Using Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals with Shopify's New Customer Accounts

Goals and Outcomes

In 2023, Shopify started rolling out new, passwordless customer accounts, offering a seamless login experience to shoppers. While legacy customer accounts remain available, we also want to support merchants using these new accounts.

To align with Shopify’s new customer accounts, we’ve developed new loyalty program opt-in flows for both All Customers and Only members who signed up eligibility options.

In this article, you’ll learn how Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals works with Shopify’s new customer accounts and what new settings are available to support them.

Is this article for me?

Yes, if you’re using Shopify’s new customer accounts for your store.

Shopify Customer Accounts Overview

Shopify offers two types of customer accounts:

• Legacy Customer Accounts (classic): Traditional accounts that require customers to log in using their email and password.

• Customer Accounts (new): A passwordless option where customers log in using a one-time, 6-digit verification code sent to their email. Accounts are created automatically upon the first login. Sessions last for 90 days and extend with each login, giving you more ways to customize the shopping experience, promote your loyalty program, and boost participation. Learn more about the customer experience with the new Shopify customer accounts.

Loyalty Opt-in Strategy for New Customer Accounts

Important

While the new settings are available to all merchants, if you’re not using Shopify’s new customer accounts, you don’t have to change any of your widget settings or update the Rewards page. This will also not affect the widgets' appearance in your store.

With the shift away from traditional account creation, the loyalty program opt-in process has been updated. Here’s how it works for new customer accounts:

“All Customers” Opt-In Flow

Available for

Program eligibility set to “All customers.”

With the new customer account system, there’s a slight change in how customers join your loyalty program. Unlike classic accounts, where customers can earn points simply by creating an account, customers will now start earning points only after completing their first purchase.

Why? The new system doesn’t use traditional accounts. Instead, it enrolls customers into your loyalty program using the email address they provide at checkout (including guest checkouts). This ensures a seamless shopping experience, but it means that points can only be awarded once the first purchase is complete.

Tip

If you switched from classic to new customer accounts, we recommend reviewing your Rewards page and adjusting the messaging to reflect the new flow (e.g. update phrases like “Sign up and get 50 points” to “Complete your first purchase and get 50 points”). See how to create a Rewards page.

Learn more about setting up a new Member Reward earning rule on Shopify.

“Only Members Who Signed Up” Opt-In Flow

Available for

Program eligibility set to “Only members who signed up.”

To help you track and engage customers who haven’t signed up for your store yet, we’ve made flow improvements in all core widgets and the Rewards page.

Here’s how the flow works:

1. A non-member customer goes to your store.

2. They interact with the Rewards page or a widget and click to join the program.

3. If it’s their first login, Shopify sends a 6-digit verification code to their email. After entering the code, Shopify automatically creates a profile for that customer.

4. They finalize the loyalty signup process by clicking the opt-in button (you’ve configured in the settings) on the Rewards page or widget.

5. If they’re already logged in, they only need to click the button on the Rewards page or one of the widgets to complete the loyalty signup. By clicking the button, they agree to the program’s terms and conditions.

The new opt-in flow settings are available in the following areas of your account:

Tip

To maintain consistency, if your loyalty program includes terms and conditions, we recommend adding the same disclaimer* (with or without a checkbox) to the Rewards page and the widgets mentioned above.

*To include a link to your terms and conditions page in your disclaimer, write the link text in square brackets, followed by the URL in parentheses. For example: [privacy policy](https://example.net/)

FAQ

Q: How is "loyalty sign-up" defined without traditional account creation?

A: With the "All customers" opt-in strategy, customers are automatically enrolled in the loyalty program based on their purchase activity. No account creation process is required.

For the “Only members who signed up” opt-in, customers need to take an additional step by clicking the opt-in button on the Rewards page or one of the widgets to complete the loyalty signup.

Q: How does this impact anniversary rewards for the "All Customers" opt-in?

A: Anniversary rewards can only be based on personalized anniversary dates. Rewards tied to account creation dates are not supported with new customer accounts.

Q: Can customers input their birth date with new customer accounts, like they could with classic accounts?

A: No, Shopify does not allow customers to enter birth dates with new customer accounts. However, they can add their birth date via the Rewards page.

Q: What happens to the swell_has_account property in Klaviyo?

A: Existing customers will retain the property swell_has_account = true. New customers will have this property set to false. Merchants leveraging new customer accounts will have to update their Klaviyo flows.

Q: What happens if I change the opt-in strategy from "All Customers" to "Only members who signed up"?

A: If you change the opt-in strategy from "All Customers" to "Only members who signed up," the change will not apply retroactively. To make this change retroactive, please contact support or your Success Manager. Keep in mind that applying the change retroactively will opt all existing users out of the program. Only new members who sign up using the checkbox in the widgets or on the Rewards page will be considered eligible.