While big companies like Dropbox and Airbnb found big success with their referral programs, replicating their exact same referral strategy might not work for your small business.

For your particular product offering, you will need to:

• Find a unique angle
• Communicate it right
• Offer the right referral incentives
• Track and optimize the program continuously

Thankfully, there are many different ways to offer a referral program. Some of these include offering discounts, product giveaways, exclusive deals, gift cards, QR code menus, and even cash.

If you're not sure how to implement a referral program that fits your small business, here are some examples that can inspire you. 👇

16+ small business referral program examples for 2024

Referral program tip: If you’re looking to start your own small business referral program, you can do that easily with ReferralCandy. You can also take advantage of our referral program templates here.

1. Branch Basics: Give a little, get a little

A non-toxic cleaning product brand, Branch Basics, has an effective give $10, get $10 referral program, in which both the advocate and the friend are rewarded.

Branch Basics launched its referral program with ReferralCandy and has achieved amazing results with it. Since launching, Branch Basics has generated over $1.5 million in referral sales and a referral rate of 9.75%, which is much higher than the industry average.

In just two years, Branch Basics has generated a 41x return on investment in its referral program.

Why this works

• Simple landing page. Branch Basic’s referral landing page is simple and outlines the key benefits of the program.
• An attractive referral incentive. Branch Basics lays out clearly the referral incentive which is that both the advocate and the referred friend get $10 off from the next purchase.
• Excellent product. Succeeding with referral programs can be difficult without an already strong product. Branch Basic not only has a strong product but also a strong community behind it.

2. Toki Mats: Direct PayPal cash payments

Another good small business referral program example comes from Toki Mats.

Since launching the referral program, Toki Mats has generated over $500,000 in referral revenue, and the referral rate has been 12.04% in the past 12 months. The referral program has generated a 41x return on investment.

To do this, Toki Mats uses a simple give 15% off and get 10% of your friend’s purchase amount. Toki Mats advertises its referral program on Instagram, Facebook, and through referral emails, which have all proven to work well.

Why this works

• Toki Mats offers direct PayPal payouts. Toki Mats has set up PayPal cash payments to it’s advocates through ReferralCandy. This is attractive for advocates as they get rewarded immediately with cash.
• Facebook group for loyal followers. Toki Mats has a Facebook group for the most loyal brand advocates. It is an excellent place for them to advertise their referral program.

3. Renogy: Earn credit from referring

Renogy runs a referral program that offers customers a $20 credit for every successful referral. To advertise the program, Renogy has contacted customers via email and social media.

Renogy launched its referral program with ReferralCandy and has generated close to $300,000 in referral sales in just under 18 months. The referral program achieved a 7.5 ROI for the company and opened an entirely new revenue channel.

Why this works

• The referral program is well explained. On the referral landing page, Renogy explains the referral program in three clear steps. This ensures that customers understand what they’re signing up for.

• Advertised on multiple platforms. Renogy sends referral emails to new customers to entice them to join the referral program. In addition, customers advertise the products on YouTube and receive commissions when viewers buy through the link.

4. Farm Hounds: Join a loyalty program

A dog treats supplier, Farm Hounds, has a rewards program where you can earn points by doing different things, such as referring a friend, making a purchase, or leaving a review. To advertise the rewards program, Farm Hounds sends referral emails to all new customers-

Customers receive 1000 points for referring a friend, which equates to $20 off their next purchase.

Farm Hounds achieved a 35.30x ROI on the referral program, and the referral rate was 22.25%, which is much higher than the industry average. This resulted in over $600,000 in referral sales.

Why this works

• Existing customer base. Before starting the referral program, Farm Hounds had an already established customer base. This made it easy for them to advertise the referral program through emails.
• FAQ section. Farm Hounds explains their point program in simple questions and answers:

5. A Box of Stories: Refer a friend and get 20% off

‍A Box of Stories is a book subscription store that utilizes referral programs to increase word-of-mouth marketing sales.

Launching a referral program for A Box of Stories resulted in over 5,000 customers joining the program, and it generated over 3000% return on investment. Referrals contributed to a total of 3.38% of purchases.

