30 day free trial + money-back guarantee on paid subscriptions
A loyalty marketing and retention glossary of terms for ecommerce and omnichannel retail brands explaining some of the most commonly used terms and phrases.
The strategic process of attracting, engaging and converting new prospects into paying customers.
An automation is a workflow that can be executed with minimal to no Admin intervention. Example, loyalty points which are automatically credited to a customer account after a purchase.
The rate at which customers earn points or rewards based on their actions typically spend.
A campaign designed to convert new users into engaged loyalty members.
A system that allows loyalty features to connect with platforms like Shopify or POS systems.
The average amount spent per transaction used to measure purchasing behaviour.
Behavioural data is information generated by the actions and interactions of people, applications, or systems with a business’s digital or physical touch points.
Grouping customers based on similar actions/ behaviours like purchases, visits or engagement.
Triggers based on user actions and purchasing behaviours.
A promotion offering loyalty points incentives for specific actions or purchases.
A customer’s consistent preference for a brand driven by trust and experience.
The rate at which customers redeem their earned loyalty points.
Tracking which campaigns drive results.
An automated action initiated by a customer behaviour such as a purchase or signup.
Card-linked loyalty enables customers to participate in a loyalty programme using their existing payment card, removing the need for separate loyalty cards, apps, or manual identification at checkout.
Card-linked offers (CLOs) are promotional rewards linked directly to a customer’s payment card, enabling businesses to deliver targeted incentives that are redeemed automatically at the point of purchase.
A loyalty model where customers receive a percentage of spend back as credit which can be used on future purchases.
A channel or sales channel is the method, platform, or pathway a business uses to bring products or services to market and sell them to customers.
Coalition loyalty is a loyalty programme model where multiple businesses participate in a shared rewards ecosystem, allowing customers to earn and redeem rewards across participating brands.
The percentage of customers who stop engaging or purchasing over time.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) measures the total value a customer brings to your business over the course of their relationship with your brand. By increasing Customer Lifetime Value through personalized experiences, loyalty programs, and repeat purchases, businesses can improve retention, maximize revenue, and drive sustainable long-term growth.
Customer data activation is the process of using customer insights and behavioural data to drive personalised marketing, loyalty campaigns, customer experiences, and business decisions.
The percentage of users who take a desired action such as sign up or purchase.
Campaigns running across multiple platforms.
Percentage of users engaging & making their first transaction after signup.
A system that unifies customer data across channels under a unified customer profile.
The level of interaction and emotional connection customers have with a brand.
A customer journey represents every interaction a customer has with a business; from discovering a brand and making a first purchase to engaging with loyalty programmes, marketing campaigns, and repeat visits. Connecting these touchpoints into a single customer view helps businesses deliver more relevant experiences, automate engagement, and build lasting customer loyalty.
Automated engagement across the entire customer journey
A system designed to reward repeat behaviour and increase retention.
A single view of a customer combining data & behaviour across all channels.
The ability to keep customers returning & making purchases over time.
Dividing customers into groups based on pre-defined & shared characteristics or behaviour.
Using customer data & behaviour to personalise marketing campaigns and offers.
Enhancing customer data with additional attributes made available through Apps.
Data unification is the process of combining customer information from multiple sources into a single, consistent view that can be used across marketing, loyalty, and business systems.
Grouping customers by age and gender, or by location using a manual tagging workaround.
A virtual version of a loyalty card.
A reward offering reduced price to encourage purchase.
A drip campaign is a series of automated emails, SMS messages, or other communications sent to customers over time based on predefined schedules, customer behaviour, or specific triggers. Drip campaigns help businesses deliver the right message at the right time, nurturing leads, onboarding new customers, encouraging repeat purchases, and improving customer engagement without requiring manual intervention.
Automatically updated customer groups based on real time behaviour in line with the rules of the group.
Defined actions that determine how customers earn rewards.
The relationship between spend and points earned.
eCommerce automation is the use of software to automate repetitive tasks, customer interactions, and business processes across an online store. By using predefined rules, workflows, and customer behaviour triggers, eCommerce automation helps businesses improve operational efficiency, personalize customer experiences, increase sales, and strengthen customer retention with minimal manual effort.
An eCommerce CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system helps online retailers manage customer relationships, purchase history, communication, and engagement from a single platform. By combining customer data across multiple touchpoints, an eCommerce CRM enables businesses to deliver personalized marketing, improve customer retention, increase repeat purchases, and create better shopping experiences.
Approach to retaining customers in online retail.
Emotional loyalty is an emotional attachment to a brand driven by trust, recognition, and shared identity.
Frequency of interaction with loyalty program.
An automation triggered by a specific event such as birthday or purchase.
Non monetary rewards like VIP access or exclusive events.
Data collected directly from customers through owned channels.
The rate at which customers earn points or rewards based on their actions; typically spend.
