How does a legacy platform's built-in loyalty/rewards module map to Smile.io or LoyaltyLion on Shopify, and what program rules commonly don't survive the switch?
Short answer
Smile.io and LoyaltyLion move a legacy loyalty module's points balances and tier positions by file, not its program (Smile Help Center, LoyaltyLion Help Center, October 2026). Earning rules, reward catalogs and the exchange rate get rebuilt by hand. Expiry clocks split, because a Smile.io import restarts them (Smile Help Center) while LoyaltyLion's date column can keep them (LoyaltyLion Help Center).
- Smile.io points import
- Only email and points columnsSmile: "Your file must include only the following two column headers". CSV imports are not reversible, and rows whose email matches no customer are skipped (October 2026).Source: Smile Help Center (Import points via CSV file)
- LoyaltyLion points import
- Email or customer ID, points, optional dateThe date sets when imported points take effect and, if points expire, when they expire. A points import can be reverted for 90 days (October 2026).Source: LoyaltyLion Help Center (Imports)
- Tier imports
- Both apps, under different rulesSmile.io: by CSV on Growth and up, upgrades only, no entry rewards. LoyaltyLion: run by its support team, as a placement or a dated progression (October 2026).Sources: Smile Help Center (Change customer VIP tier); LoyaltyLion Help Center (Imports)
- Smile.io at 10,000 monthly orders
- $1,699 on Growth, $1,124 on PlusGrowth is $199 for 2,500 orders plus $20 per 100; Plus is $999 a month billed annually for 7,500 plus $5 per 100 (Deploi arithmetic from the figures above).Source: Smile.io (Pricing & Plans)
Deploi’s call
A legacy loyalty module maps to Smile.io or LoyaltyLion as points balances and tier positions, while the rules and rewards around them are rebuilt by hand and their history stays behind. Loyalty migration is a liability reconciliation with a spreadsheet attached. The import is the quick part; the rule rebuild and the exchange-rate decision are the slow part, and only one of those appears in most project plans.
BuyImport balances and tiers into Smile.io or LoyaltyLion when
- Members redeemed in the last year, so the balances are a live liability that customers will check.
- The legacy balances are points, which both apps import from a file (Smile Help Center, LoyaltyLion Help Center, October 2026).
- Finance can tie the exported total to its own liability figure on the freeze date.
- Tiers matter to your best customers: Smile.io imports tier upgrades on Growth and up, and LoyaltyLion imports placement or dated progress (Smile Help Center, LoyaltyLion Help Center, October 2026).
WaitHold the balance import when
- The new program's earning rules or exchange rate are still undecided, so imported balances would be revalued after launch.
- The legacy balance is dollars: Shopify store credit takes it as dollars, under $15,000 USD per customer account (Shopify Help Center, October 2026).
- The storefront cutover is still in flight; Deploi's Smile.io vs. LoyaltyLion record says to freeze earning during cutover and communicate dates early (Deploi Build vs. Buy, October 2026).
Basis: Smile.io vs. LoyaltyLion: Which Points Program Pays?, our Build vs. Buy decision record, scored BUY.
What do Smile.io and LoyaltyLion import from a legacy loyalty module?
Smile.io and LoyaltyLion import points balances and tier positions from a legacy loyalty module, and neither imports past orders. Loyalty is one layer of mapping a legacy platform's apps onto Shopify, and its import surface is smaller than most migration plans assume. Both apps take a comma-separated values (CSV) file and skip rows that match no Shopify customer, so customers go into Shopify first (Smile Help Center, LoyaltyLion Help Center, October 2026).
| Import | Smile.io | LoyaltyLion |
|---|---|---|
| Points file | Only two columns: email and points | Email or store customer ID, and points; optional reason and date |
| Undoing a points import | Not reversible | Revert within 90 days |
| Tier positions | CSV of emails and tier names on Growth and up; upgrades only, no entry rewards | Placement or dated progression file, run by LoyaltyLion support |
| Expiry clock after import | Restarts, because an import counts as activity; expiry runs on Growth and up | Set by the optional date column |
| Past orders | Not imported | Not imported |
Which loyalty program rules don't survive the switch?
Six parts of a legacy loyalty program don't survive the switch to Smile.io or LoyaltyLion intact, because the import files carry balances and tiers, not rules or history. Two are clocks that only LoyaltyLion's dated imports can keep; the other four are rebuilt by hand or lost.
- Earning rules. Points per dollar, category multipliers, bonus events and birthday awards are re-authored in the new app's rule builder.
- Redemption catalog. Rewards, discount values and the exchange rate are rebuilt. If 100 points was $5 on the old platform and the new app is set at $4, you have quietly devalued every balance you just imported.
- Expiry schedules. On Smile.io an import counts as activity, so every imported balance starts a fresh expiry period (Smile Help Center, October 2026). On LoyaltyLion the import's date column sets when points expire, so you can keep the old clock.
- Referral records. Who referred whom, and rewards still owed, sit in neither import, so referral records need their own export and liability decision.
- Tier clocks. LoyaltyLion's placement import starts customers at the minimum qualifying value for their tier, so their tier period restarts. A dated progression import carries their past spend or points, which age the way their future activity will (LoyaltyLion Help Center, October 2026).
- Redemption history. Neither import carries it, so support can no longer answer "what did I redeem last year" from inside the app.
What do Smile.io and LoyaltyLion cost at mid-market volume?
