Introduction
Rivo’s Referral system has a number of robust Referral fraud prevention tools, however, sometimes there are bad actors that you have to exclude from your program. This guide covers all available methods to exclude customers and their impacts on both referral and loyalty programs.
✨ Program exclusion is available in all plans and affects both referral and loyalty programs
Methods to exclude customers from your programs
There are two ways to exclude customers from your Rivo programs:
Method 1: Admin Interface Exclusion
This is the most common method for excluding individual customers. To exclude a customer through the admin interface:
Go to your Rivo Customers list or click here
Search for the customer’s email and click their Rivo profile
Click the Exclude button in the top right corner
Click Change Status to confirm the exclusion
This method allows you to easily reverse the exclusion later if needed.
Method 2: Shopify Customer Tag Exclusion
For bulk exclusions or automated workflows, you can exclude customers by adding a specific tag in your Shopify admin:
Go to your Shopify admin and navigate to Customers
Find the customer(s) you want to exclude
Add the tag “Rivo Excluded” (without quotes) to their customer profile
Save the customer profile
This method is useful for:
Bulk exclusions using Shopify’s bulk editor
Automated exclusions through Shopify Flow or third-party apps
Integration with existing customer management workflows
⚠️ Important: Customers excluded via Shopify tags cannot be restored through the Rivo admin interface. You must remove the "Rivo Excluded" tag from their Shopify customer profile to restore access.
What happens when a customer is excluded
Excluding a customer affects their participation in both your referral and loyalty programs:
Referral Program Impact
Cannot opt in as an advocate or successfully refer new customers
Friends who try to claim their referral offer will be blocked
Will not receive rewards for future referrals
Cannot participate in referral campaigns
Loyalty Program Impact
Cannot earn loyalty points from purchases or activities
Cannot redeem existing points for rewards
Loyalty widgets will show generic error messages
Will not receive VIP tier benefits or progression
Cannot access their loyalty account dashboard
📝 Note: Excluded customers retain their existing points balance and referral history, but cannot use or add to them until exclusion is removed.
How to restore customer access
The process to restore access depends on how the customer was originally excluded:
Restoring Admin Interface Exclusions
Go to your Rivo Customers list
Find the excluded customer (they will appear in the “Excluded” tab)
Click on their profile
Click the Add to Program button
Click Change Status to confirm
Restoring Shopify Tag Exclusions
Go to your Shopify admin and navigate to Customers
Find the customer with the “Rivo Excluded” tag
Remove the “Rivo Excluded” tag from their profile
Save the customer profile
The customer will regain access to both programs within a few minutes of tag removal.
Common exclusion scenarios
When to exclude customers
Fraudulent referrals : Customers creating fake accounts or manipulating the system
Abuse of rewards : Customers exploiting program rules or loopholes
Chargebacks or disputes : Customers with payment issues affecting program integrity
Terms of service violations : Customers not following program guidelines
Bulk exclusions : Removing inactive or problematic customer segments
Choosing the right exclusion method
Use Admin Interface for individual customers you may want to restore later
Use Shopify Tags for bulk exclusions, automated workflows, or permanent exclusions
Use Shopify Tags when integrating with existing customer management processes
Order tags and referral exclusions
Referral exclusions are customer-level only. An order tag cannot exclude a customer from the referral program and cannot hide the post-purchase referral thank-you widget for that order.
If you use order tags to exclude orders from earning points or store credit, that setting applies to loyalty earning calculations only. It does not exclude the customer from referrals, hide referral displays, or prevent the post-purchase referral widget from showing after checkout.
To exclude someone from referral participation, use the Exclude button on their Rivo customer profile or add the “Rivo Excluded” customer tag in Shopify.
Important considerations
Customer notification : Excluded customers are not notified of their exclusion status
Error messages : Excluded customers will see generic error messages when trying to access program features
Shopify account : Exclusion does not affect the customer’s ability to shop or access their Shopify account
Data retention : All customer data, points, and referral history are preserved during exclusion
Automatic restoration : Customers excluded via tags are automatically restored when the tag is removed
Program scope : Exclusion affects both referral and loyalty programs simultaneously
Referral links : Existing referral links may still be visible, but friends will be blocked from claiming the referral offer while the advocate is excluded
💡 Tip: Consider using temporary exclusions for customers you're investigating, and permanent tag-based exclusions for confirmed fraudulent accounts.