Why this works

• Simple referral form. A Box of Stories explains in simple terms how to join their program and how to get the invite link.

• An amazing offer for book lovers. Customers who love books can receive 20% off through the A Box of Stories referral program. This is a big discount on a $35 subscription.

6. iWader Fishing: Get a 15% commission on every sale

iWader Fishing, a fishing wader producer, offers a 15% commission on every successful referral and referred customers receive 5% off. For every 4th sale per month, you get an extra $100 bonus. 

No matter your niche, you can implement a similar referral program for your small business as what iWader Fishing has.

iWader Fishing achieved a 2600% ROI on its referral program, and 13% of all revenue came from referrals during its 30-day ReferralCandy free trial.

Why this works

• Referral emails. iWader Fishing uses ReferralCandy to send automated referral emails to all customers. In the email, customers are incentivized to join through referral incentives.
• The referral incentive is clearly mentioned. On iWader Fishing’s landing page, the first heading mentions, “Get $100 commission”. 

7. Bandier: Build up the excitement

Activewear brand, Bandier, encourages repeat business through a referral program.

Upon referring their friends, Bandier customers will earn $25 in points when a friend makes the first purchase. The referred friend also gets $25! 

And it doesn’t just stop there. Referring customers will continue to earn points for any succeeding purchases that their referrals make. What’s not to love about unlimited rewards?

Why this works

• Attractive to existing customers. Clearly, such a program would be extremely attractive to any existing customer. If they are loyal to your brand and truly believe that it is one of the best, then it’s a no-brainer to tell their friends about you.
• Loyalty point system. A point system encourages the advocate to make more than one referral so that they will have enough points to redeem their rewards. Naturally, more referrals lead to more chances of landing new customers.

8. Scribe Media: Show them the money

A book publishing company called Scribe Media gets straight to the point and offers commissions ranging from $1,000 to $12,000 for every referral made.

Authors who have already published a book with the company can refer other authors. If they sign up, the referrer gets the money in cash or applied as a credit to their Scribe Writing account. There’s also a third option to donate the referral reward to charity.

With this strategy, Scribe Writing leverages its customers’ network to get more authors to publish with them. After all, like attracts like.

The monetary reward is compelling, and new authors are more likely to trust other authors who have experienced the service and recommend it.

Why it works

• Huge earnings. The possibility of earning actual money with the referral program is a big game-changer. In fact, a Harris Poll survey says that 77% of Americans prefer cash as a reward in exchange for referrals.
• Referral commissions explained. Scribe Writing explains the different referral commissions clearly:

Not many small businesses have the cash to spend on a program like this, so you need a solid strategy to make it worthwhile.

9. Greats: Free store credits for a successful referral

The online sneaker shop Greats rewards advocates and referred friends with $30 in credits when a new customer makes a purchase using the referral link.

Greats markets its brand to millennials, who are known for being socially motivated, generous people.

Giving credits to both parties—not just the referrer—is a great move from a company that understands their customers and how to earn their loyalty.

Why it works

• Store credits are a good cash alternative. Credits, whether given to advocates or referrers, are a great alternative to cash or other product giveaways that might be too costly. Also, they will end up using the credits at your store, earning you a customer in the process!
• Customers appreciate a price cut. No matter how small or big the credit is, customers will always appreciate a price cut. If they are happy with your product or service, then free credits might just be the push they need for them to tell their friends about your business.

10. Riff Raff & Co: Amplify your product giveaways with social media

Referral programs don't have to be complicated. Toy company Riff Raff ran a Facebook referral contest, giving away customized sleep toys to lucky winners.

Contest participants were asked to share via email, Facebook, and Instagram. When a person made five successful referrals, he or she would receive a free customized toy valued at $80.

(NOTE: Riff Raff uses ReferralCandy to run its six-figure sales referral program!)

Why it works

• Three different referral emails. To invite customers to the referral program, Riff Raff sent three referral emails: immediately after purchase, right after customers receive the product, and a follow-up 8 weeks later.
• Riff Raff understands its customers. Its method was indeed mindful of its customers - busy moms and dads who spend most of their time at work or taking care of their children. However, Riff Raff also understood that these same people are not too busy to check Facebook or Instagram and can certainly spare a minute or two - especially if there's a desirable reward in store.

