The future of retail remains a mystery—both for brands and ecommerce agencies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift to ecommerce was accelerated. In fact, Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 generated record-breaking numbers—BF recorded $9 billion and CM broke $10.8 billion in sales.

Naturally, it was predicted that the next BFCM would set another record. However, 2021 BFCM sales dropped. Black Friday only recorded $8.9 billion in sales. Cyber Monday only did $10.7 billion.

The culprit? Physical stores made a comeback and split the income between offline and online retail. In fact, reports showed that offline retail beat ecommerce in 2021. 

What does this mean?

Consumer behaviors have changed. Online retail is not going to go anywhere—but offline retail should not be ignored.‍

Instead of looking at ecommerce and brick-and-mortar as black and white, brands and ecommerce agencies must know how to navigate both of these revenue channels in order to maximize profit potential. ‍

It’s crucial to help your clients with both their online and offline retail channels and wherever else their customers can buy from them.

The solution? Omnichannel retailing and marketing.

First things first—what is omnichannel retailing?

Omnichannel retailing is an approach where all customer touchpoints integrate with one another for a seamless brand experience.

It’s not the same as multichannel retailing which is having multiple touchpoints that are treated independently.

Here’s a quick example of omnichannel retail:

Brand A has one database for all its items. The inventory is the same, whether customers buy through social media, their website, or physical stores.

If you pay for items in a store using credits, you can use these credits not just online, but even in physical branches of that store.

Is omnichannel the future? Yes, and it can be a lucrative future if brands play their cards right. 

If 2020 showed a significant rise in ecommerce brought about by the pandemic, the year 2021 showed the shift to omnichannel. In 2021, almost one in two ecommerce decision-makers in Europe and North America believed omnichannel strategies to be very important. 

Additionally, companies that used effective omnichannel strategies were able to retain an average of 89% of customers. 

It’s true that a lot of brick-and-mortar shops moved online. But this doesn’t mean that all physical shopping channels should be left by the wayside. 

Here’s why:

• Trying out items is easier for customers in-store
• There are convenient options for shoppers such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) feature, or buying from the store and having the purchase delivered
• As stated by Ricardo Belmar, customers can again experience window shopping, something they missed during the pandemic. They also get the instant gratification of having the items in their hands when buying.

In short, omnichannel retail will create an even better customer experience that will transcend the purely online or purely physical realm.  

Benefits of omnichannel retail and marketing

Not convinced of the power of omnichannel marketing? Here are some benefits that ecommerce agencies’ clients can experience:

1. Increased sales and profitability

Omnichannel marketing reduces sales friction. If the customer journey is smooth and seamless, there is a higher chance of customers completing the transaction. 

More transactions, more profit.

In fact, marketers who used three or more channels in a campaign were able to get a 494% higher order rate compared to those who only used a single channel. 

For example, Starbucks lets customers reload their cards through the app, their website, or in any Starbucks store. Any change to the card gets updated in real-time across all their channels.

Imagine if customers could only load their cards via phone. Or if customers topped up their card online but the in-store staff didn’t count it. For sure, a lot of customers will choose to leave instead of pushing through with their orders.

2. A better customer experience (if done right)

Omnichannel marketing equips ecommerce brands to deliver a more consistent customer experience.

In fact, 80% of customers prefer an omnichannel approach due to the seamless customer experience it gives. And of course, providing a good customer experience to customers will increase their Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

It doesn’t matter which touchpoint online users encounter first—their customer journey will be smooth through and through. 

They can access the same inventory, have the same store credits, have the same items in their cart, and so on. They can add an item to their cart via mobile phones, and complete the purchase via computer.

3. More channels to communicate with customers

Not all of your clients’ customers hang out in one spot. The truth is 73% of consumers prefer to shop across multiple channels. 

Not being present where your customers are means missing out on revenue opportunities.

If your clients establish their presence on multiple channels, they will have more ways of reaching their target customers. The brand will be more visible, and they will be top of mind when customers come looking for their products again.

4. In-depth data and insights into consumer behavior

The more channels you have, the more data you have. For example, omnichannel retail and marketing give you access to the following information (to name a few):

• Which channel generates the most revenue?
• Which channel doesn’t generate a lot of revenue but is the best for customer engagement?
• Which channel is the most popular first touchpoint?
• Which channels do the purchases get completed most of the time?

As an illustration, it can be that Brand A’s website is a popular first touchpoint, but most purchases happen in-store. 

These insights into consumer behavior will allow ecommerce agencies to help clients build a better brand presence where necessary. Plus, brands will be able to focus on improving the customer experience across all channels.

5. Opportunity to provide personalized experiences

Brands that can personalize the customer experience across multiple channels can generate a 5-15% increase in revenue.

Since omnichannel retail and marketing provide comprehensive data, there are many opportunities to provide personalized experiences. Brands can start more relevant dialogues, use lingo that shoppers use, and even pick the right channels that customers actually use.

Source

For example, Sephora wanted to increase its customer base. They decided to create a personalized campaign to generate more store visits. Location-based notifications were sent to mobile-app users and gave them reasons to visit local stores. The notifications were then tailored to the customers’ communication preferences or the last time they visited.

6. You’ll have more user-generated content (UGC)

The effectiveness and popularity of UGC are already cemented. Some of our favorite statistics include:

• 79% of consumers say UGC influences their purchase decisions (Stackla)
• 31% of shoppers share that ads with UGC content are more memorable compared to traditional branded ads (Jukin Media)
• Consumers say UGC is almost 10x more impactful than influencer content (Stackla)

After all, when customers are happy about their experiences, they will talk about it. Omnichannel retail simply gives shoppers more opportunities and more ammunition to create content.

In turn, ecommerce brands will also have more UGC that they can use to promote their various channels. It’s a cycle—not a vicious one, but a winning one. 

4 tips for crafting an omnichannel retail strategy for your ecommerce agency clients 

Of course, just because an omnichannel strategy has many advantages doesn’t mean your clients should jump in unprepared. Here are four tips to make sure they get it right.

More is not always more 

Brands don’t need to be present in all channels—just the ones that work best for their target audience.

Let’s say Brand A wants to be present on all social media platforms—Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Then they also want to level up their email marketing game. 

Remember that being present in all those channels will take up time and resources—brands should choose which channels are worthy to invest energy in.

Your ecommerce clients should only be in channels where their target audience is. For example, if your client is selling to people aged 50 and up, they probably shouldn’t dedicate time to TikTok, since only 11% of that demographic use TikTok.

Ensure your customer support across channels is smooth and seamless

If brands aim to venture into omnichannel retail, omnichannel customer support must follow. Since customers have different customer journeys and preferences when it comes to touchpoints, it’s important that relevant customer support exists where they are.

A customer could browse a site on their phone but decide to call customer support. The following day, they may want to follow up on their request via email or live chat. 

The key to omnichannel customer support is having a centralized hub for data that can be accessed by the customer support team regardless of channel or time.

Statistics show that 95% of consumers say that customer service is essential for brand loyalty, and 60% of consumers switched to a rival company of a brand they used to patronize because of poor customer service. In short, the quality of customer support will also contribute to a brand’s revenue and growth.

Treat your channels as parts of a whole, not as individual silos

The whole concept behind omnichannel retail is to create a seamless experience across all channels. It is one brand with multiple channels—thus, it’s important to create a cohesive strategy.

A brand’s channels should work together to generate maximum profit, and not work against each other.

Some examples:

• Customers who have accounts online can use their online store credits when they shop in-store
• Coupons or vouchers should work across all channels
• Items on sale in one channel should also be marked down in other channels
• Customer support should be able to provide which branches have the specific product that the consumer wants

Integrate the offline store into the online presence

As much as the online presence of stores can direct customers to their physical counterparts, physical stores should be able to do the same with online stores. 

For example, some restaurants already offer QR code scanning for their menus, which redirects customers to their websites. 

Stores can also put up signs encouraging people to shop online, create accounts, follow the brand on social media, or tag the brand in their UGC.

The game changer: Referral marketing at its full potential

Referral marketing enhances the potential of omnichannel retail. What makes referral marketing so awesome? Here are some stats we published before:

• People pay 2x more attention to recommendations from friends
• 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know
• Referred customers are less likely to leave—making them more attached and loyal to brands

Here’s the best part: people are 4x more likely to buy when a friend refers something.

What do all these numbers tell us? Simple: referrals bring new customers, more sales, and more revenue.

So why not add fuel to this fire and make the most of what it has to offer? How? By adding referral marketing to your ecommerce agency’s services.

In all honestly, ecommerce customers are probably already referring brands to their network via social media, email, word-of-mouth, and other channels.

A referral marketing strategy will encourage your clients’ customers to continue doing this and they will get rewarded as a result. 

With referral marketing software like Referral Candy, referrals can easily be tracked—whether the referral was made via social media or the purchase was completed on the website.

The truth is, six out of ten users start shopping on one device but continue on a different one. The opportunity to refer follows the same concept:

• A potential customer might see a brand on one channel, then see a friend’s post on another. 
• Customers can promote promos or products online and their friends may want to purchase in-store
• Customers may see an item in-store, decide to check it out or try it on and then proceed to purchase online due to an online-only limited edition discount coupon from a friend.

In short, referral marketing supports omnichannel retail strategies by adding organic opportunities to generate sales across different platforms and along different touchpoints. 

Wrap-Up: Referral marketing is the cherry on top of successful omnichannel strategies

Omnichannel retailing is a powerful way to keep your client’s brand or brands always top of mind. More than just being present on multiple customer touchpoints, it’s about being done correctly. It’s a great method to increase not just brand awareness but also customer loyalty.

And when brands have loyal customers, they will have advocates and fans who will not hesitate to promote the brand. Rewarding existing customers will result in higher retention rates and lifetime values. Brands will get to enjoy revenue from both new and existing customers—it’s a win-win strategy. 

While omnichannel marketing may take a while to build up with proper training, a referral program doesn’t need to take long. 

Sign up with ReferralCandy so you can start helping your clients build a referral program easily so they can make the most of their omnichannel strategy. 

Better yet, join our agency partner program to maximize the value that referral marketing can bring to your clients.  

What are the best Shopify themes available?

We're always hearing from retailers and experts that getting the right theme for your store is one of the most important things you can do. Besides, there are some truly beautiful ecommerce websites out there that leave a great impression.

A good Shopify theme could make the difference between having your store be professional or frumpy, stylish or sluggish. It can literally make or break your online store.

Here are some of our favorites.

(NOTE: If you're interested in setting up a referral program for your Shopify store, try ReferralCandy free here, or perhaps your new domain needs a bit of optimizing, if so, check out our post on the best ecommerce tools for new ecommerce stores).

What are the best Shopify Themes for your ecommerce website?

(Last updated: 2 December 2022!)

Dawn

Shopify's very own free theme topping the charts in their theme store. Dawn serves as a chic and minimalist design so that products take center stage with large imagery, crisp lines, and simplified fonts that keep buyer attention focused on what matters. The best part is that Shopify constantly rolls out updates so you never have to worry about compatibility!

2. Kalles

Pricing: $89

Reviews: 889

Rating: 4.99

Kalles is a Shopify theme that allows brands to build a robust online store that provides a smooth and seamless shopping experience for their consumers. Kalles is built for a variety of various online businesses, with a modern design, minimalist feel, and a variety of specific demonstrations. Display products in a stylish manner and make it simple for consumers to explore, choose, and buy.

3. Gecko

Pricing: $99

Reviews: 653

Rating: 4.99

Gecko is Shopify theme that is jam-packed with incredible features, and with endless options, and unmatched versatility, easily create a store that suits the needs of your business, is in line with the brand, and exceeds expectations in a matter of clicks.

4. WOKIEE Shopify 2.0

Pricing: $89

Reviews: 434

Rating: 5.00

WOKIEE Shopify 2.0 Theme is more than the usual theme. This is a powerful ecommerce solution. Updated for Shopify 2.0 CMS, optimized with good performance. There are a lot of predefined skins/layouts for your specific requirements—86+ homepage layouts with predefined structures for your specific needs, six product page variants, seven collection page variants, and more.

5. Fastor

Pricing: $56

Reviews: 1,600

Rating: 4.88

Also updated for Online Store 2.0, Fastor allows for better website performance even with more features. Sections can be added to all pages, not just the homepage, unlocking a range of new opportunities to personalize every aspect of your store.

6. Shella

Pricing: $59

Reviews: 216

Rating: 4.98

Shella is a responsive, fashion Shopify theme. It supports Shopify's Online Store 2.0 and has over 99 pre-designed pages for ecommerce operators to choose from.

(RELATED: Need help with marketing your Shopify store? Check out our Shopify marketing guide.)

7. Porto

Pricing: $99

Reviews: 255

Rating: 4.82

Porto is a powerful package that has everything you need for your Shopify store. It has all the required tools and features to create a super fast and responsive website with an amazing UI and UX experience. The theme boasts over 20 niche demos & layouts and styles that allow you to create your own modern Shopify store.

8. Ella

Pricing: $89

Reviews: 717

Rating: 4.82

ELLA is an all-in-one Shopify template supporting Online Store 2.0 with multiple layouts and styles that allows you to create different structures and any specific requirements as well as provide you with numerous varying themes for different kinds of business. This theme has over 22 homepage and skin layouts, more than nine stunning shopping pages, product pages, and styles of headers and footers.

9. Paper

Pricing: $240

Paper is an effortlessly beautiful and fully customizable Shopify Theme. It’s great for helping you show off your products in an easy-to-use and just seriously good-looking design. The theme is built with conversion rate optimization in mind - Paper comes with plenty of promotional sections to get your customers to checkout with ease.

10. Avone

Pricing: $79

Reviews: 401

Rating: 5.00

Avone is a fully responsive and powerful theme that is compatible with Shopify's Online Store 2.0 update. Avone features over 1000 theme options with over 28 stunning homepage designs and functionalities, making it the most customizable theme in the market. Avone is a favorite among industry professionals and experienced merchants.

11. Refresh

Pricing: Free

Refresh is another free Shopify theme with a clean and modern design. The segments emphasize product details where brands can share testimonials, ingredients, quality information, special certifications, and more with adaptive section layouts.

12. Paper

Pricing: $240

Paper is an effortlessly beautiful and fully customizable Shopify Theme. It’s great for helping you show off your products in an easy-to-use and just seriously good-looking design. The theme is built with conversion rate optimization in mind - Paper comes with plenty of promotional sections to get your customers to checkout with ease.

13. Electro

Pricing: $89

Reviews: 219

Rating: 4.89

Electro is a clean, modern, user-friendly, responsive, and functional Shopify theme with a vertical menu. It is compatible with Shopify's Online Store 2.0 update! 

(RELATED: Get inspired to succeed with your Shopify store by reading these Shopify success stories.)

14. Retina‍

Pricing: $210

Retina features beautiful testimonial sections, featured product callouts, and other features that help build brand trust. The theme also has a user-friendly editing experience and simple layout options making creating a professional-looking store as simple as possible.

15. Icon

Pricing: $240

Icon is a Shopify theme that allows merchants to promote products within products with meta fields to drive upsells, highlight complimenting products and increase the average order value. It also allows for increased product visibility with built-in Online Store 2.0 filtering with color swatches. Customers can break down large collections into manageable sizes.

16. Minimog

Pricing: $79

Reviews: 269

Rating: 4.99

Minimog is created with the most modern and sophisticated design and catered to a number of popular niches like Clothing & Fashion, Food & Drink Pet, Home & Garden, Health & Beauty. It also comes with a Shopify app—FoxKit, which is packed with a bunch of free and integrated ecommerce tools such as Variant Group Images, Countdown Tools, Lucky Wheel, In-cart Suggestions, Chat Bot, and many more, to help your business boost conversions and maximize profit.

17. Kala

Pricing: $69

Reviews: 176

Rating: 4.88

KALA is a multi-purpose theme with responsive design and UI/UX mobile-friendly. Its UI/UX design on mobile is optimized and perfectly suitable for shopping on smartphones or tablets. This Shopify theme provides 70+ unique designed sections and product sections that merchants can easily mix and configure to build their own unique store.

18. Boundless

Pricing: Free

Want to showcase your beautiful product photos on your homepage? Boundless is a minimalist theme that puts your photography front and center so you can show off your best products.

19. Venture

Pricing: Free

Running a Shopify store with a huge number of products? Check out Venture.

20. Empire

Pricing: $300

Reviews: 281

Rating: 75% positive

Designed and supported by Pixel Union, Empire is a theme meant for marketplaces. Perfect for large catalogs, this Shopify theme's visually appealing marketplace-inspired design is equipped to optimize large product catalogs for maximum conversions.

21. Parallax

Pricing: $220

Parallax is a Shopify theme that allows your user to check out your store using a parallax scrolling effect. It also provides an easy shopping experience with features like a slideout cart, quick shop, promotional banners, and sticky dropdown navigation so that customers cart out faster.

22. Motion

Pricing: $320

If animation and videos are required to bring out the best in your store's products, then consider Motion. Every part of the store can smoothly animate into view, capturing customers' attention and conveying a premium look and feel.

23. Fashionopolism

Pricing: $250

As its name suggests, Fashionopolism is a sophisticated style for stores with impactful imagery and multiple collections.

24. Basel

Pricing: $59

Reviews: 256

Rating: 4.71

Basel is a minimalist AJAX responsive Shopify theme that allows you to use a drag-and-drop page builder to set up your store. It comes with many header variations that can be used on the website. Customization can also be done while using the header layout in addition to the options related to colors and backgrounds.

