Introduction
Tier expiration controls how long a customer keeps their tier after earning it, and when (or whether) their progress resets. TrustWILL Loyalty supports three modes — Lifetime, Calendar Year, and 12 Months. Each store enables exactly one mode, applied uniformly to all customers.
The right choice depends on your purchase frequency, brand positioning, and how strongly you want to reward repeat behavior over time.
At A Glance
Mode | How long does the tier lasts？ | Requalification required? | Progress reset? |
Lifetime | Forever | No | Never |
Calendar Year | Until the end of the next calendar year | Yes | Jan 1 every year |
12 Months | 365 days from achievement | Yes | After re-evaluation |
Threshold tip (Calendar Year & Rolling 12 Months): Set thresholds that an active customer can comfortably hit each cycle. Otherwise, even loyal customers get downgraded.
How to Choose A Mode
The right mode usually comes down to how often your typical customer buys:
Mode | Buying frequency | Typical categories |
Lifetime | Less than once a year | Luxury, jewelry, e-bikes, furniture, smart home, off-grid solar |
Calendar Year | A few times a year | Apparel, mass cosmetics, accessories, seasonal home goods, gifting |
Rolling 12 Months | Monthly or more often | Coffee, tea, pet food, supplements, daily-use skincare, consumables |
Lifetime
Tier status is valid for life and never expires.
How it works
Customers accumulate progress.
When progress reaches a tier threshold, they enter that tier.
Once earned, the tier is kept for life — there is no expiration date.
Customers can continue accumulating progress toward higher tiers.
Best for: Luxury brands or exclusive memberships where long-term loyalty is prioritized.
Calendar Year
Tier status is valid for the rest of the year it was earned, plus the entire next year.
How it works
Customers accumulate progress within a calendar year.
When progress reaches a tier threshold, they enter that tier.
The tier stays valid until Dec 31 of the following year (e.g., earned Nov 2025 ➔ valid until Dec 31, 2026).
On Jan 1 each year, progress resets to zero for all customers, starting a new year of accumulation. The tier itself is not reset.
To keep the same tier into a third year, customers must re-qualify during the second year.
After the validity period ends, the next year's tier is set by the customer's most recent year of accumulation. Because any qualifying upgrade during that year happens in real time, the year-end outcome can only be a retention or a downgrade.
Best for: Seasonal or moderate-frequency purchases (e.g., apparel, cosmetics).
12 Months
Tier status is held for at least 12 months, then re-evaluated at expiration based on the past 12 months' activity.
Note: "12 months" is calculated as 365 days, independent of calendar-month length. Earned Feb 3, 2025 ➔ expires Feb 3, 2026.
How it works
Customers accumulate progress and enter a tier when they reach its threshold.
The system sets the expiration date = upgrade date + 365 days.
Before the expiration date, progress only grows — it is never cleared.
If the customer keeps accumulating and crosses a higher tier threshold, they are upgraded, and the new tier's expiration date is reset to "tier achievement date + 365 days." As long as the customer keeps upgrading, the expiration date keeps moving forward.
When the expiration date arrives, the system reads the customer's accumulation over the past 365 days and re-evaluates the tier:
Meets the current tier ➔ retained
Meets only a lower tier ➔ dropped to the corresponding tier
After re-evaluation, progress resets to zero and a new cycle begins the next day.
About the upgrade day
The purchase, points, or order that triggered the tier upgrade are used to qualify the customer for that tier, and are not counted again during the next retention evaluation. This prevents the same activity from being counted twice.
Example
Day 0 — Customer reaches Gold. Expiration set to Day 365.
Day 100 — Customer crosses the Platinum threshold and upgrades. Expiration resets to Day 465.
Day 465 — System reads activity from Day 101 to Day 465 (excluding Day 100). If it meets Platinum ➔ retained; if it only meets Gold ➔ dropped to Gold. Progress resets the next day, and a new 365-day cycle begins.
Best for: High-frequency purchases (e.g., coffee, pet food).
Common questions
1. Does the progress shown on the progress bar equal the customer's past-12-month activity?
No. The progress bar is not cleared before the expiration date arrives — it keeps growing as the customer keeps upgrading, so the time range it covers may exceed 12 months. The retention evaluation at expiration only uses the past 365 days (excluding the upgrade day).
This design encourages customers to keep upgrading: progress only grows and is never cleared, so customers always see forward momentum, while the retention evaluation still reflects recent activity.
2. Under Calendar Year, what if a customer reaches a tier in December?
The tier still lasts until Dec 31 of the following year. A customer who reaches Gold in Dec 2025 keeps Gold for the rest of 2025 and all of 2026.