Top 10 Referral Marketing Software for Ecommerce Stores in 2024

Referral marketing remains one of the most powerful forms of marketing since 82% of Gen Zers trust their friends and family for product advice, and 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know.

To tap into the power of referrals, merchants are looking to start their own referral program. A referral program helps to tap into the power of word of mouth marketing, where existing customers share your brand and products with friends and family.

This leads us to today's article, as the only real way to start a referral program is with referral marketing software.

The challenge with selecting a referral marketing software lies in the sheer amount of options available. Plus, some solutions are more suitable for certain types of businesses. To guide you, we have listed the 10 best referral marketing software solutions.

What is a referral marketing software?

Referral marketing software helps businesses leverage word-of-mouth by encouraging existing customers to share personalized referral links with friends and family. Referral marketing software solutions, like ReferralCandy, provide the complete feature set required to setting up a referral software.

What features to look for in referral marketing software

Without the right features, setting up a successful referral program is challenging.

Let's look into the features you should look for.

1. Ready-to-use templates

The best referral program solutions provide templates for referral emails and referral landing pages. These ready-to-use templates will give you a headstart in starting your own referral program.

For example, ReferralCandy provides ready-to-use templates that are created based on best practices for generating the most referrals.

Additionally, all the referral program templates should be optimized to work beautifully across all devices. If you want to make more advanced changes to the referral template, the software should support HTML and CSS editing.

2. Data-driven analytics

To better understand the performance of your referral program, the referral software should include data-driven analytics.

Metrics, including referral sales, referral revenue, referred traffic sources, and different customer insights, like the total number of shares, are all important.

The top referral tracking software solutions include industry benchmarks to see how you compare against industry standards.

3. Extensive integration options

Before you choose referral software, make sure it integrates with the ecommerce platform you're using.

Or, if you use a third-party email marketing tool like Klaviyo or Mailchimp, you want to ensure it integrates seamlessly with your referral software. If you want to later retarget customers' friends who didn't purchase, the email integrations allow you to do so.

Extensive integrations help to streamline the process of setting up and running your customer referral programs.

4. Automation settings

In the best-case scenario, your referral program should mostly run in the background, requiring as little effort from you as possible.

Sure, you should always spend time improving your referral program, but strong automation settings help automate mundane tasks, such as sending referral invitations and rewarding advocates.

The best referral tools include automation settings that make this possible. For example, with ReferralCandy, you can automatically send referral emails, automatically reward customers, and identify correct and suspicious referrals.

Why should you invest in a referral marketing software?

Investing in referral marketing software comes with many benefits. Let's discuss some of those next.

1. High return on investment (ROI)

Referral marketing software is used to launch a referral program, which is proven to bring high ROI.

The global average referral rate is 2.35%, which means that most merchants see a positive return on investment from their referral programs.

If you compare this to other marketing methods, referral programs are able to bring one of the highest ROIs. ReferralCandy customers, like FarmHounds, have achieved a 35.30 return on investment (ROI) on their referral program and have generated over $600k in referral sales.

2. Scalable strategy

Referral marketing software automates referral tracking and management, allowing you to scale it as your business grows. This includes tracking the progress of each referral and managing rewards distribution.

The referral emails and thank you messages can also be sent automatically. And, when your customer base grows, the referral emails will be sent to more people, which in turn, will lead to more customers becoming referral advocates.

3. It doesn't take money from your existing customers

The main difference between referral marketing and other forms of marketing, such as email and social media marketing, is that referral marketing doesn't take money from existing customers.

If you use referral marketing software to run your referral program, all referral revenue comes from customers' friends and family who weren't part of your customer base before.

4. Access to an untapped audience

Even if you use different retargeting methods on social media or email marketing, it might be impossible to target your ads at your customers' friends. With referral marketing software, you can target your existing customers' friends and family through your referral campaigns.

Plus, recommendations from friends and family are highly trusted, leading to a higher likelihood of conversion.

5. Increases customer loyalty

Referral marketing software increases brand loyalty by encouraging existing customers to recommend your products and services, and in return, getting referral rewards. Referral programs are typically two-sided, so both the advocate and the friend get rewarded.

Loyal customers also convert better than new customers and spend more per transaction, making customer referral programs a cost-effective and lucrative customer acquisition channel.

