Member anniversary
Celebrate customer milestones with anniversary rewards. Offer points or discounts when members reach their program membership anniversary.
This feature is available for Advanced and Ultimate plans
What is this feature?
Anniversary rewards let you automatically give customers points or discounts when they reach a membership milestone in your loyalty program. You pick the cycle — 30 days, 6 months, 1 year — and the reward repeats on that cycle for as long as the member stays in your program. Unlike birthday rewards that celebrate your customers' personal milestones, anniversary rewards recognize their loyalty journey with your brand.
Why you should use anniversary rewards
Most loyalty programs focus on transactional rewards like points for purchases or product reviews. Anniversary rewards create emotional touchpoints that remind customers they're valued members of your community. When someone receives a reward simply for being part of your program for six months, it reinforces their decision to stay engaged with your brand. This kind of recognition encourages customers to remain active in your program and strengthens their connection to your store.
Set up an anniversary reward
Each store runs one anniversary rule, so the decision to make first is the cycle: how often you want to celebrate members. A yearly cycle suits most programs, while shorter cycles like 30 days or 6 months work when you want to reward engagement earlier.
To create an anniversary reward:
From your Joy admin, go to Reward programs > Earning programs.
Click Add rule.
Select Member anniversary.
Under Program information, fill in your program name, and set a Start date and End date if you want the rule to run for a limited period.
Under Reward settings, choose the Reward method — Point reward, Discount percentage, or Discount amount — and enter the reward value.
Still under Reward settings, set the anniversary cycle with Time value and Time unit. For a yearly anniversary, enter 1 and select years. For shorter cycles, use values like 30 + days or 6 + months.
Click Save.
The reward activates automatically on each customer's anniversary date, and repeats on every cycle after that. Customers can view and claim their anniversary rewards from their loyalty page.
If you run a VIP tier program, tick Apply tier-based reward rates to give each tier a different anniversary reward value.
Choose the right anniversary cycle
The cycle you select depends on your business model and customer behavior. Consider these approaches:
Short cycle (30-90 days): Works well if you want to reward customers who stay engaged past the typical drop-off period. This early recognition can reinforce the habit of returning to your store.
Mid-term cycle (6 months): Ideal for businesses with seasonal purchase cycles or subscription models. Six months is long enough to represent meaningful loyalty without being too far away.
Yearly cycle (1 year): Best for celebrating customers who demonstrate long-term commitment. Annual rewards often carry more weight and can include higher-value benefits or exclusive perks for VIP tier members.
Whichever cycle you pick, the reward keeps repeating on it — a yearly rule rewards a member on their first anniversary, their second, and every one after.
FAQs
When exactly do customers receive their anniversary reward?
The reward becomes available on the exact anniversary date of the day they joined your program. If your cycle is 1 year and a customer joined on March 15, they receive their reward on March 15 the following year — and on March 15 every year after that.
Can customers claim anniversary rewards more than once?
Yes. An anniversary rule repeats on the cycle you set. Set it to 1 year and members are rewarded on their first anniversary, their second, and every year after — you don't need a separate rule for each year. Shorter cycles work the same way: 6 months rewards members twice a year, 30 days every 30 days.
Can I create more than one anniversary rule?
No. Each store runs a single Member anniversary rule, so pick the cycle that fits your program. The reward value is the same on every anniversary, though you can set different values per VIP tier with Apply tier-based reward rates.
What happens if a customer doesn't claim their anniversary reward?
Anniversary rewards follow the expiration rules you've set in your program settings. If you have point expiration enabled, any unclaimed points will expire according to your configured timeline. Discount rewards may have their own expiration dates that you set when creating the reward.
Do anniversary rewards count toward VIP tier progress?
Points earned from anniversary rewards count toward tier calculations if you're using points-based tier progression. However, anniversary rewards themselves don't directly affect tier status unless the points earned help a customer reach the next tier threshold.
Can I exclude certain customers from anniversary rewards?
Currently, anniversary rewards apply to all active members who reach the specified milestone. If you need more granular control, you might consider using customer tags combined with other earning rules, or reach out to Joy support to discuss custom solutions for your specific needs.