A referral program encourages your existing customers to bring in new buyers by rewarding both the referrer and their friend. In this guide, you'll learn how to set up and customize your referral program in Growave to drive engagement and boost customer loyalty.
How the Referral program works
Referring customer
The customer who shares the referral link is called the Referring customer.
After registering for your store's rewards program, a unique referral link is automatically generated for them and displayed in the Rewards popup widget and Loyalty info extensions (if installed).
The Referring customer can copy and share this link via social media, email, or messenger.
The referral link can be found directly in the Rewards widget for easy sharing:
The Referring customer earns their reward after the Referred friend completes their first purchase. The reward is processed once the referred friend's order reaches the status selected under the Reward management by order status section in Growave admin → Rewards → Settings and passes all fraud validation filters.
⚠️ Important
The Referring customer is eligible for a reward when the Referred friend completes a purchase in your store (regardless of whether the friend used the discount obtained as a referral reward) and passes all validation rules:
First-time purchase on the store
No existing account prior to referral
Passed fraud filter
Referred friend
The person receiving the referral link is called the Referred friend.
They must click the referral link, which opens your store’s website.
A referral pop-up will appear where they need to click Join now and create an account — this step is essential for referral tracking.
Account verification
For legacy customer accounts:
After signing up, the referred friend must confirm their email address via the verification link sent to their inbox. The reward is activated once the email is confirmed.For new customer accounts:
The referred friend must enter a 6-digit verification code sent to their email address to complete registration.
⚠️ Important
After signing up through Shopify’s new customer accounts, the referred friend is redirected to the Profile page (this redirect is managed by Shopify).
If they close this page without navigating to any other store page, they will not be tracked as a referred friend.
✅ Recommendation
To improve conversion and ensure newly referred customers engage with your loyalty program right after registration, install the Loyalty info extension.
It includes a View rewards button that redirects users to your store’s home page and triggers the Rewards pop-up, providing an extra touchpoint that encourages first purchases and use of referral rewards.
Once account verification is complete, the referral reward becomes available to the Referred friend:
They receive an email with the reward (if the Friend received referral notification is enabled).
The reward is also available directly in the Rewards popup widget → View your rewards, ready to apply on their first purchase.
✅ Tip
You can customize the default text shown in the Referred friend sign-up popup modal. Go to Branding → Languages, and search for this phrase:
"You are welcome to join our loyalty program! Sign up for exciting bonuses!"
Replace it with your own message to better match your brand’s tone and goals.
Need deeper customization of this popup? Contact us at [email protected] — we’re happy to help!
Set up referral rewards
To configure rewards for the Referral program:
In Growave admin, go to Rewards → Referrals.
You can offer rewards for both the Referred friend and the Referring customer.
Click the "Edit" button to open the rewards setting.
Referred friend reward settings
On this page, you can configure the rewards for the Referred friend. Here's how:
Choose Reward type:
Discounts: Select from Amount discount, Percentage discount, Free shipping.
Gift card: Provide a gift card as a reward.
⚠️ Important
Gift cards created via Growave are processed and managed by Shopify, and their usage is subject to Shopify’s policies. If you choose gift cards as a reward, be aware of how they can be used. Learn more about gift card rules:
Free product: Offer a specific product as a reward.
No reward: Opt not to provide any reward.
Discount settings
If you choose Discount as a reward, you will see additional settings in both the Referred friend and the Referring customer sections:
Apply discounts to All products or Specific collections.
Allow Discount combinations. (available in Growave 2.0. Read more about discount combinations here).
Set Minimum purchase amount — minimum order total required to use this reward.
Set Discount lifetime.
Add a prefix to discount codes to easily identify the Referral program rewards.
Do not forget to click "Save" when ready to proceed.
Referring customer reward settings
The Referring customer reward settings are similar to those of the Referred friend. However, an additional reward type, Points, is available. Here are the options you can choose from:
Discounts: Select from Amount discount, Percentage discount, or Free shipping.
Points: Reward referring customers with fixed number of points.
Flexible points: Reward referring customers with variable amount of points depending on the amount spent by the referred friend.
Gift card: Provide a gift card as a reward.
⚠️ Important
Gift cards created via Growave are processed and managed by Shopify, and their usage is subject to Shopify’s policies. If you choose gift cards as a reward, be aware of how they can be used. Learn more about gift card rules:
Free product: Offer a specific product as a reward.
No reward: Opt not to provide any reward.
Set minimum order amount for referred friend to trigger referring customer reward
Use this setting to define the minimum order total that a referred friend must reach for the referring customer to receive their reward.
The setting follows the same rewardable amount logic as other Rewards rules — it depends on whether rewardable options include or exclude discounts, gift cards, store credit, taxes, and shipping.
If the referred friend’s order total falls below the threshold, the referrer will not receive the reward.
In cases of full or partial refunds for referred friends’ orders, the referrer’s reward is automatically revoked (except for points).
This setting does not depend on the order statuses selected under Reward management by order status.
This setting does not affect the referred friend’s own reward.