At mid-market volume Smile.io costs $199 a month plus overage on Growth, or $999 a month billed annually on Plus, while LoyaltyLion quotes every plan above its $199 Classic (Smile.io pricing, LoyaltyLion pricing, October 2026). Both price by monthly orders, so a $20M to $500M merchant pays for volume rather than features. Smile.io quotes only Enterprise, for retailers over $40M in annual revenue.
| Plan line | Smile.io | LoyaltyLion |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Up to 200 monthly orders | Up to 400 monthly orders |
| Entry paid plans (USD a month) | Essential $15 to 500 orders; Standard $79 to 1,000 | Classic $199, 500 orders included |
| Mid-market plans (USD a month) | Growth $199 for 2,500 orders, then $20 per 100; Plus $999 billed annually for 7,500, then $5 per 100 | Advanced and Plus, quoted |
| Largest plan | Enterprise, quoted, for retailers over $40M in annual revenue | Plus, quoted |
| App Store rating | 4.9 stars, 4,624 reviews | 4.6 stars, 543 reviews |
Smile.io's Growth overage is the arithmetic to run before you shortlist: $20 per 100 orders past 2,500 is $200 for every extra 1,000 orders a month. At 10,000 monthly orders Growth comes to $1,699 a month and Plus to $1,124. So past about 6,500 orders, Plus is the cheaper Smile.io plan (Deploi arithmetic from the figures above).
What sequence keeps customers' loyalty balances whole?
A freeze, an export on the freeze date and a reconciliation keep customers' loyalty balances whole, because they make the imported total match finance's number. Deploi's Smile.io vs. LoyaltyLion record gives the same advice for any loyalty move: freeze earning during cutover and communicate dates early (Deploi Build vs. Buy, October 2026).
- Freeze earning on the legacy module and announce a short blackout. Two or three days is enough, and it is honest.
- Export balances on the freeze date, not before. LoyaltyLion advises importing "Close to launch", because points earned with the old provider after the export are missing from the file (LoyaltyLion Help Center, October 2026).
- Reconcile the total points liability against finance's number. Loyalty balances are a balance sheet item, and this is the one moment the two systems can be tied out exactly.
- On Smile.io, import tiers before points if your tiers count points earned. A points import that lifts a customer into a new tier pays that tier's entry reward (Smile Help Center, October 2026), while a tier import pays none (Smile Help Center).
- Configure the rules and test redemption end to end on a real order. Keep the new program switched off until the store is live, so test orders don't mint real points.
- Launch with a message that states the new exchange rate explicitly, especially if it changed.
When should you not migrate the loyalty balances at all?
Skip the balance import when the legacy program is dormant or its balances are dollars, because in both cases a points import moves the wrong thing.
Deploi’s point of view
Our own position, from building on Shopify. Kept apart from the sourced facts above.
- What we’ve seen
- The blackout window is where goodwill leaks. Customers tolerate a pause they were told about and escalate a balance that silently changed.
- Where we disagree
- Both vendors market migration as supported, which is true and misleading in the same breath. Supported means balances and tier positions. Everything a merchandiser thinks of as "the program" is re-authored by hand.
- What this page adds
- the exact columns each app's import files accept as of October 2026, what each import does to tier and expiry clocks, and the program rules that reach Shopify only as a rebuild.
Decision records behind this answer
When this answer changes
- Smile.io or LoyaltyLion adds imports for order history, referral records or redemption history.
- Smile.io opens VIP tier imports below its Growth plan, or allows tier downgrades by import.
- LoyaltyLion changes its 90-day revert window, or lets merchants run tier imports themselves.
- Smile.io or LoyaltyLion changes its plan prices or order allowances, today Growth at $199 for 2,500 orders and Classic at $199 for 500.
- Shopify launches a native loyalty program, which would change this question's premise.
Related questions
This follows from How do we map a legacy platform's subscription-app integration to Recharge, Skio, or Loop Subscriptions, given the 2026 Recharge-Skio acquisition uncertainty?
- How do I migrate loyalty program points/tiers/history to Shopify during a full replatform?
Loyalty point balances and current tiers migrate to the loyalty app on the new Shopify store by file import; earning and redemption history does not.
- What review-and-UGC plugin functionality maps to Yotpo, Okendo, or Judge.me on Shopify, and how do star ratings/photos actually transfer?
Star ratings, review text and dates move into Judge.me, Okendo or Yotpo by comma-separated values (CSV) file, but photos, videos and verified badges do not always follow (Judge.me Help Center, Yotpo Support, October 2026).
- How do customer referral-program records (who referred whom, referral rewards owed) migrate as customer metadata during a platform switch?
Referral records don't migrate into Shopify as customer metadata, because Shopify has no referral object: its customer import has no referral column (Shopify Help Center, October 2026).
- What's the migration path for Lightspeed's built-in customer loyalty program if Shopify has no native loyalty equivalent?
Lightspeed X-Series loyalty is a dollar balance, not points, so its closest Shopify home is native store credit (Lightspeed X-Series support, October 2026).
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these. Official and vendor pages are checked on the date shown; Deploi records are our own published decisions.
- Smile Help Center, Import points via CSV file
- Smile Help Center, Change customer VIP tier
- Smile Help Center, Understand points expiry
- Smile Help Center, Award points on previous purchases
- LoyaltyLion Help Center, Migrating from a different loyalty program
- LoyaltyLion Help Center, Imports
- Smile.io, Smile: Loyalty Program Rewards on the Shopify App Store
- LoyaltyLion, LoyaltyLion Loyalty Program on the Shopify App Store
- Smile.io, Pricing & Plans
- LoyaltyLion, Pricing
- Shopify Help Center, Store credit
- Deploi Build vs. Buy, Smile.io vs. LoyaltyLion: Which Points Program Pays?