What is a badge?

A badge acts like a digital trophy for a customer’s journey. It is a non-monetary asset used to recognize specific actions, milestones, or a customer's relationship status with a brand. Unlike points or coupons that have a cash-equivalent value, badges are visual symbols (icons or images) that appear in a user’s profile. They focus on emotional loyalty—using gamification to give customers a sense of pride, identity, and status.

What does it do?

A badge drives three types of psychological engagement:

Recognize behavior. It validates actions like joining the program (“New Member”), writing a review (“Reviewer”), or referring a friend (“Referral Champion”).
Build emotional connection. It taps into a customer’s sense of ownership. A badge encourages users to internalize their identity as a “VIP” or “Brand Advocate.”
Nudge participation. By visualizing a collection of locked and unlocked achievements, it motivates customers to complete their profiles or increase visit frequency to “collect them all.”

How does it work?

Brand setup

A marketing manager defines the "Achievement" logic in the system.

The Look: Create or bulk-upload badge icons and define their visual hierarchy (ranking) in the app using the Badges UI.
The Trigger: Link the badge to a specific workflow—like a customer journey, a transactional rule, or a manual “Direct Issue” for event attendees.
The Management: Set up “Retro Earn” logic to account for past data or migrate badges from legacy systems using CSV uploads.

Customer experience

The customer performs an activity, such as making their first purchase or hitting a spend threshold. The system verifies the criteria and instantly triggers a notification: “You’ve earned the Milestone Maker badge!” The customer can then view their digital trophy case, see the criteria they met, and even share their achievement on social media.

How is it different from other promotions

Promotion type	How it works	The vibe
Badge	Visual recognition for milestones.	“Look what I’ve achieved.”
Points	Currency earned for future use.	“I’m saving for later.”
Coupon	Requires a code to unlock a deal.	“I have a code for this.”
Cart promotion	Applies automatically at checkout.	“Nice—the bill just dropped.”
Gift voucher	Works like digital cash at payment.	“I’m paying with a balance.”

Real-world examples

The Onboarding (Welcome)

A customer registers and immediately sees a “New Member” badge on their profile to provide instant positive reinforcement.

The Advocate (Referral)

A customer refers three friends and unlocks the “Referral Champion” badge, signaling their status as a brand promoter.

The VIP (Status)

A high-spender hits a specific tier and receives a “Gold Elite” badge, which store agents can see in the system to provide priority service.

The Persona (Identity)

A customer who only shops at night receives a “Night Owl” badge, deepening their emotional connection by reflecting their shopping habits.

Benefits of Badges

Feature	Brand Benefits	Customer Benefits
Gamified Engagement	Non-Liable Loyalty: Drive repeat behavior without adding financial liability to the balance sheet (no discounts or points).	Status & Identity: Provides a sense of progression and social standing within the brand community.
Operational Versatility	Multi-Channel Issuance: Issue badges via automated journeys, bulk CSV uploads, or real-time APIs for external integrations.	Clear Progress: Clicking a badge reveals exactly what was done to earn it and what benefits it provides.
Deep Visibility	Audit & Analytics: Track badge events in real-time. Support teams can view a customer’s full badge timeline via Membercare for better service.	Social Advocacy: Easy-to-share achievements that allow customers to show off their loyalty on social channels.