How to launch a referral program

Customers share a link or code, their friend gets a discount on the first order, and the referrer earns a reward when that friend buys.

Bloop displays its referral widget through a Shopify theme app embed, so the program appears on your live storefront without editing theme code.

Bloop creates First campaign when you install the app. It starts Inactive with these settings:

Setting	Starts as
Referrer reward	Discount coupon, 15%
Referee reward	Discount coupon, 10%
Who can refer	All customers
Who can be referred	First-time customers (fixed)
Link and code	Referral link on, Referral code off
Referral popup on your storefront	Off

The defaults work as they are, so skip any step you’re happy with. Want affiliates instead? See How to launch an affiliate program.

For the full reasoning behind each audience choice, see Set your referral target audience.

Every setting opens from the Campaign setup list on the left of the campaign page. Save is in the bar at the top of each settings page.

Open your campaign
1. In your Shopify admin, click BLOOP Refer & Aff → Referral program.
2. On the Campaigns tab, click First campaign:
Set the referrer reward → Click Save
1. In the Campaign setup list, click Rewards → Referrer reward:
2. Click Edit reward:
3. In Reward types, pick Discount coupon, Store credits, Cash, Free product, Custom or No reward.
4. In Discount value, pick Percentage or Fixed amount and enter the value:
Minimum order and expiry: see Set up referrer and referee rewards. Bigger rewards for repeat referrers: see How to set up FlexiTiers.
Set the referee reward → Click Save
1. Click Rewards → Referee reward.
2. In Reward types, pick Discount coupon or Free product.
3. In Discount value, pick Percentage or Fixed amount and enter the value:
Use Discount coupon for most stores. Use Free product for a sample, refill or add-on that costs you little to give away. Store credit, cash, custom rewards and no reward apply to the referrer only. See choosing the right referral reward.
Choose who can refer → Click Save
1. Click Audience → Target audience.
2. Under Referrer, pick All customers, Members (logged-in only) or Customer segments (set in Only these segments).
3. In When an eligible customer visits, keep Join automatically, or pick Join only when they choose to to show a Join button.
4. Optional: in Except these segments, add segments that can never join:
Choose how customers share → Click Save
1. Click Sharing → Link and code.
2. Keep Referral link on. Each referrer gets a unique link.
3. Optional: turn on Referral code so friends can also type a code at checkout:
Keep at least one method on, or customers have nothing to share.
Turn on the referral popup → Click Save
1. Click Overview. In Branding status, click Widget:
2. Turn on Referral popup on your storefront:
Left off, the popup only opens for visitors who arrive on a referral link, so existing customers never see the offer and can’t join. Turn it on so every visitor can open the popup.
Switch on your campaign
1. Go to the top of the campaign page.
2. Click Activate next to First campaign:
The status changes to Active and Bloop shows Campaign enabled.

If your programs are paused because a plan upgrade wasn’t approved, or a store on the older Free plan has used its 10 referral orders, the campaign stays off. Approve the plan or upgrade on Pricing plans, then click Activate again.
Turn on the app embed → Click Save

This puts your program on your online store, so do it last. If App embed status already shows Active and a Manage button, the embed is on: skip to the test below.
1. In the Shopify admin sidebar, click BLOOP Refer & Aff.
2. In App embed status, click Turn on:
3. In the theme editor, click Save:
Reload the Bloop home page. App embed status shows Active.

Open your store in a private window, click the widget button and join as a referrer. Full check: How to test your referral program before launch.