Best practices: designing your referral offer
Once you have chosen a reward type, the offer is everything wrapped around it: whether you reward one side or both, what a referee has to do to qualify, and how long the reward stays valid. The short answer for most Shopify stores: run a double-sided offer, add a minimum purchase requirement only if you have a margin reason to, and give rewards a gentle expiry to create urgency without punishing genuine customers. This article explains those choices, then links the Bloop settings that apply them.
The offer is where generosity meets guardrails. Too loose and you pay for low-value or abusive referrals; too strict and you suppress the shares you were trying to encourage. The goal is the lightest set of conditions that still protects your margin.
Single-sided vs double-sided
Section titled “Single-sided vs double-sided”The first decision is who gets rewarded.
| Offer shape | What it means | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Double-sided | Both the referrer and the referee get a reward | Almost every store — it gives the referrer something to talk about and the friend a reason to act |
| Single-sided (referrer only) | Only the existing customer earns. Bloop doesn’t offer this, because the referee reward can’t be turned off | Stores where the product sells itself and the friend needs no incentive |
| Single-sided (referee only) | Only the new customer is discounted | Pure acquisition pushes where you are not trying to reward advocacy |
Default to double-sided. A referrer-only offer asks customers to recommend you while their friend gets nothing, which makes the pitch awkward; a referee-only offer is really just a discount channel, not a referral program. The friend’s reward matters more than it looks: it lets the referrer feel they are giving something their friend will appreciate rather than just cashing in, which is what makes people comfortable sharing. Frame it that way in your copy (“give your friend 20% off, get store credit when they buy”). In Bloop you can make the offer referee-only by choosing No reward for the referrer; the referee reward cannot be turned off.
Minimum requirements: only when margin demands it
Section titled “Minimum requirements: only when margin demands it”A minimum requirement sets a condition on the reward. Bloop offers four options: none, minimum purchase amount, minimum quantity of items, and a minimum number of referees.
- None is the right default. Every extra condition costs you some conversions, so add one only to solve a real problem.
- Minimum purchase amount and minimum quantity of items are conditions on the reward code at checkout. The referrer still receives the code as normal; it only works on an order that meets the minimum. They apply to discount and free product codes, not to store credit or cash. Use them to protect margin when a generous reward could otherwise be spent on a tiny order, and set the amount just above the point where the order becomes profitable.
- Minimum quantity of referees is the only requirement that decides when the referrer reward is issued. It rewards in cycles, at the 5th, 10th and 15th successful referee for example, which suits programs aimed at a few high-output advocates rather than broad word of mouth.
Between thresholds, a referrer on the minimum-referees option gets a “not enough referrals yet” notification instead of a reward, so be transparent about the rule in your messaging.
Expiry: urgency without resentment
Section titled “Expiry: urgency without resentment”Reward codes can be set to never expire or to lapse after a set number of days. A reward that never expires loses its nudge; one that expires too fast frustrates customers who were ready to buy.
- For most stores, a valid period in the range of a few weeks creates useful urgency.
- Bloop sends a reminder email before a code expires, so set the window long enough that the reminder has time to land and be acted on.
- For high-ticket or considered purchases, lean toward a longer window — the decision itself takes time.
Make it easy to say yes to
Section titled “Make it easy to say yes to”Beyond the mechanics, an offer only works if a customer feels comfortable sharing it. A referral puts the referrer’s reputation on the line, so the clearer the offer, the lower that social risk: state plainly what both sides get and what the friend has to do. Uncertainty — “what happens after I refer?” — is one of the biggest reasons customers who love you still don’t share. Keep the conditions and the steps to a minimum too; every extra hoop or data field costs you shares. See Referral methods for how customers actually send the offer.
Match the offer to who can refer
Section titled “Match the offer to who can refer”Your offer and your audience rule work together. A wide-open audience paired with a rich, no-minimum reward is the combination most exposed to abuse; a tighter audience lets you be more generous safely. Decide the two together rather than in isolation — see Set your referral target audience for the eligibility options.
Set it up in Bloop
Section titled “Set it up in Bloop”- Apply the offer shape, minimums, and expiry in Set up referrer and referee rewards.
- Set who is allowed to refer in Target audience.
- For ideas on structuring multi-step or milestone offers, see multi-step referral rewards.