The Referral Journey

The referral journey is the path two people take through your program: an existing customer (the referrer) shares a personal link or code, and a friend (the referee) uses it to claim a discount, buys, and earns the referrer their reward. Understanding this journey from both sides helps you design an offer that people actually want to share — and helps you read your dashboard, because every metric you see maps to a step below.

This page describes the experience, not the configuration. It does not tell you which buttons to press; it shows what your customers see and feel at each stage, so the settings in the feature docs have a purpose behind them. For setup, see Getting started with referrals.

The two people in every referral

• The referrer is a customer who already bought from you. They have a unique 8-character share code and want a reward worth the small social risk of recommending you.
• The referee is the friend they invite — someone who trusts the referrer and is deciding whether to try you for the first time.

A successful journey leaves both better off: the referee gets a discount on something they were already curious about, and the referrer is thanked for the introduction. That mutual win is the whole point of a two-sided reward.

Step 1 — The referrer discovers they can share

After a purchase (and depending on the target audience you allow), the customer sees an invitation to refer friends — on a post-purchase screen, in their account, in an email, or through your storefront widget. The message is simple: give your friends a discount, get a reward when they buy. This is where a clear, generous offer earns its keep; a confusing one is scrolled past.

Step 2 — The referrer shares a link or code

The referrer passes along their personal referral link or referral code. Where they share depends on how they talk about you — a link works for email, chat, and social posts; a short code works for word-of-mouth and offline conversations. Whichever method they choose, the share carries their unique code so Bloop can credit the right person later. See Choose a referral sharing method for what each method suits.

Step 3 — The referee arrives and claims a discount

The friend clicks the link (or enters the code) and lands on your store with a referee reward waiting — typically a discount on their first order. This incentive lowers the barrier to a first purchase: the referee has both a trusted recommendation and a reason to act now. The reward they receive is the one you defined as the referee side of your rewards setup.

Step 4 — The referee makes a qualifying purchase

When the referee completes an order that meets your conditions, the referral becomes successful. This is the moment that matters: nothing is rewarded for a share alone — only a real, qualifying purchase counts. If you set minimum requirements (a minimum order value, a number of items, or a number of referees), the order has to clear them. The new order is recorded so you can see it in referral orders.

Step 5 — The referrer earns their reward

Once the referee's purchase qualifies, the referrer reward is issued — a discount code, store credit, or cash, depending on what you chose. If you set a review period, there is a short delay before approval; orders flagged as suspicious are held separately for a closer look. The referrer is notified, often by email, that their reward is ready.

Best practice: The faster and clearer the thank-you, the more likely a referrer shares again. A reward that arrives promptly with a friendly note turns a one-time advocate into a repeat one. Tune the timing in the reward review period and the message in your referral emails.

Step 6 — The referee becomes a referrer

The journey is a loop, not a line. The referee who just bought is now an existing customer — and can be invited to refer their own friends, starting the cycle again. A program that makes step 1 feel natural for every new customer is what turns a single referral into compounding word-of-mouth growth.

How the journey shows up in your dashboard

Each step leaves a trace you can monitor: shares and clicks, referee orders, issued rewards, and the revenue behind them. Reading these together tells you where the journey stalls — lots of shares but few purchases points to a weak referee offer; few shares points to a weak referrer reward or poor placement. Follow the numbers in referral analytics and the chronological record in the activity log.

Where to go next

• Set the rewards behind steps 3 and 5 in Set up referrer and referee rewards.
• Decide how sharing happens in step 2 with Choose a referral sharing method.
• See the partner equivalent in The affiliate journey.