Refer a Friend: Let Customers Bring Their Friends
Refer a friend lets your customers invite their friends with a personal link. When the friend joins and comes in, your customer gets a reward, and the friend can get one too. It is included on every plan.
Set it up
1. Open your program from the Programs page. 2. Go to the Setup tab and open Refer a friend ("Let customers bring their friends"). 3. Turn on Let customers invite friends. 4. Choose the rewards and the rules below, then click Publish to make them live.
What your customer gets ("For each friend who joins and buys"). Pick Stamps, Points or A treat. For stamps and points you set Number of stamps or Number of points. For a treat you set Name of the treat (for example *A free coffee*) and, if you like, Details of the treat. Which options you see depends on your card type.
What the friend gets. The same choices, plus Nothing extra, for the friend's own card. On a coupon card the friend gets your coupon when they join. If the coupon turns into a stamp or points card, you can give the friend stamps or points on top.
Give the friend's reward as soon as they join. Off by default: the friend's reward unlocks with their first purchase. If you turn it on, the friend is rewarded the moment they join. Be careful: anyone who opens the invite link can get this reward without buying anything, and if the link is shared in a group chat, many people may claim it.
Friends per customer. The most friends one customer can be rewarded for. The default is 10; choose Unlimited if you don't want a cap. Only friends who actually came in count towards it.
What counts as buying. Any purchase is the default. On points cards, choose A minimum to count only bigger purchases. If your card gives points for the amount spent, you enter that amount (Purchase of at least); if it gives points for products, you can pick one of them. Otherwise you enter Fewest points on the first purchase. A purchase counts when it earns at least that many points.
Offer valid for. How many days a treat can be used after it is given. It is 30 days unless you change it.
Under What customers will read you see the exact wording your customers will see, plus the tile that appears in their customer portal.
You can also reach this from the program's Share tab: Let your customers invite friends has a Set up button.
It switches on your customer portal
Invite links live in your customer portal. If it is still off, turning on Let customers invite friends asks Switch on your customer portal? Click Switch on to continue, or Cancel. Only an owner or admin can switch the portal on: if you are an editor, you are asked to get an owner or admin to do it.
What your customers see
- On the back of their card, a line such as "Invite a friend: You get 2 stamps when a friend visits" (or points, or the name of your treat).
- In their customer portal, an Invite a friend tile. It opens a page with the reward ("You get ... when a friend visits"), the friend's reward, Share and Copy link buttons, and how many friends have joined and come in. When they reach your limit, the page says they've reached the limit of friends for rewards.
What the friend sees
The friend opens the link and sees the join page with "[Name] invited you" and the reward they get. With the default setting it reads "... with your first purchase". The friend then adds the card to their wallet like any other customer.
If the friend already has a card with you, the page says "You already have a card here, so this invite doesn't add a reward." A friend has to be new to your business: we check the email or phone number when they give one.
When rewards are given
Your customer is rewarded only when the friend really comes in: when their first stamp, first points or first visit is added, at the counter or by a connected till. Joining alone is not enough. The friend's reward unlocks the same way, unless you chose to give it as soon as they join.
Some cards work a little differently:
- Coupon cards. The coupon is the friend's welcome gift, and the friend redeeming it counts as coming in. If the coupon turns into a stamp or points card, you choose the rewards of that card: stamps or points, or a treat.
- Memberships. The friend's first recorded visit, or the first time they use an offer, counts.
- Prepaid cards. Only treats can be given as rewards, and the friend's first top-up or first spend counts.
- Level cards that count visits without a points balance. Only treats can be given as rewards.
Where it is not available
- Members-only programs (cards that only let in people with a code from you): invite links can't be used.
- Cards customers buy online, such as prepaid cards and paid memberships: invites can't be used yet.
The Refer a friend section tells you when this is the case.
See the results
- Insights → Link Performance → Friend invites shows the sign-ups that came through invite links (with the 30-day count and trend) and how many of those Came in.
- Customers has a Friends column and a Most friends brought sort. Open a customer to see Referrals: who invited them, and how many friends they invited (joined, and came in).
Who can do what
Owners, admins and editors can change the Refer a friend settings. Viewers can look but not change. Switching on the customer portal needs an owner or admin.