A referral program turns your customers into advocates by rewarding them for bringing in new customers.
How it works
- Each customer gets a unique referral code and link
- Customer shares their link via social media, email, or direct message
- Friend clicks the link and browses your store
- Friend adds products to cart (referral code is automatically attached)
- Friend completes purchase
- After a configurable delay, referrer receives store credit
- Optionally, friend receives a discount on their first order
Configuration
Go to Rewards > Referrals to configure your program.
Referrer (advocate) rewards
Configure what the referring customer earns:
| Option | Description |
|---|
| Reward type | Fixed amount per referral or percentage of the friend’s order |
| Expiration | Store default, custom period, or never expire |
| Cap | Maximum credit per period (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or lifetime) |
Friend (referee) rewards
Optionally give the friend an incentive to complete their purchase:
| Option | Description |
|---|
| Enable friend reward | Toggle on to give friends a discount on their first order |
| Discount type | Fixed amount off (e.g., $5 off) or percentage (e.g., 10% off) |
Friend discounts may require additional setup with Shopify discount codes or automatic discounts.
Fraud prevention
The referral system includes protections against fraud:
| Option | Description |
|---|
| Processing delay | Wait time before referral rewards are issued (default: 60 minutes) |
| Require new customer | Only first-time customers count as valid referrals |
| Minimum order value | Minimum order amount for the referral to count |
Program status
| Status | Description |
|---|
| 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 |
Sharing options
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
Tracking
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.
Referral lifecycle
Click
When someone clicks a referral link, the code is stored in their browser for 30 days.
Cart
When they add items to cart, the referral code is automatically attached as a cart attribute.
Checkout
The referral code travels through checkout with the order.
Order placed
After purchase, the system detects the referral code and creates a pending referral.
Processing delay
The system waits for the configured delay period.
Validation
The system verifies: order meets minimum value, customer is new (if required), referrer hasn’t exceeded caps.
Reward issued
Store credit is added to the referrer’s account.
Example configurations
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