25. Minion

Pricing: $250

The Minion Shopify theme is compatible with Shopify 2.0. It is ideal for the pet industry with flexible features to fit more niches. This Shopify theme is great especially for ecommerce brands in the following categories: Pet Supplies, Baby and kids, Books, Music, and Video, Clothing, Electronics, dropshippers and high-volume stores. The theme provides versatile customizability with 24 sections and 3 different menu types to choose from and flexible design settings and customization options to achieve your professional look for your store. There's also a variety of predefined skins and layouts. It minimizes the resources required for building a powerful website.

26. Optimal

Pricing: $79

Reviews: 36

Rating: 5.00

Optimal is the best multipurpose Shopify theme that you have ever seen which offers an exciting stylish design and exclusive features. Optimal is compatible with online store 2.0. This theme can be a perfect fit for anyone looking for a clean, user-friendly, high-performance website. Optimal is loaded with all the tools you need: speed, performance, flexible sections, predictive search, SEO, advanced product filters, and much more. Optimal design is suitable for all Shopify stores including Clothing, Fashion, Food, Health, Pets, Tools, and many more.

27. Tailor

Pricing: $310

Reviews: 3

Rating: 100% positive

Tailor-made for fashion brands with a story to tell. Includes shop the look, image banner, and more dynamic sections.

28. Editions

Pricing: $180

Reviews: 67

Rating: 93% positive

Editions is a simple, spacious theme with a focus on featured products. Editorial-style sections and templates to showcase your brand messaging in style.

The best Shopify templates for you to choose from

Choosing a good theme is critical to the success of your Shopify store.

Look through these popular themes, and carefully consider whether it fits the needs of your brand and products. Some of them are more suited for certain niches (like fashion or gadgets), while some are better suited for larger catalogs and marketplaces.

Make sure you select the Shopify theme that fits your store like a glove—not one that simply "looks good".

And remember, an aesthetically pleasing or ergonomic theme isn't the only marketing strategy you can use to increase your domain's conversion rates.

A good marketing strategy is a great place to start or, if you wish to hear from the pros, check out our post on the best ecommerce podcasts.

Now that your theme is in place, why not find the best apps and strategies to grow your Shopify Store in our Ultimate Shopify Marketing Resource.

Or start bringing traffic to your store using the strategies in our Step-By-Step Shopify SEO Guide.

Here are more articles we think might be insightful for you: 

• 48 Best Ecommerce Web Designs To Inspire You
• 52 Shopify Websites That Are Killing It (And Look Good Too)
• How to Select the Right Shopify Theme (And Where to Find Great Themes)
• How To Setup A Referral Program For Your Shopify Store
  

What is referral marketing?

Referral marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies: using your current customers to spread the word about your brand to new customers.

We compiled a truly epic list of the best referral program ideas currently on the market, along with recommendations on what kinds of referral program software to use, incentives to offer, and current customers to target for your very own referral program.

But hang on—there's a catch.

It's not always easy for your customers to do. Between their hectic work schedules and a never-ending list of social and family obligations, your marketing strategy is the last thing on their minds.

To turn your loyal customers into your biggest brand advocates, you have to make the referral process as easy as possible for them, and you have to stay top-of-mind with killer referral incentives, like free products and major discounts.

Instead of reinventing the wheel to come up with your own referral marketing ideas, you may want to take inspiration from top brands who are absolutely killing it with referral programs.

By the end of our list, you will have enough referral program ideas to launch your very own program and open the floodgates of another customer acquisition channel for your business.

Before we begin, let's break down some basic referral marketing definitions so that we know that we're all on the same page.

What is a referral program?

A referral program or a “refer-a-friend” program is a marketing strategy used by many top ecommerce brands to incentivize existing customers to recommend the brand and its products to their family and friends.

A referral program is a deliberate, systematic way of getting people to make referrals to your business. Referral programs are often called word-of-mouth marketing, because they reward existing customers for sharing and incentivize new customers to try out your brand.

Customers are rewarded with referral incentives, such as free cash, major discounts, or a free month of subscription. While there is an upfront cost to the business, referral programs significantly increase long-term revenue by making loyal customers out of your existing customer base.

If you are wondering why you should have a referral program and how to run one, let’s take a look at how the top ecommerce brands are running their referral programs and the results they have achieved.

Before we begin, let's quickly go through the basics of referral programs.

Why do I need a referral program?

One of the biggest stresses of any business is finding a solid customer acquisition channel, or basically, bringing in new customers. When you have a solid referral marketing program, however, you let your existing customers bring new buyers to your brand. This not only significantly reduces spending on bringing new customers to your shop, but also increases customer retention, which is a very good thing.

Why?

Because loyal customers have a higher conversion rate than new customers and spend more per transaction, making customer referral programs the most cost-effective and lucrative marketing strategy that your business can possibly employ.

How does a referral program work?

People don't make as many referrals as they intend to for a variety of reasons. A referral program helps make their mind up with a tangible reward for referrals.

Modern referral programs, or refer-a-friend programs, use software to track referrals made by happy customers through either a referral code, a rewards card, or a referral link. Depending on the referral campaign, customers will usually receive some kind of referral bonus or benefit when they refer a friend. Referral marketing software automates the payout of these referral rewards.

This referral process creates a natural word-of-mouth marketing experience for your brand, which ultimately increases both your customer retention rate and your revenue.

To find out more, check out how ReferralCandy works.

How do I create a referral program?

The best way to bring in potential customers is to first focus on your existing satisfied customers. Rather than just offering cash rewards or free gifts in hopes that your customers will refer a friend to your shop, it takes a little bit of planning to set up a referral program that works.

1. Get clear about your goals

Before creating a complex ambassador program or launching tons of marketing campaigns (of any kind), it's important to be clear about what your goals are for the program. This will help guide you as you brainstorm referral marketing ideas. Some questions to consider are:

• What are you hoping to get out of your rewards program?
• Do you want more customers? Or just bigger purchases by your existing customers?
• Are you trying to get a higher conversion rate and increase sales?

