Can customers be automatically opted into the program?

Perkville’s standard hosted experience does not automatically opt customers into the program. Instead, customers are typically invited to join and create their own Perkville account. This join step is important because it gives customers a secure login to access features like viewing points, redeeming rewards, and referring friends, rather than exposing that information publicly on the web.

The join step also lets Perkville track who has officially joined the program and, if the business has configured program terms, capture the customer’s acceptance of those terms. Perkville’s Agreements feature supports loyalty program terms and can be used to present terms to customers as they join the program.

A business can also allow customers to begin earning points before they join. Perkville’s Join restriction setting can be used to prohibit customers from earning or redeeming before they join the rewards program. When that setting is not enabled, customers can complete qualifying activities before registration, and those points can be available once they join.

Why is there a join step?

There are two main reasons:

1. Secure account access Customers need a password-protected account to use the standard Perkville experience for viewing point balances, redeeming rewards, and referring friends.

2. Participation tracking and terms acceptance Joining the program allows Perkville to identify who is participating and, when applicable, capture acceptance of the business’s program terms. This is especially important for businesses that use Agreements to require customers to accept terms as part of joining.

Can customers still earn points before joining?

Yes, if the business allows it.

Perkville’s Join restriction setting can prohibit customers from earning or redeeming before they join the rewards program. When that setting is enabled, customers must join before they can earn or redeem points. When it is not enabled, businesses can allow customers to accumulate points before registration, and those points can be waiting for them when they eventually join.

Is there a way to bypass the separate Perkville login?

Yes. Businesses that want a more seamless experience can use Perkville’s APIs to build a native web or mobile experience.

As described in Integrating Your Mobile App with Perkville, a business can store its Perkville admin credentials on its server and use those credentials to call the API on behalf of the customer. In that model, the business can replicate Perkville functionality inside its own authenticated experience, including displaying loyalty data and taking actions such as joining the loyalty program, referring friends, and redeeming rewards, without requiring the customer to register or log in to Perkville separately.

The broader API capabilities are documented in the Perkville API v2 documentation.

Important implementation note

If a business uses Perkville’s APIs to create a native experience, its Perkville admin credentials must be stored securely on the server, not in the mobile app.