Birthday Rewards — Automatically Reward Customers on Their Birthday

What Is This?

Birthday Rewards let you automatically give a reward to every customer on their birthday. You set it up once, and Pixalink takes care of the rest — no manual work needed, no birthdays forgotten.

Real-Life Example

Mei runs a bubble tea shop in Penang. She used to keep a spreadsheet of customer birthdays and manually send out vouchers every month, but she kept missing people or sending them late.

After turning on Birthday Rewards in Pixalink, every customer with a birthday on file now receives a free topping voucher on the morning of their birthday. One of her regulars, Ahmad, was surprised to wake up to a birthday reward notification on his phone. He came in that same week to use it and ended up buying drinks for his whole office. Mei didn't lift a finger — the system handled everything automatically.

How It Works

Pixalink runs a check every 30 minutes. At the time you choose, it assigns the reward to customers whose birthday is that day, so each customer gets it on their actual birthday. If you turn on Send in advance, they can receive it a few days early instead. Each customer only gets a given birthday reward once per year, so there is no risk of duplicates.

New customers who sign up during their birth month are handled separately. By default they receive the reward the next day, and if you turn on Auto-assign on the day of registration, they get it the same day they sign up.

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Create or edit a reward

Go to Admin Panel > Loyalty Program > Rewards and click New Reward, or open an existing reward to edit it.

Fill in the Reward Details tab with a name, description, and cover image.

Step 2: Set the points cost to zero

Because this reward is given automatically, the points and credits cost must be 0. Set Points to Redeem to 0 (and Credits if applicable).

The system enforces this — you cannot set a cost on a reward that has automation turned on.

Step 3: Turn on Birthday automation

Click the Automations tab, then under the Birthday section toggle on Auto-assign to Birthday Customers. Set the Quantity (usually 1) and the Birthday Reward Assignment Time, which is the time of day the reward is delivered on the customer's birthday.

The assignment time uses 30-minute intervals (e.g. 09:00, 09:30, 10:00). Pick a time when your customers are likely to check their phone.

Step 4: (Optional) Advanced timing

The Advanced section within Birthday (shown in the screenshot above) has two options:

• Auto-assign on the day of registration — by default, a customer who signs up during their birth month gets the reward the next day. Turn this on to give it the same day they register instead.
• Send in advance — send the reward a set number of days before the birthday (3, 5, 7, or 14 days). Leave it empty to send on the birthday itself. Spreading it across several days keeps your daily message volume low and protects your WhatsApp number.

Step 5: Set an expiry or validity period

Back in the Settings tab, set an Expiration Date or enable Custom Valid Day(s) after redemption to control how long customers have to use the reward.

Step 6: Activate and save

Make sure the Active toggle is turned on, then click Save.

That's it. Pixalink will check every 30 minutes for birthday rewards that need to be sent out and assign them at the time you chose.

What Your Customers Will See

Customers receive the reward on their birthday (or a few days earlier, if you set that up). If you've set up WhatsApp notifications for the reward, they'll also get a message letting them know about their birthday gift. The reward appears in their customer portal with a unique code they can show at your location to claim it.

Good to Know

• On the birthday, not the first of the month. Each customer receives the reward on their actual birthday, at the time you set (or a few days earlier if you use Send in advance), not on the first day of the month.
• Tier and paid-membership birthday vouchers work differently. A birthday voucher tied to a loyalty tier is given across the whole birth month, and one tied to a paid membership is given on the first day of the birth month. This article covers the standard reward automation, which is based on the birthday date.
• Customers need a date of birth on file. If a customer's profile doesn't include their date of birth, they won't receive a birthday reward.
• One reward per year. Each customer can only receive a specific birthday reward once per calendar year.
• Points/credits must be zero. Automated rewards cannot have a point or credit cost.
• Multiple birthday rewards. You can create more than one reward with birthday automation — customers will receive all of them.
• The reward must be active. If you deactivate the reward, birthday assignments will stop.