In this article, you'll learn:
How does the Rise.ai Referral Program work
The Rise.ai Referral Program helps you motivate customers to tell friends about your store by rewarding both sides when a referral leads to a purchase.
When a customer shares their unique referral link, their friend is invited to shop your store and claim a reward. The store credit is added to the friend’s wallet immediately, allowing them to use it towards their first purchase. Once that first order is completed, the referrer receives their store credit reward as well.
This allows you to efficiently acquire new customers while incentivizing your existing ones to return and shop again.
How to Create a Referral Program
To start setting up your Referral Program, follow these steps:
Navigate to the Referrals tab on the left-hand menu and click the Create program button.
After creating your referral program, you’ll be able to define how both sides of the referral are rewarded: the friend who was referred, and the customer who made the referral.
Rewards
Define how much store credit the referred friend receives, and how much store credit the referrer receives after a successful referral.
Friend gets
Set the fixed amount of store credit a referred friend will receive after claiming their reward.
You can decide whether the friend’s credit should expire:
Never - the credit will not expire.
After a certain period of time - the credit expires after a defined number of days.
On a specific date - the credit expires on a set calendar date.
Referrer gets
Choose how the referrer (the existing customer who shared the referral) is rewarded.
You can select the reward type:
Fixed amount - Issue a set amount of store credit (for example, $20)
Percentage - Issue store credit based on a percentage of the referred friend’s purchase subtotal.
You can also define whether the referrer’s credit should expire.
Never - the credit will not expire.
After a certain period of time - the credit expires after a defined number of days.
On a specific date - the credit expires on a set calendar date.
Conditions
Choose optional rules that control when and how the referrer reward is issued. These settings help you protect your referral program and fine-tune how it operates.
Set minimum order for the referrer reward.
Enable this option if you want the referrer to receive their reward only when the referred friend’s order reaches a minimum order subtotal.
Once enabled, you can define the minimum order amount the referred friend must meet.
If the friend’s purchase does not reach this subtotal, the referrer reward will not be issued.
This setting helps ensure that referral rewards are only granted for qualifying purchases and higher-value orders.
Deactivate referrers with unusual activity
Enable this option to limit how much store credit a referrer can distribute to friends within a calendar week.
When this setting is turned on, you can define a reward sharing limit, the maximum total amount of store credit a referrer can grant to referred friends per week.
If a referrer reaches this limit:
New friends will no longer be able to create a wallet using that referrer’s link.
The referrer’s status will change to reached limit and they will be automatically blocked by the system.
The referrer will remain blocked until manually reactivated from the dashboard.
You’ll be notified when a referrer reaches the weekly limit, so you can review their activity and decide whether to reactivate them.
This condition helps protect your referral program from excessive or unusual activity while keeping you in full control.
Please note: The weekly counters reset every Monday at the start of the day (New York time). Any change made to the Reward Limit option takes effect immediately and resets the weekly counter, even if only one day remains in the current week.
Add a delay before the referrer reward.
Enable this option if you want to delay issuing the referrer’s reward after the referred friend completes a qualifying purchase.
During this delay period:
The referrer reward is issued only after the delay you set has passed.
The reward will appear under Future Transactions in the customer wallet with the scheduled date.
The reward will only be created once the delay has fully passed.
This condition is useful if you want to:
Add a short buffer before issuing referral rewards.
Allow time for order verification, cancellations, or refunds.
Control the timing of when referrer rewards are granted.
Once you’ve finished setting up your referral rewards, click Save to activate your referral program.
How to disable the Referral Program
If you wish to pause or stop your referral activity, you can deactivate the program at any time directly from your dashboard.
To do this, navigate to the Referrals tab and toggle the Program status off.
Once deactivated, the referral program stops working immediately. This means:
Referral links will no longer generate rewards.
Referral assets will remain in the Shopify editor but won’t appear on your live store.
For example:
How to set up the customer experience view
After saving your referral program, you’ll be redirected to the Customer View.
This is where you can customize the end-to-end experience your customers will see from the referral landing page to on-site assets and notifications.
