Top Customer Loyalty Apps for Shopify: Boost Engagement & Retention

In the competitive world of eCommerce, one of the most powerful ways to grow your business is by cultivating customer loyalty. Loyal customers not only make repeat purchases but also act as advocates for your brand, recommending your products to others. This can lead to an increase in customer lifetime value (CLV) and a more predictable revenue stream. Fortunately, Shopify provides a variety of tools that can help businesses like yours build and maintain strong customer loyalty programs. In this detailed guide, we’ll explore the top 10 customer loyalty apps for Shopify to help you drive engagement, retention, and ultimately, growth.

Top 10 Customer Loyalty Apps

Following are the top ten customer loyalty apps to boost customer engagement and retention on your Shopify store

1. Smile: Loyalty & Rewards

Smile: Loyalty & Rewards is one of the most popular customer loyalty apps for Shopify and is loved for its simplicity and ease of use. This app lets you build a customizable loyalty program using a points-based system that rewards customers for a variety of actions, including purchases, referrals, social media engagement, and more. Whether you're a small business or a large enterprise, Smile.io can be tailored to meet your needs.

Price: Free plan available; although paid plan starts at $49/month

Key Features

• Points Program: Allow customers to earn points with every purchase, social interaction, or referral. Points can be redeemed for discounts, free products, or other rewards.
• Referral Program: Encourage customers to refer their friends by rewarding both the referrer and the referee with points or discounts.
• VIP Tiers: Offer special benefits to your most loyal customers by creating VIP tiers. As customers accumulate points, they move up the ranks, unlocking better rewards and exclusive offers.
• Brand Customization: Smile.io allows you to match the loyalty program's design with your branding, ensuring a seamless customer experience.

Why It’s Great

Smile Loyalty & Rewards is highly rated for its flexibility, customization options, and easy integration with Shopify. It’s perfect for businesses looking to create a multi-faceted loyalty program that caters to different customer behaviors, from purchases to social media interactions.

2. LoyaltyLion

LoyaltyLion is a data-driven loyalty app that integrates seamlessly with Shopify, allowing you to create highly personalized customer loyalty programs. It’s ideal for businesses that want to go beyond traditional reward systems and leverage customer data to offer tailored incentives.

Price: Free plan available; although paid plan starts at $199 / month

Key Features

• Points and Rewards: Reward customers with points for purchases, social shares, and referring friends. Points can be redeemed for discounts or other special offers.
• Customer Insights: LoyaltyLion’s advanced analytics provide valuable insights into customer behavior, allowing you to optimize your loyalty strategy based on how customers interact with your brand.
• Customizable Programs: You can design loyalty programs that match your business goals, whether it’s to increase purchases, boost social engagement, or drive customer retention.
• Referral Program: Increase your customer base by offering rewards for customer referrals.

Why It’s Great

LoyaltyLion stands out with its robust analytics and the ability to track and measure customer behavior. It helps you target your rewards more effectively, making your loyalty program smarter and more efficient over time.

3. Yotpo Loyalty & Rewards

Yotpo Loyalty & Rewards is another Shopify loyalty app that helps businesses turn their customer base into loyal advocates. Yotpo integrates smoothly with Shopify, providing a powerful loyalty program emphasizing boosting customer engagement and increasing repeat purchases.

Price: Free plan available; although paid plan starts at $199 / month

Key Features

• Points Program: Reward customers for purchases, social media interactions, and more. Points can be redeemed for discounts, products, or exclusive experiences.
• Referral Program: Encourage customers to share your brand with their network by offering referral incentives.
• Reviews Integration: Yotpo also lets you leverage customer reviews as part of your loyalty program, increasing the trust and credibility of your products.
• Omnichannel Loyalty: Engage your customers across multiple platforms, including email, mobile apps, and social media.

Why It’s Great

Yotpo is a great solution for businesses looking to boost both customer engagement and social proof. By combining loyalty rewards with customer reviews, you not only encourage repeat purchases but also increase the trustworthiness of your products.

4. Marsello

Marsello offers a comprehensive customer loyalty program combined with powerful email marketing and automation features. It’s designed to not only reward your customers but also to engage them through personalized, automated communications that drive repeat purchases.

Price: Paid plan starts at $125 / month

Key Features

• Automated Loyalty Program: Reward customers automatically for their interactions with your brand, including purchases and social actions.
• Email Campaigns: Create automated email sequences based on customer behavior, such as reminders about loyalty points, special offers, or birthday rewards.
• Customer Segmentation: Segment customers based on their activity, purchase history, or loyalty status, allowing you to send personalized rewards and offers.
• Integrations: Marsello integrates with other Shopify apps and platforms, such as your email marketing tools and CRM.

Why It’s Great

Marsello’s integration of email marketing and automation sets it apart, as it allows you to nurture customer relationships more effectively. By automating reward distribution and communication, you can significantly improve retention rates.

5. Stamped Loyalty & Referrals

Stamped Loyalty & Referrals is a customer loyalty app that adds a fun and engaging element to your loyalty program with gamification. The app uses badges, leaderboards, and points accrual systems to make the process of earning rewards more interactive.

