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Balance sheet

Points expiry: the brake that keeps your programme affordable

Every point issued is a promise. Without a validity period the sum of those promises keeps growing for years, including for customers who stopped buying long ago. An expiry period turns it into a capped figure - and into a reason to drop by again.

Why there has to be a deadline

Points in circulation are money that is not yours yet

If the dashboard shows 1.6 million points in circulation and 100 points are worth one euro, then it shows 16,000 euros your customers can redeem at any time. That figure grows every month in which more is issued than redeemed.

  1. 1On the dashboard, the Points outstanding tile shows the euro value as a liability.

365
days of validity by default
14
days of reminder lead time
30
days throttle between emails
daily
when it is checked

A validity period caps that sum. Whatever is not redeemed within a year drops out - and with it part of a liability that otherwise never gets smaller.

Most of it belongs to customers who are not coming back

In every programme balances accumulate with customers who bought once and then stopped. Those points will never be redeemed but sit permanently on the balance sheet - and distort every statement about what the programme really costs.

With a deadline they disappear by themselves after a year. The figure on the dashboard then describes the customers who are actually still active.

The reminder is the actual gain

Fourteen days before expiry an email goes out: "Your points expire soon." It has something no newsletter has - a real, personal reason and a deadline that is not made up.

  1. 1In the customer account a box announces how many points expire and when.

For many shops that is the email with the highest return rate of the whole year. Expiry is not the purpose here but the occasion.

How expiry calculates exactly

Every credit ages on its own

Points do not expire as a total balance but portion by portion. Every credit is its own lot with its own expiry date, counted from the day of booking. Redemption always draws from the oldest lot first.

  1. 1On every redemption the Covered from card shows which packages paid for it.

Deadline
from the booking date, not the order date
Order
oldest lot first - so as little as possible expires
Counter-booking
whatever expires becomes a booking of its own
Balance
never overwritten, always recalculated

If you change the validity later, it only applies to lots created afterwards. Lots already booked keep their original lifetime - so no customer ever loses time retroactively.

One email, not seven

Customers often hold several lots that expire shortly after one another. Two rules stop that from becoming an email flood: all lots within the lead window are combined into a single email, and out of the box at least 30 days lie between two reminders to the same customer.

Anyone who unsubscribes from the reminders keeps collecting and loses nothing - they simply stop receiving emails. The unsubscribe link is in every message.

It works without expiry too

Expiry can be switched off entirely. Points then stay valid indefinitely. That is the most customer-friendly setting and at the same time the one where you should watch the liability on the dashboard particularly closely.

A middle path is a long deadline, say 24 or 36 months: active customers never notice it, and the balance still cleans itself up.

What you set for this

The settings for this use case

Four settings govern deadline, reminder and rhythm.

SettingDefaultWhat for
Activate points expiryonmaster switch
Validity in days365lifetime of a lot
Lead time before expiry14when the email goes out
Throttle between reminders30protection against email floods

Where to find them in the settings (loyalty menu on the left under System → Settings):

  1. 1Points expiry card → Enable points expiry

  2. 2Points expiry card → Validity in days

  3. 3Expiry reminder card → Lead time before expiry (days)

  4. 4Expiry reminder card → Throttle between reminders (days)

Points expiry and the reminder email belong to the Business plan. The expiry period applies shop-wide; a value differing per sales channel does not take effect for order points.

Read the whole manual →

Common questions

Common questions on this topic

Do points have to expire?

No. Expiry can be switched off, and points then stay valid indefinitely. With a deadline the open liability stays capped and you gain an honest occasion for a reminder email.

When does the deadline start?

On the day of the credit, not on the order date. Every credit is its own lot with its own expiry date; redemption always draws from the oldest one first.

What happens if I change the deadline later?

The new deadline only applies to lots booked afterwards. Lots already booked keep their original lifetime - nobody loses time retroactively.

Does a customer get several reminders?

Only in exceptional cases. All lots expiring within the lead window are combined into one email, and out of the box at least 30 days lie between two reminders to the same customer.

Can a customer unsubscribe from the reminders?

Yes, through the unsubscribe link in the email. They keep collecting and lose no points - they simply receive no more notifications.

Other use cases
Repeat business

Winning regular customers

Why a growing point balance outlasts the next voucher - and what a customer year actually costs.

Read on → Margin

Rewards, not discounts

Why a product as a reward costs the shop less than the same amount in discount - and when a discount is still the right answer.

Read on → Frequent buyers

Loyalty tiers

Four tiers with a rising multiplier, a rolling score window and a grace period that softens a drop.

Read on →

Try the loyalty program in your own shop

The plugin installs free of charge from the Shopware Store. Earning points, the dashboard and the customer account run straight away, no purchase needed.

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