Referrals allow members to share a unique referral link. When a new customer uses the link, they receive a discount offer. After the referral criteria are met, Loyalty awards points to the member who shared the link.
Referral setup spans both Loyalty and Shopify. You must configure referral settings, create a referral bonus rule, and add referral experiences to your Shopify storefront before members can use referrals.
How referrals work
Referrals involve two different experiences:
Members can access and share a referral link.
Referred customers receive a discount offer when they use the referral link.
To support both experiences, you must configure referrals in Loyalty and add referral features to your Shopify storefront.
Set up referrals
Complete all four steps before making referrals available to members:
1. Configure the referral offer
The referral offer defines the discount that referred customers receive when they use a referral link.
In Loyalty, select the Account menu icon and go to Settings > Referrals.
Turn on Enable referrals.
Under Discount for referred customers:
Enter a discount code prefix.
Select a discount type.
Enter the discount value.
Under Product applicability, choose how the discount applies:
Include all to apply the discount to all products and collections.
Exclude to exclude specific products or collections from the discount.
Include only to apply the discount only to selected products, variants, or collections.
If you select Exclude or Include only:
Select Products / Variants or Collections.
Search for and select the items you want to include or exclude.
Select Save.
Referrals are now enabled, but members can't earn points until you create a referral bonus rule.
2. Create a referral bonus rule
The referral bonus rule defines how many points members earn for a successful referral.
Go to Program > Rules.
Select Add point rule.
Select Referral bonus.
If Referral bonus is unavailable, configure referrals in Settings > Referrals first.Configure the rule settings:
Status
Name
Image
Active period
Under Points details, define how many points members earn for a successful referral.
Select Save rule.
The referral program can now award points to referring members.
3. Set up the member referral experience
The Referral block allows members to access and share their referral links.
In Shopify, go to Online store > Themes.
Find the theme you want to edit and select Customize.
Navigate to the page where you want members to access referrals.
Select Add block.
Under Apps, select Referral.
Configure the block settings and content.
Select Save.
Members can now access and share referral links from your storefront.
4. Set up the referred customer experience
The Referral pop-up displays the referral offer when a customer visits your store through a referral link.
Without the referral pop-up, customers can visit your storefront through a referral link, but they won't see the referral offer.
In Shopify, go to Online Store > Themes.
Find the theme you want to edit and select Customize.
Select App embeds.
Enable Referral popup.
Optionally, enable Show preview button.
To preview the referral experience, select Open referral popup in the bottom-right corner of the page.
Configure the pop-up content and settings.
Select Save.
When customers visit your storefront through a referral link, Loyalty displays the referral offer automatically.
The referral discount is applied automatically when eligible customers redeem the offer.
Optional
Add the Self-referral guard checkout extension to help prevent members from receiving referral rewards on their own purchases.
Verify your setup
To verify your referral setup:
Visit your storefront and sign in to a customer account that is enrolled in your loyalty program.
Access the referral block.
Generate a referral link.
Open the referral link in a private browser window.
Confirm that:
The referral popup displays.
The referral offer appears correctly.
The referral discount is applied as expected.
Troubleshoot referrals
Referral bonus is unavailable
If Referral bonus is unavailable when you select Add point rule, referrals haven't been configured.
Go to Settings > Referrals and complete the referral setup first.
Members can share referrals but new customers don't see an offer
Make sure Referral popup is enabled in App embeds.
Without the referral popup, referred customers won't see the referral offer when they arrive at your storefront.
New customers receive the offer but members don't earn points
Make sure a Referral bonus rule exists and is active.
Both referral settings and the referral bonus rule must be configured.