Top 10 Referral Marketing Software for Ecommerce Stores in 2024

For each referral program software, we will highlight:

• Available pricing plans
• Available integrations
• Features of the software
• Who the software is best for
• Pros and cons of the software
• Customer reviews of the software

With these details, choosing the right referral marketing platform will be easier.

1. ReferralCandy

Who is it for: Ecommerce brands looking to increase their sales through a referral program

Pricing: Paid plans start at $59/month. 14-day free trial available.

ReferralCandy powers referral programs for over 3,000 brands and is one of the best Shopify apps for running a referral program. You also get the opportunity to run affiliate programs that pay out cash for successful sales.

There are different templates for referral landing pages and emails, and merchants can customize them to fit their needs. If you have web development experience, you can use the developer mode to customize the pages further.

Automation is crucial for referral programs, and ReferralCandy has different automation settings, such as automated referral invitation and thank you emails, flagging fraudulent referrals, and sending free gifts to super advocates.

ReferralCandy also provides you with analytics, including referral sales, referral revenue, number of referrals, total number of shares, number of referral emails sent and their performance, the amount of referred traffic to your store, and more.

Pros and cons:

• Includes all the tools needed to set up a referral program
• Automation settings to save time from mundane tasks
• Easy to set up
• Highly customizable
• Available 14-day free trial
• Extensive analytics to track the referral program performance
• It has a total of 4.9 out of 5.0 stars at over 2,000 unique reviews in the ShopifyApp Store, making it one of the best referral program software for Shopify stores

Available integrations:

ReferralCandy integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and 3dcart stores. It also integrates with other third-party payment and marketing tools, like ReCharge, Klaviyo, and Mailchimp. ReferralCandy is available on the Shopify App Store.

2. SC Conjured Referrals

Who is it for: Ecommerce store owners

Pricing: Paid plans start from $19/month, plus $10 USD for every 25 referred orders. Free plan available

SC Conjured Referrals is a referral program software for Shopify store owners who seek to turn their loyal customers into brand ambassadors. The software includes the entire toolkit for running a referral program, including the ability to create referral links and coupons, referral emails, customizable referral pages, and a fraud detection system.

Customers of SC Conjured Referrals on Shopify especially appreciate how user-friendly the software is and the customization capabilities are simple yet effective.

One downside of SC Conjured Referrals is that the available referral templates aren't as extensive as those of competitors like ReferralCandy.

Pros and cons:

(+) Extensive post-purchase popups
(+) Strong referral fraud detection system
(+) Free plan available for running a small-scale referral program
(-)  Only a 5-day free trial available for the paid plans
(-) Lacks ecommerce platform integrations since it integrates with Shopify stores only

Available integrations:

SC Conjured Referrals is only available on the Shopify App Store and integrates with Shopify stores. It also integrates with marketing apps, including Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Active Campaign, Omnisend, and Recharge.

3. GrowSurf

Who is it for: Marketing, product, and engineering teams looking to launch a referral program

Pricing: Paid plans start from $450/month. Free trial available.

GrowSurf is a referral software solution that allows you to create a referral program with all the standard referral incentives, including cash, coupons, and custom rewards. It includes all the basic referral analytics, including the amount of referrals, total revenue, best sharing channels, and top participants.

GrowSurf is not just for ecommerce brands; it's also suitable for the SaaS, FinTech, Education, and InsurTech industries. This is reflected in its pricing plans, which can be steep for smaller ecommerce brands just starting out.

It has gained a 4.7 out of 5.0 stars rating with 20+ unique reviews on Capterra. Customers mostly appreciate the ease of setting up a referral program with GrowSurf and the available customer service, which is mentioned to be good.

Pros and cons:

(+) Suitable for many industries
(+) Extensive customization options are available
(+) Known for having a great customer service
(-) One of the most expensive referral software solutions
(-) Lacking ecommerce platform integrations
(-) You need to use GrowSurf in conjunction with an email marketing or CRM platform since it does not integrate with ecommerce platforms, which means an increased cost

Available integrations:

GrowSurf integrates with email marketing and CRM tools, like ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Brevo, and Mailchimp, and you can import your email lists from those tools into GrowSurf to run your referral program.

4. Rivo Loyalty & Referrals

Who is it for: Shopify store owners looking to start a referral program

Pricing: Paid plans start from $49/month. 7-day free trial available.

