Refer a Friend

About the Extension

DEMO SHOP AVAILABLE

Try every feature in our demo shop first: storefront with a prepared customer account and full administration, reset every night. Access via "View demo" below the screenshots.

DESCRIPTION

Satisfied customers are the best advertising. With this extension your customers recommend your shop by link or code and automatically receive a voucher for every friend they refer.

Your customers join the referral program in their customer account and share their personal referral link via message, email or social networks. When a friend orders, the extension checks your rules and generates an individual voucher code from a promotion of your choice. If you like, it only rewards genuinely new customers: a friend who has already placed a valid order with the same email address stays referred but brings no voucher.

The problem you know

Customers recommend good shops anyway. Without a referral program this stays invisible and unrewarded.

• Nobody knows who referred whom. Without a link or code a new customer cannot be assigned to the person who recommended the shop.
• Vouchers by hand. Checking every referral, creating a code and sending it takes time and is easily forgotten.
• Rewards without return. Orders through one's own link, cancelled orders or existing customers who get themselves referred again cost vouchers without bringing new customers.
• Questions. Why was there no voucher for this referral? Without a traceable reason the answer remains open.

How the extension solves this

• Link and code in the customer account. Every participant receives a personal code and creates referral links to any page of your shop.
• Lasting assignment. A referred friend is permanently assigned to the referrer on registration, guest checkout or login, even if the order follows days later.
• Vouchers automatically by your rules. Minimum order age, order status and customer groups define which order counts.
• Protection against abuse. No reward for own orders, every email address is rewarded only once, and if you like only for new customers.
• Every decision traceable. In the administration you see the reason for every rejected referral and the order it refers to.

Benefits at a glance

• New customers through referrals: your customers advertise for you with a link they can share anywhere.
• No effort: vouchers are created automatically without you doing anything.
• Only what pays off is rewarded: valid orders of new customers instead of own or cancelled orders.
• Customers come back: the referrer redeems the voucher in your shop.

Typical use cases

€5 for every friend: the included promotion gives the referrer €5. Once the friend's order is 14 days old and completed, the voucher code is created and the referrer finds it in their customer account.

Genuinely new customers only: with "New customers only", a friend who already ordered as a guest two years ago brings no voucher. In the administration the referral shows "Existing customer" with the number of the earlier order. Cancelled orders do not count if you select an order status such as "Done".

A program for regular customers or merchants: only selected customer groups may take part, and only orders of selected customer groups are rewarded.

Meaningful codes for partners: for influencers or clubs you change a participant's code in the administration to a meaningful name. Customers already referred and their orders follow.

Features in detail

Participation in the customer account

The customer account gets the menu item "Refer a Friend". Customers with an account join there with one click or, if you like, automatically on their first visit. The page explains the rules of the program; with "New customers only" switched on, the explanation names this rule as well. Customer groups define who may take part.

Referral code and referral link

The extension builds the code from a pattern, for example from the customer's first name, completed with random letters and digits. Participants copy their code with one click and create referral links to any page of your shop, such as the home page, a category or a product. You choose the name of the parameter in the link.

Assignment of the friend

When a friend opens the link, the shop keeps the code in the session and in a cookie. You set the storage period and the cookie group in the consent window. On registration, guest checkout or login the friend is permanently assigned to the referrer; the first assignment remains.

Rules for the voucher

Every order of a referred friend is a referral. It only brings a voucher if all rules are met:

• the order has reached a minimum age in days, for example after the withdrawal period,
• the order has the selected order status; without a selection every order counts,
• the friend belongs to one of the selected customer groups,
• it is not an order of the referrer themselves,
• no voucher has been issued for the same email address yet,
• optional "New customers only": there is no earlier valid order with the same email address, as a guest or with a customer account, in any sales channel.

A valid order is an order with the selected order status. The same rule applies when looking back: a cancelled earlier order does not turn a friend into an existing customer. Referrals still open after 180 days expire.

Voucher from your promotion

The voucher is an individual code of a promotion you select in the configuration. The promotion "Friends Promotion 5,- EUR" is included. You set discount, conditions and validity in the promotion as usual. Vouchers are issued when the overview in the customer account is opened and by a scheduled task; both can be switched off individually.

Notification via Flow Builder

For every voucher created, the extension triggers the event "Refer a Friend / Voucher generated". A flow for this event and a mail template in German and English are included. Add the action "Send email" with this template to the flow, and the referrer receives the code by email.

Overview in the customer account

Participants see their code, the link generator, their most recently referred friends (first name, abbreviated last name and city) and all vouchers received, with a note whether they have been redeemed.

Administration

Under Marketing → "Refer a Friend" you find all participants. In the detail view you change the code and see the referred customers and orders with the status "Open", "Accepted" or "Rejected". For a rejection, a click on the info icon opens a window with the reason:

• Own referral: the referrer ordered through their own link.
• Email already rewarded: with the order that brought the voucher.
• Existing customer: with the earlier valid order.
• Expired: the order did not meet the rules for too long.
• No promotion selected: the configuration has no promotion.

Who it pays off for

For every shop with satisfied customers who like to recommend it: from the small specialist retailer to the shop with merchants and several sales channels. You reward referrals automatically and fairly, and every decision stays traceable.

General information

• Snippets
  The extension uses snippets so that all texts and labels can easily be translated into other languages in the administration.
• Multi-shop ready
  Relevant configuration options can be adjusted individually for each sales channel.
• Compatibility
  The extension is always compatible with the latest Shopware version and the Shopware default theme.
• Incompatibility
  If you use a custom theme and/or third-party extensions, please test the extension thoroughly before buying. Compatibility cannot be guaranteed.
• Responsive
  Desktop PC, tablet or smartphone: the extension is fully responsive.
• Test version
  The extension can be tested free of charge and without obligation for 30 days (see the free trial month of the rental license).
• Features
  The features described in the description, the screenshots and the demo shop always refer to the latest version of the extension.
• Individual change requests
  Every company is unique and requires individual solutions that are precisely tailored to its own workflows. Feel free to contact me without obligation: I will gladly adapt my extensions to your requirements and integrate them seamlessly into your in-house processes.
• Liability disclaimer
  The manufacturer of this extension is not liable for damages, in particular not for direct or indirect consequential damages, data loss, lost profits, system or production failures resulting from the use of the extension, except in cases of intent or gross negligence.

Contact information

• Phone
  +49 (0) 234 97354482
• Internet
  info@digitvision.de
  https://www.digitvision.de
• Address
  Hevener Straße 65
  44797 Bochum

About me

• 20+ years of experience
  More than 20 years in e-commerce, more than 10 of them exclusively with Shopware. Your specialist with extensive industry and technical knowledge.
• Reliable
  Shopware is my passion and my hobby. I take care of your project reliably and with commitment, as if it were my own.
• Quality
  High service quality is my focus. I use state-of-the-art design patterns, current technologies and innovative tools.

Your competent partner

For more than 20 years I have been working as a passionate web developer in e-commerce. In this time I have advised and supported many companies in interesting projects. I stand for uncomplicated communication, future-proof solutions, modern technologies and a high level of commitment.

Every company is unique and requires individual solutions that are precisely tailored to its own workflows. Feel free to contact me without obligation: I will gladly adapt my extensions to your requirements and integrate them seamlessly into your in-house processes. I would be happy to provide you with offers for adaptations or individually developed extensions according to your wishes.