Recipe: Premium membership with tiers

This recipe shows how to create a paid membership that unlocks access to your store or pricing, modeled after the Best Buy Plus membership structure.

This model works best for brands that want to gate access to products or pricing and reward high-value, loyal customers.

Overview

• Membership type: Paid
• Billing cadence: Annual
• Primary benefits:
  • Free or faster shipping
  • Members-only access or pricing
  • Member-exclusive sales
• Best for:
  • Electronics & hardware
  • Premium consumer goods
  • Brands with accessories, add-ons, or warranties

What Members Get

• Free tier for basic loyalty and account benefits
• Paid tiers that unlock better pricing and perks
• Premium tier focused on peace of mind, not just discounts

The key idea: paid tiers remove friction and risk, not just cost.

When This Model Works Well

• Products are higher value
• Customers care about fast shipping
• Margins allow for free expedited shipping and discounts

When to Avoid This Model

• Low-cost impulse products
• Very infrequent purchases
• No meaningful post-purchase experience

Reference model

Tier	Price	Core Benefits
Free	$0	Basic account benefits
Plus	~$40–$60 / year	Exclusive pricing, free expedited shipping
Total	~$150–$200 / year	Extra services, Service discounts

You don’t need all tiers to start—two tiers is often enough.

Step 1: Create the Free Base Membership

1. Go to Zendra → Plans
2. Click Create plan
3. Configure:
   • Name: Rewards Member
   • Type: Loyalty (Choose whether to assign with account registration, or you can use Shopify Flow to create memberships with a different trigger)
   • Perks: Never expire
   • Perks: Add a member free shipping perk for this plan. You can optionally limit it to specific countries.

This tier creates a baseline relationship with customers.

Step 2: Create the Base Paid Membership

1. Create a product to sell the membership — create a variant for each paid membership tier.
   • The variant price should represent your recurring price.
2. Create a second membership plan
   • Name: Plus Membership
   • Type: Membership
     • Product: Choose the variant for this plan level, not the parent product
   • Merchandising: Create your subscription options
   • Billing plan: Configure your default cycle ($40-60) to renew every year
     • You can optionally add monthly billing or other intervals (the minimum cycles setting is helpful to force at least a few renewals)

This tier should deliver immediate, visible value.

Step 3: Add perks to the paid membership

Create the additional membership perks for this level, such as:

• A 100% discount on 2-day or expedited shipping rates
• Automated member discounts on specific products or collections
• Protect specific products to allow purchase only by members
• Protect member-focused content

Step 4: Add Top-Tier Benefits

Create a 3rd plan that represents your premium or top tier membership.

1. Name: Total membership
2. Type: Membership (again, choose the variant for your highest tier)
3. Merchandising: Enable subscriptions
4. Billing plan: Configure your default cycle ($150-200) to renew every year
   • You can optionally add monthly billing or other intervals (the minimum cycles setting is helpful to force at least a few renewals)

Recommended premium benefits:

• All Plus-tier benefits
• Best member pricing
• Protected products for top-tier members:
  • Buying (or 100% discounted) extended warranties
  • Discounts on specific collections / service products
• Free expedited shipping

Not all perks need to be transactional! Support matters.

Common Variations

• Two-Tier Only: Simpler and easier to explain
  • Free tier
  • One paid premium tier

• Invite-Only Premium
  • Offer premium tier only to top customers (manual assignment)
  • Increases perceived exclusivity

Summary

This membership model works because it:

• Reduces customer risk
• Rewards loyalty without constant discounts
• Monetizes service and convenience

It’s ideal for brands that want to compete on trust, not price.