You can certainly achieve each of these goals, but it might require a different referral campaign for each goal. So it's important to be clear about your goals before beginning.

Canopy makes the world's cleanest and easiest humidifier for optimal skin health and wellness.

It’s not unusual for brands to choose product incentives rather than cash or credit incentives, but they definitely belong to the minority. Canopy does a great job in closing the loop for existing customers and keeping them loyal. If I’m an advocate, it makes absolute sense for me to be incentivized by free filters since I already own the device. They’ve also made it enticing to click on the “Free Filter” button rather than to put “Refer-a-Friend Program” on their homepage. 

2. Make a list of your existing customer referral sources

Your referral sources are your happy customers, friends, and family. They are your biggest advocates and will be the lifeblood of your referral marketing program. Make a list of all of these groups and how you can easily contact them.

3. Make an outreach plan

Now that you have a list of referral sources, carefully make an outreach plan. It's not quite as simple as sending a blast email with a generic referral incentive. Instead, research the best practices for reaching out to each type of referral.

Newer customers, for example, shouldn't receive emails about your reward program right after their first purchase. And close friends and family may not need an incentive at all! The types of referral programs that you use will largely depend on your list, so plan accordingly.

4. Determine the referral incentives you'll offer

While cash incentives likely seem like they’ll get the biggest draw out of your existing customer base, that’s not necessarily the case. One study found that non-cash incentives were 24% more effective with referral marketing than cash incentives. It’s best to offer something of tremendous value to your customers that will keep them coming back to your shop in the future.

Braxley Bands’ referral program reward structure:

• Advocate reward: 20% off and a chance for a $100 gift card
• Friend offer: 20% off

Beyond the conventional 20% for you, and 20% for me, Braxley Bands also introduced an additional perk of standing a chance to win a $100 gift card (that’s essentially 3 more bands for the advocate). That alone is an extra incentive at zero cost to the advocate, all he or she needs to do is to share via word of mouth. 

5. Tell your customers about it

Once you’ve settled on your referral lists and your incentives, it’s time to get people to spread the word both about your brand and your rewards! There are many different ways to do this, each of which brings in a different segment of potential customers.

You could add details about your referral program in your newsletters, have opt-ins on your website, capture customers through a pop-up widget right on your homepage, or even send out specific referral emails to your most loyal audience. Do a little research about the most effective way to grow your lists and then test it out for yourself.

Like most ecommerce brands, Chāmpo puts a link to their referral program in their site footer. It’s accessible and easy to spot. 

6. Track the referrals and rewards

In order to run a successful rewards program, you need to keep track of all of the referrals being made. You need to be able to keep track of who referred whom, the date they were referred, whether or not a conversion was made, and the best way to follow up with both the referrer and the referee.

One of the easiest ways to do this is with referral program software, like ReferralCandy. A system that not only facilitates the reward within your shop but also provides accurate data on the referrals is going to help you know exactly how successful (or unsuccessful) your program is. Some referral systems go one step further in making sure that your referrals are legit and not frauds. Here’s an example of what your referral report might look like on ReferralCandy!

Now that you have a clearer idea of referral programs, let's take a look at the referral programs of top brands and what we can learn from them.

How top brands are running their referral programs

1. Dropbox

Dropbox's referral program is probably one of the most well-known examples of referral marketing around. Dropbox grew by 3900% with this very famous referral program. Even today, almost ten years later, it is often used in case studies to demonstrate how referral programs may either assist or even act as the growth engine of a business.

Dropbox's referral program guiding principles are quite clear. Since the product provides cloud storage, it decided to give users more free space in addition to referral bonuses for both accepting invitations and referring friends. Dropbox users can get up to 16 GB for their referrals. So you basically get 500 MB for every friend who installs the Dropbox desktop app and the friend gets 500 MB too. They can sign up for any plan and you get your bonus storage the minute they download the app.

How Referrals Built The $10 Billion Dropbox Empire.

2. PayPal

When discussing referral-based viral growth, almost every blog post mentions PayPal’s referral program. PayPal was one of the first companies to use a referral campaign to achieve viral growth at such a massive scale, from “A 10% daily growth rate” to “A $1.5 billion buyout”.

All users need to do is send an invitation to a friend who doesn’t have PayPal and have them sign up and link their bank account or card. When they spend or send at least $5, PayPal sends both the advocate and the referred, $10. Users can invite up to ten friends and earn up to $100, and just need to make sure they spend/send at least $5.

3. Uber

Uber's referral program was the basis of its success. It was offered ever since the business began, and its quick expansion was largely due to it. The program has changed, but it still offers rewards to its users. To earn referral rewards, users have to follow their conditions. The program is eligible only for a customer who received a program email. Users need to share a referral code in your email with their friend. To earn referral rewards, a referee must complete the first trip with the referral code.

We've written more about Uber's many referral programs here:

How Uber Covered More Than 50 Countries In 3 Years

4. Airtable

Airtable is an online tool that combines elements from databases and spreadsheets. It's very adaptable and has a wonderful user interface. For each person users refer to Airtable, they'll receive $10 in credit. Only when the person invited registers and confirms their email will the users be given credit. Users can invite people to use Airtable, and access an Airtable-referral link, from the Referrals and credits section of the Account page.

5. DocSend

DocSend is a wonderful solution for safely sending important files while getting immediate feedback on how your recipients are interacting with your content. Their referral program is a way to show their customers’ appreciation for the tool to others while getting a $15 credit for each new user they invite.

6. Fiverr

A famous global internet marketplace for independent contractors, Fiverr also offers a referral program to its customers. The Fiverr platform links freelancers with individuals or companies looking to hire. They allow their users to earn up to $100 for every friend who signs up and makes their first order. You can share it by email or with a link via social sharing. When your friends sign up to Fiverr, they get 10% off their first purchase, and you get 10% off their first order amount, up to $100.

