Best practices: designing your referral offer

Your offer is what wraps around the reward: who gets rewarded, what a friend must do to qualify, and how long the reward stays valid. This page explains each choice, then links the Bloop settings that apply it.

Best practice

Run a double-sided offer. Add a minimum only if your margin needs it. Give rewards an expiry of 14 to 30 days.

The goal is the lightest set of conditions that still protects your margin. Too loose, and you pay for low-value or abusive referrals. Too strict, and customers stop sharing.

Choose who gets rewarded

Offer shape	What it means	Best for
Double-sided	The referrer and the friend both get a reward	Almost every store
Single-sided, friend only	Only the new customer is discounted	Acquisition offers, where you don’t reward sharing

Default to double-sided. Bloop always rewards the friend, so a referrer-only offer is not possible, and it would be a weak pitch anyway: it asks customers to recommend you while their friend gets nothing, which makes the pitch awkward. A friend-only offer is a discount, not a referral program.

To make a friend-only offer in Bloop, choose No reward for the referrer. The friend’s reward stays on.

The friend’s reward matters more than it looks. It lets the referrer feel they are giving something, which makes sharing comfortable. Frame it that way in your copy, for example: “Give your friend 20% off, and get store credit when they buy.”

Decide whether to set a minimum

A minimum adds a condition to the reward. Use one only to solve a real margin problem.

Option	What it does	Use it when
None	No condition	Your default. Start here.
Minimum purchase amount	The code works only on orders above an amount	A generous reward could be spent on a tiny order
Minimum quantity of items	The code works only on orders with enough items	You want a larger basket, not a single cheap item
Minimum quantity of referees	The referrer is rewarded on every Nth successful referral	You want a few high-output advocates, not broad sharing

Minimum purchase and minimum quantity apply to discount and free product codes. They do not apply to store credit or cash. Set the amount just above the point where an order becomes profitable.

Warning

With Minimum quantity of referees, a referrer earns nothing until they reach the count. For example, with 5, they are rewarded on their 5th successful referral, then on the 10th, and so on.

• What the referrer sees: nothing, until the count is reached. The Not enough referees to receive reward email is optional and must be turned on in Email notifications.
• What it means: referrers may lose interest before their first reward.
• What to do: turn on that email under the Referrer tab in Email notifications, and say the rule in your sign-up copy.

Set how long rewards stay valid

Expiry creates urgency. A reward that never expires loses its nudge, but one that expires too fast frustrates customers who were ready to buy.

Store type	Suggested valid period
Most stores	14 to 30 days
High-ticket or considered purchases	Longer, because the decision takes time

Warning

The Reward expiry reminder email is optional. Turn it on in Email notifications.

• What happens without it: customers may forget an unused code and let it lapse.
• What it means: the expiry window does its job only if customers hear about it.
• What to do: turn on the reminder, and set the window long enough for it to land and be acted on.

Make it easy to share

A referral puts the referrer’s reputation on the line. The clearer the offer, the lower that risk. State what both sides get and what the friend has to do.

• Say what happens after a referral. Uncertainty is one of the biggest reasons loyal customers don’t share.
• Keep the steps short. Every extra step or form field costs shares.
• See Referral methods for how customers send the offer.

Match the offer to your audience

Your offer and your audience rule work together. A wide-open audience with a rich reward and no minimum is the combination most open to abuse. A tighter audience lets you be more generous safely.

Decide the two together. See Set your referral target audience for the eligibility options.

Set it up in Bloop

1. Set the offer shape, minimum and expiry in Set up referrer and referee rewards.
2. Set who can refer in Target audience.
3. For ideas on milestone offers, read multi-step referral rewards.

Related

• Choosing the right referral reward
• Making your program visible
• Refer-a-friend scheme ideas