Would you like to reward your customers for every purchase in your WooCommerce store? RewardsWP connects to WooCommerce to award points on orders, show points on product pages, and turn redeemed rewards into WooCommerce coupons.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how the integration turns on and what it does at each step of an order.
- Checking the Integration Status
- Showing Points on Product Pages
- How Do Orders Earn Points?
- How Do Refunds Take Points Back?
- Earning Points for Product Reviews
- Turning Rewards Into WooCommerce Coupons
- Showing Rewards After Checkout
- Turning Customers Into Advocates
- Running VIP Tiers on WooCommerce
- Which WooCommerce Features Are Supported?
- FAQ
Before you get started, make sure RewardsWP is installed and activated on your WordPress site, and that WooCommerce is active.
Checking the Integration Status
The WooCommerce integration turns on by itself when WooCommerce is active on your site. There’s nothing to set up.
From your WordPress admin sidebar, go to RewardsWP » Settings. Then click the Integrations tab.
In the WooCommerce section, an Active badge appears beside the name. Under Integration Status, a message says the integration has been automatically enabled.
The toggle is locked because the integration follows the WooCommerce plugin. To turn the integration off, deactivate WooCommerce.
RewardsWP works with one store at a time. If WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads are both active, RewardsWP uses WooCommerce.
Next, we’ll look at how the integration shows points on product pages.
Showing Points on Product Pages
On each product page, RewardsWP shows a banner under the product title and price. It tells the visitor how many points they earn when they buy that item. That way, the reward is clear before they add it to the cart.
The number comes from the Make a purchase earn rate, which you set in RewardsWP » Settings » Points. For a VIP member, the banner includes their tier’s points multiplier.
The message depends on who is viewing the page:
- Members, and guests when guest participation is on, see “Earn [number] points when you buy this item.”
- When the program is for members only, visitors who aren’t members see “Sign in to earn [number] points when you buy this item.” The Sign in text is a link.
The banner follows the Earns on setting of Make a purchase. A product that earns no points shows no banner.
For more on earn rates, see Earning points from purchases.
Next, we’ll look at how orders earn points.
How Do Orders Earn Points?
When a customer places an order, its points wait as pending points. RewardsWP approves them when the order reaches a status that shows the customer paid.
Here’s what each WooCommerce order status does:
- Processing: Approves the order’s points. This is the usual status for card and PayPal payments.
- Completed: Approves the order’s points. This is the usual status for Cash on Delivery orders that you mark complete later.
- On hold: Keeps the points pending while you wait for the payment, such as a bank transfer.
- Cancelled or Failed: Removes the order’s pending points, because the order ended unpaid.
- Refunded: Takes the order’s points back, as the next section explains.
If an order goes straight from pending to completed, the customer still gets the points one time only. RewardsWP keeps track of which orders it already credited. It never awards the same order twice.
RewardsWP also approves points when WooCommerce confirms a payment is complete. This covers payment gateways that skip the usual status changes.
Next, we’ll cover what happens when you refund an order.
How Do Refunds Take Points Back?
When you refund an order in WooCommerce, RewardsWP takes back the points the order earned:
- Full refund: RewardsWP takes back the order’s purchase points and any first-order points. Birthday and referral points stay with the customer.
- Partial refund: RewardsWP takes back only the points the refunded items earned. Refunding an item that earned no points takes nothing back. Refunding only shipping takes no points either.
- More than one refund: However many partial refunds you make, RewardsWP never takes back more than the order earned. Refunding the rest of an order after a partial refund takes back only what’s left.
- Refund while points are pending: A partial refund updates the order’s pending points. When the order is paid, RewardsWP approves only the points for what the customer kept.
If the customer already spent the points, the refund still takes them back. Their balance then goes negative. They can redeem again once they earn it back.
Each adjustment is logged in the customer’s activity. That gives you and the customer a clear record of it.
Next, we’ll look at how product reviews earn points.
Earning Points for Product Reviews
When you turn on Write a product review under Ways to Earn, the integration also awards points for approved WooCommerce product reviews.
You’ll find Ways to Earn in RewardsWP » Settings » Points.
Customers can review the products they bought with the review form on the product page. Members can also review them inside the rewards widget.
On the product page, the review form shows a signed-in member how many points their review earns when it’s approved. Visitors who aren’t signed in see nothing extra.
A review earns the same points whatever its rating, good or bad. We recommend that you tell customers reviewers earn points. Put that note near your reviews and your average rating. See the FTC’s questions and answers on the reviews rule. This isn’t legal advice.
Review points use WooCommerce’s own product reviews. When product reviews are turned off in WooCommerce, the review action doesn’t show in the rewards widget.
To set up review points and see what customers see, read Earning points from product reviews.
Next, we’ll cover how redeemed rewards become WooCommerce coupons.
Turning Rewards Into WooCommerce Coupons
When a customer redeems points for a reward, RewardsWP creates a standard WooCommerce coupon. It works like any other WooCommerce discount code:
- Fixed discount rewards become a Fixed cart discount coupon.
- Percentage discount rewards become a Percentage discount coupon.
- Free shipping rewards become a coupon that allows free shipping.
- Free product rewards become a discount on the chosen product, for one item.
