We're excited to introduce a new feature that allows your customers to share referral discount codes with their friends! We're kicking off Referrals as a future larger part of "Loyalty", which we're eager to customize based on your feedback.
You can find this functionality in the new "Referrals" card within your Portal. It integrates seamlessly with the existing Discounts setup to keep things straightforward and flexible. This article will guide you through all the details you need to know.
💡 You can test this feature worry-free! We've designed it so you can try it out without exposing it to all your customers. Enabling the feature doesn't make it visible to everyone; you'll need to confirm and save your settings at the end of the process. Take all the time you need to test!
Pre-requisites
In this version (1.0) we only offer percentage-based discounts. Other kinds of discounts and rewards will come in due time.
In this version (1.0) we only offer Referral Discount Codes on first-time orders for the referee. Your customer, the referrer, gets a discount on their next billing.
Setting up Discounts for Referrals
With Referral programs, there are two parties. There is one that gives out the referral code (your customer, the referrer) and someone they give their referral code to (someone the customer knows, the referee). As is custom there should not just be a discount for the referee, but also one as a reward for the referrer (but you have the flexibility to decide against that). Let's go over setting up discount codes.
Setting up the Referee Discount
Head over to Portal > Discounts and hit Create Discount. In this instance we'll set the discount code for the Referral, so give it something easily recognizable for you (like "Referral Code", you'll need this later on!)
At "Discount in %" you'll fill in the % of a discount that should be applied to the referral for their first order.
Be aware that what you fill in at "Public description" is visible on your customer their invoice, so make it something user-friendly like "10% referral discount code".
You'll want to leave "Automatically apply to all new customers" unchecked.
Hit Create and voila, the first quintessential discount has been created.
Setting up the Referrer Discount
Head over to Portal > Discounts and hit Create Discount. In this instance we'll set the discount code for the Reward, so give it something easily recognizable for you (like "Referral Reward", you'll need this later on!)
At "Discount in %" you'll fill in the % of a discount that should be applied to the customer who referred another user, on their next order.
Be aware that what you fill in at "Public description" is visible on your customer their invoice, so make it something user-friendly like "5% referral reward".
You'll want to leave "Automatically apply to all new customers" unchecked.
Hit Create and voila, the second quintessential discount has been created. You're all ready to enable Referrals.
Enabling Referrals
You can set up Referrals in Settings > Self-Service Center. Enable the toggle to get started:
Referral Banner
This is a call-to-action banner that will show up in the Self Service Center (see below).
It will appear only if referral codes were generated for the customer (step 7).
We'll allow for more brand customization in the future. If you have ideas, do tell us via the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner.
You may wonder if you can adjust that text in the banner so that it feels more in-line with your tone of voice. Of course you can. You can adjust the banner text and the button so that it captivates your audience a lot more. Use the sections for Referral Banner Text and Referral Banner Button for that:
Please be aware the Referral Banner Text will also be used on the Referral Banner on the /Referrals page!
Now the fun part begins! At Referral Codes for customers, you can select the discounts that you have set up earlier for the referee. Search for the name you gave it (probably "Referral Code") and select it. This will now be the discount your customer's Referral Codes will offer their friends and acquaintances.
At Rewards Codes for customers, you can select the discounts that you have set up earlier for your Referrer. Search for the name you gave it (probably "Reward Code") and select it. This will now be the discount your customer will receive on their next order when someone is successfully referred by their Referral Code.
At Referral Code Customization you will be able to put up a prefix that fits your brand. It could be whatever, but for our example, it's FMHS (you can guess why!). Pick whatever you want, but something short seems to be the industry standard. As it's a prefix, we'll add a hyphen next to it and then add a unique code for each of your customers, so that everyone has one of their own. Automatically generated, of course.
Test the codes
Click on Generate Test Referral Code and test out the generated discount code. Make sure everything works as intended before launching the program for your customers.
When you're sure everything is set up and works as intended, it's time to generate the codes. Select the checkbox under Generate Discount Codes and click Save.
⚠️ Note: If you're not ready to generate the codes yet, simply leave this option unchecked and click Save. After the codes are generated, it becomes much harder to edit the settings for the referral program, and you'll need to contact our Support team for help.
After Checking the Checkbox
After saving your Referral Codes setup and you've hit the checkbox, we'll now generate these codes in the background. If you have many customers (yay you!) that may take a while. But you'll be able to see all these discount codes displayed in Portal > Discount Codes when you want to. You'll also have an overview there, then, of which of your customers have made the most use of your referral program:
