Reporting & Analytics
Jul 7, 2025
What we'll talk about
Learn how to identify your top customers for loyalty and rewards campaigns, using Airboxr’s Customer Segment Builder to improve retention and drive remarketing results.
Running a rewards campaign is one of the most effective ways to build loyalty and strengthen relationships with your best customers. Whether you’re offering extra loyalty points, special gifts, or store credit, you’ll get the highest impact by focusing on customers who are actively engaged with your brand.
But how do you identify these customers? Many merchants have thousands of buyers on record, but only a fraction are still active and valuable. In this article, you’ll learn how to define and find your top customers so your rewards campaign — or even broader customer loyalty and remarketing initiatives — hit the right audience.
Why focus on your top customers?
Not every customer deserves the same recognition. Your most engaged customers buy repeatedly, stick with you over time, and often recommend your store to others. Rewarding them builds loyalty, improves retention, and boosts your chances of future purchases.
A well-designed rewards campaign might include:
✅ Extra loyalty points
✅ Store credit
✅ Special gifts
✅ Early access to new products
These tactics are proven to support customer retention, a critical component of any loyalty program or remarketing strategy. For more on building retention strategies, see our guide on How to Measure Retention Performance on Your Shopify Store.
How does this connect to customer retention and remarketing?
Top customers are the backbone of strong customer retention. Rewarding them keeps your brand top of mind, making it easier to reactivate them in the future with targeted remarketing campaigns. When you know who your best customers are, you can:
Segment them for VIP offers
Deliver more relevant messages in email and SMS campaigns
Tailor remarketing ads to encourage repeat purchases
A data-driven approach ensures your marketing efforts go to those most likely to respond. For a deeper dive into customer segmentation strategies, read our blog post, 46 Customer Segments to Drive Profitable Growth (with a downloadable worksheet).
Step 1: Pull your active customer list
Start with Airboxr’s Customer Segment Builder, available here. This tool helps you build a customer list with all the necessary details, including name, email, address, and phone number.
Set a timeframe that defines “active” for your brand — usually the past 12 months. This guarantees you’re working with customers who have shown interest recently.
Step 2: Analyze lifetime value and loyalty
Next, dig deeper into lifetime spend and lifetime duration:
Lifetime spend shows how much revenue a customer has generated.
Lifetime duration highlights how long they’ve stuck around.
Combining these measures helps you identify customers who are both high-value and loyal — the best candidates for any loyalty or retention marketing strategy.
Step 3: Build your VIP shortlist
Filter your active customer data to match your campaign goals. For example:
Top 300 customers by lifetime spend
Longest-tenured customers with consistent purchases
A mix of both for a balanced VIP group
This shortlist is perfect for rewards campaigns, but can also fuel personalized remarketing efforts down the line.
Step 4: Plan your campaign touchpoints
Now that you have your VIP segment, decide how you’ll reach them. Some proven ideas include:
Sending a thank-you gift or note
Offering double loyalty points for their next purchase
Giving them early access to a seasonal sale
Sharing a personalized store credit offer
These touches build emotional loyalty and drive long-term retention.
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Wrapping up
Identifying your top customers isn’t about guesswork — it’s about using data to make smarter marketing decisions. Whether you’re running a rewards program, a loyalty campaign, or setting up remarketing efforts, knowing who your best customers are is the foundation of success.
Using Airboxr’s Customer Segment Builder, you can identify high-value, loyal customers quickly and focus on delivering the right experience to keep them coming back.
FAQs
1. What is an active customer?
An active customer is someone who has purchased within a recent timeframe (usually the past 6–12 months) and is still engaged with your brand.
2. How do I reward my top customers?
You can reward them with loyalty points, store credit, early access to sales, or thoughtful gifts that make them feel valued.
3. Why is customer segmentation important for rewards campaigns?
Segmentation helps you target the right customers, so you maximize ROI and avoid wasting resources on inactive or low-value shoppers.
4. Can rewarding top customers improve retention?
Yes — acknowledging your best customers increases their loyalty and strengthens long-term relationships, boosting repeat purchases.
5. What tools can I use to identify my top customers?
Airboxr’s Customer Segment Builder is a fast way to analyze your customer base by activity, spend, and loyalty metrics.
