The friend is the person who arrives through an advocate’s link or code. This page shows how to reward them and explains every setting on WooCommerce → Refer a Friend → Settings → Friend Reward.
Two ways to reward the friend
| Setting | What the friend gets | When |
|---|---|---|
| First Purchase Discount | A discount applied automatically in the cart. | During their first order. |
| Post-First Purchase Coupon | A coupon code by email for their next order. | After their first order reaches the reward status. |
You can turn on either, both or neither. Most stores use only First Purchase Discount. It’s the reason a friend clicks the link.
Turning on both gives the friend two rewards. Make sure that’s what you want before you advertise it.
Set up the First Purchase Discount
The plugin applies a WooCommerce coupon that you create. Every referred friend gets the same discount.
Create the coupon
- Go to Marketing → Coupons → Add coupon.
- Enter a code that’s hard to guess, such as
FRIEND-7Q2X9. Anyone who knows the code can type it in without a referral. The plugin hides the code from friends: the cart shows Coupon Applied! instead. - On the General tab, choose a Discount type and enter the Coupon amount. You can also set an expiry date for the whole campaign.
- On the Usage restriction tab, leave Allowed emails empty. You can set a Minimum spend or product restrictions.
- On the Usage limits tab, leave Usage limit per coupon empty. You can set Usage limit per user to 1.
- Click Publish.
Connect it to the referral program
- Go to WooCommerce → Refer a Friend → Settings → Friend Reward and turn on First Purchase Discount.
- Enter your code in Coupon Code, exactly as you created it.
- Optionally, change the Cart Message. You can use
{{name}}for the advocate’s full name, or “Your friend” when the name is unknown. In version 4.4.12 a custom message may not appear. This is a known issue and the discount still applies. - Click Save.
Usage limit per coupon set to 1 means only the first friend ever gets the discount. Allowed emails means only those people do. Both are the most common reasons the friend discount stops working.
How the discount reaches the friend
- Through a link: the discount is applied when the friend has a product in the cart and opens the cart or checkout.
- Through a code: with Enable Referral Codes on in General Settings, the friend types the advocate’s
ref…code in the coupon field. The plugin gives them the same discount as your coupon. See Referral codes at checkout.
The discount isn’t applied when the cart already has another coupon, when the friend is an existing customer, or when the cart is below the coupon’s minimum spend. In that last case the friend sees how much more to add. See Friend discount not applied for every reason.
Post-First Purchase Coupon settings
Turn on Post-First Purchase Coupon to email the friend a coupon after their first order. The plugin creates a new coupon for each friend, so you don’t create anything in Marketing → Coupons.
The settings work exactly like the advocate’s. See Advocate reward settings for each field. The differences:
- There’s no Generate Coupon on every X Order or Percentage of Friend’s Order.
- The coupon is limited to the email address on the friend’s order.
- It’s sent with the RAF: Friend Coupon email. See Emails overview.
Different friend discounts for different advocates
To give friends of one advocate a bigger discount, add that advocate under Settings → Advanced Settings. See Give specific advocates a different reward.
Check it worked
- Copy an advocate’s referral link from Advocates.
- Open it in a private window, add a product to the cart and open the cart.
- The totals should show your discount as Coupon Applied!, with your cart message above them.
