This article applies if your store connects to ReferralCandy through the Email connection type — you forward or BCC your invoice emails to ReferralCandy instead of installing a platform app. Not sure which path is yours? See Integration overview.
Forwarding or BCCing your invoice emails to ReferralCandy is required for the email integration to work. The emails sent to ReferralCandy are scanned to detect referrals, identify referral details, and track purchases at your store.
ReferralCandy needs to receive your invoice emails for the following reasons:
Track referrals. ReferralCandy must collect all purchase data via the invoice emails to identify which transactions are referrals.
Detect fraudulent referrals. The system ensures that referrals are legitimate, and only new customers are marked as referrals, preventing existing customers from making referred purchases.
Send post-purchase welcome emails. If enabled, customers immediately receive the welcome email, encouraging them to join your referral program.
After ReferralCandy receives and processes the invoice emails, the customer is added to your campaign as a contact, and if they meet your segment criteria, they're enrolled in your referral campaign.
Forwarding invoice emails
Note: This is one of two steps required to complete email integration. The next step is Add a referral tracking code.
For email integration to work, you must forward all your invoice emails — every order, not just referred ones — to your unique ReferralCandy address. The system scans each received invoice email to identify which purchases came from referrals.
Your unique ReferralCandy email address is shown on the Integrations → Standalone page of your dashboard, in the format invoices@xxxxxxxxxx.referralcandy.com, with a Copy button next to it.
How you add a BCC or forwarding address to your invoice emails depends on your eCommerce platform — the setting usually lives in your platform's order-notification or invoice-email settings, so check your platform's documentation for the exact steps.
Required information
Below are the invoice details the email integration needs to detect and track referred purchases. The dashboard's setup page lists the essentials — the customer's name, email, time of purchase, amount, and currency code — and the full picture is below. Your invoice emails should contain the following, in no particular order:
First name of the customer
Last name of the customer
Email address of the customer. This should be in the email body or the "To" field.
Total invoice amount and the 3-letter currency code
Subtotal amount and the 3-letter currency code
The system uses this amount to calculate cash rewards and success fees, so including it gives the most accurate numbers to work with. If your invoice only shows a total, the system falls back to the total amount. See Subtotal amount below to learn more.
Time, including minutes and seconds, when the customer views the purchase completed or "Thank you" page where the referral tracking code was inserted.
This is optional if you're sending invoice emails to ReferralCandy immediately when the customer views the purchase completed page
Preferred language of the customer
This is required if you're running a campaign in multiple languages
(Optional) Whether the customer consented to marketing. If you want to enroll only customers who opt in to receiving marketing emails, this lets the system know. For example, "Marketing consent: false" or "Marketing consent: true."
You can confirm ReferralCandy is receiving your invoice emails on the Invoice History tab of the Purchases & referrals page in your dashboard. Each entry shows when the invoice email arrived, its processing status, and the received email content. The tab appears once ReferralCandy has received at least one invoice email from your store.
Subtotal amount
The "subtotal" is the amount our system uses to calculate percentage-based cash rewards (if cash rewards are selected) and success fees charged along with your ReferralCandy subscription. The subtotal ReferralCandy expects is the purchase amount after any discounts are applied, but before taxes and shipping fees. Including it in your invoices gives the cleanest, most accurate numbers for rewards and fees — if your invoice emails only show a total amount, the system falls back to the total. Learn more
Using a different "subtotal"? If your invoice labels or structures its amounts differently, our support team can adjust what the system extracts from your invoices — just let us know. See the first FAQ below for what to prepare.
How the invoice email is parsed (extracted for purchase information)
The system reviews 1 to 3 samples of your invoice emails to analyze and extract the required information, including the total and subtotal amounts. If your invoice emails are inconsistent, specific details may be missed during processing, which may affect referral tracking and the charges made to your account.
Ensuring correct invoice processing
To prevent miscalculations of your rewards and commission fees:
Your invoice emails should use a consistent template and terminology for the system to accurately process the subtotal amount
Avoid lines of information that disappear when not applicable to the invoice, especially if it's an amount necessary to calculate ReferralCandy charges and fees. If possible, keep the amount in the email even if it's zero.
Use simple terms so the invoice details are clear to the system
Avoid duplicating, misspelling, or using confusing terms that may cause issues with invoice processing
Important: The system parses specific variables from designated areas in your invoice, so accurate tracking depends on your invoices keeping the same format and wording. If your invoice template changes, let us know so the team can re-align the system with your new template.
Up next: Add a referral tracking code
Sending invoice emails for email integration FAQ
Can I use the other values (e.g., "discounted amount") instead of the subtotal to calculate rewards and commissions?
Can I use the other values (e.g., "discounted amount") instead of the subtotal to calculate rewards and commissions?
Yes — pointing the system at a different amount in your invoice is a small adjustment on our side. Just let us know, and provide the following:
The specific amount you want extracted from the invoice. For example, "Discounted subtotal."
At least 3 sample invoices where the target amount is clear and consistently formatted.
Important: The samples must clearly and consistently display the amount, and your future invoices need to keep that same format — the system extracts the amount from the same place in every invoice. Inconsistencies in the invoice template may lead to processing errors, where the system might default to using other fields such as the pre-shipping subtotal.
Can ReferralCandy calculate the subtotal amount from my invoice?
Can ReferralCandy calculate the subtotal amount from my invoice?
No. The system extracts the subtotal from a specific field in your invoice email template. It won't parse information from multiple areas and use logic to calculate the subtotal amount.
To ensure accurate calculation of your rewards and commissions, your invoice template should clearly and consistently display the computed subtotal amount.
How do I know ReferralCandy is receiving my invoice emails?
How do I know ReferralCandy is receiving my invoice emails?
You can confirm ReferralCandy is receiving your invoice emails on the Invoice History tab of the Purchases & referrals page in your dashboard. Each received invoice email is listed with the time it arrived, its processing status, and the email content — the tab appears once ReferralCandy has received at least one invoice email from your store.
If new invoices stop appearing, check that your store is still BCCing or forwarding invoices to your unique ReferralCandy address shown on Integrations → Standalone. You can also get alerted automatically when ReferralCandy receives an unusually low number of invoice emails — turn on the "Invoice email forwarding issues" notification under Account → Profile. If invoices are arriving but purchases aren't showing up, our support team can check the processing on our side — just let us know.