How to set the friend reward

The friend reward is what a new customer gets when they use an advocate's referral code at checkout. This is the incentive that drives the friend to convert from a curious visitor into a paying customer. This article covers what reward types are available, how to configure each, and what amounts tend to work well.

Where to find it

In 1ClickReferral, go to the Referral program settings page and find the Friend's reward section. All friend reward configuration happens in this one section.

How the friend reward gets delivered

When an advocate shares their referral code with a friend, 1ClickReferral has already created a unique discount code in your Shopify Discounts based on the friend reward you've configured. When the friend enters the code at checkout, Shopify validates it like any other discount code and applies the reward.

You don't manually issue anything – the discount code exists in Shopify the moment the advocate gets their referral code, ready for any friend to use.

Reward type

Choose what kind of discount the friend gets at checkout:

Amount off entire order – the discount applies to the full order total. Most common choice.
Amount off specific products – the discount only applies to specific products you choose. Useful when you want to drive friends toward a specific collection or hero product.
Free shipping – removes shipping costs from the friend's order. Often the most cost-effective option for stores with high shipping costs.

The form changes slightly depending on the reward type you pick. If you select Amount off entire order or Amount off specific products, you'll configure a Value (percentage or fixed amount). If you select Free shipping, there's no Value section – the reward is the shipping cost itself.

Value (Amount off entire order or specific products)

Choose between Percentage or Fixed amount, then enter the value:

Percentage – e.g., 10% off, 15% off. Scales with order size.
Fixed amount – e.g., $10 off, $25 off. Predictable cost regardless of order size.

If you selected Amount off specific products, you'll also choose which products or collections the reward applies to. Only items from those products or collections will be discounted at checkout.

This section doesn't appear if you selected Free shipping.

Minimum purchase amount

Optional. If checked, the friend's reward only applies when their order meets or exceeds the minimum amount you set.

This is useful when:

You want to protect AOV. A 20% off code on a $20 order is heavy. Setting a $40 minimum keeps the math reasonable.
You're offering free shipping. Shipping costs hurt most on small orders – a minimum can ensure free shipping only applies above a threshold that makes economic sense.

If left unchecked, the reward applies to any order amount. For a friend's first purchase, applying with no minimum tends to convert better since friends are often testing your store with a small order.

Combinations

Decide whether the friend's reward can be combined with other discount types active in your store:

Product discounts – combinable with discounts that apply to specific products
Order discounts – combinable with discounts that apply to the entire order
Shipping discounts – combinable with free or discounted shipping promotions (only available when reward type is Amount off entire order or Amount off specific products)

These checkboxes follow Shopify's native discount combination rules. By default, all are unchecked, meaning the friend reward stands alone.

If you're not sure, leave them unchecked. Stacking can lead to unexpectedly deep discounts when multiple promotions overlap, especially during sales periods.

When the reward type is Free shipping, the Shipping discounts checkbox doesn't appear – Shopify doesn't allow stacking a free shipping reward with another shipping discount.

Expiration

Optional. If checked, the friend's reward code expires a set number of days after it's generated.

Each friend can redeem an advocate's referral code once at checkout. The same advocate's code can be used by many different friends, but each individual friend gets one redemption.

Most stores leave expiration unchecked, since the friend incentive should stay active as long as the advocate keeps sharing
If you do set an expiration, 60–90 days is a reasonable starting point – long enough for the advocate to share with multiple friends, short enough to refresh codes periodically

Recommended reward amounts

There's no universal right answer, but here's what tends to work for most Shopify stores running referral programs:

Percentage rewards: 10% to 20% off works for most stores. Below 10% rarely converts new customers; above 20% can attract deal-hunters who don't return for repeat purchases.
Fixed amount rewards: Roughly 10–15% of your average order value (AOV) is a good starting point. If your AOV is $80, a $10 reward feels meaningful. If your AOV is $200, $20 is in the right range.
Free shipping: Strong choice for stores with a high shipping cost relative to AOV. If shipping is a real friction point in your checkout, removing it is often more compelling than a small percentage off.

A few guiding principles:

Make the friend reward at least as attractive as your normal first-time-customer offers. If new visitors already get 10% off via a popup, a 10% friend reward isn't differentiated. Push it higher to reward the referral specifically.
Balance friend and advocate rewards. Both sides need to feel like they're getting something. A $20 friend reward paired with a $5 advocate reward will struggle to motivate sharing.
Test before committing. Start with a moderate reward, run it for 30 days, and check your Reports page. If friend conversion is low, increase the reward. If it's strong, you may be able to reduce it without losing momentum.