Tag VIP and loyalty signups
Every membership signup creates a Shopify customer carrying the VIP tag your early-access segments and discounts are built on.
New submission on your VIP membership form
Create the customer in Shopify and add a VIP tag
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
An insiders tier only works if the perk is automatic. This flow creates the Shopify customer and puts the VIP tag on them as they sign up, so early access and the members' discount are driven by a segment rather than a list somebody maintains by hand.
Shops running a small loyalty programme without a dedicated app reach for it first, because tags and segments already do most of what a tier needs. The interests answer rides along as extra tags, which is what makes the sends worth opening.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the membership form and make the terms and conditions checkbox required. The VIP tag switches on a discount, so the consent behind it has to be on the record.
- 2
In Shopify, build the customer segment first, matching on customer tags containing VIP. Creating it before the Zap means the very first signup lands somewhere that already exists.
- 3
Attach that segment to the early-access rule or member discount you are running, so nothing else has to be switched on once signups start arriving.
- 4
In Zapier, select formformform and the New Submission trigger, connect your account, choose the membership form and pull a real signup through as test data.
- 5
Add Shopify's Create Customer action and map Email Address to Email, Full Name split across First Name and Last Name, and Phone Number to Phone.
- 6
Type VIP into the Tags field, then append Categories You're Interested In so each chosen category becomes a tag of its own on the same customer.
- 7
Map the birthday question into the customer note and turn the shopping frequency answer into a second tag, so counter staff can check a claim and you can size the tier.
- 8
Test with a real signup, confirm the customer appears inside the VIP segment in Shopify, then turn the Zap on.
What maps where
Using the Customer Loyalty Program Sign-Up Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | Shopify |
|---|---|
| Full Name | First and last name on the Shopify customer |
| Email Address | Email on the Shopify customer |
| Phone Number | Phone on the customer record |
| Date of Birth (for birthday rewards) | Customer note, where the birthday offer is read from |
| Categories You're Interested In | Extra tags alongside VIP, one per category |
| How Often Do You Shop With Us? | Second tag, such as shops-monthly |
Variations worth knowing
If the programme has levels, branch on the shopping frequency answer with Zapier Paths and write vip-bronze, vip-silver or vip-gold into the Tags field. Keep VIP on every path as the umbrella tag, so one segment still reaches the whole programme when you need to email everybody at once.
When the referral question comes back yes, add a second Shopify step: find the customer named in the referrer field, then add a referred-a-friend tag to them. Names make a weak lookup key, so ask for the referrer's email address instead if your programme rewards referrals with anything valuable.
If something isn't arriving
Shopify treats email as unique, so Create Customer fails for exactly the people you most want in the programme. Put a Find Customer step ahead of the action and send matches to Add Tags to Customer; only genuinely new addresses need Create Customer at all.
A tag reaches a discount only through a segment. Check the segment definition matches the tag exactly as the Zap writes it, case included, and that the discount is attached to the segment rather than to a hand-picked list of customers from before the form existed.
Frequently asked questions
Can a member see their tier on the form?
No. The form sends data out and reads nothing back from Shopify, so it cannot display a tier, a balance or a discount code. Show that in Shopify's customer account pages or in the welcome email you send after signup.
Do I need a loyalty app as well as this?
Not for tag-based perks such as early access or a members-only discount, which Shopify segments handle on their own. Points balances and redemption still need an app; the tag written by this Zap marks who belongs to the programme either way.
Is it safe to collect a date of birth on the form?
Collect it only if a birthday offer genuinely exists, and say on the form what it is for. Submissions are encrypted at rest with EU hosting available, and Shopify holds the working copy your staff read at the counter.
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Build the form first
The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.
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