Rivo is a loyalty program software for Shopify Store owners and it includes essential features, including automated referral emails, referral form designer, ability to add different referral incentives, and built-in fraud protection.

Rivo has 4.9 out of 5.0 stars on the Shopify App Store with over 2,000 reviews. Customers mostly like the ability to add pop-ups to invite people to join the referral program, the good customer support, and the advanced customization capabilities.

Pros and cons:

(+) Developer toolkit for more advanced customization
(+) Social media integrations for customers to share the referral program
(-) Offers ecommerce platform integrations only with Shopify. API integration is available, but it is less effective.

Available integrations:

Rivo is available in the Shopify App Store and integrates with Shopify stores. As for marketing apps, it integrates with Klaviyo, Gorgias, Postscript, Mailchimp, and more. It also has an API integration available.

5. Referral Rock

Who is it for: E-commerce and B2B businesses who want to run a referral program

Pricing: Ecommerce pricing plans starting at $200/month. Free trial available.

ReferralRock helps you to design, launch, and automate your referral program. You can use the available referral form builder to design your referral landing pages, invitation emails, and referral forms. After this, you can create a referral link to share through emails, checkout flows, and landing pages.

To automate your referral program, ReferralRock includes referral tracking software functionalities, including automated referral fulfillment, referral emails, promotion, and data syncing with third-party platforms.

ReferralRock has a total of 95 reviews with a 4.6 out of 5.0 star rating on Capterra. Its customers mention that ReferralRock helps simplify the management of a referral program and that the available integrations are useful.

Pros and cons:

(+) Includes analytics to track the performance
(+) Extensive integration options with 50+ apps
(+) Ability to select a done-for-you onboarding for a $400 one-time fee
(-) It is one of the more expensive solutions, especially for smaller businesses just getting started
(-) The standard plans only include 500 referrals per month. Each additional referral costs $2.50 extra, which can quickly add up

Available integrations:

ReferralRock integrates with Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, Shift4shop, and WooCommerce stores. Additionally, they offer integrations with email marketing and CRM apps, including Salesforce, Hubspot, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and more.

6. Genius Referrals

Who is it for: Ecommerce stores wanting to start a referral program.

Pricing: $89/month, including 500 referrals, and $0.20 for every extra referral. 30-day free trial available.

Genius Referrals helps turn your customers into brand advocates by providing all the required features to launch your first referral program. You can promote the referral program through referral emails or share it on your social media pages directly from the software.

You can reward your advocates with cash, credits, vouchers, and physical products within the Genius Referrals app.

Genius Referrals customers on Capterra mention the available templates are easy to use, and the first campaign can be launched within minutes. It is important to mention that Genius Referrals has also received complaints related to its customer service. One user mentioned that he waited three days with no response from their team.

Pros and cons:

(+) Available referral templates
(+) Analytics for tracking the referral performance
(+) Multiple different payout options for advocates
(-) Customers have reported lacking customer service
(-) On the standard plan, there is an extra cost for each referral after 500 referrals.

Available integrations:

Genius Referrals integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce Squarespace, and 3DCart stores. It also has different CMS, email marketing, as well as billing and payment integrations.

7. Referral Factory

Who is it for: Ecommerce, B2B, and SaaS businesses looking to launch a referral program

Pricing: Paid plans start from $95/month with a 500 referral limit. 14-day free trial available.

Referral Factory helps you launch your first referral campaign with a drag-and-drop designer, ready-to-use templates, promotional tools, referral tracking, and third-party integrations. The software has different automation features, including automated data syncing, referral emails, and fraud protection.

You can create a referral tracking page for advocates to track their referral progress. Referral Factory is one of the referral marketing solutions that is suitable for many industries, including ecommerce, SaaS, B2B, agencies, FinTech, and more.

Referral Factory has a rating of 4.8 out of 5.0 stars on G2, and customers mention that the software is user-friendly and the analytics make it easy to track referrals closely.

Pros and cons:

(+) Suitable for many industries
(+) Over 100 referral templates for different types of referral campaigns
(-) The pricing increases quickly if you bypass the referral limit that is set on every plan
(-) It only offers native integration for Shopify stores. If you want to use Referral Factory with another ecommerce platform, you need to use Zapier to connect it.

