Testing your referral campaign before going live confirms that emails, links, and referral tracking all work end-to-end. ReferralCandy gives you two ways to test, depending on your campaign's state.
Which test should I use?
Use Test Mode — if your campaign is a referral campaign that has never been activated yet. Test Mode is a built-in guided wizard that walks you through testing without affecting real customers.
Use the manual test procedure — if your campaign has already been activated (Test Mode is no longer available), or it's an affiliate or loyalty campaign.
Test Mode (the recommended way to test)
Test Mode is a built-in 7-step wizard inside your campaign that lets you simulate a full referral — from a test advocate sharing their link to a test friend purchasing — without affecting your real customers. Real customers won't receive any campaign emails or be enrolled during testing.
Is Test Mode available for my campaign?
Test Mode is available when ALL of these are true:
The campaign is a referral campaign (not affiliate, not loyalty)
The campaign is stopped (not live or paused)
The campaign has never been activated before
The campaign isn't already in Test Mode
Heads up: Test Mode is one-time eligibility. Once your campaign goes live for real, it can't go back into Test Mode — you'd need to use the manual test procedure further down. Use Test Mode before your first activation.
How to open the Test Mode page
Shopify: ReferralCandy app > your campaign > Test Mode tab.
Other Platforms: ReferralCandy dashboard > your campaign > Test Mode page.
You'll see 7 numbered step cards. Walk through them in order — the wizard tracks completion (Pending → Done) as you go.
Step 1: Enable Test Mode
As the merchant: click Enter Test Mode. ReferralCandy swaps your campaign's real audience with a test segment — your original audience is saved and will be automatically restored when you exit Test Mode at the end.
Step 2: Confirm your test audience
As the merchant: ReferralCandy automatically adds your admin email to the test segment as the first test contact — that's the email that will receive the campaign's referral email and act as the "test advocate" in the next steps. If you want to test with multiple advocate accounts (for example, a colleague's email), click Manage Segment on this step to add more contacts.
Step 3: Activate campaign in test mode
As the merchant: activate your campaign — but in test mode only. This is required for referral tracking to work in the next steps.
As this is a test, real customers won't be affected. They won't receive emails or be enrolled during testing.
Step 4: Share and Purchase
This step is where the role switches — you'll act as the advocate first, then as the referred friend.
As the test advocate: check the inbox for the admin email you added in Step 2. You'll receive a campaign email with the test advocate's referral link. Open the link to land on the Share Page, where you can see (or copy) the referral link.
As the referred friend: open that referral link on a different device AND a different network — for example, switch from Wi-Fi to cellular data, use a personal hotspot, or connect through a different ISP. Same-network access triggers ReferralCandy's anti-fraud detection (the coupon shows as "SAMPLE" instead of the real code). Complete a test purchase on the merchant's store using a different email than the advocate's email.
Important — testing prerequisites:
The campaign must be active in Test Mode (Step 3 above).
Open the referral link on a different device AND a different network from where you manage ReferralCandy. Incognito alone isn't enough — anti-fraud detection also checks IP.
Use a friend email that doesn't already exist in your Contacts list. On Shopify and BigCommerce, this also means the email shouldn't already exist in your platform's customer list.
Quick note on "SAMPLE": if the friend offer code shows as "SAMPLE" during your test, anti-fraud detection has kicked in — usually because the link was opened on the same network/IP as your management device, or because you're viewing the link as the advocate themselves (the "own view" case). Switch to a different network (cellular, personal hotspot, or different Wi-Fi) and the real code should appear. See the FAQ for the full explanation.
Test referrals are temporary and will be removed when you exit test mode.
Step 5: Referral Detection
As the merchant: back to the Test Mode page. The Step 5 card confirms when ReferralCandy detects your test referral. Click View Purchases to inspect the test purchase details.
It can take up to 1 hour for a referral to be detected after purchase.
Step 6: Exit Test Mode
As the merchant: when you're done testing, click Exit Test Mode. ReferralCandy runs cleanup in the background:
Restores your original Target audience
Disqualifies all test referrals
Removes the test segment and the contacts that were in it (those contacts stay in your overall contacts list)
Removes all Test Mode settings
What's kept: campaign activation state (if you activated in Step 3, the campaign stays active), campaign configuration (rewards / emails / triggers / themes), and any emails already sent to test contacts during the test.
If exit gets stuck: cleanup usually completes within a minute. If it takes longer than 2 minutes, a Retry button appears — clicking it is safe (no duplicate actions). The Retry button has a 30-second cooldown between clicks. If still stuck after retrying, let us know.
Step 7: Launch Campaign
As the merchant: after exiting, you'll be redirected to your campaign overview. From there, activate the campaign for real customers. If the redirect doesn't happen automatically, click Go to campaign overview.
Manual test (for already-activated, affiliate, or loyalty campaigns)
Use this procedure when Test Mode isn't available — typically when your campaign has already been activated at least once, or it's an affiliate or loyalty campaign (Test Mode is currently referral-only).
The procedure works by temporarily swapping your campaign's Target audience with a test segment. Real customers won't be enrolled during the testing window. You'll restore your normal Target audience when done.
Heads up: while this test is running, your campaign won't enroll new real customers. Keep the testing window short and remember to restore your audience in Step 4.
Step 1: Create a test segment and target it
As the merchant:
Open your Segments page:
Click Create new segment (Shopify) or Create segment (Non-Shopify). Select Static, click Create, name the segment (e.g., "Test"), and save.
Open the new test segment, click Import contacts, then select Add customer by email. In the popup, add the test email address and name that will act as the advocate, then click Add customer and confirm the import.
Go to the campaign's Target audience page:
In Target these segments, note your current target segments (so you can restore them later), unselect them, and select the test segment instead. Save.
