BON Loyalty Program & Rewards vs. Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards

Introduction

Selecting the right retention tool is a pivotal decision for any Shopify merchant. The choice often dictates how effectively a store can turn one-time buyers into repeat customers and, eventually, brand advocates. With a multitude of options available in the Shopify ecosystem, comparing two specific solutions like BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards requires a look at feature depth, scalability, and technical compatibility. Both apps aim to solve the same problem—customer churn—but they approach the solution with different sets of tools and pricing philosophies.

Short answer: For merchants requiring extensive technical flexibility, B2B capabilities, and headless commerce support, BON Loyalty Program & Rewards offers a robust feature set tailored for high-growth and enterprise needs. For smaller stores seeking a straightforward loyalty setup with a focus on customer-count pricing and custom widgets, Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards provides a simple, accessible alternative. However, stores looking to minimize operational overhead often find that moving beyond single-function apps toward an integrated retention platform yields better long-term results.

The following analysis provides an objective comparison between BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards. This evaluation is based on their current feature sets, pricing models, and how they integrate into a merchant's existing technology stack. By understanding the nuances of each app, merchants can determine which tool aligns with their current operational maturity and future growth objectives.

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards vs. Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison: Feature Workflows and Logic

The mechanics of a loyalty program determine its success. If the earning and redemption processes are too complex, customers will disengage. Conversely, if the program is too simple, it may fail to drive the specific behaviors a merchant desires, such as higher average order value (AOV) or social media engagement.

Point Earning and Redemption Structures

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards focuses on a multi-faceted approach to points. Beyond standard purchase-based points, the app allows for specific triggers such as referrals and social engagement. A significant differentiator for BON is the inclusion of "Anti-Cheat" referral logic even in its entry-level plans. This prevents the exploitation of reward systems, which is a common concern for stores with high-value products. Furthermore, BON provides "Points at Checkout" specifically for Shopify Plus merchants, allowing for a frictionless redemption experience where customers can apply points directly to their cart without leaving the checkout flow.

Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards emphasizes "Custom Earn & Redeem Rates." This allows merchants to have granular control over how many points are awarded per dollar spent and how those points translate back into discounts. Kringle includes rewards for signups, newsletter subscriptions, and referrals. While the core logic is similar to BON, Kringle appears to focus more on the early-stage customer lifecycle, such as capturing email addresses and encouraging that first repeat purchase.

VIP Tiers and Customer Segmentation

The implementation of VIP tiers is where the two apps diverge significantly. BON Loyalty Program & Rewards offers a dedicated VIP Tier program starting at its $99 Growth plan. These tiers are designed to accelerate point earning for high-spending customers, creating a sense of exclusivity and status. The inclusion of B2B tiers is particularly notable. For wholesale merchants, rewarding large-volume buyers with specific tiers can be a powerful retention lever that standard D2C apps often overlook.

Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards, according to the provided data, does not explicitly list a multi-tiered VIP system. Instead, it focuses on "Loyalty Earn & Discount Conversion" across its plans. While this is effective for standard reward programs, it may lack the psychological "gamification" elements that tiered programs provide to incentivize higher spending over time.

Referrals and Viral Growth

Both applications provide referral modules, recognizing that word-of-mouth is one of the most cost-effective acquisition channels. BON’s referral system is built with automated emails and specific discount types (money off, percentage off, or free shipping). This automation ensures that neither the referrer nor the referee has to wait for manual intervention to receive their incentives.

Kringle’s referral system is bundled into its core rewards engine. It focuses on rewarding the "referring of friends" as part of its engagement activities. For merchants, the choice here depends on the level of customization needed for the referral landing page and the email notifications that follow. BON offers a "brand tailored loyalty page" which likely extends to the referral experience, ensuring a consistent look and feel.

Customization and User Experience

A loyalty program should feel like a natural extension of a brand, not a third-party plugin that looks out of place. Customization is essential for maintaining brand trust and ensuring the user interface (UI) does not detract from the shopping experience.

Brand Integration and Widgets

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards provides a loyalty page and the ability to unlock custom CSS with developer support on its higher-tier plans. This level of control is vital for brands that have strict brand guidelines or unique site architectures. BON also integrates loyalty elements at multiple touchpoints, including the homepage and product pages, ensuring the program is visible throughout the customer journey.

Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards highlights "Custom Widgets" as a primary feature across all its plans. This suggests a focus on ease of use for merchants who want to add loyalty elements to their site without needing deep technical knowledge or developer hours. These widgets likely handle the display of point balances and redemption options in a standardized, mobile-responsive format.

Multi-Language and Global Readiness

For merchants selling internationally, language support is a non-negotiable requirement. BON Loyalty Program & Rewards explicitly includes "Multi-language display" starting at its $25 Basic plan. This allows the loyalty interface to adapt to the customer's preferred language, which is critical for reducing friction in global markets. Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards does not specify multi-language capabilities in the provided data, which may be a consideration for stores with a significant international presence.

Pricing Structure and Value for Money

The pricing models of these two apps follow different philosophies. One is based on feature sets and technical access, while the other is primarily based on the size of the customer base.

BON Loyalty Pricing Analysis

BON offers four distinct tiers. The Free Forever plan is generous, providing points, rewards, and the anti-cheat referral program. However, many of the more advanced growth features are gated.

• Basic ($25/mo): Adds the loyalty page, multi-language support, and POS rewards. This is the entry point for omnichannel retailers.
• Growth ($99/mo): This is where the VIP tiers and B2B loyalty features reside. It also offers 24/7 live chat support.
• Professional ($349/mo): Aimed at enterprise-level stores, this plan provides full API access and a Software Development Toolkit (SDK). It is designed for brands that need to build custom loyalty experiences or integrate with headless commerce setups like Hydrogen.

Kringle Loyalty Pricing Analysis

Kringle’s pricing is largely determined by the number of customers in the merchant's database.

• Free: Up to 250 customers. This is an excellent way for new stores to test the platform.
• Starter ($29/mo): Covers up to 5,000 customers.
• Growth ($99/mo): Covers up to 25,000 customers.
• Enterprise ($199/mo): Covers 25,000+ customers. Across all these tiers, the feature set remains largely the same, focusing on the "Custom Earn & Redeem Rates" and "Custom Widgets." This makes Kringle a predictable cost for growing stores, though the price increases as the database expands regardless of whether those customers are actively participating in the loyalty program.

Integrations and Ecosystem Fit

The value of a loyalty app is often magnified by how well it "talks" to other tools in the merchant's stack, particularly email marketing and helpdesk software.

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards has a clear advantage in documented integrations. It works with:

• Marketing & SMS: Klaviyo, which is the industry standard for Shopify email marketing.
• Social Proof: Fera, LAI, and Judge.me Product Reviews. Integrating loyalty with reviews allows merchants to reward customers for leaving feedback.
• Store Design: PageFly Landing Page Builder and Shopify Flow for automation.
• Omnichannel: Shopify POS and Shopify Checkout.

Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards does not have specific integrations listed in the provided "Works With" data. For a merchant already using Klaviyo or a specific review app, the lack of native integration could mean more manual work or the need for middle-ware like Zapier to sync data between platforms.

Technical Performance and Operational Overhead

In the Shopify ecosystem, every app added to a store carries a technical cost. This includes potential impacts on site speed, the risk of code conflicts, and the time required for a team to manage the tool.

BON Loyalty is clearly positioned for more complex environments. With "Hydrogen: Headless commerce" support and an SDK, it caters to developers who want to maintain high performance and complete control over the frontend. This level of technical maturity usually implies a more stable infrastructure, but it also requires a merchant to have the technical resources (either in-house or an agency) to utilize those advanced features.

Kringle, on the other hand, appears to be a "plug-and-play" solution. The focus on custom widgets and a simpler feature set likely results in lower operational overhead for the merchant. There is less to configure, and the management of the app is straightforward. However, this simplicity may become a limitation as a brand grows and requires more sophisticated automation or deeper integration with other marketing channels.

The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform

While choosing between two specialized loyalty apps like BON and Kringle is a common path, many growing brands eventually face a challenge known as "app fatigue." This happens when a merchant stacks multiple single-function apps—one for loyalty, one for reviews, one for wishlists, and another for referrals. This approach often leads to fragmented customer data, inconsistent user experiences across different widgets, and a significant increase in total subscription costs.

App fatigue isn't just about the monthly bill; it is about the operational drag. When a customer leaves a review, they should ideally earn loyalty points automatically. When they add an item to a wishlist, that data should inform the loyalty program’s email reminders. In a fragmented stack, these connections are often broken or require complex, custom integrations to function. This is where the philosophy of a pricing structure that scales as order volume grows becomes a strategic advantage, allowing merchants to access multiple retention tools under one roof.