Plus, parents of young children tended to talk to other parents—to share resources, knowledge, and especially product recommendations and referrals.

11. ConvertKit: Establish your authority with free webinars

Kit (previously ConvertKit) is an email marketing service provider that is popular among bloggers and business influencers. They are also well-known in the email marketing space, regularly publishing helpful content.

As part of its referral program, Kit users can earn an additional 100 subscribers for every successful referral. The referred friend also receives 100 free subscribers!

Why it works

• Free subscribers. Kit gives 100 free subscribers to both the advocate and the referred friend, which is an attractive offer for new users.
• A new feature for a successful referral. If you’re on the free plan and refer a friend, you will get access to the email broadcast-sending feature. This can also be attractive for new users!

12. Threadbeast: Free package for referring a friend

A curated wardrobe delivery service, Threadbeast entices new subscribers with awesome bonus packages for both referring advocates and referrals. There’s no limit to the number of referrals, which means the referring member will get a free package for every successful referral, forever and ever.

The great thing about this program is that both sides get something for free. It’s a generous move but also a great way to motivate existing customers to bring in a surge of new customers.

Why it works

• Free bonus items. Everyone loves to get free stuff. If people are already buying your products, it means they probably want more of it. That can be enough for them to participate in your referral program.
• Appealing offer. To make it even more appealing, the key is to give customers best-sellers, limited-edition, or mystery items. Make them feel that this giveaway is made especially for them for referring a friend.

13. Honeylove: Give friends $20 and get $20 back

Honeylove is a stylish garment producer which launched a referral program to increase word-of-mouth sales.

As part of the referral program, Honeylove offers both the advocate and the friend $20 off. They’ve made it easy for referrals to get their referral link by filling out a form.

Why this works

• Invites up-and-coming creators. Honeylove’s referral page invites up-and-coming creators to join the referral program and recommend the products. Honeylove clearly explains the benefits for influencers.

• A simple give $20, get $20 offer. Honeylove understands that simple referral offers often work the best. That’s why they’ve incorporated a Give $20, Get $20 offer for referrals.

14. Nuki: Receive exciting rewards

Nuki sells smart locks and offers an interesting referral program where they reward customers through exclusive surprise products. This is a great example of a referral program if you don’t want to offer customers cash or store discounts.

Nuki explains on their referral page that if you make one successful referral, you get a mystery product, if you make three referrals, you get a €50 voucher, and a €100 voucher from ten successful referrals.

Why this works

• There are different referral reward levels. The more Nuki customers refer customers to the brands, the higher the rewards. This encourages customers to continuously reward their friends and family.
• Mystery reward brings excitement. Nuki offers mystery rewards as a referral incentive, which brings excitement and a sense of mystery.

15. Vena: The use of charity incentive

Vena offers one of the highest referral incentives we've ever seen. For every successful referral, they promise to donate $2000 to the charity of your choice. 

If you’re a small business owner, you might not be able to donate as much as Vena does. However, even a smaller amount, such as $25 or $50, can entice your customers to recommend your brand to their friends and family.

Why this works

• You can choose the charity. Not only does Vena donate $2000 to charity, but you can choose the desired charity. For example, if a customer is passionate about a specific charity or a topic, they’re more than happy to refer friends so they can donate to that. 
• The steps are explained clearly. Vena explains the referral program steps well on the landing page, which improves trust around it:

16. Birdies: Refer friends and get $30 off

Birdies have a Give $30, Get $30 referral program, where both the advocate and the referred friend are rewarded. Most of Birdies' products are high-ticket products, which is why they’re able to offer such high referral rewards.

While you might not be able to offer as high rewards as Birdies does, you can take inspiration from their reward structure and their simple yet effective referral landing page.

Why this works

• High reward. $30 is a significant discount for a purchase, which is one reason why customers want to refer their friends. 
• The heading explains the benefit. Birdies do well explaining the benefits of the referral program. The header says in big letters, “Give $30, Get $30.” 

