How to Set Up a Refer a Friend Program in WooCommerce (Step by Step)

To set up a refer a friend program in WooCommerce, you need a referral plugin, because WooCommerce has no referral system of its own. With Coupon Affiliates, each customer who joins gets a personal coupon code. A friend who uses the code gets a discount, and your customer earns a reward on that order.

The basic setup takes about an hour. Most of that time goes on two decisions: how much the friend saves, and what your customer earns.

Quick disclosure: Coupon Affiliates is our own plugin, made by RelyWP, so the steps and settings below come from it. If you are still choosing a tool, our comparison of the best WooCommerce referral plugins covers eight options, including ones that suit some stores better than ours.

Jump to a step:

• What you need before you start
• Step 1: Choose the discount and the reward
• Step 2: Install the plugin and create your template coupon
• Step 3: Set the reward your customers earn
• Step 4: Let customers join
• Step 5: Rename “affiliate” to “refer a friend”
• Step 6: Block self-referrals
• Step 7: Decide how rewards are paid
• Step 8: Test it, then tell your customers
• When a different plugin fits better
• Frequently asked questions

What You Need Before You Start

You need a WooCommerce store with coupons switched on (WooCommerce > Settings > General > Enable coupons) and the free version of Coupon Affiliates from WordPress.org.

The free version runs a working program. Customers can sign up, get a code, share it and see what they have earned. Some of the options in this guide need PRO, and the table shows which.

On the free version, the plugin tracks what each customer has earned and you pay them yourself outside the plugin.

Step 1: Choose the Discount and the Reward

A refer a friend program has two amounts. The friend gets a discount on their order. Your customer gets a reward for sending them. In Coupon Affiliates these are set in different places, so decide both before you touch any settings.

The friend’s discount

This is a normal WooCommerce coupon discount, such as 10% off or free shipping. It needs to be large enough that the friend has a reason to order now.

The customer’s reward

The plugin calls this commission. You can pay a percentage of the order or a fixed amount per order. A fixed amount is easier to explain to customers (“give 10% off, get $5”). A percentage suits stores where order values vary a lot.

Check the cost on one order

Add both amounts together and compare them with your profit on a typical first order. Here is an example with made-up numbers.

If $11 is more than you make on a $60 order, lower one of the two amounts. Our free discount break-even calculator shows how many extra sales a discount needs to pay for itself, and the guide to setting commission rates goes deeper on the reward side.

A reward paid as store credit costs you less than the same amount in cash, because the customer spends it on products you buy at cost. Step 7 covers that option.

Step 2: Install the Plugin and Create Your Template Coupon

Install and activate Coupon Affiliates, then run the setup wizard. The quicker “Essentials” route asks for the customer discount and creates a template coupon for you.

The template coupon is a normal WooCommerce coupon that the plugin copies each time a customer joins. Nobody can use the template itself. Every referral code gets its discount and its restrictions from it.

To create it by hand:

1. Go to Marketing > Coupons > Add coupon and create a coupon with an obvious code, such as refer_template.
2. Set the discount type and amount you chose for the friend in step 1.
3. Add any restrictions you want on every referral code, such as a minimum spend or excluded sale items.
4. Publish it, then go to Coupon Affiliates > Settings > Registrations and type the exact code into the Template coupon code field. A green tick appears when it matches.

Two details to know before you save. The settings are copied once, when each code is created, so editing the template later only affects customers who join after the edit. An expiry date on the template is copied as a fixed date, so every code would expire on the same day. Leave the expiry empty unless you want that.

Step 3: Set the Reward Your Customers Earn

Open the Commission settings tab and enter the reward from step 1. There are three types, and you can combine them:

• A percentage of the order total.
• A fixed amount per order.
• A fixed amount per product.

In the free version this is one site-wide rate that applies to every referral code. PRO lets you set a different rate on individual coupons, which helps if you later want to pay your most active customers more.

The discount and the reward are separate. A 10% discount on the template coupon does not give the customer a 10% reward. If you skip this step, customers earn whatever the default commission is set to.

PRO also has a new customer bonus, which pays extra when a referred friend places their first order, and performance bonuses, such as a gift coupon after five referred orders.

Step 4: Let Customers Join

Customers need a way to sign up and get their code. There are four, and you can use more than one.

A sign-up form

The setup wizard creates a registration page with a short form. Customers fill it in and choose their own code, such as EMMA10. You accept the application in one click, and their coupon is created from your template. Link to this page from your footer, your order confirmation emails and your My Account area.

The floating widget

Turn on the floating affiliate widget under Coupon Affiliates > Settings > Widget and a button appears on every page of your store. Visitors who have not joined see the sign-up form. Customers who have joined see their code, their referral link and their stats without leaving the page.

A checkbox at checkout (PRO)

PRO can show a “join our affiliate program” checkbox on the checkout, so customers can join while they place an order. The setting is in the Registrations tab. The checkbox only shows to customers who are logged in or who tick “Create an account?”, and it is hidden from anyone who already has a code.

Invite your best customers yourself

You do not have to wait for sign-ups. The bulk create tool makes a code for each customer on a list, assigns it to their account and emails it to them.

With PRO you can also approve applications automatically and have the plugin generate each code, so a customer who joins has a working code within seconds. On the free version, check for new applications every day or two, because a customer cannot share a code until you approve them.

Step 5: Rename “Affiliate” to “Refer a Friend”

The word “affiliate” describes a sales partner. A customer who shares a code with a friend is doing something simpler, and the wording on your site should match.

In the Design settings tab, the custom terminology option replaces the word “Affiliate” across the customer dashboard and the registration form. Enter “Refer a Friend” and “Affiliate Dashboard” becomes “Refer a Friend Dashboard”. The plugin’s own settings page keeps the original wording, so the admin screens in this guide will still say “affiliate”.

