A membership gives customers benefits for as long as they belong: member prices, member shipping, store credit each billing period, members-only products and pages, and slots in a rental queue. You decide what each level gets with tiers, then sell a tier with a membership plan or a one-time product, or add members yourself.
Tiers #
Open Memberships and the Tiers tab, then Add tier. “A tier is what members get: member prices, shipping, store credit, members-only products and pages.”
| Section | Fields |
|---|---|
| Tier | Name (customers see it in their account, on the Members page and in emails), Handle (made from the name when empty) and Customer tag (member-<handle> when empty). |
| Member pricing | Discount: None, Percentage off, Amount off each item or Member price. Applies to: All products, Products in collections or Products with tags. |
| Member shipping | As usual, Free shipping or Percentage off shipping. |
| Store credit | Store credit each billing period (“Given when each renewal is paid.”), Expires after (days) and Most unused credit carried over. |
| Members-only | Members-only products, Members-only collections and Members-only pages (handles). See Members-only products, pages and the Members page. |
| Rental queue | Items out at a time (0 when the tier has no rental queue, up to 50) and Swaps each billing period. See The rental queue. |
| Sold as a one-time product | Products that start a membership of this tier when bought once, with a Length or Lifetime. |
The order of the tiers is their rank: “a customer with two tiers gets the benefits of the higher one.” Use Move up and Move down; the first tier is the highest. Member prices and member shipping work for up to 20 tiers.
Three ways to become a member #
- A membership plan: on the Plans page, create a plan of type Membership and choose its Membership tier. The membership runs while the subscription does. See Subscription plans and the plan editor.
- A one-time product: add products under the tier’s Sold as a one-time product. Buying one starts a membership for the length you set, or for life. Buying it again while still a member adds the length on.
- Added by staff: on the Members tab, Add member: choose the customer, the Tier and an optional end date.
The list shows the Source of each membership: Subscription, One-time purchase, Added by staff or API.
What members get #
- Member prices and shipping apply at checkout when the member is signed in, through the app’s checkout functions. They carry on to every renewal of the member’s subscriptions.
- Store credit goes to the member’s Shopify store credit when each renewal is paid. It is applied at checkout when they’re signed in. Unused credit can expire after the days you set, and the carry-over can be capped. Store credit needs new customer accounts.
- The customer tag: every member gets the common tag (“member” by default) and the tier’s tag while the membership is active, for your own segments, discounts and Flow.
- Members-only products and pages, and the rental queue, from the tier.
Members see their tier, benefits and store credit on the Membership tab of their account and on the Members page.
Membership states #
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Active | Benefits on. |
| Grace period | A membership payment failed. Benefits stay on for the members’ grace period. |
| Suspended | Benefits off: the grace period ran out, or the subscription is paused. |
| Ended | The subscription ended, the length ran out, the order was refunded or staff ended it. Store credit already given stays on the customer’s account. |
Settings › Memberships #
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Grace period for members (days) | 7 | How long members keep their benefits while a membership payment is overdue. 0 to 60. |
| Suspend benefits while a membership subscription is paused | On | “Off: members keep their benefits during a pause.” |
| Common customer tag | member | “Every member gets this tag, and each tier’s tag starts with it (for example member-gold). Leave it empty for no common tag.” |
| Join link (optional) | Empty | Where the Members only and Members content blocks send customers who aren’t members. Empty: the Members page. |
One membership #
Click a member to open the membership: its tier, dates, source, the Customer record in Shopify sync, Store credit with its Credit history, and the Activity. Actions: End membership, Change end date and Adjust store credit (a negative amount takes credit back). A membership sold by a subscription follows it: “it ends when the subscription ends.”
Changing tier #
A member who changes to a membership plan that sells another tier (with Change frequency in their account, or Change plan on the subscription’s page) changes tier:
- Up (a dearer plan): the new tier starts at once. When the billing period stays the same, the difference for the days left in the cycle is added to the next charge as a “Plan change” line. Otherwise the new price starts with the next charge.
- Down: “You keep your current benefits until your next charge.” The lower tier starts when that charge is paid.
- Same price: at once, with nothing to pay.
Good to know #
- Checkout functions on the Tiers tab shows whether Member pricing and the Members-only check at checkout are on.
- A tier can’t be deleted while it has members or a membership plan sells it.
- Export CSV on the Members tab downloads the memberships that match your filters.
