Why Set Up Earning Rules?
Earning rules are the engine of your loyalty program. Without them, customers have no way to collect points — and no reason to engage with your brand repeatedly.
Well-configured earning rules help you:
Drive repeat purchases by rewarding customers for every order
Grow your audience by incentivising social follows and shares
Increase signups with a welcome bonus for new accounts
Capture in-store sales data through receipt submissions
Build emotional loyalty with birthday and anniversary rewards
Create a New Earning Rule
Follow these steps to add a new way for customers to earn points.
From your Shopify admin, open the Mage Loyalty app.
In the left menu, click Loyalty.
Scroll to the Earning Points section.
Click the Add Earning Rule button (top right of the Earning Points card).
Select the type of earning rule you want to create (e.g. Purchase, Birthday, Follow on Instagram).
Fill in the rule details (name, points value, any conditions).
Click Save to activate the rule.
ℹ️ Note
You can have multiple earning rules active at the same time. For example, you can run a Purchase rule and a Birthday rule simultaneously.
Edit an Existing Earning Rule
You can update any earning rule at any time, including changing the points value, renaming the rule, or pausing it.
Go to Loyalty in the Mage Loyalty app.
Scroll to the Earning Points section.
Find the earning rule you want to edit.
Click the three-dot menu ( ⋮ ) on the right side of the rule.
Select Edit from the dropdown.
Make your changes and click Save.
To Pause or Disable a Rule
If you want to temporarily stop customers from earning points through a specific rule without deleting it:
Click the three-dot menu ( ⋮ ) next to the rule.
Select Disable.
The rule status will change from Active to Inactive.
✅ Tip
Disabling a rule does not delete historical points already earned. Customers keep any points they collected while the rule was active.
Set Up the Purchase Earning Rule
The Purchase rule is the most important earning rule for most stores. It automatically awards customers points every time they complete an order.
Steps to Configure
Go to Loyalty in the Mage Loyalty app.
Scroll to Earning Points and click Add Earning Rule.
Select Purchase as the rule type.
Enter the number of points customers will earn per dollar spent (e.g. 1 point per $1).
Optionally, set a minimum order value to restrict when points are awarded.
Click Save. The rule will be Active immediately.
Purchase Rule — Field Reference
Field | What It Does | Example |
Points per $1 spent | Sets how many points a customer earns for each dollar they spend | 1 point per $1 |
Rule Name | Internal label for this rule in your admin | "Purchase Reward" |
Minimum Order Value | Optional. Only award points on orders above this amount | $10 minimum |
What Happens After You Save
Once an earning rule is saved and set to Active:
Customers immediately become eligible to earn points through that rule.
Points are awarded automatically, no manual action needed.
The rule appears in the customer-facing Ways to Earn section of the loyalty sidebar.
You can monitor earning activity in the Analytics section of the app.
ℹ️ Note
For the Purchase rule specifically, points are awarded when the order status is confirmed. Points are not awarded on cancelled or refunded orders.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
⚠️ Common Mistake
Setting points too low or too high: Start with 1 point per $1 spent and adjust based on your margins and reward values. If points are too easy to earn, your rewards become expensive to fund.
⚠️ Common Mistake
Forgetting to activate the rule: A newly created rule defaults to Active, but double-check the status badge shows "Active" before leaving the page.
⚠️ Common Mistake
Duplicate rule types: Adding two active Purchase rules can cause unexpected behaviour. Make sure you only have one active rule of each type unless you are intentionally running a bonus campaign.
Troubleshooting
Customers are not earning points after a purchase
Check that the Purchase earning rule is set to Active.
Confirm that the order was not cancelled or refunded.
Make sure the customer is logged in to their account. Guest checkouts do not earn points.
The earning rule is not showing in the loyalty sidebar
Go to Loyalty and verify the rule status is Active.
Refresh your storefront and check the sidebar again.
If the sidebar is not showing at all, check that Program Status is set to Enabled at the top of the Loyalty Program page.
I accidentally deleted an earning rule
Deleted rules cannot be recovered. You will need to create a new rule with the same settings.
Points already earned by customers through the deleted rule are not affected.
🗨️ Still need help or can’t find the answers you’re looking for? Reach out to the Mage Loyalty team through our live chat support.