Using game mechanics such as points, levels and badges to drive customer engagement.
Targeting customers based on geographic location.
Customers generating the most revenue or engagement.
Loyalty engagement happening via physical retail or POS.
Using rewards to incentivise customer behaviour.
Connecting loyalty systems with e-commerce platforms.
Marketing based on customer stage such as new active or dormant.
Automated campaigns triggered by customer behaviour.
Tool used to create and manage loyalty campaigns automatically.
The unit of value in a loyalty program such as points or credits.
Loyalty analytics involves measuring and analysing customer engagement, purchasing behaviour, programme performance, and loyalty metrics to improve business outcomes.
A loyalty ecosystem is a connected network of technologies, channels, rewards, and customer touchpoints that work together to create a unified loyalty experience.
Software used to manage loyalty programs.
Technology enabling dynamic personalised rewards.
Return on investment from loyalty programs.
Levels within a program offering increasing rewards.
Digital storage for rewards and points.
Technology that automates campaigns and messaging.
Membership loyalty is a programme structure where customers receive exclusive benefits, rewards, or experiences in exchange for joining or subscribing to a loyalty programme.
Highly specific customer segmentation groups.
Marketing across multiple platforms without full integration.
A metric measuring customer satisfaction and likelihood to recommend.
Seamless interaction across all customer touchpoints; points of sale, online and in store.
A unified loyalty experience across online and offline channels whereby customers can earn and redeem loyalty incentives across all channels.
Omnichannel retail is a strategy that creates a seamless customer experience across online, in-store, mobile, and other sales channels, ensuring customers can interact with a brand consistently wherever they shop.
Payment-linked loyalty is a loyalty model that connects rewards directly to a customer’s payment card. Customers earn points, rewards, or benefits automatically whenever they make eligible purchases, without needing to scan a separate loyalty card, app, or barcode. This approach reduces friction at checkout, improves programme adoption, and enables businesses to track customer spending and engagement across multiple channels.
Personalised rewards are loyalty incentives tailored to an individual customer’s preferences, behaviours, purchase history, or engagement patterns to increase relevance and effectiveness.
A points based loyalty program is an incentive system where customers earn and redeem points.
Points expiry are rules defining when points become invalid and can no longer be redeemed.
The process of customers using the app at the cash point to redeem points or use coupons.
POS loyalty integration works by connecting a loyalty system with in store checkout.
Using data to forecast customer behaviour.
AI based grouping of customers based on predicted future behaviour.
A promotion campaign is a limited time based marketing initiative offering incentives or special offers.
Combining multiple discounts or rewards.
Targeting customers based on past purchases.
Customer reactivation is a process or strategy designed to engage customers who have been inactive for some time. This can sometimes be referred to as a “win back” campaign such as limited time offers, news & updates, seasonal greetings and many more.
Segmentation updated instantly based on behaviour.
A referral program is a customer acquisition strategy whereby existing customers are encouraged and rewarded for bringing in new customer known as referrals.
The frequency of customers returning to buy again.
A retail CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system helps retailers manage customer data, interactions, communications, and relationships to improve customer engagement and retention.
Retention Rate is the percentage of customers retained over time.
Return on investment is a financial ratio that measures the profit generated by an investment relative to its cost.
A list of available rewards within a loyalty program.
Structuring rewards across different levels.
System that creates and manages customer segments.
Customer data stored within Shopify used for targeting.
A loyalty system integrated directly into Shopify stores.
Unified marketing across Shopify online and in store channels.
Loyalty integrated with Shopify in store POS system managed from the Shopify Admin.
A single customer view combines customer data from multiple touchpoints into one profile, giving businesses a complete understanding of customer behaviour, preferences, and engagement history.
Targeting customers based on specific products purchased.
Advanced automation based on multiple conditions.
Rewards for social actions like sharing or reviews.
Loyalty tied to paid membership.
Unexpected rewards to increase emotional loyalty.
Movement between loyalty levels based on behaviour or pre-defined rules for each level.
A loyalty top-up refers to a mechanism within a customer loyalty program where a user adds funds to their account to increase their points balance, often unlocking immediate rewards or reaching a higher rewards tier faster.
A touch point is any interaction, encounter, or point of contact between a consumer and a brand. These touchpoints range from ads and websites to customer service and product packaging. They shape customer experience, perception, and loyalty
Data generated from purchases.
Transactional loyalty is incentive based loyalty. Customer engagement & purchases are driven by discounts, promotions or limited time offers, etc.
Fully integrated retail system across channels both online and in store.
A complete single view of customer data including profile, historical transactions and participation in loyalty programs, points balances, etc
Rewards designed to increase the order value
Customer created content used in marketing.
Campaign targeting inactive customers to incentivise engagement and purchases.
Digital loyalty cards stored on mobile devices used at checkout to earn & redeem loyalty rewards.