Evaluation windows
Plan: Advanced plan and above.
This article's section starts at 3:27 in the video.
The evaluation window is the timeframe DollarBack looks at when deciding a customer's tier. Choose it carefully: it controls how customers climb and whether they can ever fall back down.
The window options
Set the window in the Evaluation Window section of DollarBack admin → Tiers. It applies to all tiers at once.
All time
The customer's entire history
No; progress only accumulates
Current month
The 1st of the current calendar month
Yes; counters restart every month
Current year
January 1 of the current year
Yes; counters restart every year
Custom recurring…
A recurring window you define
Yes; counters restart at each rollover
Custom recurring takes a Start month, a Day, and a Repeat every value in months. For example, a window that starts on the 1st and repeats every 12 months gives customers a rolling year to qualify and requalify, which is useful when a calendar-year reset feels arbitrary. Repeat every 3 months gives you quarterly tiers.
How customers move up
Tier evaluation is automatic. Whenever a customer's numbers change (an order is processed, a referral reward lands, an account is created), DollarBack re-evaluates that customer against your ladder immediately. If they now meet all conditions of a higher tier, they move up on the spot; there is nothing for you to run.
The upgrade applies to future orders. The order that pushed a customer over a threshold is calculated at the tier they held when they placed it; multipliers are snapshotted per order (see Link cashback programs to tiers).
How customers move down
Customers only move down when the window resets. At each rollover (new month, new year, or the next recurrence of a custom window), counters restart from zero and DollarBack re-evaluates:
A customer who no longer meets their tier's conditions drops to the highest tier they still qualify for.
A customer who meets no tier's conditions has their tier removed entirely.
With All time there is no reset, so tiers are effectively permanent promotions: customers can only accumulate their way up. Pick a recurring window if you want tiers to reward recent loyalty and lapse when a customer stops shopping.
Switching windows (say, All time → Current month) can demote a large share of your customers at the next sync, because most will have far less activity inside the new, shorter window. Preview the impact on a few known customers before saving, and expect the widget to show the change after you sync.
When re-evaluation happens
Order processed
That customer
Referral reward processed
That customer
Customer account created
That customer
Window rollover
Scheduled reset per your window
Sync now after saving settings
All customers
For recurring windows, the widget can show customers when their progress resets ("Resets on {date}"), so the deadline is visible rather than a surprise.
Verify it works
Pick a customer whose order history you know. With All time selected, note their tier in the widget or their customer metafield. Switch to Current month, save, and sync. A customer with old spend but no orders this month should drop, confirming the window drives assignment.
Common issues
A loyal customer suddenly lost their tier: a recurring window rolled over and their in-window activity no longer qualifies. Widen the window or lower thresholds.
Tier didn't change after editing the window: settings changes reach existing customers only after a sync. See Sync tiers to customers.
Customer expected credit at their new, higher rate on the qualifying order: the multiplier applies from the next order; per-order snapshots are never recalculated.
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