Available integrations:

To use Referral Factory, you need to connect it to your CRM or ecommerce platform through Zapier.

8. Friendbuy

Who is it for: All types of ecommerce businesses wanting to create referral marketing campaigns.

Pricing: Paid plans start from $249/month. 30-day free trial available.

Friendbuy helps ecommerce businesses launch their referral program. To get started, you can use one of the available referral email and landing page templates or design your own using the drag-and-drop builder. Customers can share the referral links via SMS, email, and social media.

Advocates can view their earnings and referral invitations on a referral dashboard, plus they can send reminder emails from there.

Friendbuy has received some complaints about their customer support on both Shopify and Capterra. One Capterra user mentions that the only way to receive assistance is through email and the response time is slow.

Pros and cons:

(+) Templates for creating referral emails and landing pages
(+) Referral dashboard for advocates to track the performance
(+) A/B testing feature to compare two different versions
(-) Lacking depth in ecommerce integrations
(-) It has a 3.4 out of 5.0 star rating on Shopify app store and has received some backlash related to customer support

Available integrations:

Friendbuy integrates with Shopify, Shopify Plus, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud stores. It also has other integrations with platforms like Klaviyo, Attentive, Braze, Recharge, Skio, and more.

9. Yotpo

Who is it for: Ecommerce store owners wanting to launch a referral or loyalty program

Pricing: Paid plans start from $199/month with a monthly limit of 500 orders. Free plan available for basic referral campaign.

Yotpo is a retention marketing platform designed for ecommerce store owners. It includes the functionality for creating a referral program, as well as collecting and displaying customer reviews, and SMS and email marketing.

The software also has segmentation tools built-in for their referral program tool. You can target customers based on data, including the point balance, number of referrals completed, last purchase date, and VIP tier. Referral campaigns can also be scheduled to be sent at a specific time.

Yotpo has a 4.7 out of 5.0 star rating on their Shopify App Store page. Customers especially appreciate the 24/7 customer support, user-friendly interface, and the extensive integrations.

Pros and cons:

(+) Free plan available for stores with less than 100 monthly orders
(+) Good integration options with different platforms
(+) The platform includes more than just referral software tools
(-) Some Shopify reviewers mention Yotpo's price increases quickly when your order volume increases

Available integrations:

Yotpo integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Magento stores. It also has plenty of other integrations with marketing, survey, fraud prevention, data, and automation apps.

10. Viral Loops

Who is it for: Ecommerce, Fintech, newsletter creators, and startup businesses that want to launch a referral program.

Pricing: Paid plans starting from $49/month for a maximum of 1000 advocates. 14-day free trial available.

Viral Loops enables you to launch your referral program, and it includes features including real-time dashboard for referral performance, automation settings, and third party integrations.

To get started, Viral Loops has different templates you can use on your landing pages and referral emails. It also includes a drag and drop landing page builder, if you want to build your page from scratch.

Viral Loops has a 3.5 out of 5.0 star rating on the Shopify App Store, which is relatively low compared to other solutions on our list. The main reasons customers left bad reviews were lack of customer support and technical difficulties.

Pros and cons:

(+) Drag and drop landing page builder
(+) Referral dashboard for tracking campaign performance
(+) Good available integrations for expanding the capabilities
(-) Has received complaints on Shopify related to customer support and technical difficulties

Available integrations:

Viral Loops integrates with Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow, and WordPress stores. You can also find other integrations with platforms, such as Mailchimp, Slack, ActiveCampaign, and Campaign Monitor.

How do you launch your own referral marketing program?

If you want to launch your own referral program, ReferralCandy is one of those tools you can use.

ReferralCandy integrates seamlessly within most ecommerce platforms and is also available in the Shopify App store for easy integration.

And, if you need help with the actual set up process, we encourage you to read our guide on starting your referral program. It also includes 80+ examples from other successful referral programs!

Conclusion

Referral marketing programs are proven to bring high return on investment, because consumers trust recommendations from friends and family more than anything else.

This is one of the primary reasons why investing in referral program software is a wise decision since you can use it to set up your own customer referral program.

Plus, the only cost involved is the subscription cost of your referral program. Many referral software solutions, including our ReferralCandy, offer a 14-day free trial so that you can try it out with no risk.

If you're having trouble setting up your ecommerce referral program, we have created an entire guide to the setup process.