With cash back, you can reward loyalty members by returning a percentage of their order value as Shopify store credit. Instead of earning points and converting them to a reward, members receive store credit directly to their Shopify account after each qualifying purchase. They can see their balance in the floating widget and apply it at checkout on their next order.

In this article, you will learn about:

Before cash back can be issued, make sure the following are in place on your Shopify store:

For full setup instructions, see Store credits in Loyalty.

Cash back is configured on the Place an Order earn rule. When you switch the reward type from points to store credit, members earn a percentage of their order value as store credit instead of points.

💡 Setting a wait time does not affect the calculation. The cash back rate is based on the promotion active at the time the order is placed, not when the credits are issued.

If your program uses VIP tiers, you can set a different cash back rate for each tier. Higher-tier members earn proportionally more, which drives tier engagement without adding points complexity.

For example: Bronze 3%, Silver 5%, Gold 8%.

Tier variation rates are configured within the earn rule under Tier Variations.

If a shopper places qualifying orders before enrolling in your loyalty program, Okendo tracks the cash back they would have earned as a pending member. When they enrol, Okendo automatically issues store credit for any orders that are still within the look back window.

The look back window is measured from the order date — not from when the credit lands in the shopper's wallet. The default look back period is 7 days and is configurable at Okendo Admin > Loyalty > Configure > Settings. If your earn rule also has a store credit expiry set, Okendo applies whichever period is shorter as the effective window.

Example: with a 7-day look back, a shopper who places an order on 1 March has until 8 March to enrol and receive credit for that order. If they enrol on 9 March, that order is no longer eligible.

You can temporarily boost the store credit members earn during a promotional period, such as BFCM or a loyalty anniversary event.

Once cash back is active, Okendo updates your onsite displays automatically.

Points preview: The points preview widget is updated to show the store credit amount a shopper would earn on their current order, rather than a points value. This updates dynamically based on cart or order value and appears at both the product page level and the cart or order level.

Earn rule tiles: The earn rule tile for the Place an Order rule is updated across all onsite surfaces to reflect the store credit reward: the floating widget, customer account extensions, the loyalty landing page, and post-review loyalty modules.

Store credit balance: Members' current Shopify store credit balance is surfaced across the floating widget, loyalty landing page, checkout, and customer account extensions. The balance reflects the live Shopify balance, including any store credit earned, spent, or expired from any source.

Cash back transactions appear in the Activity view as earning events with the rule type Place an Order. Each transaction shows:

You can filter by Event: Earning, Status, and Date range, and search by member email.

To access: Okendo Admin > Loyalty > Activity.

To see a single member's full cash back history, go to Profiles > Customers > Profiles and open their profile. This shows all transactions with the same Pending, Completed, and Declined status breakdown.

This is the primary tool for resolving member queries, for example why a member did not receive cash back on a specific order or why an amount was deducted after a refund.

If you need to reverse a cash back transaction, you can manually decline it from the Activity view:

Once declined, the transaction is marked as Declined and the corresponding store credit is removed from the member's Shopify balance.

When an order is refunded, Okendo attempts to claw back the store credit originally issued for that order. If the member has already spent some or all of that store credit, Okendo claws back as much as is available, up to the original amount. A member's store credit balance will never be taken below zero.

The outcome of any clawback attempt is recorded in the Activity log as a Declined transaction.

You have two ways to notify a member that store credit has been issued: the native Okendo email, or a flow built in your ESP using the Okendo store credit event.

Okendo includes a native email template that notifies members when store credit has been issued after a qualifying order.

When the email sends

When store credit is awarded to a member, Okendo fires an Okendo Loyalty Store Credit Awarded event to your connected ESP. You can use this as a flow trigger to send your own branded email with your own opt-in logic applied.

The event carries the following properties:

Klaviyo template variables

For Klaviyo setup, see Integrating Loyalty with Klaviyo.

Is there a way to trigger an email when cash back is awarded?

Yes. Either enable the native Direct Reward Earned email in Okendo Admin > Loyalty > Emails, or build a flow in your ESP triggered off the Okendo Loyalty Store Credit Awarded event. See Cash back emails and ESP events above.

Why has my member not received their cash back email yet?

Check the Wait Time on your Place an Order earn rule. Neither the native email nor the ESP event fires while a transaction is Pending. Both are triggered at the moment the credit is issued to the member's Shopify balance.

Can I run a points reward and cash back reward on the Place an Order earn rule at the same time?

No. Cash back replaces points on the Place an Order earn rule. You switch the reward type from Points to Store Credit, so the two cannot run simultaneously on the same rule. Other earn rules (such as Leave a Review or Refer a Friend) continue to issue points as normal if set up with points as the reward.

Can members use store credit from cash back alongside other discount codes?

Store credit is applied natively by Shopify at checkout and is treated as a payment method rather than a discount code. This means it can generally be used alongside other discounts, subject to your Shopify checkout configuration.

What happens to cash back if an order is partially paid with store credit?

Cash back is calculated on the paid amount excluding any store credit. For example if you offer 10% cashback, and your shopper has an order of $100 and uses $40 of store credit, the remaining $60 paid by card (or other payment method) will have the cash back awarded ($6 in cashback).

Does cash back work with Shopify POS?

Members can use their store credit balance in Shopify POS. Cash back earning at POS follows the same earn rule configuration as online orders. For setup, see Integrating Loyalty with Shopify POS.

Can I see how much store credit liability my program has outstanding?

For full liability reporting, use Shopify's native store credit reports, which show store credit issued, used, and expired.