Building long-term relationships with customers is one of the key challenges in running an e-commerce store. One effective approach that has been getting attention is the "membership rank system." By ranking customers according to their purchase amount or purchase frequency and offering different perks for each rank, you can improve customer satisfaction and foster loyalty.
This article explains in detail how to implement a membership rank system on your Shopify store, its benefits and drawbacks, and recommended membership rank apps.
What Is a Membership Rank System?
It's a system that ranks users into tiers — such as Bronze, Silver, and Gold — based on conditions like purchase count or purchase amount. Various perks are assigned according to membership rank, such as discount coupons, exclusive sales, early access, and increased point multipliers.
Benefits of Implementing a Membership Rank System
The benefits of implementing a membership rank system on Shopify are as follows.
- You Can Expect Higher Customer Spend
- Easier to Maintain Customer Relationships
- You Can Expect Stable Sales
- You Can Expect Differentiation From Competitors
- You Can Collect and Use Customer Data
Let's look at each in detail.
You Can Expect Higher Customer Spend
Aiming for the perks that come with reaching a certain rank, customers may be more inclined to make more purchases or higher-value purchases.
Easier to Maintain Customer Relationships
Customers who are enthusiastic about a membership rank system tend to visit your site more often and open your newsletter emails more frequently. This lets you increase the frequency of touchpoints with customers and makes it easier to maintain the relationship.
You Can Expect Stable Sales
By offering rank-based perks and rewards, you can boost customer loyalty to your brand. This can be expected to encourage repeat purchases and higher-value purchases.
You Can Expect Differentiation From Competitors
A membership rank system is also an effective way to differentiate yourself from competitors. Offering unique perks and experiences can also help attract new customers.
You Can Collect and Use Customer Data
Through a membership rank system, you can track customer purchasing behavior and preferences in detail, enabling personalized marketing based on that data.
Drawbacks of Implementing a Membership Rank System
The drawbacks of implementing a membership rank system on Shopify are as follows.
Let's look at each in detail.
It Takes Effort to Implement and Manage
Designing, implementing, and continuously managing a membership rank system requires a fair amount of time and resources. Especially during initial setup, a lot of effort may be needed for customization and testing.
It Costs Money
Offering perks and rewards increases costs. Rank-based discounts or free products affect your profit margin, so striking the right balance is important.
Managing Customer Expectations Is Difficult
If the conditions for ranking up or the perks aren't clear, or if they're difficult to achieve, this can lead to customer frustration and backfire.
How to Set Up Membership Ranks on Shopify
This section introduces ways to assign membership ranks to customers based on certain conditions. The setup methods covered here are as follows.
Let's look at each in detail.
Use Segments
The first method is to use Shopify's native segment feature.
The segment feature lets you group customers based on conditions such as purchase count, purchase amount, and products purchased, so you can manage customers who meet the same conditions as a single membership rank group.
Segments can also be used with the discount feature and Shopify Email, so you can use them to issue coupons or send newsletters by membership rank. On the other hand, they're not well suited to integrating with Shopify apps that offer point rewards or member-exclusive sales.
The advantage of using segments is that it's simple and free. The drawback is that, because it's not well suited to integrating with Shopify apps, the range of incentives you can offer by membership rank is limited.
The blog article below introduces how to implement a membership rank system using segments and Flow. Please use it as a reference.
Use Shopify Flow
Next is the method of using Shopify's native app, "Shopify Flow."
By using Shopify Flow, you can automatically add or remove membership rank information in a customer's tags or metafields whenever a new order comes in, based on the customer's past purchase amount and purchase count.
The benefit of using Shopify Flow is that you can set up membership ranks for free, and it integrates easily with Shopify apps that make use of customer tags or metafields. The drawback is that it's difficult to configure.
The blog article below introduces Shopify Flow in detail. Please use it as a reference.
The blog article below covers metafields in detail. Please use it as a reference.
Use a Shopify App
Finally, there's the method of using a Shopify app.
By using a Shopify app, you can automatically add or remove membership rank information in a customer's tags or metafields based on conditions such as purchase amount or purchase count.
The benefits of using a Shopify app are that it offers a wider range of conditions than segments or Shopify Flow, is easy to set up, and integrates easily with other Shopify apps. The drawback is that it costs money.
Shopify Apps for Implementing a Membership Rank System
Here are some Shopify apps that let you implement a membership rank system.
- Ranky - Simple Membership Rank & Card
- VIP - Membership Program
- easyPoints
- Teikikoubai (Subscription Purchase)
Let's look at each in detail.
Ranky - Simple Membership Rank & Card
Ranky is a Shopify app that lets you "easily" launch a membership rank system on your Shopify store. You can assign ranks based on cumulative purchase amount or count over a specified period, such as the past month or year, or based on specific customer tags. Since ranks are stored in a customer metafield, they can also be used in the storefront and integrated with external apps. Rank evaluation runs on a regular schedule (daily, monthly, etc.) as well as on events such as when an order is placed, when an order is canceled, when a new customer registers, or when a customer's tags are updated. You can also add, with no coding required, a membership card to a page such as the customer account page that displays a barcode (1D or 2D) with the membership rank and member ID.
