How to install and set up your referral program

This article walks you through installing 1ClickReferral and getting your first referral program live. The full setup takes about 10 minutes if you already know what rewards you want to offer.

Before you start

You'll need:

• A Shopify store on any plan (Basic and above)
• Admin access to the store
• An idea of what you want to offer your advocates (your existing customers) and friends (the new customers they refer)

Step 1: Install 1ClickReferral from the Shopify App Store

1. Go to the 1ClickReferral listing on the Shopify App Store
2. Click Add app
3. Approve the requested permissions when Shopify prompts you
4. Once installed, you'll be redirected to the 1ClickReferral dashboard

Installing the app is free. There are no charges, trials, or billing prompts on install.

Step 2: Add the Thank You page widget to your checkout

The Thank You page widget is what your customers see after they complete a purchase. It needs to be added to your Shopify checkout once before it can show up.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Checkout
2. Under Checkout customization, click Customize
3. In the checkout editor, navigate to the Thank you page
4. Click Add app block in the sidebar
5. Select 1ClickReferral
6. Click Save

Step 3: Activate the referral program in 1ClickReferral

Adding the widget block to your checkout makes it available, but the program won't start showing the widget to customers until you activate it inside 1ClickReferral.

There are two ways to activate the program – use whichever is more convenient:

• From the Dashboard – click the Activate program button. (When the program is already running, this button shows as Pause program instead.)
• From the Referral program settings page – toggle the program status switch to on.

Both controls update the same setting. If the program is paused, the widget won't appear on the Thank You page even when the checkout block is in place. This is intentional – it lets you finish configuring rewards and copy (steps below) before any customer sees the program.

Step 4: Set the advocate reward

The advocate reward is what your existing customer earns when a friend they refer makes a purchase. This is the incentive that drives them to share.

1. In 1ClickReferral, go to Settings
2. Find the Advocate reward section
3. Choose a reward type:
   • Amount off entire order – fixed amount or percentage off the advocate's next order
   • Amount off specific products – fixed amount or percentage off specific products only
4. Enter the reward amount
5. Click Save

For full details and recommendations, see How to set the advocate reward.

Step 5: Set the friend reward

The friend reward is what the new customer gets when they use the advocate's code at checkout. This is the incentive that drives the friend to convert.

1. Still in Settings, find the Friend reward section
2. Choose a reward type:
   • Amount off entire order – fixed amount or percentage off the friend's order
   • Amount off specific products – fixed amount or percentage off specific products only
   • Free shipping – removes shipping costs from the friend's order
3. Enter the reward amount (if applicable)
4. Click Save

For full details and recommendations, see How to set the friend reward.

Step 6: Choose how referral codes are generated

Each advocate gets a unique referral code. You decide what those codes look like.

1. In Settings, find the Referral code section
2. Choose a generation method:
   • Advocate first name + unique number – e.g., JAMES108  
   • Advocate first name and last name + unique number – e.g., JAMESSMITH108  
   • Unique sequence of numbers and letters – e.g., K7H9P2X4  
3. Click Save

For tradeoffs between the three options, see [How to choose a referral code generation method].

Step 7: Customize the widget copy and reward email

These two pieces of copy are what your advocates and friends actually read. Defaults are provided, but they're generic – worth replacing with your own voice.

Widget copy – the headline and description on the Thank You page.

1. In Settings, find the Thank You page widget section
2. Update the Headline and Description fields
3. Click Save

See [How to customize the Thank You page widget headline and copy] for tips on what works.

Advocate reward email – the email your advocate gets after a friend converts.

1. In Settings, find the Advocate reward email section
2. Update the email subject and body
3. Click Save

See [How to customize the advocate reward email] for tips and template language.

Step 8: Test before going live

Before announcing your referral program to customers, place a test order to make sure the widget appears correctly and the flow works end to end.

There's no built-in test mode in 1ClickReferral – you test by placing a real test order on your store. Shopify provides two ways to do this without spending real money:

• Bogus Gateway – a test payment provider you can activate in your Shopify admin to simulate transactions without charging a real card.
• Shopify Payments test mode – if you use Shopify Payments, you can enable test mode and use Shopify's test credit card numbers to place a test order.

For the full step-by-step walkthrough, see Shopify's official guide on placing a test order.

After your test order completes, you should see the 1ClickReferral widget on the Thank You page.

After your program is live

Your referral program is live. Customers who place orders will now see the widget on the Thank You page, get a unique code, and can share it with friends.

A few things to do next:

• Watch your Reports page. You'll start seeing data as soon as the first referrals come through.
• Tell your existing customers. The widget only shows to people who place orders, so existing customers won't see it unless they buy again. Consider an email blast to your customer list mentioning the new referral program.
• Adjust the rewards if needed. If conversion is low after a few weeks, the rewards may need to be more generous. Try increasing either the friend reward (to drive more friend conversions) or the advocate reward (to drive more sharing).