17. Wing Assistant: Earn money while referring friends

Last but not least, we have an example from Wing Assistant.

This example isn’t necessarily a referral program, as Wing Assistant runs an affiliate program. However, referral plugins, such as ReferralCandy, can also be used to run affiliate programs, which is why we wanted to show this example.

Plus, Wing Assistant has achieved amazing results, generating over $78,000 in referral sales and having a 27.9x ROI on the affiliate program.

Wing Assistant has a simple affiliate program where they reward customers with $200 for every client who activates a plan with Wing Assistant.

Why this works

• High rewards. Wing Assistant gives $200 for every successful referral. This is an extremely high reward and enticing offer for existing customers.
• FAQ section. On the affiliate landing page, Wing Assistant has an FAQ section, which answers all the most commonly asked questions. This is something we recommend merchants to add.

How to build a referral program for a small business?

If you still haven’t launched your own referral program for your small business, we have outlined the key steps to doing that here:

1. Get clear about your goals. Define specific outcomes you want from your program, like increasing driving sales or increasing brand awareness. This will determine the approach you should take in creating your referral program.

2. Select your referral program software. ReferralCandy is the best referral program software option for small businesses. It is available in the Shopify App store and as a WordPress referral plugin.

3. Make an outreach plan. Decide how you’ll inform your customers about the referral program - via email, social media, or on-site prompts. With tools such as ReferralCandy, you can set up automatic referral emails to inform customers.

4. Create your referral landing page. Design a simple and engaging landing page that explains the program and motivates existing customers to join.

5. Select your referral incentives. Choose between different referral incentives, such as cash rewards, store discounts, and percentages. Make sure to display the referral incentive clearly on your landing page.

6. Track the referral program performance. Use your referral program software to monitor the performance of your referral program.

7. Manage referral frauds. To prevent hackers from abusing your referral program, manage referral frauds. The best referral program tools, such as ReferralCandy, offer built-in fraud protection.

8. A/B test. Experiment with different messages, incentives, and visuals to see what drives the most referrals.

What makes a successful small business referral program: A checklist of the essentials

To summarize the previous examples of small business referral programs, here are the key points that made them successful:

• Referral incentives were clearly highlighted
• The program was easily shareable across social media platforms
• The landing page was simple and emphasized the benefits
• A user-friendly referral form was included for easy sign-ups
• The program was promoted through multiple channels like email, social media, and the website

These elements ensure your referral program is accessible, enticing, and widely visible to your audience.

If you want to create a successful referral program, be sure to follow these tips. And, take advantage of ReferralCandy’s 14-day free trial to launch your referral program today!

Black Friday is the best time of the year to increase ecommerce sales and take advantage of different marketing strategies. Adobe reports that Black Friday sales are at an all-time high and continue to rise year after year.

To take advantage of this, you can set up your referral and email marketing campaigns, increase your AOV, update product descriptions, and more.

Scroll below to find all of the best marketing strategies for Black Friday 👇

15+ Black Friday marketing strategies to drive record sales

To gather the below strategies, we contacted 30 marketing experts and gathered recent statistics on the topic. 

These insights helped us craft the best Black Friday strategies.

1. Set up your referral campaign

Referral campaigns are one of the highest ROI strategies for the next Black Friday. The average referral rate across all industries is 2.35%, which means that most merchants see a positive ROI on their programs.

To set up your referral program, you can use ReferralCandy. 

After signing up, you will be guided through the referral setup process, and you can create your Black Friday landing pages, send out invitation emails and track their performance.

Want to learn more? Read our guide on how to set up your referral program.

2. Start earlier than anyone else

Adam Watson from Hollywood Mirrors shared his direct experience of running his own Black Friday campaign:

“My number one advice is to go early with your Black Friday offer, your audience only has so much money to spend.”

Consumers start their holiday shopping as early as in October, according to Statista.

This means that you should start preparing your discounts and sales immediately, if you already haven’t.

3. Plan out your marketing content calendar

To get ready for Black Friday, plan out your marketing content calendar.

