How the Loyalty Program works

The Advanced Loyalty Program in Advanced Coupons helps you create a flexible, points-based rewards system that keeps your customers engaged and increases your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

By awarding points for purchases, referrals, and other actions, you can encourage repeat business and turn happy shoppers into loyal brand advocates.

Here’s what the Loyalty Program offers and how it appears to your customers:

Loyalty Program display to customers

The loyalty program creates multiple touchpoints in your store to show customers the value they’re earning:

In the cart

The Cart page shows customers a summary of the points they can earn for their order. See the Points to earn message in cart setting below for how to control this message.

At the checkout

The Checkout page shows customers a summary of the points they can earn for their order. See the Points to earn message in checkout setting below for how to control this message.

Product pages

The product page displays how many points customers can earn by purchasing that product. See the Points to earn message in product setting below for how to control this message.

In the My Account area

The My Account area includes a My Points page with four tabs: Points Balance, Points History, Points Rewards, and Email Preferences.

Together, these tabs show the customer’s points balance, the redemption form, redeemable rewards, any redeemed coupons, and points history.

Settings

You can find the settings for your loyalty program under Coupons > Loyalty Program, on the Settings tab. The settings are grouped into tabs, and the lists below name the tab for each setting.

If you don’t see the Loyalty Program sub-menu under Coupons, make sure the Advanced Loyalty Program plugin is installed and active.

General tab

• Price to points earned ratio (global): Set how many points customers earn for each dollar spent.
  For example:
  • A ratio of 1 means customers earn 1 point per dollar.
  • A ratio of 5 means they earn 5 points per dollar.
• Points to price redeemed ratio: Set the value of each point when customers redeem it. Enter a whole number. The lowest value you can enter is 1, and the default is 10.
  For example:
  • A ratio of 1 makes each point worth $1.00.
  • A ratio of 10 means customers need 10 points to get $1.00 off.
• Points name: Change the default “Points” label to any name that fits your brand.

Points Earning tab

• Points calculation options: Choose which parts of the order count toward points. Discounts and Tax are checked by default, and Shipping and Fees are not.
• Minimum threshold to earn points: Set a minimum spend for a customer to be eligible to accumulate points for an order. Once an order is eligible, the customer will receive points for the entire subtotal.
• Order status(es) for when to award loyalty points: Choose the order statuses that award points. By default, points are awarded when an order is Processing or Completed.

Restrictions tab

• Disallow points accumulations for roles: Choose which roles should NOT accumulate points for purchases. If users with those roles make a purchase, they will not accumulate points, nor will they see the points section on their My Account or Checkout pages.

Redemption & Expiry tab

• Minimum points allowed for redemption: Set the minimum number of points customers must have before they can redeem them as store credit.
• Automatically redeem points to store credit and Automatically redeem once points balance reaches: Convert a customer’s points to store credit automatically when their balance reaches the threshold you set. See the auto-redeem note under Points rewards below before you turn this on.

Messages tab

Each message uses the {points} placeholder to show the points amount. Leave a message blank to turn it off.

• Points to earn message in cart: Shows a message on the cart page with how many points the current order can earn.
• Points to earn message in checkout: Shows a message on the checkout page with how many points the current order can earn.
• Points to earn message in product: Shows a message on the single product page with how many points that product can earn.

Earning points

Customers must create an account to earn points. Guest users can’t earn points because the system needs a user ID.

When customers place an order:

• The system checks whether the customer’s role can earn points.
• If the customer creates an account during checkout, they still get points for that order.
• Customers receive points once the order reaches one of the statuses set in Order status(es) for when to award loyalty points. By default, this is Processing or Completed (after payment).

By default, customers earn points on the products in the order, minus discounts, plus tax, multiplied by your Price to points earned ratio (global). You can change what counts with the Points calculation options setting on the Points Earning tab (Discounts, Tax, Shipping, Fees).

Other ways to earn bonus points include:

• Extra points on the first order or account signup
• Bonuses for higher spend levels
• Leaving product reviews
• Commenting on blog posts
• Special promotional periods

These options give you flexibility to reward a range of customer actions.

Redeeming points

Customers can self-manage their points and redeem them into store credits at a time that suits them.

They can redeem points from the Points Balance tab on the My Points page, or directly on the checkout page.

Points balance

This section shows how many points the customer has collected and their store credit value. Each new purchase extends the points’ validity.

Redeem points

Customers can redeem points as store credits.

The redemption form updates without reloading the page.

After customers redeem points, the system adds them to their store credits. They can view redemption logs in the Points History and see their total credit on the Store Credits page in My Account.

Minimum points allowed for redemption

The Minimum points allowed for redemption setting sets the lowest number of points customers can redeem at once.

If they enter fewer points, the system disables the redeem button.

Points rewards

Besides converting points into store credit, you can let customers spend their points on specific products or coupons that you choose as rewards.

