The Submit a Receipt rule lets customers upload a photo of a receipt from an in-store, pop-up or stockist purchase and earn for it. Each receipt is read and checked automatically, then rewarded straight away or held for you to review.
How to add the rule
From your Shopify admin, open the Mage Loyalty app and click Loyalty.
In the Earning Points section, click Add Earning Rule.
Open the In-Store tab and choose Submit a Receipt.
Fill in the settings below.
Click Save Changes.
Settings
Setting | What it does |
Earning method | Per amount spent works like your Purchase rule, for example 1 point per $1 on the receipt. Fixed gives the same amount for every approved receipt. |
Receipt validation | Auto-approve rewards a receipt as soon as it passes the checks. Require manual approval (default) holds every receipt for you to approve or reject. |
Accepted stores | Off by default, so receipts from any store are accepted. Tick Only accept receipts from specific stores and enter store names to limit it. Close matches on the store name are accepted, so you do not need the exact wording from the receipt. |
Maximum receipt age | Receipts older than this many days are rejected. Default 30 days. |
Minimum purchase amount | Receipts below this value are rejected. Leave at 0 to accept any amount. |
Earning limit | Caps how many receipts a customer can submit in a period, for example 3 per 30 days. Off by default. |
Custom icon | An image shown next to the rule on your storefront. A default icon is used if you do not upload one. |
Status | Turns the rule on or off for customers. |
How it works
The customer opens the rule in your Rewards Widget, Account Sidebar or Loyalty Pages and uploads a photo of their receipt. They need to be signed in.
Mage reads the store name, total, date and transaction number from the image.
The receipt is checked against your settings, and for signs of tampering, edited images, impossible dates and duplicate transaction numbers. Receipts that fail are rejected.
Receipts that pass are rewarded straight away with Auto-approve, or wait in your queue with manual approval. Receipts that look suspicious always wait for you, even with Auto-approve on.
Once approved, the reward is added to the customer's balance and they receive an email, if the email template is enabled.
Reviewing submissions
Open the Submit a Receipt rule and click View Submissions in the panel on the right.
Click a submission to see the receipt image, the details read from it, and any warnings.
Click Approve to reward the customer, or Reject and enter a reason. The reason is for your records only.
Start with manual approval until you have seen a few weeks of submissions, then switch to Auto-approve if you are happy with the quality. Switching only affects new submissions.
Common mistakes to avoid
Leaving Accepted stores open when you only sell through a few locations. Customers can then submit receipts from unrelated shops.
Using Auto-approve without an earning limit. A motivated customer could submit many receipts in a short period.
Setting a short receipt age at launch. If you announce the rule by email with a 7 day window, many customers will miss it. 30 days is a sensible starting point.
Troubleshooting
A customer's receipt was rejected but they say it is valid
Poor photos are the most common cause. Ask them to resubmit a clear, flat, fully visible receipt.
Check the receipt meets your store, age and minimum amount settings.
If you are satisfied it is genuine, add the amount manually from the Customers page.
Submissions are not reaching my queue
Customers must be signed in to submit. Guests cannot upload.
Receipts that fail your settings are rejected before they reach the queue.
The rule is not showing on my storefront
Check the rule status is on and Program Status is Enabled on the Loyalty page.