This article discusses features and capabilities available only for Shopify merchants. If you're using another platform, visit this article.
Set how many of a referred friend’s purchases recorded by ReferralCandy count toward a reward for the advocate — we refer to these as rewardable purchases. You can choose to reward only the first purchase, every purchase, or a specific number of purchases per referred friend.
What “rewardable” means
A rewardable purchase is a purchase made by the referred friend that counts toward earning a reward for the advocate, according to your campaign settings.
How rewardable purchases work for subscription orders
ReferralCandy counts rewardable purchases based on the referred friend’s purchase count that ReferralCandy has recorded (1st purchase, 2nd purchase, 3rd purchase, and so on). It does not treat subscription renewals as a separate category — renewals are simply additional purchases if they show up as additional orders.
What this means in practice
If you set It’s the friend’s = First purchase only, the advocate only earns a reward on the referred friend’s first recorded purchase (even if that customer renews a subscription later).
If you set It’s the friend’s = Every purchase, the advocate can earn a reward on future purchases made by that referred friend — including subscription renewals — as long as each renewal is recorded as a new order.
If you set It’s the friend’s = First X purchases, the advocate can earn rewards up to the first X purchases made by that referred friend (subscription renewals can count toward X if they are recorded as new orders).
Common question
Do advocates/affiliates automatically earn rewards on subscription renewals? (Some merchants refer to cash rewards as “commissions.”)
ReferralCandy doesn’t calculate rewards based on “subscription cycles” specifically. If renewals are recorded as additional purchases (which is often the case), they follow your Reward conditions (for example: first purchase only, every purchase, or first X purchases).
First purchase only: No — only the initial purchase can be rewardable.
Every purchase / First X purchases: Renewals can be rewardable if each renewal is recorded as a separate order.
Setting the number of rewardable purchases (per referred friend)
🧩 This setting applies individually to each referred friend — each referred friend has their own purchase count.
From your Shopify admin, go to Campaigns > Select your campaign. In the Set rewards section, click Reward conditions.
Go to Referred purchase conditions. In the It's the friend's section, select one from the below options:
First purchase only (default and most common) – The advocate receives a reward only for the referred friend’s first purchase.
Every purchase - The advocate receives a reward for every purchase that the referred friend makes.
First X purchases – The advocate receives a reward for the first X purchases that the referred friend makes.
Save the changes.
Note: ReferralCandy only charges the success fee on the first three (3) purchases that a referred friend makes through a referral link. Learn more