How To Create a Birthday Rewards Program: Guide for SMBs

Birthday rewards typically give customers a limited-time offer, free gift, or discount to drive purchases—a birthday treat for them and a boost for your bottom line. 

Such rewards can help mitigate churn, particularly by spurring customers who made a one-time purchase to return. Research from Upside finds that 60% of uncommitted customers (i.e., non-brand-loyal) don’t return to a brand after their first purchase month. The same study estimates that a single additional visit per month from each of your uncommitted customers could increase monthly revenue by anywhere from 84% to 208%.

Below, you’ll discover what a birthday loyalty program entails, explore successful examples from other businesses, and learn how to create a birthday rewards program with Shopify. 

What are birthday rewards?

Birthday rewards are perks, gifts, or offers that customers receive from a business on or around their birthday. Examples include product discounts, free shipping, and gifts like sample packs or brand merch. 

These birthday treats are often part of a larger customer loyalty program within a brand’s customer retention strategy. Increased customer loyalty can drive higher conversion frequency, ultimately increasing customer lifetime value.

Examples of ecommerce birthday rewards

These birthday reward examples from other Shopify retailers can inspire your business’s approach:

• Magnolia Bakery.Magnolia Bakery offers newsletter subscribers 10% off on their birthday and $5 off during their birthday month to those who have signed up for the brand’s loyalty program. Dessert and confectionery brands are a great fit for birthday rewards, catering to those who celebrate with a sweet treat or cake for a party. 

• Gymshark.Gymshark gives customers 15% off their order as a birthday reward. There is no purchase minimum, and recipients have a month to use the reward. The only eligibility requirement for the reward is that the customer must be enrolled in Gymshark’s loyalty program. 

• Magnolia. Lifestyle brand Magnolia offers 25% off an order during a customer’s birthday month to Magnolia Perks members. 

• Tower 28. Tower 28 offers three gift options to customers for their birthdays: a travel-sized SOS Rescue Spray, a MakeWaves Mini Mascara, or a GetSet Powder Puff Duo. But they can only redeem the gift when making a purchase.

• Moon Juice. Wellness brand Moon Juice gives customers 250 rewards points on their birthday. In its customer loyalty system, every dollar spent earns a single point. These points ultimately correspond to purchase discounts, such as exchanging 400 points for a $15 order discount, making 250 points a high-value reward.

• Pot. Los Angeles–based pottery studio Pot offers a $5 birthday coupon that can be redeemed when signing up for classes at the studio or purchasing merchandise. 

• Cue. Women’s clothing retailer Cue offers a $25 birthday reward to Cue Club members, while Cue Club Black members receive a $50 reward and a 10% discount. Cue’s birthday reward is added to customer accounts seven days before their birthday, and is redeemable for 21 days after their birthday passes.

Factors to consider when creating a birthday rewards program

• Rewards timing and limitations
• Choosing a reward type
• Collecting and storing customer data

Here are some considerations to help shape your business’s birthday rewards program. 

Rewards timing and limitations

Consider how long you want to offer your reward or discount for. For example, you can offer a discount for the entire birthday month, giving the customer time to browse and make a selection. 

However, creating a sense of urgency can also encourage customers to make use of a fleeting opportunity. Balance these two elements to create a reward that’s likely to entice your customers—more expensive purchases such as clothing and home décor might need longer decision times than buying a meal to receive a free dessert. 

Choosing a reward type

There isn’t a single best reward type; efficacy varies from business to business. For example, a beauty brand might be able to offer a complimentary set of makeup brushes, while a business that sells high-priced electronics might benefit from offering a discount code to loyal customers. 

You can also consider offering tiered programs to appeal to different types of customers. For example, clothing brand Cue’s Club Black requires customers to spend $2,000 per year to maintain their membership, so it makes sense for their birthday reward to have a higher value than standard Cue Club members, for whom there is no annual purchase requirement. Tiered rewards can incentivize customers to spend more in order to level up and increase customer satisfaction by showing extra appreciation for higher spending.

Collecting customer data

Creating a birthday rewards program means collecting your customers’ dates of birth. This is personally identifiable information (PII), and like other personal customer details (email, addresses, payment details), should be stored securely and with controls on who can access it. 

When collecting customer birthdays, share why you’re collecting them or what you’ll use them for (“add your birthday to receive a 10% discount on all purchases during your birthday month”). You can collect this information during checkout, when customers create an account, or when they sign up for your newsletter, emails, or rewards program.

How to create a birthday rewards program using Shopify

• Collect customer birthday data
• Create customer segments for birthday rewards
• Create a birthday discount code or reward system
• Draft your reward delivery message

Learn how to create your own birthday rewards program using Shopify:

Collect customer birthday data

Shopify offers a custom birthday metafield to capture customer birthday information via Shopify Forms. This can be triggered via a pop-up when customers sign up for your newsletter, as part of your checkout sequence, or in a customer satisfaction survey.

Create customer segments for birthday rewards

Once you’ve collected your customers’ birth dates, you can use a birthday anniversary filter to create segments for sending automated emails. For example, you can create a segment of customers with birthdays in the next 30 days and a segment of those with birthdays in the next seven days. You can also create customer segments for different reward tiers if you choose to build that type of system.

Create a birthday discount code or reward system

Set up your birthday reward. You can issue discount codes, extra points, or offer birthday freebies with purchases. Use Shopify Flow to automatically trigger discounts with integrated apps such as LoyaltyLion, Smile.io, and Yotpo. 

Draft your reward delivery message

Once your segments are ready, craft an email or text reminding customers about their birthday reward. Shopify Messaging sends these out automatically. Don’t forget to include their name for an added personal touch.