A referral program turns your customers into advocates by rewarding them for bringing in new customers. When a customer shares their unique link and a friend makes a purchase, both can be rewarded.
How It Works
1. Each customer gets a unique referral code and link 2. Customer shares their link via social media, email, or direct message 3. Friend clicks the link and browses your store 4. Friend adds products to cart (referral code is automatically attached) 5. Friend completes purchase 6. After a configurable delay, referrer receives store credit 7. Optionally, friend receives a discount on their first order
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Configuring Your Referral Program
Go to Rewards > Referrals to configure your program.
Referrer (Advocate) Rewards
Configure what the referring customer earns:
Reward Type
Fixed Amount: A specific dollar amount per successful referral (e.g., $10)
Percentage: A percentage of the friend's order value (e.g., 10%)
Expiration
Store Default: Uses your global reward settings
Custom Period: Set specific days until expiration
Never Expire: Credit never expires
Cap Limit how much a customer can earn from referrals:
Cap Amount: Maximum credit per period
Cap Period: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, or Lifetime
Friend (Referee) Rewards
Optionally give the friend an incentive to complete their purchase:
Enable Friend Reward Toggle on to give friends a discount on their first order.
Discount Type
Fixed Amount: A dollar amount off (e.g., $5 off)
Percentage: A percentage discount (e.g., 10% off)
Note: Friend discounts require additional setup with Shopify discount codes or automatic discounts.
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Fraud Prevention
The referral system includes protections against fraud:
Processing Delay
Set a delay (in minutes) before referral rewards are issued. This gives you time to verify orders are legitimate before credits are issued.
Default: 60 minutes
Require New Customer
When enabled, only first-time customers count as valid referrals. Existing customers using a referral link won't trigger rewards.
Minimum Order Value
Set a minimum order amount that must be met for the referral to count. This prevents gaming with tiny orders.
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Program Status
Draft: Program is being configured. Referral tracking is disabled.
Active: Program is live. Customers can share and earn rewards.
Paused: Program is temporarily stopped. Existing referrals are honored.
Archived: Program is retired.
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How Customers Share
When you add the Referral Widget to your theme, customers can share their link via:
Copy Link: Copies the referral URL to clipboard
Native Share: Uses the device's share menu (mobile-friendly)
Facebook: Opens Facebook with a pre-filled share post
Twitter: Opens Twitter with a pre-filled tweet
Email: Opens email client with a pre-filled message
The referral link looks like: yourstore.com?ref=ABC123
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Tracking Referrals
The system tracks:
Clicks: How many times the referral link was clicked
Conversions: How many clicks resulted in purchases
Earnings: Total store credit earned from referrals
Customers see their stats in the Referral Widget. You can view aggregate stats in the Bonde admin.
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Referral Lifecycle
1. Click
When someone clicks a referral link, the code is stored in their browser for 30 days.
2. Cart
When they add items to cart, the referral code is automatically attached as a cart attribute.
3. Checkout
The referral code travels through checkout with the order.
4. Order Placed
After purchase, the system detects the referral code and creates a pending referral.
5. Processing Delay
The system waits for the configured delay period.
6. Validation
The system verifies:
Order meets minimum value (if configured)
Customer is new (if required)
Referrer hasn't exceeded caps
7. Reward Issued
Store credit is added to the referrer's account.
8. Notification
If enabled, the referrer receives an email notification.
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Example Configuration
Generous Referral Program
Referrer Reward: $15 fixed amount
Expiration: 90 days
Cap: $150 per month
Friend Reward: 15% off first order
Delay: 60 minutes
Require New Customer: Yes
Minimum Order: $25
Conservative Referral Program
Referrer Reward: 5% of order value
Expiration: 30 days
Cap: $50 per month
Friend Reward: Disabled
Delay: 1440 minutes (24 hours)
Require New Customer: Yes
Minimum Order: $50
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Installing the Widget
To let customers access their referral link, add the Referral Widget to your theme. See Installing Rewards & Referral Widgets for instructions.
If you need help, reach out via our Intercom chat widget or email us at [email protected].