Step 2: Make a test referral purchase
This step is where the role switches — first find the advocate's referral link as the merchant, then act as the referred friend.
When the test segment is targeted, the imported contact is automatically enrolled in the campaign and assigned a unique referral link.
As the merchant, find the referral link:
In the same campaign, go to the Advocates or Affiliates page.
Click the imported test contact to open their information.
Find the contact's unique referral link:
ReferralCandy dashboard: on the Campaigns and Segments tab, in the INDIVIDUAL CAMPAIGN DETAILS section, confirm the correct campaign is selected. Scroll down to find and copy the Referral Link.
Shopify admin: make sure the Enrolled referral campaigns - details app block has been added for ReferralCandy (without it the referral link isn't visible). Confirm the correct campaign is selected, then copy the URL under Referral link.
Important — for the test to succeed:
The campaign must be set to Live.
Open the referral link on a different device AND a different network from where you manage ReferralCandy — for example, switch from Wi-Fi to cellular data, use a personal hotspot, or connect through a different ISP. Same-network access (same public IP) triggers anti-fraud detection and the friend offer code shows as "SAMPLE" instead of the real code. Incognito alone isn't enough.
Use an email address that doesn't yet exist in your Contacts list to act as the referred friend in the test. On Shopify and BigCommerce, this also means the email shouldn't already exist in your platform's customer list.
As the referred friend:
Open the referral link you copied using a different device, a different browser, or an incognito window — on a different network than your management device (see Important above).
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.)
Select an item and proceed to checkout. Make sure the purchase amount meets the minimum purchase requirements you set on your Reward conditions page.
Enter the necessary checkout details for testing — name, phone number, email address, billing and shipping address, and payment information — using a different email than the advocate's. Paste the coupon code if it isn't auto-applied. Complete the test purchase.
Quick note on "SAMPLE": if the friend offer code shows as "SAMPLE" during your test, anti-fraud detection has kicked in. This usually means the link was opened from the same network/IP as your management device (the most common cause), or you're viewing the link as the advocate themselves (own-view case). Switch to a different network and the real code should appear. See the FAQ for the full explanation.
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
As the merchant:
Open your Purchases & Referrals page:
ReferralCandy dashboard: My Store > Purchases & Referrals.
Shopify admin: Purchases & Referrals.
Find the test purchase (detected purchases are at the top of the list; you can also search by the test email address).
Click the reference ID to open the purchase details.
In the Referrer section, confirm the test advocate's email is shown — that's confirmation the referral was tracked correctly.
Step 4: Restore your campaign and delete the test purchase
As the merchant:
Go to the campaign's Target audience page. Unselect the test segment, re-select your original target segments, and save.
Delete the test segment if you no longer need it.
Delete the test purchase:
ReferralCandy dashboard: open the test purchase in Purchases & Referrals, then click Delete Purchase.
Shopify: note the Shopify ID of the test purchase, then go to the Orders page and search using the Shopify ID. Archive and delete the test purchase.
Article FAQ
Why does the friend offer code show as "SAMPLE" during testing?
Why does the friend offer code show as "SAMPLE" during testing?
"SAMPLE" appears when ReferralCandy's anti-fraud detection treats the view as a potential self-referral rather than a real friend's view. There are two triggers, and both are protections against self-referrals:
Same network / IP as the advocate or management device. If the referral link is opened from the same public IP (for example, the same Wi-Fi) as the device that manages the campaign or as the advocate's device, the friend offer code is replaced with "SAMPLE". This is the most common cause during testing.
Opening the link as the advocate themselves (own-view). Referral links are designed for friends — when the advocate opens their own link, the system shows "SAMPLE" as a placeholder. A real friend opening the link sees the actual coupon code.
You may also see this banner near the top of the page: "Don't worry if you can't see the coupon code. The actual code will appear when your friends see this page."
To test the real code experience:
Open the referral link on a different network from where you manage ReferralCandy — switch from Wi-Fi to cellular data, use a personal hotspot, or a different ISP if available. Incognito alone isn't enough because the system also checks IP.
Use a different email at checkout than the advocate's — and ideally one that doesn't yet exist in your Contacts list (or your Shopify / BigCommerce customer list, where applicable).
For more on what the advocate sees when they open their own link, see Advocates & affiliates: How do I refer friends using ReferralCandy?.
My test purchase isn't showing in Purchases & Referrals — what's wrong?
My test purchase isn't showing in Purchases & Referrals — what's wrong?
Detection can take up to 1 hour on the first test referral, especially on Email or API integrations. Also confirm:
The campaign is set to Live (or activated in Test Mode, if you're using Test Mode).
The purchase used a different email than the advocate's email.
Your integration is connected (check the Integrations page).
The friend opened the referral link on a different device or incognito window from the advocate — same-identity sessions are treated as self-referrals and aren't tracked.
Can I use Test Mode on an already-activated campaign?
Can I use Test Mode on an already-activated campaign?
No. Test Mode is one-time eligibility — only available before a campaign's first activation. Once a campaign has been activated, it's permanently ineligible for Test Mode.
For already-activated campaigns, use the manual test procedure above. The trade-off: the manual procedure temporarily swaps your Target audience, so real customers won't be enrolled during your testing window. Keep the test short and remember to restore your audience when done.
Why isn't Test Mode available on my affiliate or loyalty campaign?
Why isn't Test Mode available on my affiliate or loyalty campaign?
Test Mode is currently only available for referral campaigns. For affiliate or loyalty campaigns, use the manual test procedure above.
What if I want to test with more than just my admin email?
What if I want to test with more than just my admin email?
On Step 2 (Confirm your test audience) of the Test Mode wizard, click Manage Segment to add more test contacts. Each contact will get their own referral link, and the Step 4 card has a dropdown to pick which contact's link to use for the test purchase.