Set up referral channels and custom domain
Navigate to the Rewards → Settings to set up sharing preferences (Referral channels) for your Referral program. Click the down arrow and select the necessary sharing channels.
📖 How to
For the Email channel, you can customize the title and body of the message that is automatically included when an existing customer shares their referral link using the email button. If you don’t provide a custom message, the following default text will be used in referral emails:
Email title: Your friend sent you a reward from
{{shop_name}}Email body: Join me in discovering the best of
{{shop_name}}. Enjoy your{{reward_type}}by following this link:{{link}}.
Learn more about liquid variables to use in Growave email notifications
⚠️ Important
Be sure to update the default email text if you choose not to reward referring customers or their referred friends. Also, remember to use the placeholders correctly. If you remove {{link}}, the Referral Program will not work as intended.
Below the Referral channels section, you can add your custom domain to create Referral links:
🚀 Feature availability
Custom domains for referral links are available starting from the Growth plan.
📖 Learn more about setting up a custom domain
Manage fraud notifications
Navigate to the Rewards → Settings, and in the Fraud detection section, add email addresses to receive notifications about attempts to manipulate the Referral program. By default, the email associated with your Shopify store will be set. The notification email contains a standard message and a link to the Growave admin panel, allowing you to take prompt action.
⚠️ Important
Add active and valid email addresses that you check regularly. This ensures you receive fraud alerts promptly and can take necessary action on suspicious orders.
In the Rewards → Referrals, there is a Reports section where you can review and manage reports of suspicious activities generated in the following scenarios:
The Referring customer places the order using their referral link.
The Referred friend has the same initials as the Referring customer.
The Referred friend uses the same shipping address as the Referring customer.
An unrelated customer who was not referred via a link applies multiple gift cards (more than two) to an order, including a gift card issued to a referred user.
Growave will block the reward for the Referring customer. From the Reports section, click Select action to:
Approve reward — In this case, an email with the reward will be sent to the Referring customer.
Exclude from referral program — Cancel the reward and disqualify the Referring customer from further participation.
⚠️ Important
The Referred friend will still receive their reward (e.g., a discount, gift card, or free shipping) after following the referral link and registering with the store, even if fraudulent activity is suspected. Growave only reports such occurrences to you so you can take corrective action concerning the Referred friends' activity or order.
Customer account validation is handled entirely by Shopify, and Growave relies on Shopify’s validation results.
Enable referral notifications
Go to Rewards → Notifications → Referrals and activate the following email notifications using the toggle button: Friend received referral and Referral completed. Click the option title to edit premade email templates.
Enable the Referral program
Once you have set up Referral rewards and Notifications, you are ready to enable the Referral program:
Go to Rewards → Settings → Referral program status.
Click the "Enable" button.
In the Rewards Settings section, you can manage reward issuance and cancellation depending on order status. These settings are applied to the entire Rewards app, including the Referral program.
📖 Learn more about reward settings based on order status
Track users activity
You can track customer activity related to the Referral program under the Analytics and Customers menu sections:
Analytics section
In the Analytics section of the Growave admin panel, navigate to Rewards → Referral program to view:
Referred sales, referral traffic and conversion rate
Activity by sharing channels
The Overview dashboard under the Channels activity section displays:
Referred customers
Referral status
Orders summary
Referring customer reward
Date:
Pending: when the referred friend followed their link and signed up.
Completed: when the referred friend made a purchase and the referring customer received their reward.
Customers section
In the Customers section of the admin panel, click the customer name to access their profile. Here you will find the following information:
Number of friends referred.
Unique referral link of the customer.
Referred friends' details under Activity → Referrals tab: email, referral status (Pending, Completed), referred friend's order total, and date.
FAQ
How can I edit the text in my Referral program section?
How can I edit the text in my Referral program section?
You can customize the Referral program text shown on your Rewards page and in the Rewards pop-up widget through the Language editor in your Growave admin.
Go to Growave admin → Branding → Languages.
Use the search bar to find the default phrases (for example, “Copy the referral link”).
Replace them with your own wording.
Click Save when you’re done.
Here are the lines you’ll find in the Referral section of the Rewards pop-up widget:
Copy the referral link
Share it with your friends
Earn rewards for each friend who joins and makes a purchase
You can adjust these to make the reward flow clearer. For example:
“Copy your referral link and share it with friends. You’ll receive your reward once they place their first order.”
Why were rewards not issued to the referring customer?
Why were rewards not issued to the referring customer?
The referred friend’s order has not yet reached the status selected under Growave admin → Rewards → Settings → Reward management by order status.
The order failed fraud validation.
The referred friend was not a first-time buyer.
Why were rewards not issued to the referred friend?
Why were rewards not issued to the referred friend?
The referred friend did not complete registration via the referral pop-up after clicking the referral link — this step is required for referral tracking.
For new Shopify customer accounts: they closed the Profile page after creating their account without navigating to any other store page, which breaks referral tracking.
You have now completed setting up your Referral program. If you need further assistance or have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or use the chat icon in the bottom-right corner. We're here to help you maximize your Growave experience!