BON Loyalty Program & Rewards vs. Markivo Referral & Rewards: A Strategic Comparison

Introduction

Selecting the right retention tools for a Shopify store often feels like navigating a maze of features, pricing tiers, and technical requirements. Merchants must decide whether to invest in a broad loyalty program that covers various customer touchpoints or a specialized referral system designed for viral growth. The choice impacts not only the immediate marketing budget but also the long-term consistency of the customer experience and the technical stability of the storefront.

Short answer: BON Loyalty Program & Rewards is best suited for stores requiring a comprehensive point-based system with B2B capabilities and deep customization. Markivo Referral & Rewards is the better fit for merchants focusing on gamified, viral word-of-mouth growth through interactive mechanics. While both offer distinct advantages, choosing a platform that unifies these functions can significantly reduce the operational friction associated with managing multiple individual apps.

This comparison provides a detailed analysis of BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and Markivo Referral & Rewards. By examining their feature sets, pricing structures, and ideal use cases, Shopify store owners can determine which solution aligns with their current growth stage and technical needs.

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards vs. Markivo Referral & Rewards: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison: Loyalty Frameworks and Growth Mechanisms

Understanding the fundamental differences between these two applications requires a look at how they approach customer engagement. While both exist within the loyalty and rewards category on Shopify, their philosophies differ significantly. BON Loyalty builds a structured environment for repeat purchases, whereas Markivo emphasizes the expansion of the customer base through social sharing and interactive incentives.

Core Features and Workflows

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards functions as a robust retention engine. It allows merchants to establish a points-based economy where customers earn rewards for various actions, such as making a purchase, following social media accounts, or celebrating a birthday. A standout feature is the VIP Tier program, which provides accelerated earning rates and exclusive rewards for high-value customers. This structure is designed to build long-term habits. For wholesale businesses, the B2B Loyalty Program is a significant differentiator, allowing for tiered rewards that cater specifically to larger order volumes and professional clients.

Markivo Referral & Rewards takes a more dynamic, campaign-based approach. Instead of a permanent points ledger, it utilizes viral marketing mechanisms such as "blind boxes" and "collecting cards." These features leverage the psychological pull of gamification to encourage existing customers to share the store with their network. The workflow focuses on the creation of unlimited referral links and the distribution of rewards as commissions. This reduces the reliance on traditional advertising by turning the customer base into a decentralized marketing team.

Customization and Brand Control

Customization is a priority for any brand looking to maintain a professional appearance. BON Loyalty offers a dedicated loyalty page and a wide range of widgets that can be integrated into the homepage, product pages, and checkout. For merchants with advanced technical needs, the "Professional" plan provides access to a Software Development Toolkit (SDK) and full API access. This is particularly relevant for brands using headless commerce architectures like Hydrogen, as it allows the loyalty experience to be fully integrated into a custom frontend.

Markivo focuses on ease of use with customizable widgets that do not require coding knowledge. The emphasis here is on brand image and visual appeal, ensuring that the referral pop-ups and interactive elements match the store’s aesthetic. While it offers "All Campaign themes" in its higher tiers, it appears to be more of a "plug-and-play" solution compared to the deep development-ready features found in BON Loyalty.

Technical Performance and Operational Overhead

Operational overhead is a critical consideration for growing teams. BON Loyalty integrates with several major third-party apps, including Klaviyo for email automation and various review platforms like Judge.me and Fera. This connectivity ensures that loyalty data can trigger email flows, such as point expiration reminders. The support for Shopify POS also makes it a viable option for omnichannel retailers who need to sync rewards between their physical and online stores.

Markivo’s data does not specify a wide range of third-party integrations, which may suggest a more self-contained ecosystem. However, it does highlight advanced fraud detection in its "Starter" plan. This is a vital feature for referral programs, as it prevents users from gaming the system to earn unearned rewards. The real-time tracking and analytics provided by Markivo help merchants monitor the success of their viral campaigns, though the depth of this reporting compared to BON’s integration-heavy approach may differ depending on the merchant’s reporting stack.