You can leverage HubSpot’s content template for free. There are also a plenty of free resources online.

Create a content calendar that details what content assets you want to share, and when you want to share them.

Specifically, you want to develop your assets, such as:

• Images and graphics
• Black Friday social media posts
• Ad, email, and website copies
• Giveaways and special discounts plans

Be sure also to include and schedule posts for social media and use catchy Black Friday phrases in your post.

4. Dont compete on discounts (offer value, gifts & deals instead)

The average Black Friday discount was 31% in 2023, as reported by Demandsage.

Competing in discounts is difficult since brands offer higher and higher discounts year-by-year.

You can flip the switch and offer value, gifts & deals instead.

Here are three ideas to implement:

1. Offer value: For example, if you’re selling gardening tools, you could offer a free gardening ebook as a value add-on for Black Friday.
2. Offer gifts: You could offer a free complementary product (such as a drill and free gloves) for customers who purchase from you during Black Friday.
3. Offer deals: You can create simple and interesting deals, such as “Buy 1, Get 1 Free” for Black Friday. These kinds of deals are so simple, which is why they work.

5. Increase your average order value (AOV)

An ecommerce brand Bambu Earth, ran an experiment to see if they could nudge customers into a higher spending bucket. 

They offered two tiers of rewards:

• Spend $50, Get a $28 gift 
• Spend $200, Get a $160 gift

They ran the event for just 24 hours, using email marketing and remarketing ads only. Each “minimum spend” amount would tip customers into a higher spending tier. 

The results?

Over $135K in sales on a random Friday in August — which turned out to be the single biggest revenue day in Bambu Earth’s history. Even better, that data can now be used to fuel the brand’s upcoming holiday deals.

In the same way, you can increase your average order value through gifts and offering value.

An easy way to do this is to use an upsell app, which is designed to increase AOV. If you use Shopify, you’ll find plenty of upsell apps.

6. Offer product bundles or a mystery box

For Black Friday, you can try to:

• Bundle items your customers would normally buy together and offer them at a discount
• Bundle all your best selling products into one unit and sell them together
• Offer a mystery box (the customer doesn't know what he's going to get)

Another idea to give the bundled products a “mystery box” effect: keep some of the items in the bundle a secret. And every day during the sale, you’d reveal one “mystery” item to your audience targeting a segment of your market.

7. Can’t offer cash discounts? Offer free shipping

If you can’t offer cash discounts, see if you can offer free shipping. Free shipping is one of the most powerful Black Friday promotion ideas you can use.

In one study, 90 percent of participants said free shipping was their number one incentive for buying. Another study mentions that 62% of consumers say they won’t purchase from a brand if there is no free shipping available.

Black Friday campaigns are pretty powerful when you combine free shipping with same-day delivery.

8. Optimize existing email workflows

Before creating any new Black Friday campaigns, think of the existing email workflows your brand has, such as:

• Abandoned cart emails
• Welcome emails
• SMS messages
• And more

These can all be optimized to bring higher sales during Black Friday.

Klaviyo’s 2024 email benchmark data showed that abandoned cart automation flows had the highest click rates and revenue per customer.

To take advantage of this statistic for Black Friday, optimize your abandoned cart flow. One simple thing you can do is to send out abandoned cart emails to customers quicker than normally.

For example, if you normally send it 24 hours after someone abandons the cart, switch it to only 4 hours for Black Friday.

You can even send multiple abandoned cart emails.

9. Set up Black Friday email marketing campaigns

A well-known statistic about email marketing states that every dollar spent on email marketing yields $44 in return. 

The return on investment is even higher on Black Friday.

To take advantage of the high ROI, set up your Black Friday email marketing campaigns. 

You can take inspiration from websites like Really Good Emails and Milled to see how other brands have done it.

10. Work hard on your email subject lines

People decide whether to read your email just by looking at the subject lines, so take them seriously. 

Or steal the best subject lines. Campaign Monitor provides a list of Black Friday email subject lines you can explore, grab them here.

