Post-Purchase Popup
The moment right after checkout is the best time to ask for a referral. A customer who just bought from you is at peak enthusiasm — the friction of paying is over, and they're on the thank-you page with nothing else to do. A well-worded prompt there converts far better than the same ask sent days later.
The popup appears on the Shopify order status page as a checkout extension, firing the instant the order completes. Its strength is timing, which is why the editor focuses on words: a clear, generous prompt that turns a fresh buyer into a referrer before they leave. Manage it under the Branding tab of your referral campaign, in the Post-purchase popup card.
Best practice: Lead with the referee's reward, not your ask. "Give friends $10 off — and earn $10 yourself" frames sharing as doing a friend a favour. Keep it to one sentence — the thank-you page is not the place for a long pitch. See how to promote your referral program for more on timing the ask.
Why this moment is so strong
Referrals run on trust and timing. The trust is already there — 92% of people trust a recommendation from someone they know above any form of advertising, per Nielsen's Global Trust in Advertising study. The post-purchase popup adds the timing. Three things line up at checkout that line up nowhere else:
Enthusiasm peaks. The buyer has just committed money and convinced themselves it was a good call. That conviction makes them willing to vouch for you to a friend.
Attention is free. The thank-you page is a dead end — the task is done, there is nothing else to click. A prompt here competes with nothing.
Identity is known. You know who they are and what they bought, so the ask can be personal and immediate rather than a generic email blast later.
Ask a week later and all three have faded. The post-purchase popup catches the one window where the answer is most likely to be yes.
Copy and timing that works
The popup shows automatically when the order completes, so you don't schedule the timing — you control the words. A few principles consistently lift response.
Lead with the friend's reward
"Give a friend $10 off" frames sharing as generosity, not self-interest
State both rewards in one line
Double-sided rewards — where both referrer and friend get something — consistently outperform give-only offers
Keep it to one sentence and one button
The thank-you page rewards a fast, obvious action — not a paragraph
Make the share method one tap
Fewer steps between "yes" and a sent link means more links sent
Match the tone of the page
A celebratory "Thanks for your order!" voice beats a corporate pitch
What to show
The post-purchase popup is content-first: you customize the wording shown on the thank-you page, with a live preview beside the editor. The content is split into two blocks.
Referral block
The referral prompt shown on the thank-you page, inviting the customer to share and refer friends
Email sending
The copy used when the customer chooses to invite friends by email from the post-purchase prompt
Open either block to edit its text, switch the language with the language selector to localize it, and use the preview to confirm how each version reads before you save. The referral block is the headline moment — spend your effort here on a one-line, value-led prompt. The email sending copy is the message the customer's friend receives, so keep it warm and personal: it arrives from a friend and should read like it.
A worked example
Here is the reasoning from default prompt to a better one. Illustrative numbers — an example of how to decide, not measured Bloop results.
Start with the default. The referral block reads "Refer a friend and earn rewards." It is accurate but generic, and it leads with your benefit, not the friend's.
Rewrite it value-first. Change it to "Loved your order? Give a friend $10 off — and earn $10 yourself." One sentence, both rewards, the friend first.
Tidy the email block. The invite a friend receives becomes "[Name] thought you'd like this — here's $10 off your first order," warm and clearly from a person.
Confirm it. Run an A/B test of the new prompt against the default. Say share rate rises from 3% of buyers to 5% — a real, stable gap after good volume. You keep it.
Read it forward. In analytics, entry-point impressions for the post-purchase prompt and the resulting shares both climb. The popup is pulling its weight.
The takeaway is not the exact figures — it is that the timing is fixed and excellent, so your only job is to make the words earn the moment.
Common mistakes to avoid
Leading with your ask, not their reward. "Refer a friend and earn rewards" centres you. Put the friend's discount first.
Writing a paragraph. The thank-you page rewards one clear sentence. A pitch loses the moment.
Forgetting the email copy. The invite a friend receives matters as much as the on-page prompt — a cold, templated email converts worse than a warm one.
Not localizing. If you sell in multiple languages, an English-only prompt fails the very customers most likely to refer. Use the language selector.
Changing copy and assuming it helped. Confirm a rewrite with an A/B test before you treat it as a win.
When and why to use it
Turn on the post-purchase popup as soon as you want to capture referrals at the highest-converting moment — for most stores, that is from day one. It pairs naturally with a permanent entry point (the account extension or landing page) so you catch both the post-checkout spike and the slower trickle of returning customers. If analytics later show the prompt is seen but rarely acted on, that is your cue to rewrite the copy or revisit the reward — not to remove the prompt.
Notes on availability
The post-purchase referral widget is a paid feature on Bloop. If it is not included in your current plan, the editor shows an upgrade prompt and the content fields are locked until you upgrade. Your existing campaign and rewards keep working regardless.
Next steps
Set up the program first in getting started with referrals.
Brand the on-site widget in referral widget branding.
Add a permanent entry point with the customer account extension and the referral landing page.
Confirm a copy change with A/B testing before you keep it.
See how the popup fits your other entry points in making your referral program visible.
For more on timing the ask, see how to promote your referral program.
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