
How to Set Up a Referral Program for Your Ecommerce Store in 6 Steps
Setting up a referral program should not be hard. Here's how you can do it in six steps and start getting referrals!
The success of your affiliate program hinges not on how many affiliates you have, but on who they are. Getting the right partners—those who align with your brand, audience, and goals—can make the difference between a high-performing program and one that flatlines.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through where to look, how to attract the right partners, and what to avoid as you scale your affiliate recruitment process.
Note: ReferralCandy doesn't provide affiliate recruitment features. This post is designed to help you improve your own outreach and processes.
More affiliates doesn't always equal more revenue. If your affiliates aren’t aligned with your brand—or worse, send poor-quality traffic—they’ll drain time and budget.
The right affiliates:
Choosing carefully upfront saves you time, reduces churn, and delivers better ROI.
1. Niche Bloggers and Content Creators
Search for blogs, YouTube channels, or TikTokers in your category. These creators already speak to your ideal customers.
2. Existing Customers
Your loyal fans may also be your best advocates. Consider reaching out personally to repeat buyers or brand enthusiasts.
3. Industry Communities and Forums
Find affiliates in subreddits, Facebook groups, Discord servers, and private Slack groups. They’re already invested in your niche.
4. Competitor Backlink Profiles
Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to find who’s linking to your competitors' affiliate pages.
5. Newsletter and Podcast Hosts
Look for creators who already recommend tools or products. These voices often convert well due to trust.
Recruitment isn't just about reaching out—it's about positioning your brand as an affiliate-worthy opportunity. Your goal is to attract partners who already believe in your product category or share similar audience values. That means being intentional with your pitch, assets, and long-term affiliate experience.
1. Build a Targeted Outreach List
Don't spray and pray. Identify creators, communities, or site owners who align with your product's use case.
2. Personalize Your Outreach
Skip the generic affiliate recruitment email. Reference their content, audience, and why your product is a fit.
3. Offer a Strong First Impression
Your program should be easy to understand and join. Have a clean affiliate landing page, clear commission rates, and FAQs.
4. Use Social Proof in Recruitment
Show examples of successful affiliates or stats on program performance. Make them feel like they’re joining a serious opportunity.
5. Start with a Trial Campaign
Offer a short-term bonus (e.g., higher commission for 30 days) to new partners. Let them test performance without full commitment.
6. Ask for Referrals from Current Affiliates
Top affiliates often know others in the same niche. Incentivize partner referrals.
Recruiting is just the first step. Activation and retention come next.
If you're just getting started:
If you're already running a program:
Don’t forget onboarding:
These early interactions shape whether an affiliate stays or churns after signup.
While platforms like ReferralCandy support affiliate tracking and payouts, affiliate recruitment is something your team builds through thoughtful outreach and positioning.
Recruiting high-quality affiliates isn’t about volume. It’s about building the right partnerships with people who understand your product and can genuinely influence your target audience. By investing time in outreach, personalization, and onboarding, you’ll create a scalable affiliate engine that delivers consistent results.
Need a platform to manage affiliate links and payouts? Start your free trial of ReferralCandy
Where can I find high-quality affiliates?
Start with content creators, existing customers, and SEO backlink tools like Ahrefs.
How do I get affiliates to join?
Offer a simple, compelling program. Personalize outreach and show early proof of success.
What’s a good commission rate to offer?
It depends on your margins. For most eCommerce, 10–20% is typical.
Should I accept every affiliate who applies?
No. Always vet their content, audience quality, and relevance.
Does ReferralCandy help find affiliates?
No. ReferralCandy helps you track and manage affiliate activity, but recruitment is handled by your team.
Even the best referral programs fail if you ask at the wrong time. Timing isn’t just a small detail, it’s a core driver of conversion.
The right message, delivered at the right moment, can double your referral participation and significantly improve referral quality. This blog breaks down referral timing across the customer journey and shows you exactly when (and when not) to ask.
If you're already running a referral program but not seeing traction, there's a good chance your timing is off. Understanding the rhythm of customer experience helps ensure your referral message feels natural, not forced.
Referrals rely on two things: trust and momentum. If you ask too early, you risk asking before trust is built. If you ask too late, the emotional connection fades.
Timing influences:
Referrals are not transactional, they’re emotional. The right timing aligns with a customer’s peak brand sentiment.
To find the best time to ask for a referral, map referral prompts to meaningful moments in the customer journey. Here's how different stages align based on their effectiveness:
Not Recommended:
Recommended:
Highly Recommended:
Every referral campaign should align with these emotional high points.
Here’s how top eCommerce brands align referral asks with customer behavior:
After Positive Feedback
Send a referral invite right after an NPS 9 or 10 response. Example: “You love us, share us with a friend and earn $10.” This builds on real satisfaction.
Post-Delivery Email
“Your order just arrived, share your experience and get 20% off.” Great timing to capture excitement.
Thank You Page Prompt
Immediately after checkout: “Thanks for your order! Give your friends $10 and get $10 when they buy.” This plants the referral seed early.
After Social Engagement
If a customer shares your product on Instagram or tags you in a review, follow up with a referral ask. Example: “Loved your post, want to earn $15 for inviting a friend?”
On Loyalty Milestones
When a customer hits their third order, anniversary, or enters a VIP tier. These are great points to deepen engagement.
Reactivation Flows
After a win-back campaign or re-engagement, asking for a referral can re-establish loyalty.
If your referral program is live but underperforming, poor timing could be the cause. Look for these signs:
Testing different referral prompt placements can help isolate timing-related friction.
1. ReferralCandy Triggers
Automatically send referral invites after specific events: successful checkout, delivery, reward redemption, or positive NPS response.
2. NPS or Review Integrations
Integrate tools like Delighted, Junip, or Yotpo. Trigger referral flows only when feedback is strong (NPS 9+).
3. Loyalty Platform Syncs
Use tools like Smile.io or LoyaltyLion to time referral asks at point of reward redemption or status change.
4. On-Site Prompts
Use thank you pages, dashboards, or logged-in customer pages. Surface shareable links in post-purchase flows.
5. Email Automation
Use Klaviyo or Omnisend to build flows tied to delivery, satisfaction, or customer advocacy.
Bonus: test subject lines that use social proof.
6. A/B Testing Timing Windows
Run experiments to compare referral prompt performance 1 hour post-purchase vs. 3 days after delivery. You might find surprising uplift.
Remember: the perfect time isn’t the same for every brand, but the framework is.
Want to improve your referral conversion rates? Start your free trial of ReferralCandy
What is the best time to ask for a referral?
After delivery, after positive feedback, or after a repeat purchase.
Should I ask for referrals right after checkout?
You can, but results often improve when the ask happens after product delivery or a positive experience.
Can timing alone fix low referral conversion rates?
Not entirely. Messaging, incentive, and page experience matter too. Timing makes them work better.
Does ReferralCandy support referral triggers?
Yes, it lets you send referral invites based on customer events like delivery, NPS score, or product review.
What if customers aren’t seeing the referral prompt?
Add multiple touchpoints: thank you page, post-purchase email, account dashboard, and SMS reminders.
Referral marketing should be one of your lowest-CAC acquisition channels, but when your program stalls, the cost of inaction can be high.
Whether it’s low participation, weak conversion rates, or unclear ROI, most referral programs underperform because of a few common, fixable issues.
This guide is for marketers who already have a program live, but are wondering - “Why isn’t it delivering results?”
We’ll break down what to look for, which metrics matter most, and how to fix the most common breakdowns in your referral engine.
You might not have a broken referral program, just a misaligned one. Here are key symptoms of trouble:
If any of these look familiar, you're not alone and you're in the right place.
Referral programs tend to break for a few repeatable reasons:
1. Misaligned Incentives
Are you offering something your customers truly care about? A 5% discount might not be compelling enough, while $5 off could work better.
2. Friction in the Sharing Flow
Too many clicks or required logins? If it’s not dead simple to share, customers won’t bother.
3. Weak Post-Purchase Placement
Are you only asking for referrals in emails? If you’re not prompting immediately after a good experience (like a delivery or review), you’re missing timing.
4. Not Highlighting the Benefit to the Friend
Programs work better when both the referrer and referred person win. If your messaging only speaks to the sharer, you’re limiting conversions.
5. Treating All Customers the Same
Your best customers are not necessarily your loudest promoters. Segmentation helps tailor messaging to who’s likely to share.
Here are the key referral metrics that highlight problems:
If lots of people are clicking but few are converting, you’re likely dealing with trust, landing page, or incentive issues.
Here’s what to do:
Sometimes, the issue isn’t the offer, it’s the context in which the offer appears.
Trigger Sharing Immediately After Value:
Ask customers to share after key moments (e.g., successful checkout, delivery notification, positive review).
Use On-Brand, Personalized Messaging:
Static generic copy won’t move the needle. Reflect the brand voice and customer segment.
Reduce Friction in Sharing Tools:
One-click copy links, prefilled email/SMS, and embedded sharing on mobile.
Make the Referred Offer the Headline:
Let the customer know exactly what their friend gets before asking them to share.
Test and Rotate Incentives by Segment:
Not all customers are driven by discounts. Try cash, store credit, or exclusive access depending on audience.
Not all referral platforms are created equal. If you’re doing everything right but:
...you may be limited by your tool.
ReferralCandy lets you:
Make sure your software is helping you optimize, not just tracking.
If your referral program isn’t delivering:
And if your tool can’t support those improvements → Try ReferralCandy
A referral program that isn't working doesn't mean it's not worth having. Most underperforming programs can be fixed with the right changes in timing, incentives, messaging, and user experience. By tracking the right metrics and focusing on how customers actually share and convert, you can turn your referral channel into a reliable engine for growth.
Why is my referral program not converting?
Most programs fail due to weak incentives, high friction, or poor landing page alignment.
What is a good referral conversion rate?
2–5% is a common benchmark, but it depends on your vertical and channel mix.
How do I measure ROI on my referral program?
Compare total revenue driven from referrals vs - total cost of rewards and software.
Can referral programs fail even with good products?
Yes - without proper timing, messaging, and visibility, even great products won’t generate word of mouth.
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