11. Use SMS marketing

Greg Zakowicz shared interesting Black Friday SMS statistics from Omnisend customers:

• During 2020 BFCM, there was a noticeable uptick in brands using SMS marketing as well as consumers responding to them.
• Conversion rates for SMS were 9% higher during the holidays than the rest of the year.
• In November 2020, Black Friday orders were responsible for 19% of all SMS orders

Impressive, right?

If you haven’t used SMS marketing before, Black Friday can be an excellent time to start.

The results speak for themselves; SMS marketing can bring great results.

SMS marketing can be combined with email marketing for a more omnichannel approach. Tools such as Klaviyo can help.

12. Create a mission-driven story around your Black Friday offering

An inspirational and mission-driven story around your Black Friday offering can significantly improve your Black Friday results.

What do we mean by this?

Patagonia is doing this exact thing and they want to fight against the normal Black Friday deep discounts, limited-time offers, and last-ditch sales.

They explain it well here:

Related to the above campaign, Patagonia donated 100% of their Black Friday profits to environmental nonprofits.

The results?

Patagonia's Black Friday sales were a record-breaking $10 million, five times more than the company expected.

You don't have to go as far as Patagonia by donating 100% of profits, but even offering a small percentage and explaining it to your audience can have a significant impact.

13. Update your product descriptions

If you haven’t updated your product descriptions in a while, Black Friday is a great time to do that.

This can significantly increase your conversion rates.

Some product description ideas you can implement are:

• Highlight discounts and urgency: Update your product descriptions to mention the Black Friday discounts clearly.
• Focus on benefits: Black Friday shoppers are looking for value, so highlight the benefits that matter most to them.
• Incorporate customer reviews: Add snippets of positive customer reviews directly into the description to increase social proof.
• Add visual elements: If possible, include icons, badges, or short video clips that showcase the key selling points.

14. Build a connection with video messages

According to Wyzowl's study of video marketers, 88% said videos helped users understand their products or services better.

If your product/service is more complex or you just want to use video marketing for Black Friday, it's a great idea.

Here are some ideas to implement:

• Work with influencers: You can collaborate with influencers to create video content for their social media channels. For example, you can announce a sale with the influencers for Black Friday.
• Countdown videos: Create engaging countdown videos leading up to your Black Friday sale. This helps to build anticipation.
• Customer testimonials: Genuine customer feedback can provide social proof and influence new buyers during Black Friday.
• Behind-the-scenes content: Share behind-the-scenes footage of your team preparing for Black Friday. This adds a human touch to your brand and can build excitement.

15. Improve your checkout

Customers are quick to leave your website if your checkout process isn’t optimized.

Ecommerce brands lose up to $18 billion in sales due to shopping cart abandonment - which happens 18% of the time (according to Bogdan Klopov from Visme).

The simple way to resolve this? 

Simplify your checkout process as much as possible. Reduce the number of steps involved, and ensure customers don’t have to sign up to purchase.

This will improve sales and eliminate cart abandonment to ensure smoother sales for your store. But remember - you’ll want to collect emails so you can re-market to these new customers during the slow seasons.

16. Black Friday ideas for small businesses

We’ve discussed lots of Black Friday ideas for small businesses that you can take advantage of right away. 

Here are three more ideas you can implement:

• Team up with other small businesses: Working with small businesses that complement what you sell can be great for business. For example, if you sell wine openers, you can team up with wine brands. You may choose to offer a discount or design and launch creative Black Friday campaigns for your users.
• Promote your offers across platforms: If you sell on more than one platform, such as Shopify and Amazon, make sure to use the promotional tools available on each platform to get the word out.
• Don’t make it passive, have a landing page: Make sure you have one or more landing pages to welcome visitors to your Black Friday marketing campaigns. Show them how they’ll benefit from your deals. Go above and beyond. Remember that other businesses are making offers too. So make sure yours stands out.

An extra tip: Use word-of-mouth marketing for Black Friday

Using word-of-mouth marketing through referral and affiliate programs is an effective way to increase Black Friday sales and keep customers retained afterward.

ReferralCandy helps to increase word-of-mouth sales by letting users start their customer referral programs.