Pricing Structure and Value for Money

Evaluating the cost of these tools involves looking beyond the monthly fee and considering the total cost of ownership. Merchants must assess which plan aligns with their order volume and the specific features required to achieve a positive return on investment.

BON Loyalty Pricing Tiers

The pricing for BON Loyalty is structured to scale with the complexity of the store.

• Free Forever: This plan provides a solid entry point, offering a points and rewards program, an anti-cheat referral system, and automated emails. It is notable for including "Points at checkout" for Shopify Plus merchants even at the free level. • Basic ($25 / month): This tier adds a multi-language display, POS rewards, and points expiration reminders. It is the starting point for stores that operate in multiple regions or have a physical presence. • Growth ($99 / month): Designed for scaling brands, this plan includes unlimited orders, VIP tiers, and B2B rewards. It also provides 24/7 live chat support and custom CSS capabilities. • Professional ($349 / month): This enterprise-level plan is for stores requiring a headless commerce setup (Hydrogen) and full API access. It also includes significant monthly custom development packages.

Markivo Referral Pricing Tiers

Markivo offers a more budget-friendly entry point for those focused specifically on referral marketing.

• Free: Includes one campaign and unlimited referral links with basic analysis. This is a low-risk way for new stores to test viral marketing. • Starter ($9.99 / month): This tier allows for unlimited campaigns and introduces newsletter signup rewards and advanced fraud detection. • Growth ($29.99 / month): This top-tier plan provides access to all campaign themes and deeper discount data analysis.

When comparing these two, BON Loyalty is clearly the more expensive option but offers a much broader range of retention tools (points, VIP, B2B, POS). Markivo is highly specialized and provides a lower cost of entry for merchants who only need referral mechanics.

Strategic Fit: Which App Should You Choose?

The decision between these two apps often depends on the maturity of the store and its primary marketing goals.

Choosing BON Loyalty Program & Rewards

Merchants should consider BON Loyalty if they fall into the following categories:

• Omnichannel Retailers: The integration with Shopify POS allows for a seamless experience for customers who shop both online and in person. • B2B and Wholesale Brands: The specific B2B tier program is a rare feature that helps wholesale merchants incentivize bulk buyers. • Complex Storefronts: If a brand is using a headless architecture or requires custom CSS to match a highly specific design, the Professional plan’s SDK and API access are essential. • Retention-First Strategy: For brands where repeat purchase rate is the primary KPI, a comprehensive points and VIP system is more effective than a referral-only tool.

Choosing Markivo Referral & Rewards

Markivo is likely the better choice for merchants who prioritize the following:

• Viral Growth and Acquisition: If the goal is to lower customer acquisition costs (CAC) through social sharing, the gamified "blind box" and "collecting cards" features offer a unique hook. • Lower Monthly Overhead: Smaller stores or those just starting with referrals can benefit from the $9.99 or $29.99 price points without paying for a full loyalty suite they might not use yet. • Ease of Implementation: Merchants who want to launch a campaign in minutes without worrying about complex point valuations or multi-tier logic will find Markivo’s approach refreshing.

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

While specialized apps like BON Loyalty and Markivo serve their purposes, many Shopify merchants eventually encounter "app fatigue." This phenomenon occurs when a store's tech stack becomes a collection of disconnected tools, each handling a single function like loyalty, reviews, or wishlists. This fragmentation often leads to inconsistent customer experiences, data silos, and a higher total cost of ownership. By evaluating feature coverage across plans, merchants often discover that a consolidated approach offers better long-term stability.

Growave addresses these challenges through a "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy. Instead of installing five different apps to manage retention, merchants can use a single platform that integrates loyalty, rewards, reviews, UGC, referrals, and wishlists. This integration ensures that a customer’s review can earn them loyalty points automatically, or that their wishlist activity can trigger personalized referral incentives, all within the same dashboard. Before committing to a single-function app, verifying compatibility details in the official app listing can help merchants understand how an integrated suite simplifies the backend.