Limiting a Reward to Some Items
Fixed and percentage discount rewards have an Applies to setting. It chooses the items the coupon discounts.
To find it, open the reward’s drawer under Ways to Redeem in RewardsWP » Settings » Points.
Under Entire order, click Exclude items to keep items such as gift cards out of the discount. Exclude items works on any reward that has Applies to.
You can also turn on Exclude sale items. Items already on sale then keep their sale price. The rest of the cart still gets the discount.
When it’s off, items on sale get the discount too. Turn it on if you don’t want a reward to add to a discount you already give.
To discount only the items you pick, choose Specific items. Then add products or categories under Include. Applying a reward to specific items is available on the Plus and Pro plans.
When you finish, click Done to close the drawer. Then save your changes from the save bar.
A rule can name products, categories, tags, and brands. Brands and Exclude sale items are only available with WooCommerce.
At checkout, the coupon discounts only the matching items. If the cart holds none of them, WooCommerce shows a message that says why.
A fixed discount reward keeps its discount on the matching items with WooCommerce 8.8 or later. Older versions spread it over the whole cart. The reward’s drawer then shows a warning.
See Excluding products from rewards and points.
Next, we’ll look at where these reward coupons appear in WooCommerce.
Finding Reward Coupons in WooCommerce
Every coupon RewardsWP creates appears in your WooCommerce coupon list.
To see them, go to Marketing » Coupons in your WordPress admin sidebar.
Each coupon is easy to spot and can only be used one time:
- Its code has a prefix. Redeemed rewards start with your points name, such as points-. VIP entry rewards start with vip-, and referral rewards start with advocate- or friend-.
- Its description says RewardsWP generated it, and for a rule-based reward, what it applies to.
- Its usage limit is one. After the customer uses the code, it can’t be applied again.
Next, we’ll look at what customers see after checkout.
Showing Rewards After Checkout
The rewards widget stays off the checkout page. Customers can then finish paying without distraction.
After a successful order, the thank you page shows a rewards section. It lists the points from the order, the customer’s balance, and any pending points.
This section reminds customers of the program right after they buy. It gives them a reason to come back.
If nothing in the order earns points, the section doesn’t appear.
Next, we’ll look at how customers become advocates.
Turning Customers Into Advocates
The integration can make customers advocates in your referral program after they buy. This happens when an order reaches one of these statuses:
- Completed
- Processing
- On hold
Advocate conversion is separate from points. On-hold orders make the customer an advocate while their points stay pending. That way, a customer waiting on a bank transfer can start referring friends right away.
Next, we’ll look at how VIP tiers run on WooCommerce.
Running VIP Tiers on WooCommerce
WooCommerce is one of the two stores the VIP Program can run on.
When members qualify by total amount spent, RewardsWP uses the total WooCommerce records for each customer account. It re-checks a member’s tier when an order is paid or refunded.
Running VIP tiers is available on the Pro plan.
Free shipping is available as a VIP entry reward with WooCommerce.
See Choosing How Members Qualify for VIP Tiers.
Next, we’ll cover which WooCommerce features the integration supports.
Which WooCommerce Features Are Supported?
The integration works with these WooCommerce features, with no extra setup:
- High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS): RewardsWP supports WooCommerce’s newer order storage. It keeps orders in their own database tables.
- Checkout blocks: Points are tracked and awarded the same way with the block-based checkout or the classic checkout shortcode.
That’s it! You know how RewardsWP works with your WooCommerce store, from product pages to refunds. Next, to choose which products earn points and get rewards, read Excluding products from rewards and points.
FAQ
Below, we’ve answered some of the most common questions about the WooCommerce integration.
Can I use WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads at the same time?
RewardsWP works with one store at a time. If both plugins are active, RewardsWP uses WooCommerce. The Easy Digital Downloads integration then shows a message that it can’t be used. To switch to Easy Digital Downloads, deactivate WooCommerce.
Switching stores keeps your item rules and free product picks. They work again when you switch back. Until then, Specific items rules from the other store match nothing. Entire order rules skip the other store’s exclusions and cover the whole order.
What happens if I change an order back to Pending or Cancelled?
If the order’s points are still pending, RewardsWP removes them when the order is cancelled, fails, or is refunded before payment. Approved points stay when an order moves backward, for example from Processing to Pending, because RewardsWP only takes them back through a refund. To remove them from an order you changed by hand, issue a refund in WooCommerce or adjust the customer’s balance in RewardsWP » Members.
Why does my fixed discount reward discount the whole cart?
This happens on WooCommerce versions older than 8.8. They spread a fixed discount over the whole cart, even when the reward has an Applies to rule. The reward’s drawer then shows a warning. To keep the discount on the matching items, update WooCommerce to 8.8 or later. See How to Properly Update WordPress Plugins for a step-by-step guide.
For more on item rules, see Limiting a Reward to Some Items.
Can I customize the points banner on product pages?
The banner text uses your points name. Its number follows your Make a purchase earn rate in RewardsWP » Settings » Points. To hide the banner on some products, exclude them from Make a purchase under Earns on, which also stops them from earning points. You can also hide the banner with CSS.
See How to Easily Add Custom CSS to Your WordPress Site for a step-by-step guide.