Overview

In the Points program, you can reward customers on their birthday, making them feel valued and boosting engagement. Customize the Celebrate birthday earning rule to tailor the reward to fit your store’s goals and offer a memorable gift to your customers.

How to set up a birthday reward

In the Growave admin panel, go to Rewards → Points → Ways to earn.
Click Add ways to earn and select Celebrate birthday.
Optionally enable the birthday points multiplier by checking the Multiplier box and entering the multiplier value.
Note: This multiplier has the highest priority and applies automatically to purchases made on the customer’s birthday if the Place order earning rule is active. This gives loyal customers a one-day point boost and makes birthdays more rewarding. 📖 Learn more about point multipliers.
Configure the reward type. This default reward will be issued to all customers, who have a birth date registered with Growave. If you use VIP tiers and set up different birthday rewards for each tier, the default reward is still required for the Celebrate birthday rule as it will be issued to all eligible non-VIP customers.

Growave - Rewards - Points - Ways to earn - Celebrate birthday

Available birthday reward types

You can choose from the following reward options:

Points
Amount discount
Percentage discount
Free shipping
Free product
Gift card

Reward type configurations

Depending on the Reward type you select for the Celebrate birthday action, specific setup options will become available:

Reward type	Available configuration fields
Points	Point value: Define the exact number of points given upon meeting the criteria.
Amount discount	Discount value: The fixed monetary deduction amount. Set reward lifetime: The number of days the coupon code stays valid. Add prefix to discount codes: Custom code prefixes (e.g., VIP). Applies to: Apply to the Entire order or Selected collections. Set minimum purchase amount: The lowest cart total required to use the code. Allowed discount combinations: Toggle stacking with Order discounts, Product discounts, or Shipping discounts.
Percentage discount	Includes all identical configuration fields as the Amount discount option above.
Free shipping	Set reward lifetime: The expiration window for the reward code. Add prefix to discount codes: Custom prefix additions for the coupon string. Set minimum purchase amount: The cart total needed to unlock the free shipping. Set maximum free shipping rate: The cap limit on covered shipping costs. Eligible countries: Choose to apply to All countries or limit to Selected countries. Allowed discount combinations: Toggle stacking specifically with Order discounts or Product discounts.
Free product	Select product: Search and assign the individual product variant to be gifted. Discount value: Define whether it is 100% off or a partial item discount. Set reward lifetime: The code validity duration. Add prefix to discount codes: Custom prefix identifier text strings. Allowed discount combinations: Toggle stacking with Order discounts, Product discounts, or Shipping discounts.
Gift card	Gift card value: The monetary balance loaded onto the digital card. Set reward lifetime: Set code expiration timeframes.

How to set different birthday rewards for VIP tiers

If your store uses the VIP Tiers program (available on the Growth plan and above), you can offer exclusive, high-value birthday rewards based on a customer's tier status.

In the Growave admin panel, go to Rewards → Points → Ways to earn.
Select Celebrate birthday in the Actions section. Note: Click View all actions if you have multiple earning rules and it is not immediately visible.
Check the box for Set different rewards for different tiers.
Once enabled, the reward configuration card will appear. Customize the offerings for each specific tier:
- Select tier: Choose the VIP tier you want to configure from the dropdown menu (this starts with your lowest active tier by default).
- Reward type: Choose the specific reward you want to offer (e.g., Points) and set its value. The reward types and their configuration settings are described in the Reward type configurations section above.
- Add reward: Click Add reward to create a configuration card for the next VIP tier in your program. A counter next to the button will help you track how many tiers you have configured (e.g., "1 of 5 tiers").
- Delete a reward: Click the trash icon in the upper right corner of the reward card to remove it. Note: The trash icon is disabled if only one tier reward is configured. To remove it, simply uncheck the main Set different rewards for different tiers box.
Review the How it will work section in the sidebar to verify your logic is correct, and then click Save.

Growave - Rewards - Points - Ways to earn - Celebrate birthday - Custom rewards for VIP members.png

How VIP tier birthday rewards work

Understanding the rules for custom birthday rewards ensures a seamless experience for your customers:

Custom vs. default rewards: Members of a VIP tier with a custom birthday reward will not receive the default birthday reward. If you do not assign a special reward for a specific tier (or a newly created tier), those members will receive the default birthday reward.
Point multipliers: The following logic applies exclusively when your birthday reward is set to Points:
- If "Set different rewards for different tiers" is ENABLED: VIP tier multipliers are not applied to points issued as a birthday reward for any VIP tier, even those for which a special reward was not set up.
- If "Set different rewards for different tiers" is DISABLED: VIP tier multipliers work as usual and will be applied when issuing the default birthday reward in points.

