What are earning rules?
Earning rules are the actions customers complete to earn, for example placing an order, following you on Instagram, or adding their birthday. You set each rule up once and it runs automatically from then on.
Active rules appear in the Ways to Earn section of your Rewards Widget, Account Sidebar and Loyalty Pages.
If your program runs on store credit, the Points labels in the app read Store Credit and amount fields take a money value, for example £5.00. Everything else in these guides works the same way.
How to add an earning rule
From your Shopify admin, open the Mage Loyalty app.
In the left menu, click Loyalty.
In the Earning Points section, click Add Earning Rule.
Choose a rule. Use the tabs at the top to filter: Essentials, Social Media, In-Store, Wishlist and Advanced.
Enter the amount to award and any settings for that rule.
Click Save.
The rule is active as soon as you save it. You can run as many rules at the same time as you like.
The Purchase and Signup rules are created for you when you install Mage. Edit them to set your own amounts. The Purchase rule can be turned off but not deleted.
How to edit, disable or delete a rule
Every rule is listed in the Earning Points section with its status.
Edit: click the rule, or open its menu and choose Edit. Make your changes and click Save. Changes apply to actions completed from that point on.
Disable: use the status toggle on the rule. A disabled rule is hidden from customers and stops awarding. Anything customers already earned is kept. Turn it back on at any time.
Delete: open the rule's menu and choose Delete. This cannot be undone, so disable a rule instead if you might want it back. Anything already earned is not affected.
Approval time
Many rules have an Approval Time setting. Leave it at 0 and the customer is credited straight away. Set a number of days and the amount shows as pending until that time has passed, then it is added to their balance automatically. Merchants often use this on the Purchase rule to cover their returns window.
Available earning rules
Each rule has its own settings. The guides below cover them in detail.
Rule | Customer earns when they | Guide |
Purchase | Place a paid order | |
Signup, Birthday, Account Anniversary | Create an account, have a birthday, or reach the anniversary of joining | |
Newsletter Signup, SMS Signup | Subscribe to email or SMS marketing. Awarded once per customer. | Set the amount and save |
Visit a URL | Click through to a page you choose. Awarded once per customer. | Enter the URL and amount, then save |
Follow and Share rules | Follow you on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube or Pinterest, or share on Facebook or X | |
Leave a review | Leave a product review through your reviews app | |
Punch Card | Place a set number of qualifying orders | |
Photo Challenge | Upload a photo that you approve | |
Submit a Receipt | Upload a receipt from an in-store purchase | |
Subscription Milestone | Reach a set number of subscription payments | |
Gift Reminders | Save their first gift reminder | |
Add to wishlist | Save a set number of products to their wishlist | |
Custom Action | Do something your own systems track, sent to Mage by API or Shopify Flow |
Common mistakes to avoid
Leaving Program Status disabled. The toggle at the top of the Loyalty page controls the whole program. While it is off, no rule awards anything and nothing shows on your storefront.
Expecting a new rule to reward past actions. Rules only count actions completed after the rule is saved. To reward existing customers at launch, adjust their balance from the Customers page.
Deleting a rule you may want later. Deleted rules cannot be restored. Disable the rule instead.
Troubleshooting
A rule is not showing on my storefront
Check the rule's status is on in the Earning Points section.
Check Program Status at the top of the Loyalty page is Enabled.
Open your storefront in an incognito window to rule out caching.
A customer completed an action but did not earn
Check the customer was signed in to their account. Guests do not earn.
Check whether the rule has an approval time. The amount shows as pending until it passes.
Open the customer in the Customers section. Their activity log shows every award and its status.