The benefits of a unified platform extend beyond just simplifying the dashboard. When loyalty and reviews work together, the brand builds a more credible social proof ecosystem. For example, loyalty points and rewards designed to lift repeat purchases can be offered to customers who submit a photo or video review. This creates a virtuous cycle where collecting and showcasing authentic customer reviews directly feeds into the loyalty program, increasing both conversion rates and customer lifetime value.

For brands that are scaling quickly, the ability to see the "big picture" of customer behavior is invaluable. Using real examples from brands improving retention shows that high-growth stores often move away from fragmented tools to gain a a pricing structure that scales as order volume grows without the headache of managing multiple subscriptions. By checking merchant feedback and app-store performance signals, store owners can see the reliability of a platform that supports over a thousand active merchants with high satisfaction.

A unified stack also allows for more sophisticated segmentation. Instead of trying to sync data between a referral app and a separate loyalty app, a combined platform like Growave allows for VIP tiers and incentives for high-intent customers to be applied across all modules. This means a VIP customer could get extra "referral power" or exclusive access to new products via their wishlist. Furthermore, review automation that builds trust at purchase time works best when it is aware of the customer's loyalty status, allowing for more personalized messaging.

Scaling a business also requires looking at how other successful teams have navigated these choices. Reviewing customer stories that show how teams reduce app sprawl provides a roadmap for moving from a "stack of apps" to a cohesive growth engine. This transition is often the point where merchants stop worrying about app conflicts and start focusing on strategy. By seeing how the app is positioned for Shopify stores, it becomes clear that the goal is not just to provide features, but to provide a foundation for sustainable growth.

Finally, when comparing plan fit against retention goals, the value of an integrated platform becomes even more apparent. Instead of paying three separate $30/month bills for loyalty, reviews, and wishlists, a single plan can offer a lower total cost of ownership and a unified support team. This efficiency allows merchants to focus on choosing a plan built for long-term value rather than managing the overhead of a bloated tech stack.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and Markivo Referral & Rewards, the decision comes down to the specific growth levers they wish to pull. BON Loyalty is a powerful choice for those who need a comprehensive, point-heavy system that accommodates B2B clients and omnichannel sales through Shopify POS. Its strength lies in its depth and technical flexibility. Markivo, conversely, is a specialized tool that excels at viral acquisition through gamified referral mechanics, making it an excellent choice for B2C brands that want to turn their existing customers into active promoters without a heavy initial investment.

However, as a Shopify store matures, the limitations of using multiple specialized apps often become clear. The manual effort required to sync data, the potential for app conflicts, and the cumulative subscription costs can hinder growth. Transitioning to a unified platform like Growave allows merchants to run loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists from a single interface, ensuring a more cohesive journey for the customer and a more efficient workflow for the merchant. By choosing a plan built for long-term value, businesses can ensure their tech stack supports their growth rather than complicating it.

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 B2B wholesale store?

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards is the preferred choice for B2B stores. It includes a specific B2B Tier Program in its Growth plan ($99/month), which allows merchants to offer exclusive rewards and tiers tailored to the needs of wholesale buyers. Markivo Referral & Rewards focuses primarily on consumer-facing viral referrals and does not mention specific B2B functionality in its current data.

Can these apps work with Shopify POS?

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards explicitly supports Shopify POS starting from its Basic plan ($25/month). This allows customers to earn and redeem loyalty points in physical retail locations as well as online. Markivo Referral & Rewards does not specify support for Shopify POS in its provided feature list, suggesting its viral marketing tools are primarily designed for online storefronts.

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

An all-in-one platform like Growave combines several retention tools—such as loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlists—into a single application. This compares favorably to specialized apps by reducing the number of scripts running on the storefront, which can improve site speed. It also ensures that data is shared across modules; for example, a customer can be automatically rewarded with loyalty points for leaving a review or referring a friend, without the merchant needing to set up complex integrations between different apps.

Is coding required to customize these loyalty programs?

Both BON Loyalty and Markivo offer no-code customization options for their widgets and pages. BON Loyalty allows for more advanced customization through "Unlock custom CSS" on its Growth plan and full API/SDK access on its Professional plan for developers. Markivo focuses on "Easy to customize, without the need to code," using its widget system to maintain brand alignment for merchants who prefer a simpler setup.