Step 6: Block Self-Referrals

A referral program should reward customers for bringing in someone new. Without limits, some customers will use their own code on their own orders and collect both the discount and the reward.

Three settings in the Fraud Prevention tab deal with this, and all three are in the free version:

• Allow affiliate to apply their own coupon. Switch this off to stop customers using their own code at all.
• Do not give commission when they use their own code. A softer choice. The customer still gets the discount on their own order but earns no reward for it.
• New customers only. Under Coupon Usage Restrictions, this limits referral codes to first orders, so an existing customer cannot borrow a friend’s code for a regular discount.

We would turn on new customers only for almost every refer a friend program. It also protects your margin, because you only pay the discount and the reward when you gain a customer.

Refunds reduce the reward automatically. PRO can also hold each reward until your refund window has passed. Our guides to commission refunds and clawbacks and preventing coupon abuse cover the less common cases.

Step 7: Decide How Rewards Are Paid

For a refer a friend program, store credit is usually the better reward. The customer already shops with you, so credit is as useful to them as cash, and it brings them back for another order.

Store credit (PRO)

PRO pays rewards into a wallet on the customer’s account, using the built-in wallet or our free Simple Store Credit plugin. The customer applies the balance at the cart or checkout. You can add a bonus for choosing credit, so a $20 reward arrives as $25 in credit.

The guide to paying rewards in store credit covers the setup, what credit costs you compared with cash, and what to do about balances nobody spends.

Cash (PRO)

PRO can also pay by PayPal, Stripe or Wise. Cash suits higher-priced products, where a customer may not order again for a long time and credit would go unused.

On the free version

The plugin records every referred order and the reward owed, and customers see their totals in their dashboard. You pay them yourself, for example by adding credit to their account by hand or sending a bank transfer. That works for a small program. Once you are paying more than a handful of people each month, the payouts in PRO save real time.

Step 8: Test It, Then Tell Your Customers

Run one referral from start to finish before you announce anything.

1. Create a test customer account and sign it up through your form or widget.
2. Accept the application and check that a coupon was created with the right discount.
3. In a private browser window, place an order as a new customer using the code.
4. Check that the discount applied, the order appears in the test customer’s dashboard, and the reward matches what you set in step 3.
5. Place a second order with the same code as the test customer, and confirm your self-referral setting from step 6 works.

A referral program only works if customers know it exists. The places that reach the most customers:

• Order confirmation and delivery emails. These reach every customer shortly after they have bought.
• Your email list. Send one email that explains the deal in a sentence and links to the sign-up page.
• The My Account area. Add a link to the program so returning customers find it.
• The floating widget. It puts the offer on every page without a separate campaign.

Each customer can also share a referral link, which applies their coupon automatically so the friend does not need to type anything. PRO adds short links, QR codes and one-click sharing to WhatsApp, Facebook, X and email. If customers pick their own codes, our coupon code name generator can suggest formats.

When a Different Plugin Fits Better

Coupon Affiliates pays rewards as money or store credit. That does not suit every store.

• You want customers to earn points. Coupon Affiliates has no points system. Simple Points and Rewards (also ours) includes refer a friend as part of a loyalty program.
• You only want a link, with no coupon code. Coupon Affiliates is built around codes. Referral links are included, but every participant still gets a coupon.
• You want to pay rewards automatically without PRO. The free version tracks rewards but does not pay them.

The referral plugins comparison has alternatives for each of those cases. If you are not sure whether you need a referral, affiliate or loyalty program, this comparison of the three on the RelyWP blog explains who each one pays and for what.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does WooCommerce have a built-in refer a friend feature?

No. WooCommerce includes coupons but has no way to link a coupon to a customer, track who referred an order or work out a reward. You need a plugin for that.

Can I run a refer a friend program for free?

Yes. The free version of Coupon Affiliates gives each customer a code and a referral link, tracks referred orders and shows customers what they have earned. You pay the rewards yourself. Automatic store credit and cash payouts need PRO, which starts at $23.99 per month or $179.99 per year with a 7-day free trial.

Does the friend get a discount as well?

Yes. The friend gets whatever discount you put on your template coupon. You can also edit one customer’s coupon if you want to give their friends a different deal.

Can customers refer friends without creating an account?

No. Each referral code is linked to a WordPress user account, so the customer needs one to join. The checkout checkbox in PRO lets them create the account and join in the same step.

Can a customer keep earning on a friend’s later orders?

With the new customers only setting on, the code works on the friend’s first order and not after that. PRO has a lifetime commission option that links a referred friend to the customer who sent them, so later orders can earn a reward without the code.

Should I approve customers by hand or automatically?

For a refer a friend program, automatic approval (PRO) is usually fine, because the people joining are already customers and the fraud settings in step 6 limit misuse. Approve by hand if your rewards are large or you have had problems with fake accounts.

Can the same setup run an affiliate or influencer program later?

Yes. The plugin treats customers, influencers and affiliates the same way, and you can give each group its own rate. Our guide on how to create an affiliate program in WooCommerce covers that side.

Start Small and Check the Numbers

Set a modest discount and reward, limit codes to new customers, and invite the customers who already order from you often. After a month, look at how many referred orders came in and what each one cost you in discount and reward. Raise the reward if few people are sharing, and lower it if the orders are not profitable.

We make Coupon Affiliates, so weigh our recommendation with that in mind. The free version is enough to test whether your customers will refer their friends, and PRO has a 7-day free trial if you want store credit rewards from the start. The customer referral program page lists every feature mentioned in this guide.

Elliot Sowersby

Elliot Sowersby is a WordPress developer from Yorkshire, United Kingdom. He is the founder and lead developer of Coupon Affiliates and RelyWP.