Last updated: 2024-04-01
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Before you start
✅ This feature is available in our Platinum plan (US$49) and above. Please go to Ako Marketing > Service Plan to make sure your current plan is on Platinum plan or above.
✅ Please go to Loyalty Program > Programs and check if Points feature is in an Active status. Click here to check how to enable your point program.
✅ If you haven't installed Ako Marketing App, click here to install.
1. Creating a birthday reward
Go to Loyalty Program → Ways to earn reward → Click on "+Add New" button and choose "Celebrate a birthday" to continue.
Name your birthday reward, this will show on ways to earn reward list on the loyalty widget.
In the Reward Type section, choose between Points or Discount Code as your birthday reward type.
📝 Note: If you prefer tier-based rewards, check off the option "Different points value based on VIP tiers" and click "Edit value" to customize your reward for each tier.
📝 Note: For discount rewards, you can choose between Amount off orders and Free shipping. In addition, you can set minimum purchase requirements.
Set points' expiration (1-120 months) or switch off for never expire points.
Add an icon for reward in loyalty widget. Choose default or upload a custom icon.
Click Save and turn on the switch to activate your birthday gift reward.
2. Making birthdates non-editable (optional)
Ako Marketing allows customers to change their birth date by default. If you prefer to manage the customer's birth date yourself, click "Edit in Customer profile" within the birthday settings.
Check "Set customer birth date to non-editable"
Once set as non-editable, customers will not be able to change their birth date again after the first saving.
If your customers ask to correct their birth of date, you can go to their customer profile within Ako Marketing admin, and click Edit to change the date.
The new birth date will be saved to the timeline within customer profile, and will display the next earn date based on the changed date.
3. Configuring Emails on customer's birthday
When you enabled birthday reward, Ako Marketing will guide you to set email notification, click on "Go to email notification" here.
Or, you can go to email setting from Loyalty Program > Program > Emails > Click "Edit" on the template Celebrate a birthday.
Customize your email content here, and switch the Email Notification Status to "On" when you finish the settings. Check here to know more details.
4. How your customers add their birth date
Customers will need to log in to their account first, heading to the Ways to Reward section within loyalty widget, and click Celebrate a birthday. They can add their birthday using the date picker or by entering the date in YYYY/MM/DD format.
If a customer changes their birthday, the Timeline in their profile will update to show the new birth date and when they'll get their next birthday gift.
5. Storing birthdate information in Shopify
Customer's date of birth will be saved in the metafields of their customer profile in the Shopify admin.
And the birth year, month and day will be saved as customer tags. You can use these tags for your marketing campaigns.
6. Common questions about birthday rewards
When should customers add their birthday?
Customers must enter their birthday at least 24 hours in advance. For example, if Amy's birthday is on 4/1, she must enter her birthday date by 23:59 on 3/30. This allows our system to give birthday reward and send out the birthday notifications on 4/1.
Will customers receive birthday gifts twice if they change their birth date?
The answer is NO❌. Every customer will be limited to receiving a birthday gift only once per year.
If a customer changes their birthday after receiving a birthday gift, Ako Marketing will use the new date to reschedule their gift for the following year.
Example: Today is 2024-03-20. Amy received her gift on 03-15 and later changed her birthday to 03-21. Since Amy already has a record of receiving a gift, the new date she entered will be scheduled to send her gift on 2025-03-21.
If a customer changes their birthday before receiving a birthday gift, Ako Marketing will schedule the gift for the current year based on the updated date.
Example: Today is 2024-03-20. Amy originally entered her birthday as 04-01 but changed it to 03-25. Since Amy hasn't received a gift yet, her gift will be rescheduled to send on 03-25.
If a customer enters their birthday after missing the current year's birthday, Ako Marketing will not send birthday gift because the date is overdue. The customer can expect to receive the gift on the exactly same date next year.
Example: Today is 2024-03-20. Amy just added her birthday as 03-15. Since she missed the current year's birthday, her gift will be send out on 2025-03-15.