⚠️ Important

If you deactivate the already configured setting:

All customers with their birth dates registered in Growave will receive the default birthday reward.
All special birthday rewards for VIP tiers will be reset and you will need to set them up from scratch.

✅ Pro tip

After configuring custom birthday rewards for VIP members, add relevant details into the Perks section of each tier, so customers can view them in your Rewards pop-up widget (VIP tiers section) and the Rewards page (VIP Tiers widget). Also consider updating your Rewards program FAQs.

Program updates and plan downgrades

Updating VIP Tiers: If you add a new VIP tier or delete the existing one from the Rewards → VIP Tiers tab, the Start recalculation banner will appear. You must start recalculation and wait for it to complete. Then go to Rewards → Points → Ways to earn, select Celebrate birthday action, toggle the Set different rewards for different tiers setting off and then back on to refresh the list of tiers.
Downgrading your plan: If you downgrade to a pricing plan where VIP Tiers are not available (e.g., from Growth to Entry), your tier-based birthday rewards will be disabled, but the standard Celebrate birthday rule will remain active with the default reward for all customers.
- Note: If any of your tier rewards were set to Gift card (available starting from the Growth plan), the entire birthday rule will be disabled upon downgrade and must be manually reactivated.

How birthday rewards are issued

The reward is issued automatically once per calendar year. Rewards are triggered at the start of the birthday date based on your Shopify store timezone settings.

If a customer enters their birthday after it has passed, the reward will be granted on their next birthday.
If they enter it on their actual birthday, the reward is issued immediately.

⚠️ Important

To help prevent abuse (e.g., customers creating multiple accounts to claim birthday rewards), we recommend:

Use points instead of fixed discounts: Points are less prone to abuse than cash-equivalent discounts.
Lower the reward amount: This helps deter fraudulent signups while still rewarding genuine customers.
Monitor customer activity: Check for suspicious patterns such as repeated IP addresses, matching names, or reused shipping info in Shopify admin panel → Customers.

How customers enter their birthday

Logged-in customers can enter their full birthdate (year, month, and day) in two places:

Through the Rewards pop-up widget → How to earn points → Celebrate birthday:
Through the Rewards page → Ways to earn points → Celebrate birthday:

Once submitted, the date is stored in the special Shopify metafield and used for future birthday rewards.

⚠️ Important

After a customer submits their birthday, they cannot edit it through the Rewards widget or the Rewards page. If a change is required, the store owner must update it manually in Growave admin → Customers → [select customer] → Birthday, or import birthday data in bulk.

How to enable birthday notifications

To send automated birthday reward emails:

In Growave admin panel, go to Rewards → Notifications.
Find the Birthday reward notification.
Toggle the switch to activate it.
Click the notification title to open the email editor.
Customize the email content as needed.

Growave - Rewards - Notifications - Birthday reward

⚠️ Important

The reward code shown in the editor is a placeholder for preview only. The actual email will dynamically include the reward type configured in the Celebrate birthday rule. If you are using different birthday rewards for VIP members, the email will automatically adapt the reward value for the customer's specific tier, though the text itself will not explicitly mention the VIP tier.

How to view or edit customer birthday data

You can manage customer birthday data from the Customers section:

In Growave admin panel, go to Customers.
Select a customer profile.
Use the Birthday field to set the birth date (if not added by a customer yet), view, or edit it. Once the birth date is entered into the system, it cannot be deleted via the admin panel.

FAQ

Can I trigger the birthday reward or email at the start of the customer’s birthday month?

Unfortunately, no. Growave’s Celebrate birthday rule is designed to trigger only on the customer’s actual birth date, not at the beginning of their birthday month.

This limitation also applies when using external integrations such as Klaviyo — the trigger event sent from Growave occurs on the birthday itself.

Why do test emails for the Celebrate birthday rule show a discount code section when my reward is points?

The discount code block in the email editor and test email is a placeholder for preview purposes only. The live birthday email will dynamically reflect the exact reward type you set in your Celebrate birthday rule. If your reward is point-based, the live email will not include a discount code; instead, it will link customers to your store where they can view the points credited to their account.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us at [email protected] or use the chat in the bottom-right corner of the Growave admin panel. We're happy to help 🤗!

How to reward customers on their birthday