How to import your points from Appstle

Import your customers’ points balances from Appstle into bitLoyalty yourself. You upload the files Appstle emails you, check a preview, and start the import. Nothing is imported until you confirm Start importing points. Imported points show in each customer’s balance and points history, like any other points.

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Before you start

• Have your Appstle customer export files ready. To use the imported points on your Shopify storefront, connect your store to bitbybit and enable your loyalty program.
• Appstle is still installed on your store. You need it to export your files, and you uninstall it only after the import.
• You are on a laptop or desktop. The Get started guide is not shown on phone-sized screens.

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What comes over

After the import, set up your rewards and ways to earn in bitLoyalty.

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Step 1: Prepare Appstle

Do this first so customers can’t earn or spend points in Appstle while you export. Otherwise their balance in bitLoyalty won’t match what they see in Appstle.

• In Appstle, open Ways to earn and set the status of each earn rule to Disabled.
• Turn off the Appstle loyalty widget so customers can’t redeem points there.
• Keep Appstle installed until the import is done.

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Step 2: Export your files from Appstle

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Export your customers

• In Shopify admin, open Appstle Loyalty and choose Customers from the app’s menu.
• Click Export at the top right of the Customers page.

• Wait for the email from Appstle and download all the customer files. Big stores receive several parts, for example CUSTOMER_DATA_export_1_of_2.csv and CUSTOMER_DATA_export_2_of_2.csv.

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Export the activity log (optional)

Add the activity log if you want points expiry to count from each customer’s qualifying activity date in Appstle.

• Open More in Appstle’s menu, then select Activity Logs.

• On the Activity Logs page, click Export at the top right.

• Download the exported activity-log CSV when it is available. Keep it separate from the customer files; you will add it under Activity log (optional) in bitLoyalty.

If you exported any files before Step 1, export them again so the balances are final.

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Step 3: Open the import page

Choose one of these ways:

• Open bitLoyalty > Get started, go to the Import from another app step, and click Start import next to Appstle.
• Open bitLoyalty > Earn points, click Import from another app, and click Start import next to Appstle.

The Get started guide has four steps: Set up where you sell, Import from another app, Set ways to earn, and Create a reward. Merchants who said they have no previous loyalty app don’t see the import step. If the guide is hidden, use the Earn points page to start an import. After the import step is complete, its Start import button is no longer shown in the guide. Use Earn points > Import from another app to import another file.

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Step 4: Upload your files

• Drag your customer files into Upload your files, or click the area to choose them.
• Optional: add the activity log under Activity log (optional).
• Click Check my files.

You can upload up to 10 files in total, and the activity log counts as one of them. Only .csv files are accepted. The activity log can’t be uploaded on its own, because it has no points to import. If a file isn’t an Appstle export, you see We couldn’t read followed by the file name, with a Contact us button. Remove that file, upload the right one, and click Check my files again.

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Step 5: Review the preview

The Review your Appstle points page shows what will happen. Nothing is saved yet.

• Here’s what we found shows how many customers and how many points come over.
• If nobody is left out, the Customers table marks each listed customer Matched (already in bitbybit) or New to bitbybit (created during the import).
• If anyone is left out, the table shows Customers left out instead, with a reason for each customer: Excluded in Appstle, No email or phone, Left the program, Unknown Appstle status, or Points value looks wrong.

Under Import options, choose how to handle:

• Pending points. Points a customer earned that Appstle was still holding. Don’t import them (recommended) is selected by default. Choose Import them too to add them to the available points.
• Customers you excluded in Appstle. No, leave them out (recommended) is selected by default. Choose Yes, bring them over to include them. Customers who left the program or have no email or phone can’t come over either way.

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Choose how points expiry counts

Under How should points expiry count?, choose:

• Give everyone a fresh period (recommended). Customers do not lose points because of activity before the fresh period started. You do not need to choose an Appstle last-run date.
• Count from each customer’s last activity. Use the activity log to carry over each customer’s qualifying activity date. Without an activity log, this option reads Count from the date below.

If you choose last activity and some customers have no qualifying activity date, answer When did your Appstle program last run? Those customers use the date you pick. A birthday award does not count as qualifying activity. When points expiry is on and you choose last activity, the warning shows how many imported customers and points are already past your expiry period. The numbers update when you change the date, pending-points choice, or excluded-customer choice. For example, with a 7-day expiry period, a customer last active 9 days ago is already past the period. Their points are imported first, then expire at a scheduled expiry check. A customer without a qualifying activity date who uses today’s fallback date keeps their points until that period ends, unless new activity restarts the countdown. If expiry is off, importing an activity date does not turn expiry on. Open Earn points to enable it. You can also choose how expiry counts in the confirmation window when turning expiry on or shortening its period.

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Fix points values that look wrong

Points value looks wrong means an available-points or pending-points value cannot be imported safely. Values above 1,000,000,000,000 or written in scientific notation, such as 1.2E+15, are left out. Get a fresh export from Appstle and upload it without opening and saving it in Excel. The other valid customers can still be imported.

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Step 6: Start the import

• Click Import points for N customers.
• In the Quick Appstle check! pop-up, confirm you turned off Appstle’s earn rules and widget. Click Go to Shopify settings if you still need to, or click Start importing points.
• Wait while the progress screen runs. The progress bar moves in steps of 500 customers.

The import keeps running if you leave the page. Return to the import page to check the result, or open Customers to see the new points when it is done. When it finishes, the page shows N customers successfully imported. If new customers were created, it also shows how many points came over and how many customers were new to bitbybit. If some customers were already in bitbybit, it says how many, and that their existing profile was used. The Finish your move list tells you what to do next:

1. Uninstall Appstle from your Shopify, so bitLoyalty can perform effectively.
2. Turn on bitLoyalty on the Earn points page, if it’s not on yet.
3. Set up your rewards and ways to earn so customers can use their points.

Click Back to Get started or Go to Earn points to continue.

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How the import treats your customers

• Matching. Each row is matched to an existing customer by Shopify ID first, then by email, then by phone. The first match is used.
• Existing customers keep their details. A matched customer keeps their own name, email, and phone. The import never overwrites them.
• Birthdays. An empty birthday is filled from the file. A birthday that already exists is never changed.
• New customers. Customers who aren’t in bitbybit are created from the file, then receive their points. Their Source is bitLoyalty import.
• Existing balances. On a first import, the points are added on top of any balance the customer already has in bitLoyalty.

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Import again with a corrected file

You can upload a corrected file for the same customers. The new numbers replace the earlier Appstle numbers and are never added twice. For each customer, only the difference is applied, so a balance can go up or down. The Review your Appstle points page tells you when this applies: “N customers you’re importing now came over in an earlier import. Their balance is replaced with the one in this file, not added to it.” Points a customer earned or spent in bitLoyalty since the first import stay as they are.

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Check a customer’s points after the import

• Open Customers and search for a customer.
• Open their profile and look at Loyalty balance. If points expiry is on, Expires on and a date appear under the balance.
• Click View points history next to Points. The import shows as Balance imported from the previous loyalty app.

See Set points expiry to change how long points last.

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Related

• Get started with bitLoyalty
• Set points expiry
• bitLoyalty overview