To automate the process of running the referral program, ReferralCandy has advanced automation tools available.

If this sounds interesting, you can easily sign up for ReferralCandy’s 14-day free trial.

Referral plugins allow you to create and run a referral program on WordPress stores.

If you don’t have these plugins, you can’t take advantage of the available automation tools, ready-to-use templates, fraud detection to prevent any fraudulent activities, and more.

To help you choose a WordPress referral plugin, we have reviewed the top options. We have outlined the key features, pros and cons, pricing, and whether the plugin has a free trial or not.

If this sounds interesting, keep on reading.

The 8 best WordPress referral plugins you should use in 2024

Below are listed the 8 best WordPress referral plugins:

1. ReferralCandy
2. WPLoyalty
3. Coupon Affiliates
4. WPSwings
5. SliceWP Affiliates
6. Referral Factory
7. Genius Referrals
8. ReferralRock

We have reviewed each plugin in more detail below.

1. ReferralCandy

WordPress rating: 4.9 out of 5.0 stars (200+ reviews)

Free trial: There is a 14-day free trial available

Pricing: The paid plans start from $59 per month

Best for: Merchants who want to start and grow their referral/affiliate program

ReferralCandy helps merchants run successful referral programs. To start, you can select from one of the available referral email and landing page templates. The referral program setup process is intuitive, and you will be guided through it.

ReferralCandy offers reports and analytics to follow the performance of your referral program. You can see your daily referral revenue, referred traffic, customer insights, social media shares, and more. 

If you want to see what other ReferralCandy customers, such as Toki Mats, generateing over $500,000 through it’s referral program, check out our case studies.

Pros and cons

• Simple set-up process
• Live chat customer support
• Referral email and landing page templates
• Fraud detection system
• Automation capabilities
• Admin dashboard to track performance
• 14-day free trial available

2. WPLoyalty

WordPress rating: 4.9 out of 5.0 stars (70+ reviews)

Free trial: A free trial is available

Pricing: Annual plans start at $99

Best for: Managing WooCommerce loyalty program

WPLoyalty is a commonly used points and rewards program tool for WooCommerce stores. You can reward customers with free products, free shipping, fixed discounts, percentage discounts, or store points.

WPLoyalty offers various approaches to rewarding customers, such as when they leave reviews, sign up, make purchases, or share your brand on social media.

WPLoyalty is designed for WordPress users who use WooCommerce.

Pros 

• Different referral reward types are available
• Reward customers when they sign up or purchase
• Create and schedule campaigns in advance for special occasions, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday
• Enable customers to earn rewards

Cons

• There is only a yearly plan available. If you want to test out the platform with a monthly plan, it is not possible

3. Coupon Affiliates - Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce

WordPress rating: 4.9 out of 5.0 stars (60+ reviews)

Free trial: Monthly plans start at $19.99

Pricing: There is a free trial available for 7 days

Best for: WooCommerce affiliate program with coupons

Coupon Affiliates is specifically made for running coupon-based affiliate programs on WooCommerce. Through the affiliate dashboard, you can manage registrations, create coupons, assign users to coupons, and generate admin reports.

You get a unique affiliate dashboard for each coupon to track the performance.

Affiliate users can submit and track payment requests through their affiliate dashboard.

Pros 

• Run a coupon-based program on WooCommerce
• Good customer support available
• Built specifically for WooCommerce
• Affiliate dashboard to see detailed statistics, such as sales, commissions, and recent orders

Cons

• Focuses mostly on coupon-based program features and lacks advanced referral tools

4. Coupon Referral Program by WPSwings

WordPress rating: n/a

Free trial: Not available

Pricing: There is a $49 annual fee

Best for: Setting up a simple referral program

One of WPSwings' products, the Coupon Referral Program, is a referral tool for WooCommerce stores. With it, you can offer sign-up and purchase discounts to new users or exclusively to referred users.

The dashboard can be used by both the admin and the customer to track referral performance. Customers can see their points, rewards, and coupons, while admins can track revenue generated through admin reports.

Admins can use the dashboard to create referral codes and links.

