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Testing the referral process

Adam avatar
Written by Adam
Updated today

Before launching your referral or affiliate program, it's best practice to test your campaign’s referral workflow to ensure it accurately tracks referred purchases. By doing so, you gain first-hand insight into every advocate (customer) touchpoint within the referral process, helping to identify any possible issues before going live.


How to test the referral process

Step 1: Create and target a test segment

To ensure that no new customers sign up for your referral program while you're testing, create a static segment manually add a test email address that will act as the referral workflow's advocate:

Create a static segment

  1. Go to your Segments page:

    • From the ReferralCandy dashboard, go to Contacts > Segments.

    • From Shopify admin, go to Contacts > Segments.

  2. Click Create new segment (Shopify) or Create segment (Non-Shopify).

  3. Select Static and click Create.

  4. Set a Segment name. For example, "Test."

  5. Save the changes.

Add the test email address

  1. Go back to the Segments page and find the test segment.

  2. Click Import contacts.

  3. In the import options, select Add customer by email.

  4. A popup appears. Add the test email address and name, then click Add customer.

  5. Click Import. A window opens. Confirm the import.

Target the test segment

Once the test segment is done, you must set it as the campaign's target audience and create a test purchase.

  1. Go to your campaign's Target audience page:

    • From the ReferralCandy dashboard, go to Campaigns > Select your campaign > Target Audience.

    • From your Shopify admin, go to Campaigns > Select your campaign. In the Get started section, click Target audience.

  2. In the Target these segments field or section, take note of the selected segments and unselect them.

  3. Select the test segment you created.

  4. Save the changes.

Step 2: Make a test referral purchase

Find the referral link

When a segment is targeted, the imported contact automatically becomes enrolled in the campaign. An enrolled contact gets their unique referral link for sharing.

  1. In the same campaign, go to the Advocates or Affiliates page.

  2. Click the imported contact to open their information.

  3. Find the contact's unique referral link:

    • From the ReferralCandy dashboard, go to the Campaigns and Segments tab. In the INDIVIDUAL CAMPAIGN DETAILS section, confirm that the correct campaign is selected. Scroll down to find and copy the Referral Link.

    • From Shopify admin, make sure to first add the Enrolled referral campaigns - details app block for ReferralCandy. Confirm that the correct campaign is selected and copy the URL under Referral link.

Make a test referral purchase as a referred friend

Important: To ensure successful testing:

  • The campaign must be set to Live

  • Make a test purchase outside the device or network where you manage your ReferralCandy account

  • Use an email address that doesn't exist yet in your Contacts list that will act as the referred friend in the test. This also applies to the contacts list on Shopify and BigCommerce for merchants using those platforms.

  1. Open the referral link you copied using a different device, a different browser, or an incognito window to simulate a referral purchase.

  2. If you're using "Coupon" as the friend offer: The referral link redirects to the friend offer landing page. Click the coupon code to copy. Then, click Shop Now to proceed to your store.

    Note: The call to action button text may be different if you customized your theme's content.

  3. Select an item and proceed to checkout. Make sure that the purchase amount meets the minimum purchase requirements you set on your Reward conditions page.

  4. Enter the necessary details for testing, such as the name, phone number, email address, billing and shipping address, and payment information.

  5. Paste the coupon code if it isn't populated yet. Complete the test purchase at checkout.

Note: Depending on your integration type and platform, the first referral purchase placed at your store may take up to 1 hour to be detected.

Step 3: Review the test purchase

To check if the test referral purchase was successful:

  1. Go to your Purchases & Referrals page:

  2. Find the test purchase you made. Detected purchases should be at the top of the list. You can also use the search bar and input the test email address you used.

  3. Click the reference ID to see the purchase information. Here you'll see information such as the purchase date, amount, customer name, email address, etc.

  4. Find the Referrer section. If the test purchase was successful, you'll see the email address you imported into the test segment earlier.

Step 4: Restore campaign and delete test purchase

The test is successful and complete if the referred purchase was detected and the purchase details are correct. To restore your campaign to its previous state before the test:

  1. Go to the campaign's Target audience page and unselect the test segment.

  2. Restore the previous segments targeted by the campaign. You may delete the test segment.

  3. Delete the test purchase in your account.

To delete the test purchase in your account:

ReferralCandy dashboard

ReferralCandy app on Shopify

  1. From the ReferralCandy dashboard, go to My Store > Purchases & Referrals.

  2. Find the test purchase you made and click to view the Purchase Information.

  3. Click Delete Purchase.

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Purchases & Referrals.

  2. Take note of the Shopify ID of the test purchase.

  3. Go to the Orders page and search using the Shopify ID.

  4. Archive and delete the test purchase.


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