Expiration and demotion

Tier expiration in Loybox, how status is kept with activity, demotion through inactivity, and when it is worth using.

A tier can be forever, or something that has to be maintained. Both options are valid; they serve different purposes.

Tiers that are maintained

You can give a tier a validity in days. If the member reaches it and then goes inactive for that period, they drop one step. That way the tier is held through activity, instead of being kept forever after reaching it once.

Demotion is one step at a time

When a tier expires, the member does not fall all the way down: they drop a single tier, and the clock restarts from there. Demotion is gradual and always leaves room to react.

Climbing back up is possible

Demotion answers to inactivity, not to a permanent punishment. Since progress is calculated over the member's full history, if they buy again and their lifetime total still clears the higher tier, they move back up on the next purchase. In practice, expiration only "bites" the members who left for good.

Where it applies

The base tier never expires

Expiration only makes sense on the VIP tiers (the ones above the base) measured by points. The base tier, everyone's starting point, never expires: nobody is pushed out of the club through inactivity.

When it is worth it

With expiration

The tier is held through activity. Useful for frequent-purchase brands, where asking for consistency to keep a tier makes sense.

Without expiration

The tier reached is permanent. Useful if you would rather the member never lose it once earned.

How to calibrate the period

Too short a period can make a member lose their tier over a normal pause between purchases. It is better to start with a generous window and tune it against your members' real purchase frequency.