Growave provides a solution to this fragmentation through its "More Growth, Less Stack" approach. Instead of managing five different apps with five different support teams and five different billing cycles, merchants can consolidate their retention efforts. By evaluating feature coverage across plans, it becomes clear that an integrated platform can handle loyalty, rewards, reviews, wishlists, and referrals in a single, cohesive environment. This integration ensures that the customer experience is seamless; for instance, loyalty points and rewards designed to lift repeat purchases can be triggered by collecting and showcasing authentic customer reviews.

The benefits of this consolidation extend to site performance and data accuracy. A single script running on the storefront is generally more efficient than four or five separate scripts from different vendors. Moreover, having all customer engagement data in one place allows for more sophisticated segmentation. For example, a merchant could create VIP tiers and incentives for high-intent customers specifically for those who have both spent a certain amount and contributed high-quality review automation that builds trust at purchase time.

Strategic growth requires looking at the long-term impact of your technology choices. Many brands have shared real examples from brands improving retention by simplifying their tech stack. These customer stories that show how teams reduce app sprawl highlight a common theme: when tools work together, the merchant spends less time troubleshooting and more time on strategy. Before committing to a single-function app, comparing plan fit against retention goals can help determine if an all-in-one platform is a more sustainable choice for your business.

When reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from, it is important to look at how a platform supports the entire customer journey. A unified system doesn't just manage points; it creates a ecosystem where every interaction—from a wishlist addition to a referral—is part of a larger retention strategy. By verifying compatibility details in the official app listing and assessing app-store ratings as a trust signal, merchants can see the value of a platform that evolves alongside their store's complexity.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards, the decision comes down to the specific technical needs of the storefront and the desired pricing model. BON Loyalty is the stronger candidate for stores that require enterprise-level flexibility, such as those running on Shopify Plus or using a headless architecture. Its inclusion of B2B tiers and extensive third-party integrations makes it a powerful tool for complex operations. Conversely, Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards is a practical choice for smaller merchants who want a simple, widget-based system where the cost is tied directly to the size of their customer database.

However, as a brand matures, the limitations of specialized apps often become apparent. Managing disparate systems for loyalty and social proof can lead to missed opportunities for automation and a disjointed customer experience. Moving toward a unified platform allows a brand to synchronize its retention levers, ensuring that loyalty points and rewards designed to lift repeat purchases are perfectly aligned with other engagement activities like reviews and wishlists. This holistic approach not only simplifies the merchant's workflow but also provides a more consistent and rewarding journey for the shopper.

Ultimately, the goal is to build a sustainable engine for growth that doesn't buckle under the weight of its own complexity. While both BON and Kringle offer valuable features in their respective niches, an integrated solution provides the scalability and data cohesion needed for long-term success.

To reduce app fatigue and run retention from one place, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

Which app is better for a Shopify Plus store?

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards is specifically designed with Shopify Plus features, such as "Points at Checkout" and full API access. This makes it a more natural fit for the enterprise-level requirements of Plus merchants. While Kringle can be used on Plus stores, it does not explicitly list Plus-exclusive features in its provided data.

Can I use these apps for my brick-and-mortar store?

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards explicitly lists Shopify POS as a compatible service, allowing you to reward in-store customers and sync points across online and offline channels. Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards does not specify POS compatibility in its "Works With" data, so merchants with physical locations should verify this functionality before committing.

Is it possible to reward customers for leaving reviews with these apps?

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards integrates with several review apps, including Judge.me, Fera, and LAI. This allows you to set up triggers to reward points when a customer submits a review. Kringle : Loyalty & Rewards does not list specific review app integrations, though it does reward for general "engagement activities."

How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?

A specialized app often provides deep, niche functionality for one specific task, such as a loyalty program. However, an all-in-one platform integrates multiple retention tools—like loyalty, reviews, and wishlists—into a single interface. This reduces the number of apps you need to install, ensures all your customer data is in one place, and typically offers better value for money than paying for multiple separate subscriptions. For most growing stores, the reduction in operational complexity and the ability to run cross-functional campaigns (like rewarding points for reviews) makes an integrated platform a more efficient choice.