Referral links and attribution
How a referral link connects a friend’s visit to their first purchase, and how long it counts.
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Every rewards customer gets their own referral link from their Rewards page. Opening that link is what connects a friend’s later purchase back to the customer who shared it.
Before you start
Referral tracking needs the Storefront script app embed turned on in your theme. See Turn on referral link capture.
How attribution works
- A friend opens your customer’s referral link and browses your store.
- That visit is recorded against the friend’s cart, so the referral is not lost if they leave and come back before buying.
- The connection stays valid for 30 days after the friend opens the link. If the friend does not complete a qualifying order within that window, the link expires and a new visit is needed to start a fresh 30-day window.
- If the friend places a qualifying order inside the window, the referral moves forward to be approved and paid.
What customers see
Your customer’s Rewards page shows their link as plain text next to a copy button, so it can be shared however they like, and can be copied and read without a mouse.
Good to know
- The first valid link a friend’s cart is attributed to is the one that counts. If a friend opens two different referral links before ordering, the first one keeps the attribution.
- The link only counts a visit that happens before the purchase. Opening a referral link after an order is already placed cannot attribute that order.
- Cross-device visits might not be attributed. If a friend opens the link on one device and orders on another, there may be nothing connecting the two.
- Referral tracking does not identify who the friend is. It only records that a visit came from a specific customer’s link.