Best practices: choosing the right referral reward

The reward decides whether your referral program spreads. Match the reward type to how often your customers buy, and keep the total reward below your profit on a referred order, so every successful referral pays for itself.

Know what each reward does

A Bloop referral has two rewards, and each one has a different job. The friend is the new customer who was referred.

Reward	Who gets it	Job	It has to feel
Referee reward (the friend)	The new customer	Lowers the barrier to trying you	Worth acting on now
Referrer reward	The existing customer	Thanks them for the introduction	Worth the small social risk of recommending you

Choose the type from how customers buy

Pick the reward type that fits your buying pattern, not the one that looks most generous.

Reward type	Best when	Watch out
Store credit	Customers buy from you often. It keeps the reward inside your store, which protects cash	Feels weak for a one-off purchase, because it only works on a future order
Discount coupon (percentage or fixed amount)	Purchases are rare or one-off, or as a first-order incentive	Can read as just another sale
Cash	High-ticket or infrequent purchases, where credit or a discount does not feel worth a recommendation	You pay each one yourself, outside Bloop. Needs setup first, see below
Free product	The product is a natural add-on, such as a sample, a refill, or an accessory	Costs you the unit cost, not a share of revenue
Custom reward (early access, swag, a service)	Premium brands that want to avoid markdowns	Stays Pending until you approve it in Orders, then you deliver it yourself
No reward	Acquisition offers where you do not want to pay for sharing	Only the friend is rewarded

Discount coupon, free product and store credit rewards are issued automatically, so choose these if you want the program to run without manual work. Track every reward in the Orders tab.

Match the type to your industry

Use this table as a starting point, then adjust it to your margins.

Industry	Buying pattern	Referrer reward	Referee reward
Fashion and apparel	Frequent, impulse-driven	Store credit toward the next order	Percentage off the first order
Subscription	Recurring, retention-led	Store credit, or a free cycle as a Custom reward	Discount on the first cycle
Beauty and cosmetics	Repeat, habit-forming	Store credit to encourage restocking	Fixed amount off a trial-sized first order
Electronics and high-ticket	Infrequent, considered	Cash or a meaningful fixed amount	Fixed amount off the first purchase
Food and beverage	Low margin, high frequency	Modest store credit	Small percentage or a free add-on

Set a value below your profit

Both rewards together must cost less than the profit on the friend’s first order. Bloop doesn’t check this for you, so work it out before you set the values:

Step	How to work it out	Example
Gross profit	Typical first order × your margin	100 × 50% = 50
Referee discount	Subtract it, it comes off that order	50 - 10 = 40
Referrer reward	Keep it below what is left	Under 40

Gross profit is the selling price minus the cost of the goods. The example numbers are an illustration, not Bloop defaults.

Tip

If too little is left, give the referrer store credit. It only costs you the margin on the order where it is spent, which is less than its face value.

Frame the reward so it feels earned

The same value can feel like a thank-you or like a markdown. Lead with what the friend gets and why:

Instead of	Try
Earn a reward	Your friend gets 20% off
Get a discount	Thanks for bringing us a friend
Share to earn	One tap to share, and you get store credit

• Match the reward to the ask. A one-tap share needs a light reward. A bigger commitment justifies a larger one.
• Frame store credit as a thank-you. Then it feels like a gift, not a coupon.
• Add a minimum spend only if your margin needs it. It protects your margin but can feel like a sales push, so say it in the reward text. See designing your offer.
• Watch the first orders. If they mostly come from people chasing the payout rather than customers who like your store, the reward is too high. Check the Orders tab regularly and lower the value.

Set up cash before you offer it

Reserve cash for high-ticket programs where it makes a real difference. Bloop tracks it, and you pay each referrer yourself. Before you turn it on:

1. In Settings → Referral → Payment method, tick the methods you will pay with:

   

2. Add the Reward Payment Method block to the customer account Profile page, so referrers can enter their payment details. See cash rewards.

Without the block, referrers can’t add payment details, and Orders shows Referrer hasn’t added payment details yet. You then can’t record the payout, so the referrer waits for a reward they earned. Once details are in, pay the referrer, then click Mark as Paid in Orders → Cash payouts.

Set it up in Bloop

1. Choose the type and value for each side in referrer and referee rewards: reward type, value, minimum requirements, and expiry.
2. Set the review period in Settings → Referral → Rewards and orders. It applies to the whole store, not to one reward. See reward timing and revocation.
3. Choose how referrers share the reward in referral methods.
4. Once you have enough referral traffic to compare fairly, test two reward versions in A/B testing before you roll one out to everyone.
5. If one reward for everyone is too blunt, grow it with the referrer. FlexiTiers raise the reward at each milestone. You can also run a second campaign with a richer offer for a segment worth targeting.

For more examples of incentive ideas, see the best referral incentives.