In this view, you can preview each element of the referral experience. When you hover over a feature, you’ll see a Customize option that lets you customize how it looks and behaves.
If you’ve already created your referral program and want to access the rest of the referral-related features, navigate to Assets → Store Credit, scroll down, and you’ll see the three referral features. From there, you can choose which feature you’d like to set up or customize.
Below you’ll find detailed steps on how to customize each feature within the referral customer experience.
Important: The Friend pop-up is a required asset to complete the referral flow. You must add at least two assets to your store, so be sure to include the Thank You Page, the Theme App Extension, or both.
How to set up the Referral Friend Pop-up Extension
The Friend pop-up extension is an important and integral part of the referral program. This is where referred friends claim the reward they received after clicking on their referral link, making it a key step in completing the referral experience.
The friend pop-up appears after a referred friend clicks the referral link they received. Once they enter the store through that link, this popup is displayed, allowing them to claim their reward and use it when placing their order.
After clicking the popup, they can enter their email address, click Get reward, and use the reward when placing their order.
After they click Get reward, a Rise wallet is automatically created for them. They will then receive a Store Credit Received notification email containing the code, which they can use at checkout.
Click here to learn how to customize email notifications
Please note:
When a friend enters their email to receive a referral link, they must complete the purchase using the same email address.
If the friend has not yet registered an account with the store, the wallet will be created without a name and will be linked to their email address.
Once the friend’s purchase is completed successfully, the referrer will also receive a Successful Referral email notification along with their reward.
If the referrer has not yet registered an account with the store, a wallet will also be created without a name and linked to their email address.
After saving your referral program, hover over the Friend popup extension and click Customize. A setup window will open with the following steps:
Click Set up on Shopify to open the Shopify theme editor. This is where you can manage and customize how app widgets appear on your storefront.
In the Shopify editor, click on App embeds.
Turn on Rise.ai Referrals - Friend's popup
When you activate the Friend popup extension, a customization page opens where you can control the look, content, and behavior of the popup. Below is an explanation of each section and setting available on this extension.
Preview state
Lets you switch between different popup steps to preview how each state looks in the editor, such as the initial popup or the success state.
Floating button
Controls the floating button that appears on the storefront before the popup is opened.
Position - determines where the button is displayed on the screen.
Background color and text color - define the button’s appearance.
Floating button text - lets you customize the call to action. You can use the {reward_amount} variable to dynamically display the reward value.
Popup - Controls the design of the popup itself.
Background color - and text color define the popup layout.
Text color, button color and button text color - control the main action button styling.
Button width - allows you to choose whether the button is stretched or fit to text.
Error message color - defines the color of validation or error messages shown to customers.
Image
Allows you to select an image that appears in the popup. You can upload your own image.
Title
The main headline shown in the popup. You can use the {reward_amount} variable to display the reward value dynamically.
Subtitle
A short supporting text, usually used to instruct the friend to enter their email address.
Button
Defines the text shown on the main action button, for example Get Reward.
Success state
Controls what customers see after successfully submitting their email.
Success state image - lets you choose an image shown after the reward is applied.
Success message - title is the main confirmation message.
Success message - subtitle explains what happens next, such as receiving the reward by email.
Success state button - defines the call to action after success, such as Start Shopping.
Link
Determines where the customer is redirected when they click the success button, for example All Products.
Save your changes.
Once saved, the Friend popup extension will appear for referred friends after they click their referral link.
How to set up the Thank You page extension
The Thank You page extension allows you to display your referral widget directly on the order confirmation page, using Shopify’s editor. This helps expose the referral program to customers right after a successful purchase.
To set up and customize the Thank You page extension, navigate to Assets → Store Credit, next to the Thank You page extension, click Set Up.
After you click Set up, a setup window opens with the following steps:
Click Set up on Shopify to open the Shopify theme editor. This is where you can manage and customize how app widgets appear on your storefront.
In the Shopify editor, go to Home page → Checkout and customer accounts → Checkout → Thank you.
