> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://conversion.club/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Set Up a Referral Program That Works - URL: https://conversion.club/playbook/how-to-set-up-a-referral-program-that-works/ - Published: 2026-10-01T20:57:35.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T20:26:07.000Z - Description: Offer it at the right moment, with a reward on both sides and a shareable link, no code to copy. The right moment comes just after delivery, and it applies first to customers who won't buy again. - Author: Jeremie Werner - Tags: Retain customers, #playbook, Email & CRM, Acquisition Offer it at the right moment, with a reward on both sides and a shareable link, no code to copy. The right moment comes [just after delivery](https://conversion.club/how-to-optimize-post-purchase-in-e-commerce-the-complete-audit/), and it applies first to customers who won't buy again. --- ## The benchmark Treat referral as [an acquisition channel](https://conversion.club/i-looped-my-business/), with a cost per new customer you can compare to advertising. That cost is the two rewards, counted at cost price. Take a made-up example: a €10 store credit spent on products with a 60% gross margin costs you €4 in goods, so €8 when each side gets one. --- ## The rule The invitation goes out right when someone has just thanked you, at delivery or just after a four- or five-star review. [Don't wait for the second order](https://conversion.club/playbook/when-and-how-to-trigger-the-second-purchase/). At a fashion brand the authors work with, which has a few thousand customers over eighteen months, [72% ordered only once](https://conversion.club/playbook/how-do-i-calculate-my-repurchase-rate/). Reserving referral for repeat buyers means offering it to less than a third of the customer base. Our take is that referral is less about rewarding loyal customers than about getting something from satisfied people who won't come back but can still introduce someone. The invitation then [gets shared in one tap](https://conversion.club/playbook/how-can-you-let-customers-reorder-in-one-step/), by message. On Shopify, a shareable discount link applies the code to the cart automatically, so the invited person has nothing to copy. --- ## The steps 1. The reward. Store credit or a product costs less than cash, since you pay it at cost price, and it brings the referrer back to the site. It still has to be generous enough that people feel comfortable sending it to someone close. In the margin of an audit, we once noted: "The €3 discount for referral feels a bit stingy." 2. The minimum order. A minimum amount on the first referred order keeps the reward from covering a small cart by itself. 3. The trigger. A first message goes out at delivery, a second after a four- or five-star review. 4. The reminders. The program stays visible in [the customer account](https://conversion.club/playbook/what-is-the-customer-account-for/) and on [the order confirmation page](https://conversion.club/playbook/what-should-go-on-your-order-confirmation-page/). 5. The payout. The benefit is reserved for new customers, and the referrer's reward is paid only once the withdrawal period for that purchase has passed, fourteen days after it's received. Redo the benchmark calculation with your margin and [your advertising acquisition cost](https://conversion.club/playbook/is-a-loyalty-program-profitable-for-my-brand/), then put it to your leadership in your own words: > "A referred customer would cost us this many euros in goods, versus this much in advertising. I suggest testing it for three months with the customers who gave us five stars." --- ## The trap The classic trap is to drop a "Refer a friend" link in the footer, find three months later that nobody uses it, and conclude that your customers don't refer. A referral program with no moment and no reminder stays invisible. We'd be wrong to lecture: in our own tracking tool, the referral flow for the Club newsletter has been marked "Not started" since February. The other leak is self-referral, when someone invites themselves with a second email address. Checking the invitee's email and shipping address against your database stops some of it. Specialized tools, like [ReferralCandy](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457877-automated-fraud-prevention-mechanisms?ref=conversion.club), also watch for near-identical names and repeat purchases from the same IP address, then hold the reward while they verify, which the delay in step 5 also does without a tool. #### Sources - [Sharing discount codes: shareable links (Shopify Help Center)](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/managing-discount-codes/sharing-discount-codes?ref=conversion.club) - [Article L221-18 of the French Consumer Code, withdrawal period (Légifrance)](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article%5Flc/LEGIARTI000032226842?ref=conversion.club)