Refer a Friend

The referrer earns a coupon when you choose: when the friend signs up or after their first order

A customer tells an acquaintance about your store and you want to thank them. The question that sets the cost of the program comes before any coupon: what event has to happen for the reward to exist?

The trigger you choose defines what you are paying for: with signup, you pay for a new account; with the first order, you pay for a sale.

Refer a Friend is a WooCommerce extension that lets customers recommend the store and earn discount coupons. Coupons are created automatically when the condition you set is met, and you can give the reward to the person who refers, to the person who arrives or to both.

What you adjust in the program and what the customer sees

• Trigger: account signup, completion of the first order or both.
• Who receives the coupon: the referrer, the referred person or both.
• How the referral is recorded: by a code or by a link.
• The coupon: fixed amount or percentage, with a maximum discount cap, your own prefix and an expiration date.
• Coupon conditions: minimum and maximum cart limits, restriction by order amount and products or categories included or excluded.
• Who takes part: the program can be restricted by user roles.

The referral code field can be shown on the registration form, and the content of the system in My Account is customizable. Social sharing buttons let people send the link directly, and a shortcode displays the program details on any page.

Earned coupons are listed in My Account and also in the admin panel. The extension keeps a log of the coupons generated for the referrer and another for the referred person.

Rewarding both only after the first purchase, to test

A combination of settings that already exist: you choose the first order as the moment of the reward, for both the referrer and the newcomer. The idea is that no coupon is created until the friend buys, and that once they buy, both have a discount to come back with.

It is our own combination. Try it with two accounts of your own before opening it up: see which coupon appears, when it appears, for whom and under what conditions, and check that the cap and the cart limits behave as you expect. If something does not fit your margin, change the trigger or the recipient and repeat the test.

Limits of the program

The link between the referrer and the new customer is established during registration. That is why the code or the link has to accompany the signup, and the referral is measured at that moment.

The reward is always a discount coupon, fixed or percentage. Among its functions there is no other type of reward, such as points or credits.

The coupon is created when the program's condition is met, and from then on its rules are those of any coupon in your store: expiration, cart limits, minimum amount and applicable products or categories.

Setting up the program with two test accounts

You need a store with WooCommerce and customers who can create an account, because the referral is recorded at signup.

1. Install the extension with the WordPress installer and activate it.
2. Choose the trigger and who receives the coupon.
3. Define the discount type, the cap, the prefix and the expiration.
4. Add the cart, amount, product or category, and role conditions.
5. Turn on the code field at registration and test the whole journey with two accounts.

Referral and coupon tools to compare

If you prefer a different approach to referrals, the catalog includes Refer a Friend for WooCommerce Premium. If you are looking for another coupon tool, look at WooCommerce Smart Coupons.

Answers about Refer a Friend

When is the coupon generated?

When the condition you set is met: signup, first order or both.

Can I reward only the referrer?

Yes. You can choose for the coupon to go to the referrer, to the referred person or to both.

Can the discount be limited?

Yes. You can set a maximum discount cap, minimum and maximum cart limits and restrictions by order amount.

Where does the customer see their coupons?

On the My Account page. They also appear in the admin panel.