Letting customers spend their loyalty points on a real product (a tote bag, a sample, a limited edition item, even a service voucher) is one of the most engaging rewards you can offer. With Loyalty Program for WooCommerce you can turn any product in your catalog into a points-only product: customers see it in the shop just like any other item, but at checkout it is paid for entirely with loyalty points rather than money. This guide walks through the full setup, step by step.
What a Points-Only Product Is
A points-only product is a regular WooCommerce product that has been flagged so that the only way to purchase it is by redeeming loyalty points. The product still has a price in your store, and the price is what determines how many points the customer needs to redeem. Once a customer has enough points and adds the product to their cart, checkout converts the price to points automatically. No card is charged, no manual coupon handling is required.
Points-only products work with every standard WooCommerce product type that the plugin supports: simple, variable, external, booking, subscription, and variable subscription. You can offer everything from a free physical sample to a complimentary one-month membership.
Step 1: Open the Product You Want to Offer
In your WordPress admin go to Products > All Products and either click an existing product to edit it or add a new one. Make sure the product has:
- A clear title and description so customers know what they are redeeming.
- A regular price filled in. This price will be converted to points using your loyalty conversion rate.
- Stock or service availability you actually want to give away.
Step 2: Find the Loyalty Points Tab
In the Product data box on the right side of the product editor, look for the Loyalty Points tab in the left-hand sidebar of that box. It appears alongside the standard WooCommerce tabs (General, Inventory, Shipping, and so on). Click it to open the loyalty options for this product.
Step 3: Tick the Points-Only Purchase Box
Inside the Loyalty Points tab, you’ll see a checkbox labeled Points-Only Purchase. Tick it to mark the product as redeemable with points only. The on-screen description is explicit: Check this to make this product purchasable ONLY with points (cannot be bought with money). Save or update the product when you are done.
Step 4: Optionally Set a Custom Points Rate
By default, the points cost of a points-only product is calculated from the product’s regular price multiplied by your global points-per-currency rate. If you want a specific points cost regardless of price, set Points Earning in the same tab to Custom rate (per currency unit) and enter a value in the Points per Currency Unit field. For example, if the product price is 10 and you enter a rate of 50, the redemption cost becomes 500 points.
This is the recommended setup when you want a clean, marketable price tag like 500 points or 1000 points, instead of whatever your global conversion rate happens to produce.
Variable Products: Per-Variation Control
If your reward is a variable product (different sizes of a free tee, for example), open each variation under the Variations tab. Each variation has its own Points-Only Purchase for this variation checkbox and its own points earning rate. This lets you offer some variations as a reward (the basic color) while keeping others available for normal purchase (the limited edition), all within the same product.
What the Customer Sees
On the shop and product pages, a points-only product looks like any other product. The loyalty widget on the product page shows the points cost. When the customer adds the product to the cart, the cart displays the points cost in place of the currency price, and the checkout deducts the points from their balance automatically when the order is placed.
If the customer does not have enough points to cover the product, the cart shows the shortfall so they know how many more points they need to earn. You can use the standard loyalty dashboard, dashboard widgets, and notifications to nudge customers toward earning the points needed to unlock the reward.
Common Use Cases
- Free samples. Offer a small product (sample size, sticker, mini print) as a points-only redemption to introduce customers to new lines.
- Branded merchandise. Make tote bags, mugs, or t-shirts redeemable with points to deepen brand connection.
- Limited editions. Reserve a special variation only for loyalty members at a fixed points cost.
- Service vouchers. Turn a service product into a points reward (a free consultation, a session, a download).
- Subscription trials. Offer one billing cycle of a subscription as a points-only product to drive trial conversion.
Tips for Promoting Points-Only Products
- Create a dedicated category named Rewards and assign every points-only product to it. Link to it from your main menu so members have one URL to browse.
- Use a custom product label or badge in your theme that highlights points-only items in catalog views.
- Mention the redemption option in customer emails: an account-summary email reminding members of their balance is one of the highest-converting touchpoints.
- Pair this feature with the in-checkout redemption guidance panel (linked in our help center) so customers always see what they can afford.
Troubleshooting
If you cannot see the Loyalty Points tab in the product data box:
- Confirm that Loyalty Program for WooCommerce is active under Plugins > Installed Plugins.
- Confirm that the Points module is enabled under Loyalty Program > Settings.
- Some custom product types added by third-party plugins are not supported. Try with a standard simple product first to verify everything is wired up.
- Clear any object cache or page cache. Cached admin screens are a common cause of missing tabs after a plugin install.
If a customer reports they cannot complete a points-only purchase, check that they have a points balance equal to or greater than the product’s points cost, and that no conflicting discount or coupon is applied. The plugin removes points-only items from the cart if a points coupon is later removed, to prevent inconsistent totals.