---
title: "Loyalty Rewards glossary"
slug: "loyalty-rewards-glossary"
updated: 2026-08-04T20:32:46Z
published: 2026-08-04T20:32:46Z
canonical: "help.skio.com/loyalty-rewards-glossary"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skio.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Loyalty Rewards glossary

> [!NOTE]
> This glossary covers the key terms and concepts used across Skio's Loyalty features, including tiers, credits, rewards, and referrals. Use it as a reference when configuring your loyalty program or reviewing analytics.

## A

### Anniversary credits

A credit reward earned once per year on the anniversary of a customer's loyalty membership. Configured under global credit earning rules.

### Available (reward state)

A reward that's ready to be applied. Rewards with no expiration stay in this state indefinitely until they're used.

### Applied (reward state)

A reward that was successfully applied to an order or subscription.

## B

### Birthday credits

A credit reward earned once per year on the customer's birthday. Requires the customer to have a date of birth on file.

## C

### Cancel Flow

A feature in Skio that helps you reduce churn by presenting targeted offers, like discounts, pauses, or product swaps, when customers attempt to cancel their subscription. Learn more about [Cancel Flow here](/help/docs/getting-started-with-cancel-flows).

### Create Account credits

Credits automatically awarded when a customer signs up for a loyalty account.

### Credit (variable order credit)

A reward type where customers earn credits proportional to how much they spend. You configure this as a number of credits per $1 spent (for example, "5 credits per $1 spent"). Reward type: `CREDIT`.

### Credit (fixed order credit)

A reward type where customers earn a flat number of credits per order, regardless of order value. For example, "50 credits per order." Reward type: `FIXED_CREDIT`.

### Credit application type

The source of a credit change in a customer's account. Common types include `ORDER_REWARD`, `BIRTHDAY`, `EXPIRED`, `REFERRAL`, and `CREDITS_PER_DOLLAR_SPENT`.

### Credit delta

The change amount in a single credit transaction. A positive value means credits were earned; a negative value means credits were spent or expired.

### Credit expiration

An optional setting that causes unused credits to expire after a configured number of months. When credits expire, a negative credit delta is recorded with the `EXPIRED` application type.

### Credit history

A log of all credit transactions for a given customer, including credits earned, spent, and expired. Each entry includes the credit delta and application type.

### Credit multiplier

A reward type that multiplies the credits a customer earns from other credit rewards. For example, a "2x credits" multiplier on a Gold tier doubles the credits earned per order. Configured with a multiplier value.

### Credit redemption

The process of spending accumulated credits. Customers can redeem credits in a few ways: as a Shopify discount code applied at checkout, as a direct credit applied to an existing subscription, or as a product.

> [!WARNING]
> *Product* redemptions are only available to customers with an active subscription. Customers without an active subscription can still redeem credits for a discount code at checkout.

### Credits name

A merchant-customizable label for your loyalty currency. You can rename "**credits**" to anything that fits your brand, like "**Points**" or "**Stars**."

### Credits per dollar spent

A global earning rule (not tied to a specific tier) where customers earn credits proportional to their order spend across the site. Configured as a rate, such as "`5 credits per $1 spent.`"

### Custom action credits

Credits earned through a merchant-defined earning action. Use this for non-standard engagement you want to reward, like completing a quiz or attending an event.

## D

### Date of birth credits

A one-time credit reward given when a customer enters their date of birth for the first time. This is separate from recurring birthday credits.

### Discount (reward type)

A reward type that applies a percentage or fixed-value discount to subscription orders. Configured with a `discountType` (`PERCENTAGE` or `FIXED`) and a `discountValue` (for example, "`10% off`" or "`$5 off`").

## E

### Exclusive content (reward type)

A reward type that grants access to gated content. This has no monetary value and is display-only, used to create a sense of exclusivity within higher tiers.

### Engagement rate

A metric in the **Credits daily interactions** table on the **Loyalty** > **Analytics** page that measures how actively customers are participating in your loyalty program. Engagement rate is calculated differently depending on the interaction type.

| Interaction | Definition | Formula |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Credits Rewarded** | Percentage of customers who received credits. Can exceed 100% if customers earn credits outside of orders. | `rewardedCustomers / allCustomerCount` |
| **Credits Redeemed** | Percentage of customers who used credit discounts in orders. | `redeemingCustomers / rewardedCustomers` |
| **Credits Expired** | Percentage of customers who had credits expire. | `expiredCustomers / storefrontUserCount` |

## F

### Failed (reward state)

A reward state indicating that the system attempted to apply the reward but the application was unsuccessful.