Pros 

• Dashboard for customers to track rewards, points, and coupons
• Reports for analyzing coupon utilization
• Compatible with WooCommerce Points and Rewards
• Create restrictions on coupon usage

Cons

• Offers only the most basic referral tools
• There are no templates for referral emails and landing pages

5. SliceWP Affiliates

WordPress rating: 4.9 out of 5.0 stars (90+ reviews)

Free trial: No free trial available

Pricing: Annual plans start at $229

Best for: Running an affiliate program on WordPress

SliceWP is mainly designed for running affiliate programs on WordPress, but it also offers tools for referral programs. Advocates can view their referred visits, commissions, and payouts through the affiliate dashboard.

Affiliates have access to banners and texts to advertise the referral program. 

SliceWP Affiliates is available in the WordPress plugin directory.

Pros 

• Suitable for running affiliate programs
• Intuitive affiliate dashboard for advocates
• Customizable affiliate registration form
• Customizable emails to invite customers

Cons

• Useful add-ons include an extra cost
• No monthly plans available to test out the platform

6. Referral Factory

WordPress rating: n/a

Free trial: There is a 15-day free trial

Pricing: Monthly plans start at $95

Best for: Ecommerce and SaaS businesses looking to start a referral program

Referral Factory is a referral program tool for ecommerce businesses. It offers a drag-and-drop builder for creating referral landing pages and emails. To advertise your program, you have access to promotional tools such as pop-ups, widgets, and join links.

Referral Factory can be used with WordPress, but it isn’t available in the WordPress plugin directory. This is a slight drawback as the integration process isn’t as straightforward.

Pros 

• Referral program templates are available
• Hubspot & Salesforce integrations
• Multilingual option available for 21 languages
• Easy setup process
• Referral analytics

Cons

• The price of every plan increases quickly if you bypass the referral limit
• Isn’t available in the WordPress plugin directory, which means the integration process is more complicated

7. Genius Referrals

WordPress rating: n/a

Free trial: 30-day free trial available

Pricing: Paid plans start from $89/month

Best for: Ecommerce stores that want to start a referral program

Genius Referrals is a referral solution for ecommerce brands. You can design your emails and landing pages with the drag-and-drop builder and choose from different referral rewards. Advocates can share the referral program via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, email, and more.

Genius Referrals isn’t available in the WordPress plugin directory and has to be integrated with WordPress through its website.

Pros 

• Pick from various referral rewards
• Many sharing options for advocates
• Invite customers to join via email
• Reward advocates through cash, credit, vouchers, or physical products

Cons

• Only email support is available for the cheaper plans. This is a slight drawback, as ReferralCandy, for example, offers a live chat for all of its available plans
• A Capterra user mentions that he hasn’t gotten any responses from the Genius Referrals customer support team

8. ReferralRock

WordPress rating: n/a

Free trial: Free trial available

Pricing: Starting at $200/month for ecommerce stores

Best for: SaaS & ecommerce businesses who want to start a referral program

ReferralRock is used by ecommerce, SaaS, and tech businesses to run referral programs. You can choose from pre-made templates for reward payouts, emails, and landing pages. 

Admins and customers get access to a referral dashboard to track the performance.

The tool isn’t available in the WordPress plugin directory, but offers an integration for WordPress stores. You first need to sign up on the ReferralRock’s website to use it.

You can select an onboarding service for $400 as an additional option.

Pros 

• Suitable for many industries
• Advanced referral capabilities
• Reward payout templates
• Referral email & landing page templates
• Integrations with third-party tools

Cons

• Referral Rock is one of the most expensive solutions, which can be problematic for companies just getting started
• The price adds up quickly as you manage more referrals

Selecting the best referral plugin for WordPress

When selecting a referral plugin for WordPress, make sure it has the following features:

• Ready-to-use templates for landing pages and emails
• Ability to send referral emails
• Fraud detection system
• Good customer service
• Third-party integrations
• Easy set-up process

One platform that offers all of the above and more is ReferralCandy.

If you're interested in creating your own referral program, you can sign up for ReferralCandy’s 14-day free trial.