What a “Friend offer” is (and what it isn’t)
Friend offer = the incentive the referred friend gets for placing their first order through an advocate’s referral link.
It is different from the advocate reward (what the advocate earns after a successful referral).
If someone is asking about payouts/rewards for the advocate, route them to advocate reward / referral rewards content instead.
Where to change your friend offer
Shopify: Update the friend offer via your ReferralCandy campaign settings (and, depending on setup, the underlying Shopify discount settings).
Other platforms: Friend offers are typically set using coupon codes you create/import, or by using a promo link (for “auto-apply” experiences).
Best practice: Add links here to your Shopify vs Other Platforms setup articles so Fin AI can route correctly.
Choose your friend offer type first
Pick the structure first, then decide the value.
Percentage off (e.g., 10–15% off)
Fixed amount off (e.g., $10 off)
Buy X Get Y / minimum quantity offers (good for margin protection)
Promo link / auto-apply (often for other platforms or advanced setups)
No friend offer (rare, but sometimes used for premium brands or advocate-only experiments)
Pick the value using simple heuristics (then test)
Avoid picking a number in a vacuum. Choose a starting point that matches your AOV and margins, then test cleanly.
Lower AOV stores: a percentage offer often feels stronger (example: 10–15% off)
Higher AOV stores: fixed amount + minimum spend controls cost (example: $15 off $100+)
Tight margins: consider Buy X Get Y, or add minimums
Important: Don’t change multiple things at once. Keep the friend offer stable long enough to see conversion + margin impact.
Add guardrails to protect margins (and reduce misuse)
Guardrails should protect profitability without making the offer hard to redeem.
Expiry (limits long-tail liability and adds urgency)
Minimum spend / minimum quantity
Avoid discount stacking unless intentionally allowed
Balance the friend offer with the advocate reward
Your best mix depends on what you’re optimizing for.
Friend-heavy (stronger friend offer): better for new customer conversion
Advocate-heavy (stronger advocate reward): better for motivating customers to share
Balanced: when you want both sides to feel equally compelling
If referrals aren’t converting: strengthen the friend offer first.
If customers aren’t sharing: strengthen the advocate reward first.
Measure and iterate (what to look at)
Track outcomes, not just “how generous” the offer feels:
Referral conversion rate (click → first purchase)
AOV of referred purchases
Effective discount cost and margin impact
Volume of referred purchases
Best practice: Make one change at a time and compare against a similar period.
Common questions / troubleshooting
“I see SAMPLE when I test my own referral link”
“My friend’s coupon doesn’t work at checkout”
Shopify: “Friend offer page vs popup?”