PIING
How Piing, Intelligence and Alerts work together
The store visit, the customer profile and the storefront feed: three different jobs, and where each app fits.
In this article
Start with the job you need done.
A member walks into a shop. Someone else is browsing the website. A marketing team is deciding which customers belong in a segment. These are related moments, but they need different tools.
Piing, Intelligence and Alerts are separate Shopify apps. You can start with one. Here is how the responsibilities divide, and what using them together can add.
- 01
PiingRecognise the store visitWallet passes, check-in and staff context.
- 02
IntelligenceUnderstand the customerSelected profile fields from Shopify data.
- 03
AlertsSpeak on the storefrontA targeted feed inside the online store.
Piing: recognise the customer in store.
Piing connects a Wallet pass or physical membership card to a customer record. A scan or supported tap records a visit, giving the store team a way to recognise the customer and see the context they are permitted to use.
In Shopify POS, staff can scan a pass or use Counter to find a customer by name, email or phone. Choosing the matching result records a counter check-in. Simply looking at an existing customer profile is not the same as checking someone in.
Point the camera at the customer’s pass.
Open Scan in the Piing POS tile. Use the device camera or a connected scanner to read the customer’s pass.
Piing also handles Wallet updates and configured Wallet messages. Those belong to the membership experience, not to the storefront feed in Alerts.
Intelligence: add useful context to the record.
Order history tells you what someone bought. Intelligence analyses selected Shopify data to produce structured customer fields, such as preferred category or purchase frequency.
The merchant chooses the fields to run and controls the write-back. AI-inferred values include confidence, so an uncertain suggestion can be held back. Approved outputs become customer metafields that Shopify and compatible tools can use.
Example write threshold: 80%. You choose the fields and the confidence required.
Intelligence can be useful without an in-store programme. It is a separate app, with new plans measured in successful customer profile refreshes.
Alerts: give the storefront a place for updates.
Alerts adds a notification feed to the online store. A bell opens cards for launches, offers, useful information and other messages selected by the merchant.
The feed sits in the storefront and follows its appearance settings. Audience rules decide who is eligible to see a card. Optional browser push is a separate, permission-based channel; it is not an Apple or Google Wallet notification.
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Pick one starting point.
For a store-recognition pilot, begin with Piing, branded Wallet QR passes and a staff scanning route. Confirm the customer match and rehearse the fallback when a pass is not available. Add physical cards or NFC hardware when that workflow is working for the team.
For customer segmentation, start with a small set of Intelligence fields and review the results before using them downstream. For a storefront communication problem, begin with a focused Alerts feed.
Each product page explains its setup and pricing: Piing, Intelligence and Alerts. Non-Shopify connections are scoped through Retail ID.