Open Apps → under Rise.ai: Gift Cards & Loyalty → Click on referrals-checkout. This will add the referral widget to the Thank you page.
You can customize all of the text shown in the referral widget directly from Shopify’s editor.
Once saved, the referral widget will appear on your Thank You page for customers who complete a purchase.
Please note:
When the referrer clicks Get my referral link, a Rise wallet is created for them if they don’t already have one. At this stage, the wallet balance will be $0.
The reward is added to the wallet only after the referred friend completes a successful purchase.
If the referrer is not registered as a customer in the store, the wallet will be created without an associated name.
How to set up the Theme App extension
The Theme App extension lets you display the referral widget on any page in your store, directly through the Shopify editor, while keeping it fully aligned with your theme’s design. This is useful if you want to promote referrals on a homepage, collection page, or custom page.
To set up and customize the Theme App extension, navigate to Assets → Store Credit, next to the Theme App extension, click Set Up.
After you click Set up, a setup window opens with the following steps:
Click Set up on Shopify to open the Shopify theme editor. This is where you can manage and customize how app widgets appear on your storefront.
In the Shopify editor, click Add block or Add section under the page where you want the referral widget to appear.
Click on Apps → Select Referrals widget. This will add the referral widget to the page you selected.
After adding the widget, a customization panel opens on the right, where you can adjust the widget’s content and style.
Preview design
Here you can see the three states of the referral widget:
Logging in: Customers see a Get your link button.
Shared link: Displays the unique referral link for the customer to copy and share.
Logged out: Appears when the customer is not logged in, showing a button to log in to their account.
Style (applies to all states)
Background color: Change the widget’s background to match your brand.
Content color: Customize the text and icon colors.
Content alignment: Align text and buttons left, center, or right.
Button width: Control the width of the widget buttons.
Content - Customize the text shown in the widget
Caption: A short line of text above the title (applies to all states).
Title: The main heading in the widget (applies to all states).
Subtitle: Additional text below the title (applies to all states).
Button text: Text displayed on the logged-in state.
Log in button text: Text shown on the button when the customer is logged out.
Save your changes.
Note: All visual styling and placement of the Theme App extension are handled directly in Shopify’s editor, allowing it to stay consistent with your store’s theme.
Understanding the Referrals dashboard
After you finish setting up your referral program and navigate to the Referrals tab, you’ll see a complete overview of your referral activity, including:
Referral Program status -
This section shows whether your referral program is currently active or inactive.
When the program is Active, customers can share referral links and earn rewards based on your settings. You can toggle the program off at any time to pause all referral activity without deleting your setup.
Referrals performance overview -
This section summarizes how your referral program is performing over time. Data refreshes daily.
The performance dashboard is divided into key metrics that help you evaluate the impact and efficiency of your referral program:
New customers: The total number of new customer wallets created through your referral program.
Paying customers: The number of referred friends who completed a purchase that meets the referral requirements.
Lifetime revenue: The total revenue generated from purchases made by referred friends.
Average LTV: The average revenue generated per paying referred customer (calculated as Lifetime Revenue / Paying Customers).
Total acquisition cost: The total value of store credit rewards redeemed by both referrers and friends.
ROI: Your return on investment, calculated as (Lifetime revenue - Total acquisition cost) / Total acquisition cost.
Referrers table: overview and actions
The Referrals table gives you a full overview of how your referral program is performing and how each referrer contributes to your store’s revenue. Each row represents a single referrer, and each column provides insight into their referral activity.
Here’s what each column means:
Referrer name - The name of the customer who is sharing the referral link.
Referrer email - The email address associated with the referrer’s customer account.
New referred contacts - The total number of people who signed up or were identified as referrals through this referrer’s link. This includes all referred contacts singing in as customers, whether or not they completed a purchase.
Paying referred customers - The number of referred contacts who went on to place at least one paid order.
Lifetime referral revenue - The total revenue generated from all purchases made by customers referred by this referrer, across all time. This metric helps you identify your most valuable referrers.
Last successful referral - The date of the most recent successful referral that resulted in a qualifying order.