7. Duolingo

Every marketer’s favorite social media example Duolingo offers its referral program too. With their program, for every person you refer and signs up for a Duolingo account, you receive a free week of Super Duolingo! This is a simple and easy way to attract your friends to learn a new language and get rewarded.

How do different industries make use of referral programs

Ecommerce Referral Program examples

Fashion & Apparel Referral Program examples

1. The Clymb

The Clymb is an adventure gear brand that has many customers from around the world. They offer a referral reward structure to their loyal customers where you invite a friend to join The Clymb and you each get $10 in Clymb credit when they make their first order of $50 or more. They send your credit to your account when the first order ships.

They now even allow you to mass invite your friends and send them a personalized message.

2. Erin Condren's

Erin Condren is known for creating fun organization essentials for your home, office, and everything in between. They have an awesome referral program, where you can earn EC credits to spend in their online store. All you need to do is to send your friends a referral link. After they sign up they get a 10$ coupon, and after their first purchase, you will get rewarded with 1000 EC points (a $10 equivalent). You can stack up these points and shop later.

Fashion Referral Programs – Erin Condren

3. Greats

GREATS is the first sneaker company to be founded in Brooklyn. They claim to produce high-quality, long-lasting sneakers with an excellent fit and feel using quality material. Their referral program GIVE $30, GET $30 is a win-win for existing and new customers, offering a great discount and rewards.

Footwear Referral Program Examples – GREATS

4. Rothy's

Rothy’s creates essentials from classic shoes to carry-everywhere bags. They get their inspiration from the strides that the community is making. Their Refer-a-Friend promises to give $20, get a $20 reward, as your friends get their first order.

5. Girlfriend Collective

Here’s a great example from the ethical brand Girlfriend Collective. They believe in sustainable manufacturing and recycled materials. They use old water bottles and fishing nets to produce their clothing, so they won’t be clogging landfills and polluting oceans. With their referral program, you can earn free leggings. Give your friends 30% off their first purchase of $95 or more and earn a Free Pair of Compressive Leggings when they buy. 

6. J. Crew Factory

J.Crew believes that shopping should be fun and provides high-quality clothing that helps you look and feel your best, whether you enjoy specific details, unique fabrics, or traditional colors. They offer their customers a classic GIVE $20, GET $20 referral program. Refer a friend and they’ll get $20 off their order, plus you’ll get $20 when they sign up for J.Crew Passport. What we like about their referral program is that it provides all of the information that potential advocates want to know, including the terms and conditions. Better to be safe than sorry! 

7. Outdoor Voices

Outdoor Voices brand designs its products through the lens of longevity and circularity to reduce our environmental impact. If you refer a friend to join the brand’s community, you’ll both get $20 off your next purchase of $100 or more. It's also interesting how they've tied in a campaign specific hashtag #DoingThings with their referral program to maintain the consistency of their branding across the board.

8. Hanna Anderson

Hanna Andersson was established by a Swedish woman living in America. By embracing essentially Scandinavian ideas, such as iconic design that successfully combines form and function, a sincere commitment to sustainability, and a way of life that promotes contented happy lives, she aimed to furnish childhood adventures. If you refer a friend, then you'll both get a 20% off reward with Hanna’s generous referral program. See how the brand has also provided a cute hero image on the side to tap on the "share with friends" concept. And also added a bunch of links just in case potential advocates need them.

9. Boden

Boden is all about sustainability. Also, they offer a great referral program to their customers. All they need to do is to fill in the details on their form, next their friend receives 20% off their FIRST purchase, and after they've ordered, customers get a $15 VOUCHER.

10. Fabletics

Fabletics is a popular activewear, fitness, and workout clothing brand. Their goal is to design the finest stylish, high-performing, active-lifestyle goods in the world for every person and everybody at an affordable price. With their referral program, you can get $40 in store credit if you refer a friend and they sign up and become VIPs. What's great about their referral landing page is that they've provided a way for advocates to customize the content of their invite emails, which could be a great point for personalization!

11. Thinx

Thinx is a unique women's underwear brand. They make comfortable, absorbent products, and women around the world love their brand. Thinx offers a give $10, get $10 referral program. When you refer a friend and they make a purchase, you get $10 and they get $10 off their first order of Thinx.

12. Birdies

Birdies brand was created by a woman who believes there should be a comfortable pair of shoes in all of your life’s journey. Designed to take you everywhere, Birdies shoes combine elevated style, ultimate comfort, and everyday versatility. Their Give $20, Get $20 referral program pays to refer friends and family and enjoy shopping even more. Your friends will get $20 off their first order, and you’ll get $20 off your next order when they make a purchase. Again, Birdies strategically placed an image showing friends wearing Birdies shoes and it does help to paint the picture of referring the product to friends!

13. Hunter

Hunter is a forward-thinking British heritage company established in 1856 and known for its famous Original boot. The company has a long history of invention and continues to create products that are weatherproof and functional in a variety of environments. With Hunter’s referral program you can give your friends 20% off, and if they go on to purchase, they will also send you a 20% discount.

14. American Giant

American Giant was born when the founders were dissatisfied with the way clothes were created. So new technologies emerged that allowed for reduced supply chains and direct online sales to customers like you. The brand already has a lot of loyal customers and can use their Give 20%, Get $20 refer a friend program to get rewarded.

Beauty & Grooming Referral Program examples

15. Dermstore

Dermstore is a skincare and beauty online shop in the United States. Their customers get rewarded $15 for each friend they refer, also providing friends and family with discounts on their first order. Rather than allowing anyone to join their referral program, they've made it exclusive for people who have an existing account with them (pretty smart since now they have the data to reach out to them), but it could also deter non-customers from signing up as well.

16. Adore Beauty

Adore Beauty is the top pure-play online beauty retailer in Australia and an authorized supplier of more than 260 top-tier beauty brands. You can get up to a $30 reward, depending on your level, if you refer a friend and they will complete their first order.

