Loyalty & Rewards Guide

1. What is Miko Loyalty?

Miko Loyalty & Rewards is a native Shopify loyalty programme that rewards customers for buying from you, referring friends, and engaging with your brand. Customers earn points, redeem them for discounts, and progress through VIP tiers - all without leaving your store.

Unlike other loyalty apps, Miko doesn't slow your store down. It's built using Shopify's native platform, so there are no popup windows, no external scripts, and no impact on your page loading speed.

What do customers experience?

• They earn points automatically when they complete a purchase (no opt-in needed)
• They can check their balance and available rewards in the widget on your store
• On Shopify Plus, they can redeem rewards directly inside the checkout - no discount codes
• They receive a personalised referral link to share with friends
• As they spend more, they progress through VIP tiers with better earning rates and exclusive perks

2. Installation & Setup

Step 1 - Install from the Shopify App Store

Install Miko Loyalty & Rewards from the Shopify App Store ↗. The app sets up your loyalty programme automatically on install.

Step 2 - Enable the Rewards Widget

The widget is the small panel that appears on your storefront where customers check their points balance and redeem rewards. Enable it once:

1. Go to Online Store → Themes → Customise
2. Click App Embeds in the left sidebar
3. Toggle on Miko Loyalty Widget
4. Click Save

Step 3 - Configure your programme

In the Miko app, set up:

• How many points customers earn per dollar spent
• What a point is worth when redeemed (e.g. 100 points = $1 off)
• Any bonus earning events (reviews, referrals, birthdays)

3. How Customers Earn Points

You control exactly what earns points in your store. Set these up under Miko App → Earning Rules.

Purchase earning

The foundation of any loyalty programme. Set a points rate per dollar spent - for example, 5 points per $1. You can also set different earn rates for specific products or collections (e.g. earn double points on new arrivals).

Bonus earning events

Reward customers for actions beyond purchases:

Points expiry

Optionally set points to expire after a period of inactivity (e.g. points expire after 12 months of no purchases). This encourages regular engagement. Configure this under Miko App → Programme Settings → Points Expiry.

4. How Customers Redeem Rewards

Customers can redeem their points for discount rewards in two ways, depending on your Shopify plan.

Via the rewards widget (all plans)

Customers click the widget on your storefront, see their balance, and redeem points for a discount code. The code is generated instantly and they can apply it at checkout.

Directly inside checkout (Shopify Plus - Pro plan)

On Shopify Plus with a Pro plan, a native checkout panel shows the customer their available points and lets them redeem directly inside the Shopify checkout - no widget, no code, no friction. The discount is applied automatically to their order total.

Reward types you can offer

• Percentage discount - e.g. redeem 500 points for 5% off your order
• Fixed amount discount - e.g. redeem 1,000 points for $10 off
• Free shipping - redeem points to unlock free shipping on an order
• Free product - redeem points for a specific free product added to cart

5. VIP Tiers

Pro Plan

VIP tiers reward your best customers with better earning rates, exclusive perks, and status recognition. As customers spend more (or earn more points), they automatically move up through your tiers.

Creating your tier structure

A common starting structure:

Tier qualification methods

You can qualify customers into tiers based on:

• Total points earned (lifetime, including redeemed points)
• Total spend (lifetime order value)

Set up tiers under Miko App → VIP Tiers → New Tier. Name each tier, set the threshold, and configure the earn multiplier and any perks.

Tier progression is automatic

When a customer's points or spend crosses a tier threshold, they're upgraded automatically. They receive a notification (if you've set up tier upgrade emails via Shopify Flow). No manual action needed from you or your team.

6. Referral Program

Growth & Pro Plans

Turn your existing customers into brand advocates. Every loyalty member gets a unique referral link they can share with friends.

