In this article:
Overview
Not every shopper wants to be signed up to a loyalty program automatically, and depending on your local laws or business needs you may not be able to offer it that way at all.
LoyaltyLion lets you switch from the default auto-enrollment method to an opt-in method, where customers must give explicit consent before joining your program. With opt-in, customers can still create and keep their store accounts without joining your program.
Differences between auto-enrollment and opt-in
By default, LoyaltyLion uses auto-enrollment: a customer is given a LoyaltyLion account and added to your program as soon as one of your enrollment conditions is met. Create an account or first sign in is always on, and Customer places a POS order is one you can turn on or off. This keeps the path to joining as frictionless as possible.
If you would rather customers chose to join, switch to Manual opt-in. A customer then needs to be signed in to their store account and choose to join before they are in the program.
This change will affect your loyalty data. You can expect to see:
An increase in Guest customers, as fewer people join the program automatically
A higher Redeeming members rate, since joining becomes a deliberate choice rather than a passive one
A drop in Non-redeeming members, for the same reason
This is expected behavior, and not a sign that anything is misconfigured. That said, LoyaltyLion still recommends auto-enrollment for most stores, as it brings the largest number of customers into your program.
How to swap enrollment method
Log into LoyaltyLion and go to Settings.
In the menu, select Enrollment.
Under Enrollment mode, switch from Automatic (recommended) to Manual opt-in.
While Automatic is selected you can also choose what enrolls a customer, under Automatic enrollment conditions. Create an account or first sign in cannot be turned off; Customer places a POS order can.
How to enroll
Once opt-in is enabled, customers can join your program from any of the places below. The two customer account extensions and the checkout extension are Shopify features; the loyalty page button and the SDK component work on any platform.
The on-site loyalty page
When a customer with a store account visits your loyalty page, they will see a Join program button instead of the usual sign-in and create-account flow.
Customer account extensions
If you are using the latest version of Shopify’s customer accounts, customers can join directly from our installed app extensions: the Loyalty Status extension and the Loyalty Page extension.
Loyalty Status account extension:
Loyalty Page account extension:
Join Program checkout extension
This extension can be added to the Thank You page, the order confirmation page shown right after purchase, giving customers a direct prompt to join the program at checkout. It only shows to customers who are signed in to a store account, so guest checkouts don't see it.
Join program SDK component
If you build your own pages with our SDK, you can place a Join program component anywhere on them. A shopper who is not signed in gets a link to your store’s signup page, a signed-in customer who has not joined gets a button that enrolls them on the spot, and the component disappears once they are a member.
If you have built a headless storefront, you can also opt customers in with the enroll customer endpoint in our headless API.
FAQ
What happens to customers who already joined the program before I switch to opt-in?
Nothing. We will not un-enroll any customer who has already joined your program.
Does the change take effect immediately?
It may take a few minutes to fully apply, but for all practical purposes it goes live right away.
Can customers un-enroll from the program themselves?
No. If a customer wants to stop participating you can block them, which halts all communications and notifications, or they can request account deletion through your store.
Can customers still join in-store?
No. Customers must join online, because we need their direct consent and that can only be captured through an online flow.
When does a customer get their enrollment date?
A customer’s enrollment date is set when they opt in, not when they create their store account.
How do I tell whether a customer has opted in?
On your Customers page, a customer who has not opted in carries a Guest badge, and anyone who has joined carries an Enrolled badge. Blocked customers show as Blocked either way.
Can I tell which members joined before I switched to opt-in?
Not from a single filter. If you know the date you made the switch, you can find your auto-enrolled members by looking for anyone with an earlier enrollment date, which a Customers export will give you.
Do customers get tier benefits before they opt in?
No. A customer needs to have joined your program to belong to a tier, so no tier benefits apply until they have joined your program.
How does opt-in affect customer profiles in my email or SMS platform?
We will not push any LoyaltyLion properties or trigger loyalty events for a customer until they have joined your program. The one exception is a completed referral: if a customer who hasn't joined refers a friend and the referral completes, we still send that referral event. What happens before that point depends on how you have set up your own store integration with that platform, since it may create a profile from the store account alone.