Rewards appear in a dedicated Rewards tab on the My Points page, next to Points Balance, Points History, and Email Preferences. The tab uses your configured Points name, so with the default name it shows as Points Rewards.

Offering a product as a reward

1. Edit the product you want to offer as a reward.
2. In the Product data box, open the General tab.
3. Check Offer as Loyalty Reward.
4. Check the Points Required To Redeem value, and change it if you want a different cost.
5. Update the product.

For a simple product, Points Required To Redeem fills in automatically when you check the box. The value is the product’s current price (the sale price, if one is set) multiplied by your Points to price redeemed ratio, rounded up to a whole number. For example, a $48 product with a ratio of 10 costs 480 points.

Reward stock follows the product’s own stock status. If you later uncheck Offer as Loyalty Reward, the product is removed from the Rewards tab going forward, but any coupons customers already claimed for it keep working.

Offering a variation as a reward

For a variable product, you turn on the reward for the product first, then for each variation you want to offer.

1. Edit the variable product.
2. In the Product data box, open the General tab.
3. Check Offer as Loyalty Reward.
4. Open the Variations tab and expand the variation you want to offer.
5. Check the variation’s own Offer as Loyalty Reward box.
6. Enter the variation’s Points Required To Redeem.
7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for each variation you want to offer, then update the product.

Keep these points in mind when you set up variation rewards:

• The variation reward fields are greyed out until you check Offer as Loyalty Reward on the General tab.
• Type a Points Required To Redeem value for each variation you offer.
• Only variations with their own box checked show up as rewards. Stock follows each variation’s own stock status.

On the storefront, a variable product reward appears as a single card showing its lowest points cost, for example “From 150 points”. Clicking Redeem lets the customer choose which variation to claim.

Offering a coupon as a reward

You can also offer a coupon as a reward. Create a new coupon just for this reward, then mark it as a reward.

1. Go to Coupons > Add New and set up the coupon’s discount.
2. In the Loyalty Reward box in the sidebar, check Offer as Loyalty Reward.
3. Enter Points Required To Redeem. Coupons have no price to calculate a default from, so you need to set this manually.
4. Publish the coupon.

How customers claim a reward

Each reward card in the Rewards tab shows the product image (or a coupon icon), its name, a Product or Coupon badge, and its points cost.

• If the customer doesn’t have enough points, the Redeem button is disabled and shows a message such as “Need 200 more points”. The reward stays visible so the customer knows it’s available once they earn more.
• If the reward is out of stock, the button shows “Unavailable” instead, even if the customer can otherwise afford it.
• The customer’s points balance is shown at the top of the tab, along with a “How to earn points” link for anyone who needs more.

To claim a reward:

1. The customer clicks Redeem on an available reward.
2. A confirmation prompt shows how many points will be spent and the resulting balance, for example “Spend 800 points. New balance: 250 points.”
3. After confirming, the reward is claimed and a single-use coupon code is generated. The customer can copy it with the Copy code button and enter it at checkout like any other coupon.

Customers also receive a reward claim confirmation email with their coupon code and instructions on how to use it. You can customize this email’s subject, heading, message, and “How to use” instructions under WooCommerce > Settings > Emails > Loyalty Program – reward claim confirmation.

Rewards and automatic store credit redemption

If you offer rewards, turn off Automatically redeem points to store credit on the Redemption & Expiry settings tab.

When automatic redemption is on, a customer’s points convert to store credit as soon as their balance reaches the Automatically redeem once points balance reaches threshold. By default, the whole balance converts, so the customer might not have enough points left to claim a reward.

Referral rewards

The Referral Rewards feature lets your existing customers help grow your store by sharing a special referral link.

From the Referral settings tab, you can customize:

• Points awarded to referrer on signup: Give points when someone signs up via a referral link.
• Points awarded to referrer on purchase: Give points each time a referred customer’s order is completed.
• Referral redirect URL: Choose where to send users after they click the referral link (e.g., your homepage, shop page, or a special landing page).
• Disallowed User Roles and Disallowed Users: Exclude certain user roles or specific users from earning referral points to help prevent abuse.

Referral Rewards help your store grow organically by turning customers into advocates, and boost your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) by encouraging more repeat purchases and new customer acquisition.

For detailed setup instructions, see How to Set Up Referral Rewards in Loyalty Program.

Summary

The Loyalty Program lets you:

• Reward customers for shopping and referring friends
• Show points across your store (cart, checkout, product pages, My Account)
• Set earning rates, redemption rules, and advanced restrictions
• Track points activity to see what drives engagement
• Let customers redeem points directly for specific product or coupon rewards

Together, these features help increase repeat business and grow your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

Help & Support

We have a dedicated support team for Advanced Coupons who know our products, WooCommerce, and the industry very well. You’re welcome to make use of their expertise at any time, worldwide.

If you are an existing customer, please go to the support ticket request form and send us a message.

If you are a free plugin user, please send us a support request on the forum, we actively monitor the WordPress.org support forums for the free plugin and help our users there as best as we can.