How it works

• Customer shares their unique referral link
• A friend clicks the link and lands on your store (with a referral cookie set)
• The friend completes a qualifying purchase
• Both the referrer and the new customer are rewarded automatically

Configuring referral rewards

Go to Miko App → Referrals → Configure and set:

• Referrer reward - points awarded to the customer who referred (e.g. 500 bonus points per successful referral)
• Friend reward - what the new customer receives (e.g. 10% off their first order, or 200 welcome points)
• Qualifying order value - minimum order amount for a referral to count (optional)

Where customers find their referral link

The referral link is visible inside the Miko rewards widget on your storefront. Customers who are logged in see a "Refer a Friend" section with their personal link ready to share.

7. The Rewards Widget

The rewards widget is the floating panel that appears on your storefront - usually in the bottom corner - where customers can check their points balance, see available rewards, and find their referral link.

Customising the widget

Go to Miko App → Widget Settings to configure:

• Position - bottom left or bottom right of the screen
• Accent colour - match your brand colours
• Programme name - shown to customers (e.g. "Rewards Club" or "Points Programme")
• Widget button text - what appears on the launcher button
• Remove Miko branding - available on Growth and Pro plans

What customers see in the widget

• Their current points balance
• Their VIP tier status and progress to the next tier
• Available rewards to redeem
• Their referral link
• Earning opportunities (ways to earn more points)

8. Checkout Extension (Shopify Plus)

Pro Plan · Shopify Plus Only

The checkout extension adds a native loyalty panel directly inside the Shopify checkout. Customers can see their points balance and redeem rewards without leaving the checkout flow.

Why this matters

Most loyalty apps show redemption only in a widget before checkout, which means customers forget to use their points by the time they're paying. The checkout extension puts the redemption option exactly where the buying decision happens - increasing redemption rates significantly.

What customers see at checkout

• Their current points balance displayed natively in the checkout
• A one-click redemption button to apply points as a discount
• The discount amount applied to their order total immediately
• How many points they'll earn from this purchase

Enabling the checkout extension

1. Ensure you're on the Pro plan and have Shopify Plus
2. Go to Miko App → Checkout Extension
3. Toggle on Enable Checkout Extension
4. The extension appears in your checkout automatically - no theme code changes needed

9. Klaviyo & Email Automations

Growth & Pro Plans

Miko Loyalty connects with Klaviyo and other email platforms via Shopify Flow, allowing you to send automated loyalty emails triggered by programme events.

Available trigger events

These Shopify Flow events fire automatically and can trigger any email or SMS automation:

Setting up Klaviyo emails with Shopify Flow

1. In your Shopify Admin, go to Apps → Shopify Flow
2. Create a new workflow
3. Set the Trigger to a Miko Loyalty event (e.g. "VIP Tier Upgraded")
4. Add a Send Klaviyo email action (requires the Klaviyo + Shopify Flow integration)
5. Select or build the email template in Klaviyo
6. Activate the workflow

10. Migrating from Another Loyalty App

If you're switching from Smile.io, Yotpo Loyalty, Joy Loyalty, or another loyalty platform, the Tripster Developers team handles the migration for you - your customers won't lose a single point.

What we migrate

• Customer point balances - every customer's current points are imported accurately
• VIP tier statuses - existing tier assignments are mapped to equivalent Miko tiers
• Referral history - existing referral records are carried across
• Earn history - transaction history (where available from the export)

Migration process

1. Contact us and let us know which app you're migrating from
2. Export your customer data from your current loyalty app (we'll guide you through this)
3. We import and verify the data on a staging environment first
4. You review and confirm everything looks correct
5. We do the live migration - typically outside business hours to minimise disruption
6. Your customers' points are live in Miko from the moment they next log in

Apps we migrate from

• Smile.io - full migration supported
• Yotpo Loyalty & Rewards - full migration supported
• Joy Loyalty - full migration supported
• Other apps - contact us to discuss

11. Plans & Features

All plans include a 14-day free trial. View full pricing →

12. Advanced: Custom Theme Display

Miko Loyalty handles all rewards display through the widget and checkout extension automatically. You don't need to touch your theme code for the programme to work.

