customer spending patterns and check the cost of each benefit before launch.
What is the difference between tiered loyalty and tiered pricing?
Tiered loyalty rewards a customer’s spending or activity over time. Quantity-based tiered pricing changes the price according to how many items are purchased in one order. Memberply’s Spend Tiered Discounts benefit uses eligible spending over the current calendar year or lifetime.
Can loyalty tiers reset every year?
Yes. Memberply supports current-calendar-year qualification, which resets in January using the Shopify store’s timezone, and lifetime qualification, which does not reset annually. A calendar year is different from a rolling 12-month period.
Do Shopify store credit payments count towards spend tiers?
Memberply excludes Shopify store credit payments from newly recorded and newly imported qualifying orders. The eligible amount also follows your tax and shipping settings and excludes membership products. Previously recorded spend is not automatically recalculated.
Does reaching a higher spend tier change a member’s subscription price?
No. A Memberply spend-tier benefit upgrade gives access to the selected membership tier’s benefits while the member continues to be billed on their current membership tier.
Can customers see how close they are to the next tier?
Yes. Active members see Your spend progress in Shopify’s new customer account Member Hub when Spend Tiered Discounts is enabled and has a configured tier. It shows eligible spend, the qualification period, and the amount remaining to the next spend tier.