VIP Customer Experience Guide

Reward your best customers with exclusive products, early access, and premium payment options.

Use Case

You want to create a premium shopping experience for VIP customers by:

• Giving early access to new releases
• Showing exclusive products only to VIPs
• Offering premium payment options (buy now pay later, installments)
• Hiding sale items from full-price buyers

Prerequisites

• VIP customers tagged with VIP in Shopify
• Premium products tagged with VIP-Exclusive
• New releases tagged with New-Release
• Rulebase installed with app embed enabled

Rule 1: VIP-Exclusive Products

Goal

Show special products only to VIP customers.

Configuration

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP

Targets (TARGET):

• Product Tag → VIP-Exclusive

Action (THEN):

• Hide

What This Does

Non-VIP customers won’t see products tagged “VIP-Exclusive,” creating exclusivity for your premium segment.

Real-World Example

Limited edition items, luxury product lines, or special collaborations available only to VIPs.

Rule 2: Early Access to New Releases

Goal

Give VIPs 7-day early access to new products before general release.

Configuration

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP

Targets (TARGET):

• Product Tag → New-Release

Action (THEN):

• Hide

What This Does

New releases are hidden from regular customers. After the early access period, remove the New-Release tag to make products visible to everyone.

Management Tip

Use Shopify Flow or scheduled tasks to automatically remove New-Release tags after 7 days.

Rule 3: Premium Payment Options

Goal

Offer installment payments (Klarna, Afterpay) only to VIP customers.

Configuration

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP

Targets (TARGET):

• Payment Method → Klarna
• Payment Method → Afterpay

Action (THEN):

• Hide

What This Does

VIP customers see flexible payment options at checkout, while regular customers see standard payment methods.

Why This Works

Reduces risk by limiting installment payments to trusted customers while offering them more purchasing power.

Rule 4: Hide Sale Items from VIPs

Goal

Prevent VIPs from seeing discounted items (they get premium experiences, not sales).

Configuration

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → contains → VIP

Targets (TARGET):

• Collection → Sale
• Product Tag → Clearance

Action (THEN):

• Hide

What This Does

VIP customers shop full-price premium products, maintaining the premium brand positioning.

Alternative Approach

Instead of hiding, redirect VIPs to a curated premium collection:

Action (THEN):

• Redirect → /collections/premium

Advanced: Tiered VIP Levels

Scenario

You have multiple VIP tiers (Gold, Platinum, Diamond) with increasing benefits.

Gold VIP Access

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP-Gold
• AND
• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP-Platinum
• AND
• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP-Diamond

Targets (TARGET):

• Product Tag → Gold-Access

Action (THEN):

• Hide

Platinum VIP Access

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP-Platinum
• AND
• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP-Diamond

Targets (TARGET):

• Product Tag → Platinum-Access

Action (THEN):

• Hide

Diamond VIP Access

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP-Diamond

Targets (TARGET):

• Product Tag → Diamond-Exclusive

Action (THEN):

• Hide

What This Does

Creates a pyramid of access where higher tiers see everything lower tiers see, plus exclusive products.

Combining with Location

Regional VIP Products

Show exclusive products only to VIPs in specific regions:

Conditions (WHEN):

• Customer Tags → does not contain → VIP
• OR
• Country → is not → United States

Targets (TARGET):

• Product Tag → US-VIP-Exclusive

Action (THEN):

• Hide

What This Does

Product is only visible to VIPs located in the United States.

Best Practices

Tagging Strategy

Use clear, hierarchical tags:

• VIP - General VIP status
• VIP-Gold - Entry VIP tier
• VIP-Platinum - Mid VIP tier
• VIP-Diamond - Top VIP tier

Product Tagging

Be consistent:

• VIP-Exclusive - All VIP products
• Gold-Access - Gold tier and above
• Platinum-Access - Platinum tier and above
• Diamond-Exclusive - Diamond tier only

Communication

Tell VIPs about their perks:

• Email campaigns highlighting exclusive products
• Custom landing pages for VIP collections
• In-app messaging about early access

Rule Naming

Use descriptive names:

• “VIP Exclusive Products”
• “Gold Tier Early Access”
• “Premium Payment Options for VIPs”

Testing Checklist

Before publishing:

• Test as non-VIP customer (should not see exclusive products)
• Test as each VIP tier (verify correct products visible)
• Check early access timing
• Verify payment options in checkout
• Test redirects work correctly

Troubleshooting

Problem: VIPs don’t see exclusive products

• Check: Is customer tagged correctly with VIP?
• Check: Are products tagged with VIP-Exclusive?
• Check: Is the rule active?

Problem: Non-VIPs see exclusive products

• Check: Is the app embed enabled in theme?
• Check: Is the rule published (not just saved as draft)?
• Check: Clear browser cache and test in incognito mode

Problem: Payment options not filtering

• Check: Are you testing in actual checkout?
• Check: Is your payment gateway properly configured?

Upgrade Considerations

This guide requires Rulebase Core plan ($29/month) for live enforcement. Design and test with the free Validation plan first.

Related Guides

• B2B Wholesale Setup - Business customer segmentation
• Regional Payment Options - Location-based filtering
• Getting Started Guide - Basic rule creation

Questions? Contact support or check the Features Documentation.