17. Thrive Causemetics

Karissa Bodnar founded Thrive Causemetics, a beauty company, and philosophy that goes beyond skin deep by uplifting various communities. Their beautiful online store offers a Give $10, Get $10 referral program, where you can give your friend $10 off their first purchase of $50 and more, plus free shipping, and get $10 in points for each successful referral.

18. Quip

Quip is an oral hygiene subscription-based service that provides customers with toothbrushes and other dental essentials. They have a $5 for you, $5 for a friend referral program for their users, and also offer free brush heads, floss, & paste in addition to that.

19. Madison Reed

Haircare brand Madison Reed allows their customers to earn up to $45 from their referral program. It’s a give $15 get $15 deal, and you get beautiful hair as a bonus.

20. Boxycharm

BoxyCharm is a monthly subscription beauty box that comes with 5 full-sized skincare and cosmetics items. Existing customers can use the company's referral program to send a special link to friends. You will receive 500 charms (also known as points) for each new member who signs up. You can exchange the charms for cosmetics. It's also nice that they've explained the whole referral process from start to end so that advocates have a better idea of what's going happen once they sign up.

21. Kari Gran

Kari Gran Skincare has been successful in the clean skincare market for ten years. The business is founded on a small number of essential, oil-based products. The referral program on their website allows you to give your friends $10 off. When your friends buy from your invite link, you get $10 off!

22. Murad Skincare

Murad is the first brand of clinical skincare products, setting a new standard for high-performance skincare. Give a friend $10 off their first $50 purchase to get $10 off when they redeem. What's great about their referral program is that it's extremely easy to sign up, all they need to do is just fill in a very simple form.

23. Ohana Skincare & Beauty

Ohana provides beauty and skincare products and on their website they allow all of their clients to use the referral program. For every completed purchase you will receive 20% off.

Electronic & Gadget Referral Program examples

24. Pavlok

Pavlok sells a waking-up device that helps its customers become more productive, relaxed, and mindful. They have a referral program that allows you to earn $20 from each friend. 

25. MSI

MSI is a computer hardware manufacturer. If you refer a friend you can get 300 points and a chance to win a big prize. This is slightly different from a default referral program because they've provided the added benefit of winning a prize on top of the purchase bonus.

26. Bose

Bose is an American manufacturer that specializes in selling audio equipment. They have a classic give $20, get $20 referral program on their website that inspires you to become everyone’s best friend. Bose's made it clear and easy to understand the entire referral process by breaking it down into bullet points on their referral landing page.

27. Lulu & Georgia

Lightning and home decor brand Lulu & Georgia gives you and your friend 25$ for each successful referral. Again it's easy to sign up for it since it's a simple form which greatly reduces the friction for potential advocates!

F&B and Supplements Referral Program examples

28. Craft Coffee

Craft Coffee is a coffee subscription box that makes it easy to find good coffee at fair prices. With their referral program, your friends get 15% off and you get a free bag of coffee. With a punchy headline using power words, Craft Coffee is able to capture the attention of coffee lovers—who doesn't want free coffee?

29. Soylent

Soylent is a meal-replacement product that has a combination of vitamins, minerals, and other necessary components. You can receive 10,000 points through their referral program for each referral that joins. 

30. Stop & Shop

Stop & Shop is an online food store. Customers can use email, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Pinterest, and Pinterest Messenger to share referral links with friends. Customers who successfully refer friends will receive $25 to put towards their next purchase, while referrals who sign up receive $25.

31. Hydrant

Hydrant is an online beverage store that sells refreshment drinks and its generous referral program gives you and your friends a 50% off coupon.

32. Muscle Food

Muscle food offers meal plans and prepped food with protein. They offer a referral program where your friend gets £10 off and you get £10 off.

33. Farm Fresh To You

Farm Fresh To You offers delivery service of organic fruits and veggies fresh from their farm and other local growers/artisans. You get to save $25 and your friend saves $15 with their referral program.

34. Flaviar

Flaviar gives you and your referred friend the possibility to choose an extra Tasting Box or bottle in case of a successful referral. Flaviar takes their branding so seriously, that even their referral program process is illustrated with branded images. And that works extremely well for them in helping advocates understand the referral process better.

35. Love With Food

Love with Food offers s huge variety of snacks to its customers. They have a referral program for all of their customers, where you can invite friends, and after they sign up, you get a free box of snacks and 1000 points to redeem at their store.

36. Happy Way

Happy Way is an Australian brand of organic and natural health snacks with a top-notch rewards system. Happy Way stands out in a crowded market that regularly takes itself too seriously by using vibrant color pops and upbeat visuals. With their Happy Way referral program, you and your friend get $10 in the referral was complete.

We Are Feel

We Are Feel offers safe and natural supplements—multivitamins, collagen, and more. Their referral program is a simple one but it taps on the altruistic mind of "keeping friends healthy" by introducing these supplements to them. It's an angle that is widely used in referral campaigns and they tend to do well too.

37. Seated

Seated is an app for restaurant and cafe reservations. The referral program on their website allows their users and referred friends to get credits that can be used toward future reservations. As seen above, Seated has a whole FAQ segment that fully answers all of the commonly asked questions from potential advocates.

E-cigarettes and Vaporizers Referral Program examples

38. GPen

GPen's referral program gives your friends 15% off and a 20% discount to you.

39. Vampire Vape

Vampire Vape sells a variety of e-liquids, disposables, vapes, and pods. You can use their refer a friend feature so that you and your friend will get £5 off your next order.

40. Vape Loft

Vape Loft gives you and your friends $10 coupon for each successful referral.

41. Vape Merchant

Vape Merchant offers a classic give $15, get $15 referral program to their existing customers and new friends.

Pets Referral Program examples

42. PetFlow

PetFlow offers a classic give $10 get, $10 referral program to their customers and their furry friends.

43. Animal Friends

An animal pet insurance brand Animal Friends gives you and your referred friend a £10 voucher to boost their sales and attract more customers.

