Migrating WooCommerce loyalty programs to Shopify (2026)

A loyalty program is one of your most valuable customer retention assets. Customer points balances represent both a financial liability and a trust relationship with your most engaged customers. When you migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify, handling loyalty program data carefully is essential — customers who lose their points will notice, and they'll leave.

WooCommerce loyalty plugins

Common WooCommerce loyalty implementations:

• WooCommerce Points and Rewards (official): The most common. Customers earn points on purchases, redeem for discounts.
• Smile.io: Cross-platform SaaS — works with WooCommerce AND Shopify. Easiest migration.
• Yotpo Loyalty: Enterprise, also cross-platform. Migration easier if you're already on Yotpo Reviews.
• WooRewards: WooCommerce-specific points and rewards.
• myCred: WordPress credit/points system with WooCommerce integration.
• YITH WooCommerce Points and Rewards: YITH's loyalty plugin for WooCommerce.

Shopify loyalty apps

App	Price	Best for	Migration from WooCommerce
Smile.io	Free–$199/mo	Standard points + VIP tiers	Excellent — cross-platform, data carries over if already on Smile.io
Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals	$199+/mo	Enterprise, integrates with Yotpo Reviews	Good — Yotpo is cross-platform
LoyaltyLion	Free–$399/mo	Mid-market, deep analytics	Can import customer points data via CSV
Growave	$49–$299/mo	All-in-one (loyalty + reviews + wishlist)	Import via CSV, good support for migration
BON Loyalty	Free–$99/mo	Simple points program, budget-friendly	CSV import for points balances
Okendo Loyalty	$99+/mo	Integrates with Okendo Reviews	Good for Okendo Reviews customers

The easiest migration: Smile.io

If your WooCommerce store uses Smile.io, migration to Shopify is the simplest loyalty scenario:

1. Smile.io stores customer loyalty data in their platform (not in WooCommerce)
2. Disconnect the WooCommerce integration in Smile.io dashboard
3. Install Smile.io on Shopify (it's a Shopify app)
4. Connect the Shopify integration
5. All customer points, VIP tiers, and redemption history carry over — they're in Smile.io's system, not WooCommerce

Same for Yotpo Loyalty: it's cross-platform, data stays in Yotpo.

Migrating WooCommerce-native loyalty plugins

For WooCommerce Points and Rewards, WooRewards, YITH Loyalty, and similar WordPress-specific plugins, data is stored in the WordPress database and requires manual extraction.

Exporting points balances

WooCommerce Points and Rewards

1. WooCommerce → Points and Rewards → Points Log (export)
2. Or: direct WordPress database query to get current balance per customer:
   SELECT user_id, meta_value FROM wp_usermeta WHERE meta_key = 'woocommerce_points_balance'
3. Export as CSV: customer email, points balance

myCred

1. myCred → Balances → Export CSV
2. Export includes: username, email, current point balance per point type

Importing points to Shopify loyalty app

Most Shopify loyalty apps support a points import CSV. Example with Smile.io:

1. Smile.io dashboard → Members → Import (if available on your plan)
2. CSV format: customer email, points to add
3. Smile.io creates customer accounts and assigns initial points balances

With LoyaltyLion:

1. LoyaltyLion → Customers → Import customers CSV
2. Columns: email, points_earned (total ever earned), points_approved (redeemable balance)

With BON Loyalty:

1. BON Loyalty → Members → Import
2. CSV with email, points balance

Customer tiers (VIP programs)

If your WooCommerce loyalty program had VIP tiers based on lifetime spend or points (Bronze/Silver/Gold), you need to recreate the tier structure and assign customers to their correct tier.

Recreating tiers in Shopify loyalty app

1. Set up tier names, thresholds, and perks in your chosen app
2. Import customers with their tier assignment: most apps support a "tier" column in the import CSV
3. Alternatively: create customer tags in Shopify (gold-member, silver-member) and configure the loyalty app to recognize these tags as tier assignments

When to honor vs reset tiers

• Honor existing tiers: Recommended. Customers earned their status. Resetting creates resentment.
• Reset tiers but credit points: If your tier structure is changing significantly, you can credit customers with enough points to re-reach their tier immediately, as a "migration bonus"
• Communication is key: Whatever you do, tell customers what's happening

Points that can't transfer: earned-but-not-redeemed

Accumulated points represent a financial liability — when customers redeem, you give them a discount. During migration, make this transition clean:

• Option A: Transfer full balance: Customers get all their points in the new system. Clean, fair, no customer complaints.
• Option B: Pay out balances as discount codes: Convert each customer's point balance to a Shopify discount code before migration. Simple for customers: they get an email with a code. No loyalty app needed to carry over points.
• Option C: Cut-off date: Announce that points from the old system are valid until a certain date. After that, new loyalty program starts. Give customers notice to redeem existing points. Safest for your liability exposure.

Communication strategy for loyalty migration

Your most loyal customers (the ones with the most points) are also the most likely to notice the migration. They've invested trust in your loyalty program. Treat the communication as a priority:

1. Email loyalty members before migration: "We're moving to Shopify! Your [X] points are coming with you. You won't lose anything."
2. Email immediately after migration: "We're live on our new platform. Log in at [link] to see your points balance."
3. Note any changes: If you're changing the point structure (earn rate, redemption rate), be transparent. Existing customers deserve advance notice.
4. Compensate for any inconvenience: If migration caused any disruption, a bonus points grant ($5 of points) as an apology goes a long way.

Loyalty migration checklist

• Identify your WooCommerce loyalty plugin
• If Smile.io or Yotpo: simply reconnect to Shopify (easy path)
• If WooCommerce-native plugin: export points balances per customer
• Export VIP tier assignments if applicable
• Choose Shopify loyalty app (Smile.io for most stores)
• Install and configure tier structure in new app
• Import customer points balances via CSV
• Assign VIP tiers to customers
• Test: log in as a loyalty member, verify balance and tier show correctly
• Email all loyalty members: explain migration, confirm points are preserved
• Email day-of migration: "We're live, your points are here"
• Monitor loyalty app for customer issues in first week

Loyalty program customers have the highest lifetime value in your store. The effort to migrate their points and tiers correctly — and communicate it well — pays for itself in retained customer relationships.