However, if you want to add loyalty-specific content directly in your theme - such as showing a customer's points balance on their account page, or a "Earn X points" message on product pages - you can do so with Liquid and a small JavaScript snippet.

Show points balance on the account page

In your customers/account.liquid template (or your account page section), add a points display area and populate it with JavaScript:

<!-- In your account page template -->
{% if customer %}
  <div id="miko-points-display">
    <span id="miko-points-value">Loading...</span> points
  </div>

  <script>
    fetch('/apps/loyalty/balance')
      .then(r => r.json())
      .then(data => {
        document.getElementById('miko-points-value').textContent =
          data.points ? data.points.toLocaleString() : '0';
      });
  </script>
{% endif %}

Show "Earn X points" on product pages

Display how many points a customer will earn if they buy a product - a subtle but effective purchase motivator. In your product template:

<!-- In product.liquid or a product section -->
{% if customer %}
  <p class="miko-earn-preview" data-price="{{ product.price }}"></p>

  <script>
    (function() {
      // Replace 5 with your actual points-per-dollar earn rate
      var POINTS_PER_DOLLAR = 5;
      var els = document.querySelectorAll('.miko-earn-preview');
      els.forEach(function(el) {
        var price = parseInt(el.dataset.price) / 100; // Shopify price is in cents
        var points = Math.floor(price * POINTS_PER_DOLLAR);
        if (points > 0) {
          el.textContent = 'Buy this and earn ' + points + ' points';
        }
      });
    })();
  </script>
{% endif %}

Show VIP tier badge on product or collection pages

Use Shopify's customer tags to conditionally display tier-specific content. Miko automatically tags customers with their tier name when they qualify:

{% if customer %}
  {% if customer.tags contains 'miko-tier-gold' %}
    <span class="tier-badge gold">Gold Member - 2× Points Today</span>
  {% elsif customer.tags contains 'miko-tier-silver' %}
    <span class="tier-badge silver">Silver Member - 1.5× Points Today</span>
  {% elsif customer.tags contains 'miko-tier-bronze' %}
    <span class="tier-badge bronze">Bronze Member</span>
  {% endif %}
{% endif %}

13. Frequently Asked Questions

Do customers need to opt in to the loyalty programme?

No. Any registered customer account automatically participates in the programme. Points are earned from their very first purchase after the app is installed - no opt-in required.

Will my store slow down?

No. Miko Loyalty is engineered to have zero impact on your store's loading speed. The rewards widget loads after your page content, and all points calculations happen on Shopify's servers - not in the browser. Your PageSpeed score is unaffected.

Can I set a minimum order value before points are earned?

Yes. In Programme Settings → Earning Rules you can set a minimum order subtotal before purchase points are awarded. This is useful if you want to exclude very small orders.

Are points awarded on shipping costs or taxes?

By default, points are calculated on the product subtotal only - not on shipping or tax. You can change this in Programme Settings if you prefer to award points on the full order amount.

What happens to a customer's points if they return an order?

When a refund or return is processed in Shopify, Miko automatically deducts the points that were earned from that order. If the customer has already redeemed those points, you'll see a negative balance flag in the Miko admin - you can choose to zero this out manually.

Can I run the loyalty programme alongside Shopify discount codes?

Yes. Loyalty rewards (whether redeemed through the widget or checkout extension) work alongside Shopify's standard discount code system, subject to Shopify's stacking rules. On Plus, you have full control over discount combination settings.

What happens to my customers' data?

All customer data (points balances, tier statuses, referral history) is stored securely and is fully exportable. You own your data. Miko complies with all Shopify privacy requirements including customer data deletion on request.

14. Support

Miko Loyalty & Rewards is built and supported by Tripster Developers - a certified Shopify Plus agency since 2016.