### Fixed credit

A reward type where customers earn a flat number of credits per order, regardless of order value. For example, "`50 credits per order`." Reward type: `FIXED_CREDIT`.

### Free product (reward type)

A reward type that adds a free product variant to the customer's subscription. Configured with a list of eligible product variant IDs.

### Free shipping (reward type)

A reward type that removes shipping costs from qualifying orders. No additional configuration is required.

## G

### Give credit

A legacy implementation of the fixed credit reward type. Functionally equivalent to fixed credit. Reward type: `GIVE_CREDIT`. Grouped with credit and fixed credit under the `ORDER_CREDIT_REWARDS` category.

### Global credit earning rules

Site-wide ways customers earn credits, independent of tier membership. These include earning actions like create account, credits per dollar spent, birthday, date of birth, anniversary, review, newsletter signup, SMS opt-in, custom action, and referral.

## M

### Max credits per order

A cap on how many credits a customer can redeem in a single order. Use this to control the maximum discount customers can generate through credit redemption.

### Min cart value for redemption

The minimum order value required before a customer can redeem credits. This prevents customers from using credits on very small orders.

## N

### Newsletter signup credits

Credits earned when a customer subscribes to your email newsletter.

## O

### On cycle (reward timing)

A reward timing setting where the reward fires on a specific order number within the customer's current tier. For example, you can configure a reward to fire on the customer's 3rd order in a tier.

### Once joining tier (reward timing)

A reward timing setting where the reward fires once, immediately when the customer enters a tier. Useful for welcome rewards or tier upgrade bonuses.

### Any order (reward timing)

A reward timing setting where the reward fires on every qualifying order while the customer remains in the tier. Stored internally as `tierCycle = -1`.

### Order credit rewards

A grouping that includes all three credit-based reward types: credit (variable), fixed credit, and give credit (legacy).

## P

### Product for credits

Specific product variants configured to be redeemable with credits. This lets you offer products that customers can "purchase" using their loyalty currency instead of money.

## R

### Recurring (reward order scope)

A reward scope setting that limits the reward to subscription renewal orders only.

### One-time (reward order scope)

A reward scope setting that limits the reward to one-time checkout orders only.

### Recurring and one-time (reward order scope)

A reward scope setting that applies the reward to both subscription renewals and one-time checkout orders.

### Referral credits

Credits earned when a customer successfully refers a new customer through the referral program.

### Review credits

Credits earned when a customer submits a product review.

### Reward milestone

A reward that unlocks at a specific order number. For example, you might configure a free product on a customer's 5th order.

### Reward order scope

Determines which order types a reward applies to. Options are: recurring only, one-time only, or both recurring and one-time.

### Reward state

The current status of a reward for a given customer. Possible states are available, applied, or failed.

### Reward timing

Controls when a reward fires relative to a customer's tier membership. Options include once joining tier, on cycle, and any order.

## S

### Site currency to credit rate

The conversion rate between your store's currency and loyalty credits. This determines how much each credit is "worth" when redeemed.

### SMS opt-in credits

Credits earned when a customer opts into receiving SMS messages.

### [Surprise & Delight](/help/docs/how-to-set-up-a-surprise-delight-rule)

A feature in Skio for configuring [reward milestones](/help/docs/reward-milestones-guide), which are rewards unlocked at specific order numbers to increase retention and customer lifetime value.

## T

### Tier cycle

The order count within a customer's current tier, starting at 1. This value determines when `ON_CYCLE` rewards fire. For example, if a reward is set to fire on cycle 3, it triggers on the customer's 3rd order within that tier.

### Tier expiration

A background job that expires a customer's tier membership after a configured period. When a tier expires, the customer may be moved to a lower tier or removed from the tier system.

### Tier level

A named loyalty rank within your program, such as Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Each tier level has its own set of associated rewards and benefits.

### Tier sync

A background process that evaluates customers against your tier criteria and promotes or demotes them between tiers accordingly.

## U

### Unlocked (milestone state)

Indicates that a customer has reached the required order number and earned a reward milestone.

### Upcoming (milestone state)

A milestone the customer hasn't reached yet. Displayed to the customer as motivation to continue purchasing.

## V

### Variable order credit

A reward type where customers earn credits proportional to how much they spend. You configure this as a number of credits per $1 spent (for example, "5 credits per $1 spent"). Reward type: `CREDIT`.

Cancel Flow is a feature in Skio that helps you reduce churn by presenting targeted offers—like discounts, pauses, or product swaps—when customers attempt to cancel their subscription.