44. PetDirect

A pet food online store PetDirect gives you $10 and your friends $10 when you tell them about the store with your personalized referral link. Their referral landing page has a cute approach by using a pet pun to get the attention of people on the page—plus it does wonders for their branding!

45. Budget Pet Supplies

At Budget Pet Supplies, you and your friends get the chance to collect rewards together. All you have to do to earn thousands of reward points is recommend a friend or family member to Budget Pet Supplies. You will receive 500 reward points for one referral link, and your friend will receive 200 reward points in addition to a 15% sign-up and purchase discount.

46. Pet Releaf

Pet Releaf sells plant-based products for pet health. In their referral program, they give you and your friends $20 to shop on their website.

47. PetKind

Superfoods for pets brand PetKind gives your friends $10 off their first order and you get $20 (in points) for each successful referral.

Home and Care Goods Referral Program examples

48. Five Good Friends

With the Five Good Friends program, you can refer a friend and you and your friend will receive a $50 gift card when they join Five Good Friends and complete their first service visit. Sometimes, referral incentives don't just have to be strictly cash or products, they could come in the form of gift vouchers and gift cards!

49. QE Home

QE Home sells luxury bedding like duvet covers, kids' bedding, down duvets, quilt sets, weighted blankets, and more. You need to share $10 off that your friends can use towards their first order and get $10 off for each successful referral.

50. The Conran Shop

The Conran Shop is a home accessories and textile eCommerce store. They offer their users give 15% get, 15% off for referring a friend.

Games, Software and Digital Goods Referral Program examples

51. World of Warcraft

In the WoW referral program, the player and their friends receive not only free game time but also exclusive in-game items. The conditions are also provided for new users who have not played World of Warcraft for a long time (more than 2 years). This increases the number of active players who show loyalty to earlier users.

52. Binance

Share your referral link with your friends to get earn rewards. When an invited friend registers for a Binance account and makes his first deposit worth more than $50, you’ll both receive 100 USDT ($100) in trading fee credit. 

53. Lunatic Capital

Lunatic Capital offers their members get discount for a monthly subscription by inviting 2 friends. For example, John invited 2 of his friends. And in case of a successful referral, John will get a $160 discount for the monthly subscription.

54. Cash App

Cash app lets customers and their friends get bonuses following these simple steps. They just have to download the application, enter their referral code in the profile, link a debit card, and spend within the given time frame to receive the referral bonus.

55. TransferGo

TransferGo is an app that can help you easily send money to over 160 countries. You can earn 22€ on your bank account every time your referral friends make their first transfer. 

56. Western Union

Instead of the usual cash or discount rewards, Western Union’s referral program introduced another incentive where customers and their referred friends can earn a $20 Amazon.com e-gift code. 

Travel Referral Program examples

57. Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles referral program

Turkish Airlines gives you 500 Miles for every invited friend. You can refer up to 5 friends and earn 2500 Miles.

58. Friendly Planet

Friendly Planet offers travel services. They offer their customers a generous referral program, where you and your friends can earn $100 each.

59. Travelink

Travelink gives you a $25 American Express Gift Card for a first-time booking or when you refer friends and family.

60. Rooh Travel

All travel enthusiasts can refer a friend and they’ll both save £100 on your next trip with Rooh Travel.​

61. Holiday Vacations

With the Holiday Vacations referral program you can earn $200 in Refer a Friend credit for each new friend you refer.

62. Kensington Tours

Kensington Tours offers you and your referred friends or family members $250 each to spend on your next trip.

Finance Referral Program examples

63. CapitalOne

CapiotalOne also has a great referral program for its users. You need to sign in to your account to get your personal referral link, then share that link with family members or friends. If they’re a new Capital One cardholder and get approved using your link, you’ll earn a bonus for each friend approved.

64. American Express

American Express rewards their loyal customers if they refer a friend and get approved for the card.

65. Payoneer

With Payoneer’s referral program you can get a $25 reward when referring a friend or family member.

66. Chase Bank

Chase Bank offers up to 75,000 bonus points or up to $500 cashback per year in their referral program for each friend that gets referred.

67. Discover

Refer-a-Friend eligible users get Discover’s credit referral reward of $50 to $100 if their friend applies for the specific offer sent via the link provided. 

Phone Service Referral Program Examples

68. T-Mobile

By introducing friends and family to T-Mobile to open new postpaid accounts, current customers are eligible to win a $50 Virtual Express Prepaid MasterCard card.

69. Mint Mobile

Mint Mobile offers you 3 months of free usage for referring a friend. You can also earn up to $90 for each referral. The amount of credit you get will depend on which plan your friend picks.

70. Metro

If you refer your friends to Metro, you can earn up to $125 a year. For every friend who joins any Metro plan, you’ll receive a $25 virtual prepaid Mastercard.

71. FoneHouse

Earn £25 with the FoneHouse referral program. There are some steps you need to follow in order to refer friends and earn rewards.

Over to you

Building a referral program from scratch can be daunting at the start.

What referral incentives should I offer? How often should I promote my referral program? What if people are taking advantage of our referral campaigns? 

These are all legitimate questions that any business would have. What matters most is to really understand who your customers are, what makes them happy? Not to forget make sure that your product itself is of good quality and easily referable.

What are your favorite ecommerce referral programs? If this list is missing your favorites, let us know!

P.S. If you enjoyed reading this article and want to grow your ecommerce store, subscribe to our newsletter to get our latest articles and roundups.

Further reading

• Why Referral Marketing Is Awesome
• How to Set Up a Referral Program for Your Ecommerce Store
• How to Design Your Referral Emails
• How to Get More Ecommerce Referrals
• How to Promote Your Referral Program
• How to Measure the ROI of Your Referral Program

The previous versions of this article were written by Visakan Veerasamy, Si Quan Ong, Darren Foong, and Marquis Matson, Alfred Lua, marketers at ReferralCandy. We update this article regularly to keep it relevant and useful to ecommerce merchants.

Frequently Asked Questions