Point expiration lets Glow set a member's point balance to 0 after a period of inactivity. Use it when you want old unused point balances to stop staying active forever.
In Glow, an active member is a member with a point balance greater than 0, so point expiration can also help keep your active member count focused on customers who are still engaging with your store.
Before you turn on point expiration
Point expiration affects real customer balances. Before enabling it, make sure your policy is clear to customers and your team knows how expiration works.
When points expire, Glow creates an automatic points adjustment and sets the member's current balance to 0. If you need to correct a balance later, you can adjust the member's points manually.
Set the expiration window
In Glow, go to Settings > Account Settings.
Open the Behavior tab.
Under Point Expiration, choose one of the expiration windows:
- Never Expire - 3 Months - 6 Months - 12 Months - 24 Months
Review the activity reset settings.
Click Save Settings.
Glow checks for expired points once per day. Expiration is not instant at the exact minute a customer reaches the selected window.
Choose which activity resets the timer
The expiration timer is based on the member's last tracked loyalty activity date.
By default, point-earning events reset the expiration timer. You can uncheck specific point events if you do not want those events to keep a balance active.
For example, you may want birthday points to not reset the timer. That way, a customer who only receives birthday points each year can still have points expire after your configured inactivity period.
The reset settings include:
Lifecycle points, such as birthday, anniversary, and signup points.
Referral points.
Social earning points.
Integration points, such as Mailchimp, Judge.me, custom rewards, Stripe, and PayWhirl.
Some activity always resets the timer and cannot be excluded:
Purchases.
Manual point adjustments.
Reward redemptions.
Refund and return point activity.
What happens when points expire
When a member qualifies for expiration, Glow:
Finds members with a point balance greater than
0.Checks whether their last tracked activity is older than the selected expiration window.
Creates a negative point activity using the Manual activity type with the description Expiration.
Sets the member's current point balance to
0.Updates loyalty data that depends on the member's balance.
The member will no longer count as an active member after their balance reaches 0.
Set up an expiration notice email
Glow includes a Points Expiration Notice email template for warning members before their points expire.
Go to Settings > Email Templates > Points Expiration Notice to review the email and its timing.
The notice can be scheduled for:
3 Days before expiration
7 Days before expiration
14 Days before expiration
30 Days before expiration
If point expiration is set to Never Expire, the expiration notice will not be sent.
Common questions
Does logging in reset the expiration timer?
No. A login by itself is not one of the activity events shown in the expiration reset settings.
Do Shopify profile edits reset the timer?
Not by themselves. The expiration timer is based on activity Glow tracks for the loyalty member.
Can I make birthday points expire anyway?
Yes. Enable point expiration, then uncheck Birthday Points under Activity Events That Reset the Expiration Timer.
Can expired points be restored?
Yes, you can manually adjust a member's points if you need to correct a balance. Add a clear internal note so your team knows why the adjustment was made.
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