The programs section for referrals is where you set up how referral rewards actually work. You choose the reward type for both the referrer and the referred friend and then set supporting rules for each. Additionally, it is from the programs section that you have to enable the referral app embed, which lets Loop detect when a customer has arrived through a referral link, and it's a mandatory step for the program to work.
To get started with creating a program, you can navigate to Loop admin → Loyalty → Programs → Referral → Create program.
Referrer reward
The referrer reward section will determine the reward for existing customers who shared their referral link and got someone else to buy from you. The reward configured here is what that referrer earns once their invite turns into a paying customer - it's essentially how you pay them back for doing your marketing for you.
You can set this reward up in one of two ways: points or discount coupons.
Points: The referrer earns a fixed number of points, added directly to their account upon referral completion. This makes sense if you already run a points-based loyalty program and want referral rewards to go directly into that same wallet. You also decide when these points expire, where you can choose between keeping it the same as it is in the store preferences, never letting it expire, or creating a custom expiry for these specific points.
Discount: Another way you can reward your referrers is by giving them a discount coupon upon successful completion of the referral that they can use on their own next order. This coupon will automatically get credited to the user account and be visible in the "My Coupons" section of the customer portal for subscribers and the loyalty portal for one-time users.
There are two discount types to choose from. Fixed amount takes off a set amount in your store's currency, regardless of the order total. Percentage instead takes off a portion of whatever order the referrer applies the coupon to.
You can also configure some additional settings for your discount coupon:
Minimum order value: the minimum cart value the referrer requires to use the referral reward.
Applicable purchase type: this will determine whether the discount coupon can work on one-time orders, subscriptions, or both.
Discount code combinability: whether the code can stack with product, order, or shipping discounts.
Discount code expiry: whether the code follows your store's default expiry, never expires, or expires after a set period.
Discount code prefix: a short prefix added to the generated code, which is useful for identifying referral discounts.
Referred friend reward
The referred friend reward section works the same way, but for the other side of the referral: the customer who used the referral link to make their purchase with the store. The reward configured here is the incentive that gets them to make the purchase on your store.
Just like the referrer, you can set this reward up as points or a discount coupon.
Points: This works the same as it does for the referrer, a fixed number of points, credited to the referred friend's account once the referral is completed. The referral being completed is determined by whatever setting they have chosen in the Preferences section of referral.
Discount: If you configure a discount reward, he referred friend's order gets discount coupon directly applied at checkout when they come via the referral link. You can choose between the same fixed amount or percentage discount types as the referrer's reward. The settings you configure are largely the same too:
Minimum order value: this is where you decide how big a first order needs to be before the discount kicks in. For example, if you only want to reward users making a meaningful first purchase, you could set this to a certain amount so smaller test orders don't qualify.
Applicable purchase type: whether the discount works on one-time orders, subscriptions, or both.
Discount code combinability: whether the code can stack with product, order, or shipping discounts.
Discount code title: a label for the generated code, useful for identifying referred friend discounts in your reports.
Add referral app embed
Every reward configured above depends on Loop being able to tell that a particular order came from a referral link in the first place. That's what the referral app embed does: it's a small piece of tracking that sits on your storefront and flags when a visitor has arrived through someone's referral link, so the order that follows can be traced back to the right referrer. Without it, none of the rewards above would ever trigger, since Loop wouldn't know a referral happened at all.
This is a one-time mandatory setup, and it has no visible impact on your storefront or checkout, it just runs quietly in the background.
To enable it:
Click Enable referral capture at the bottom of the programs page.
2. This takes you to your Shopify theme editor's app embeds panel.
3. Turn on Loop Referral Capture, then click Save.
FAQs
1. Can a customer use their own referral link to get the referred friend reward?
No, self-referrals don't qualify for the referred friend reward and will throw an error, since the program is designed with built-in fraud prevention rules.
2. Can I edit the referrer or referred friend reward after the program is already live?
Yes, although you can update the reward type, values, and settings anytime after the program is live, you should be cautious when changing an already live program since your store customers may have already shared the referral links with their friends, and it can cause a mismatch in expectations.
3. What determines when a referral is marked as "completed" and rewards are issued?
A referral can be considered completed either when the order is placed or when the order is fulfilled, based on what you have configured in the Loop admin → Loyalty → Preferences → Referrals.
Need help?
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Regards, Loop subscriptions team 🙂