Status - Indicates the current state of the referrer’s referral activity:
Active - The referrer can continue sharing their link and earning rewards.
Limit reached - This status appears when the “Deactivate referrers with unusual activity” condition is enabled in the settings, and a referrer reaches the weekly reward limit you defined.
When this happens:
The referrer is marked as having reached the limit.
No additional rewards are issued until you review the case.
You will also be notified by email when a referrer reaches this limit. The email includes details about the referrer and their recent activity, so you can quickly review the case and decide whether to reactivate them or keep the restriction in place.
After receiving the email, you can review the referrer’s activity and decide whether to reactivate them or keep the restriction in place. If you choose to reactivate the referrer, you can learn how to do this here.
• Deactivated - The referrer is disabled and cannot earn new rewards.
If you want to reactivate a referrer, go to Referrals, search for the relevant referrer, click the '⋯' button, and select Activate referrer.
From the referrers table, you can take action on individual referrers to manage their referral links, control reward eligibility, and respond to unusual or suspicious activity.
Copy link
Use this action to copy the referrer’s unique referral link.
Regenerate link
Use this action to generate a new referral link for the referrer, when you regenerate a link:
• The existing referral link is immediately disabled.
• A new referral link is created.
• Only the new link will track future referrals.
This is helpful if a referral link was shared publicly, reached unintended audiences, or you suspect misuse or fraud. After regenerating, make sure the referrer receives their new link or they can get it again from the Referrals asset or in the next email they will receive from Rise.ai.
Deactivate referrer
Use this action to stop a referrer from earning new rewards.
When a referrer is deactivated:
• Their referral link will no longer create new referred friends.
• Existing rewards remain unchanged.
Activate referrer
You can reactivate a referrer at any time after reviewing their activity. This includes referrers who were automatically paused after reaching the reward limit and are currently inactive (Disabled)
What happens if a referred order is refunded
When a referred friend returns an order, Rise automatically re-evaluates the referral to determine if the reward is still valid. This process applies to both full refunds and partial refunds, ensuring that rewards always align with the final order value.
Full Refunds (must apply to the entire order)
If the friend returns their entire order, the referral is no longer considered successful. The system then checks if the referrer has already used their reward:
If the referrer HAS NOT used the reward: The reward is automatically cancelled and removed from the referrer’s wallet.
Result: The friend is now "reset." They don’t need a new referral link (their wallet with store credit already exists). On their next purchase, the referral is recalculated, and if they complete a qualifying order, the referrer will receive a new reward.
If the referrer HAS already used the reward: The reward cannot be cancelled because the store credit has already been spent.
Result: Since the reward was used, the referral is considered "complete." The friend cannot trigger a successful referral reward again in the future.
Partial Refunds
If the friend returns only part of their order, the system checks if the remaining order total still meets the Minimum Order condition you set in your program settings.
Please note: If you have not set a specific Minimum Order requirement in your settings, the system treats the minimum as 0. This means that as long as the remaining order total is greater than 0, the referral is still considered valid.
Scenario A: The order total drops BELOW the minimum
If the partial refund causes the order value to fall under the required minimum, the referral is no longer valid.
If the reward is unused by the referrer: The reward is automatically cancelled and removed from the referrer’s wallet.
Result: The friend is now "reset." They don’t need a new referral link (their wallet with store credit already exists). On their next purchase, the referral is recalculated, and if they complete a qualifying order, the referrer will receive a new reward.
If the reward is used: The reward cannot be cancelled because the store credit has already been spent by the referrer
Result: Since the reward was used, the referral is considered "complete." The friend cannot trigger a successful referral reward again in the future.
Scenario B: The order total stays ABOVE the minimum
If the refund occurs but the remaining order total is still higher than the minimum requirement (or higher than 0 if no minimum was set), the referral remains successful.
However, the value of the reward might change depending on your settings:
Fixed Amount Reward: The reward remains unchanged.
Percentage-Based Reward:
If the reward is unused, the system cancels the original reward and automatically issues a new, adjusted amount based on the new (lower) order total.
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