This article applies if you upload your own coupon codes to ReferralCandy, rather than ReferralCandy auto-generating them for your store.
Your friend offer is a single, multi-use coupon code. A friend offer is meant to be shared and redeemed by many referred friends — that's how a referral program grows — so a code that many people can use is by design, not a limitation. ReferralCandy doesn't offer single-use codes for the friend offer, and for most stores a single multi-use code is the more practical and equally protected choice. Here's why a stack of single-use codes wouldn't do what merchants usually hope.
Why a single multi-use code works better
Single-use codes wouldn't prevent misuse
The usual hope is that single-use codes stop the offer from being reused or shared around. They don't. Someone determined to abuse a friend offer can still redeem it repeatedly — for example, by using different email addresses — whether you have one shared code or thousands of single-use ones. Switching to single-use codes wouldn't close that door; it would just spread the same abuse across many codes, which makes it harder for you to spot and trace. A single code, by contrast, makes an unusual spike in redemptions easy to notice.
This isn't specific to ReferralCandy — it's true of any discount code. A public sale code like BLACKFRIDAY20 can be reused or shared the same way, and you'd manage it with the same tools you'd use for any promotion: restricting the offer to new customers at checkout, and watching for unusual activity.
New-customer checks happen at your checkout
What actually keeps a friend offer for new customers is verifying the person redeeming it — and that happens at your checkout, when you collect their details and can check them against your existing customers. That check works exactly the same whether the code is single-use or multi-use, so the code's uniqueness isn't what protects you. The most common approach ReferralCandy merchants use is precisely this: confirm new-customer status at checkout, when the code is applied. Check with your platform to see if this is possible.
One multi-use code is simpler to manage — and easy to share
With a single multi-use code, you skip the work that single-use codes create: generating and uploading hundreds or thousands of codes, replenishing them as they run out, and monitoring the whole pool for misuse. You get the same real-world protection with far less to manage. A single code is also easy for advocates to share anywhere — including places that don't support clickable links, like social media bios.