Loyalty Program Build on Smile.io and Rivo

The problem we solve with loyalty

Most D2C brands launch loyalty for the wrong reason. A founder reads that loyalty lifts repeat rate, the team installs Smile or Rivo over a weekend, configures point earn at 1 point per dollar, sets redemption at 100 points for 5 dollars off, and calls it live. Six months in nobody knows whether the program is working. The CFO sees 200 thousand in points liability on the balance sheet and asks why. The customer team hears complaints that points are stuck. Nobody owns the program.

The second pattern is brands that use loyalty as a discount mechanism. The program gives points for purchases and customers redeem them for money off the next purchase. That is not loyalty. That is a deferred discount. It rewards customers who were going to buy anyway and it erodes margin on every redemption. The programs that move the needle reward behavior that the brand wants more of, not behavior that was already happening.

The third pattern is a loyalty program that is technically functional but invisible. Customers earn points they do not know about. Email never mentions the program. The on site UI is buried. Post purchase thank you pages do not surface point balance. The program becomes a feature rather than a retention engine, and nobody is surprised when repeat rate does not move.

Our approach to a loyalty program build

1. Program strategy. What behaviors does the brand want more of. Referral, repeat purchase, reviews, social follows, subscription signup. Points are allocated to behaviors that matter, not to dollars spent.
2. Platform selection. Smile versus Rivo based on stack, tier complexity, and admin team skill. Decision documented.
3. Earn and redemption math. Point economy modeled against projected liability and margin. Redemption options balanced between discounts, free products, and experiences.
4. Tier design when applicable. Two or three tiers with entry thresholds that are achievable for engaged buyers and meaningful status for top buyers. Tier perks include early access, free shipping, and surprise gifts.
5. Klaviyo integration. Loyalty events flow as metrics and properties. Welcome to program, points balance reminder, tier up, reward expiring, and redeemed flows all live.
6. Launch campaign and ongoing communication. Launch email, launch SMS when applicable, landing page copy, on site banners, and post purchase surfaces.

What you get

▸ Program strategy document covering behaviors, earn rules, and redemption structure. ▸ Platform recommendation with scoring. ▸ Point economy model with liability projection and margin impact. ▸ Tier design with perks, thresholds, and transition logic. ▸ Earn and redemption configuration in Smile or Rivo. ▸ Klaviyo flow library with six to eight loyalty flows live. ▸ Landing page, on site widget, and checkout surfaces reviewed and updated. ▸ Launch campaign plan covering email, SMS, and on site. ▸ Reporting dashboard covering enrollment, redemption rate, repeat rate of enrolled members, and tier distribution.

Timeline

Phase one, weeks one to two. Strategy, platform selection, point economy model, and tier design.

Phase two, weeks three to four. Platform configuration, Klaviyo wiring, and flow build. All flows in QA by end of week four.

Phase three, week five. Launch campaign assets built, landing page live, on site widgets deployed.

Phase four, week six. Launch, watch, and handover. Daily monitoring of enrollment rate and redemption trends for 14 days.

Mini case anatomy

A mid tier apparel brand running on Shopify launched loyalty with us after seven years of operating without a program. Repeat rate sat around 28 percent. They wanted to push past 35.

We built the program around non monetary rewards. Points for reviews, referrals, and subscription signup weighted higher than points for purchases. Three tier structure with the top tier getting early access to drops, which mattered more to their community than dollar discounts. Redemption options included experiences and branded merchandise, not only money off.

Within six months repeat rate climbed by roughly 9 points. Loyalty members repeated at roughly 1.8 times the rate of non members. Points liability stayed within the modeled range because redemption skewed toward experiences and free products rather than cash discounts, which kept margin intact. For the LTV framing see ecommerce customer lifetime value.

Loyalty pairs well with winback program because reactivation offers can include bonus points. It also pairs with SMS program launch for drop alerts to top tier members. Brands running subscriptions should look at subscription CRM. If the email foundation is weak start with Klaviyo implementation. Everything ladders up to the retention marketing hub. For the post purchase touchpoints that drive repeat buying see post purchase experience for repeat buyers.

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