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PointBay Docs

Redeeming Points

Earning points only pays off if customers can actually spend them redemption is where their balance turns into real money off their next order. PointBay works with both the modern WooCommerce Block checkout and the Classic checkout, and the discount updates the order total in place as soon as it’s applied.

Everything on this page is configured at WooCommerce → Settings → Loyalty Points, under the Redemption Rules group. Full field-by-field details are in the Settings Reference.

How It Works

Section titled “How It Works”
  1. The redeem panel appears. A logged-in customer whose balance meets your minimum sees a Redeem Loyalty Points panel at checkout. Checkout with the Redeem Loyalty Points panel and slider visible, unapplied
  2. They choose an amount. Using the slider or number field, the customer picks how many points to apply and sees a live discount preview update as they move it.
  3. They apply it. Clicking Apply Discount updates the order total immediately. A confirmation shows how many points were redeemed and the discount given, with an option to Remove them and start over. Checkout with the applied discount confirmation and updated order total
  4. The order is placed. When the order goes through, the points are deducted from the customer’s balance and recorded as a debit in Points History.

Points can never be spent twice even if a customer opens several tabs and tries to check out at once, PointBay ensures the same points are only ever used on one order.

Walkthrough: Set a Redemption Rate and Test It

Section titled “Walkthrough: Set a Redemption Rate and Test It”
  1. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Loyalty Points, in the Redemption Rules group.
  2. Set Point Value ($) to what one point should be worth the default is $0.01.
  3. Set Minimum Points to Redeem to the smallest balance a customer should be allowed to cash in, for example 100.
  4. Leave Redemption Mode on Cart Fee unless you have a reason to switch it (see below).
  5. Click Save changes. Redemption Rules settings group with example values filled in
  6. Verify it worked: log in as a test customer who has at least the minimum balance, go to checkout, and confirm the Redeem Loyalty Points panel appears and correctly discounts the order total.

Worked Examples

Section titled “Worked Examples”

Example 1 a simple redemption. At the default $0.01 per point and a 100-point minimum, a customer with 350 points redeems all of them: 350 × $0.01 = a $3.50 discount on their order.

Example 2 the discount can’t exceed the order. A customer with 5,000 points tries to redeem all of them ($50.00 worth) on a $30 order. PointBay caps the discount at the order total, so the discount applied is $30.00, not $50.00 the customer’s remaining points stay in their balance for next time rather than being wasted.

Redemption Mode: Cart Fee vs. Virtual Coupon

Section titled “Redemption Mode: Cart Fee vs. Virtual Coupon”

Both modes give the customer the exact same discount amount the difference is purely how it’s applied under the hood:

  • Cart Fee (default) applies the discount as a negative line-item fee on the cart. This is the simplest option and works correctly for the vast majority of stores. On the settings screen this option is labeled Cart Fee (WC_Fee) the (WC_Fee) part is an internal WooCommerce class name you can ignore.
  • Virtual Coupon applies the discount as an automatically generated, single-use coupon instead. Choose this if you use an automated tax service (such as TaxJar or Avalara) and notice incorrect tax totals when points are redeemed, since coupon-based discounts are handled natively by WooCommerce’s own tax calculation.

Classic vs. Block Checkout

Section titled “Classic vs. Block Checkout”

The redeem experience is identical on both checkout types a Redeem Loyalty Points panel with a slider and an Apply Discount button so there’s nothing extra to configure for either one. Only logged-in customers who meet the minimum-points threshold see the panel at all; guests and customers below the minimum see no redemption UI.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
  • The redeem panel doesn’t appear confirm the customer is logged in and their balance meets Minimum Points to Redeem. Guests never see the panel regardless of balance.
  • The discount looks right but taxes are wrong switch Redemption Mode to Virtual Coupon; see above.
  • A customer says they redeemed points but their order shows no discount check Points History for a matching debit; if none exists, the redemption likely wasn’t completed (e.g. the order was abandoned before payment).

See Troubleshooting for more general issues.

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