The blog article below introduces Ranky's features, pricing plans, and setup instructions in detail. Please use it as a reference.
The blog article below introduces how to use Ranky together with RuffRuff Order Limits to implement "exclusive sales for Gold members and above." Please use it as a reference.
VIP - Membership Program
VIP is a membership program app built exclusively for Shopify.
By using this app, you can build a loyalty program that applies common points and membership ranks across every sales channel — in-store, online, and native app.
In addition to awarding points based on purchase amount, points can also be used as "action points" based on customer behavior, and the app offers a rich set of features including rewards, a referral program, and member-exclusive pricing. Integration with Shopify Flow and Functions also allows for flexible customization.
The blog article below introduces VIP's features, recommended functionality, and setup instructions in detail. Please use it as a reference.
easyPoints
easyPoints is a points app developed by a Japanese company. It lets you assign membership ranks based on cumulative purchase amount, and you can vary the point-earning rate by membership rank.
The blog article below introduces easyPoints' features, functionality, and setup instructions. Please use it as a reference.
Teikikoubai (Subscription Purchase)
Teikikoubai (Subscription Purchase) is a Shopify app offered by Huckleberry. It's known for its extensive Japanese-language support and rich feature set for subscription sales. Its membership rank feature lets you assign membership ranks based on purchase amount, and you can vary the discount rate on subscription products by membership rank.
The blog article below introduces the benefits of running subscription sales on Shopify along with recommended Shopify apps. Please use it as a reference.
Shopify Apps for Running Sales Promotions Targeted at Top-Tier Members
There may be cases where you want to sell products only to your most engaged members (those with a high membership rank). In such cases, you can easily achieve this by using "RuffRuff 予約販売" or "RuffRuff Order Limits." You can also use "RuffRuff Order Bonus" to set different discount rates by membership rank.
RuffRuff 予約販売 - For Exclusive Sales and Exclusive Promotions
"RuffRuff 予約販売" is a Shopify app that makes it easy to implement pre-orders on your Shopify store. By making creative use of this app, you can also run various types of sales, such as "limited-time sales," "limited-time promotions," "launch announcements," "recurring sales," "member-exclusive sales," "VIP-exclusive sales," and "deferred payment."
It also offers many unique features not found in other pre-order apps, such as a "deferred payment" function that lets you collect payment before a product ships.
It has also earned Shopify's official "Built for Shopify" badge, the mark of the highest-quality apps that meet standards for speed, ease of use, and reliability.
The product below is a demo product actually using RuffRuff 予約販売 to run a VIP member-exclusive sale. Please give it a try.
RuffRuff Order Limits - For Exclusive Sales
"RuffRuff Order Limits" is a Shopify app that lets you enforce quantity limits with a single app, as well as price limits, bundling restrictions, membership restrictions, and payment restrictions.
It's the first Shopify app in Japan to use the Cart and Checkout Validation API, making it possible to enforce order restrictions on the server side — something that could previously only be handled on the storefront front end. This makes it possible to achieve more robust order restrictions that are harder to bypass than existing order-restriction apps.
With RuffRuff 予約販売 described above, you can only run member-exclusive sales using customer tags, not customer metafields.
RuffRuff Order Limits, on the other hand, lets you run member-exclusive sales using not only customer tags but also customer metafields.
The product below is a demo product actually using RuffRuff Order Limits to run a VIP member-exclusive sale. Please give it a try.
RuffRuff Order Bonus - For Discounts by Membership Rank
RuffRuff Order Bonus is a Shopify app that lets you run a wide variety of discount campaigns under any condition. The blog article below introduces how to use RuffRuff Order Bonus to set different discount rates by membership rank.
There are many other discount campaigns you can run, such as the following.
- Free shipping exclusively for VIP members
- Discounts for Gold members and above
- Volume discounts
- Discounts when a specific product is included
- Discounts for customers with 10 or more past purchases
- First-come, first-served discounts (20% off for the first 10 customers)
And more
For details, please check the service page via the button below.
In Conclusion
Implementing a membership rank system on Shopify is an effective strategy for strengthening customer relationships, increasing sales, and differentiating your store from competitors.
Using segments, Shopify Flow, and Shopify apps makes managing a membership rank system simpler and more efficient. Make full use of these tools to improve the customer experience and work toward gaining repeat customers and business success.
However, running a membership rank system doesn't produce results overnight. Continuous improvement and responsiveness to customer feedback are key to success. Value communication with your customers, and use their feedback to improve your program.
This article introduced Shopify apps that can automatically assign membership ranks, but the blog article below introduces Shopify apps that help boost sales, expand customer acquisition, and streamline operations. Please use it as a reference.