Price: Free plan available; although paid plan starts at $59 / month

Key Features

• Gamification: Offer badges and rank customers on leaderboards to encourage more interaction and engagement with your brand.
• Referral Program: Reward customers for referring their friends, with personalized rewards or discounts.
• Customizable Rewards: You can choose from a variety of reward options, including points, discounts, free products, or exclusive experiences.
• Email Marketing: Integrate loyalty rewards with your email marketing campaigns to create targeted messages for your customers.

Why It’s Great

Stamped Loyalty & Referrals gamification aspect makes it an excellent choice for businesses looking to create a more interactive loyalty program. It boosts engagement by tapping into customers’ competitive instincts and rewards them for their loyalty.

6. ShopKeeper Gift Cards

The Gift Cards & Loyalty Program by Shopkeeper is a great tool for Shopify merchants who want to offer gift cards as part of their customer loyalty program. This app allows customers to earn and redeem store credit, gift cards, or discounts, encouraging return visits.

Price: Paid plan starts at $9.99 / month

Key Features

• Gift card rewards: Issue gift cards to customers as part of your loyalty program, allowing them to redeem them for future purchases.
• Customizable loyalty program: Tailor your rewards program to suit your business needs, offering flexible options like discounts or free products.
• Seamless Shopify integration: Integrates smoothly with Shopify, making it easy to manage gift cards and loyalty rewards.

Why It’s Great

Gift cards and store credit are versatile rewards that can drive repeat business. By offering gift cards, you encourage customers to come back and spend their credit, increasing their lifetime value.

7. Recharge Subscriptions

Recharge Subscriptions is a great option for businesses offering subscription-based services or products. It combines subscription management with customer loyalty rewards, helping you create a recurring revenue model while keeping customers loyal.

Price: Free plan available; although paid plan starts at $99 / month

Key Features

• Subscription Management: Easily manage subscription billing, product deliveries, and customer preferences.
• Exclusive Loyalty Rewards: Offer discounts, special promotions, or exclusive rewards to your loyal subscribers.
• Customer Retention: Automatically reward customers who continue their subscriptions to ensure long-term loyalty.
• Customizable Plans: Create subscription plans with flexible pricing and reward options.

Why It’s Great

Recharge is perfect for businesses with a subscription model as it allows you to reward customers for their ongoing commitment. With subscription-based loyalty, you increase customer retention and predictable revenue.

8. Referral Candy & Affiliate

Referral Candy is one of the best apps for creating a referral program that rewards customers for bringing in new shoppers. By leveraging word-of-mouth marketing, Referral Candy helps you grow your customer base and enhance customer loyalty.

Price: Paid plan starts at $59/month

Key Features

• Customizable rewards: You can offer cash, discounts, or free products as rewards for successful referrals.
• Easy setup: Referral Candy is simple to set up and manage, making it ideal for businesses of all sizes.
• Referral tracking: The app provides detailed analytics to track how your referral program is performing.
• Automated referral emails: Automatically send out referral emails with links that customers can share with friends.

Why It’s Great

Referral Candy taps into the power of social proof and word-of-mouth marketing. Customers are more likely to trust recommendations from their peers, and by rewarding them for referring others, you encourage them to spread the word about your business.

9. Rise.ai: Gift Cards & Loyalty

Rise.ai focuses on using gift cards and store credit as part of its loyalty program, which can drive repeat purchases and increase customer lifetime value (CLV). This app is a great solution for merchants looking to offer flexible loyalty rewards.

Price: Paid plan starts at $19.99/month

Key Features

• Store credit: Issue store credit as a reward for specific actions, such as purchases or referrals.
• Gift card creation: Create customized gift cards that can be used as loyalty incentives.
• Automated rewards: Set up rules to automatically issue store credits or gift cards based on customer activity.
• Integration with Shopify: Rise.ai integrates seamlessly with Shopify, making it easy to manage credit and gift card rewards. 

Why It’s Great

Offering store credit or gift cards as part of your loyalty program gives customers an incentive to return to your store. These rewards can also help increase average order value (AOV) by encouraging customers to spend more during their next visit. 

10. Fivestars

Fivestars is a local loyalty app designed to help businesses grow customer loyalty through rewards and automated marketing. It allows you to create personalized loyalty campaigns and send automated offers to customers. 

Price: Paid plan starts at $19 / month

Key Features

• Automated Marketing: Send personalized messages to customers, encouraging repeat purchases and loyalty engagement.
• Local and Online Loyalty: Reward customers who engage with your business both in-store and online.
• Referral Program: Expand your customer base with a referral program that incentivizes customers to recommend your business.

Why It’s Great

Fivestars offers powerful marketing automation combined with local loyalty rewards, making it a top choice for businesses looking to drive repeat sales and engage with both local and online customers.

Conclusion

Choosing the right customer loyalty app for Shopify depends on your specific business needs and goals. Whether you need a points-based system, gamified experience, or subscription model, these apps can help increase retention and engagement. For dropshipping businesses, integrating Spocket as your supplier enhances the customer experience with high-quality products and fast shipping from US and European suppliers. By combining Spocket with the top customer loyalty apps, you can create personalized, engaging experiences that boost customer lifetime value (CLV) and drive revenue growth.