Customer accounts are the foundation of your loyalty program, as most loyalty activity is tied to them. Only customers with an account can redeem points for rewards and access their VIP tier benefits.
To make full use of your programs, customers must be able to sign in. That’s why we recommend enabling customer account sign-in links in your Shopify settings before you set up your program.
When doing so, you’ll notice that Shopify offers two types of customer accounts:
New customer accounts (in Shopify now called “Customer accounts”) – A modern, password-free system where customers sign in using secure one-time codes.
Legacy accounts – The older, password-based system where customers must manually register and log in.
Both account types work seamlessly with Alpha Loyalty, but the way guest customers interact with your program is different depending on which type you use.
Feature | New accounts | Legacy accounts |
How accounts are created | Automatically (on sign-ins, after purchases, and other interactions with the store) | Customers must manually register |
Login method | One-time secure codes (no password) | Email + password |
Earning points on purchases | Works for all customers | Works for all registered customers. Disabled by default for guests, but can be enabled per points program. |
Redeeming rewards | Works for all customers after they sign in | Works for all registered customers. Guest customers can’t redeem rewards before they register an account. |