As an e-commerce business owner, you’re constantly searching for creative ways to increase targeted traffic to your website and encourage conversions. An eCommerce referral marketing program is a way to reward your existing consumers for referring new customers to your business.
Refer-a-friend or affiliate programs are other names for referral marketing programs. They are the best ways to leverage the power of word-of-mouth. In this article we listed down some of the brilliant ecommerce referral programs to take clues from so you would never go wrong with referral programs.
Top Eight Ecommerce Referral Programs to Inspire You
Omsom
Omsom provides incentive by offering users “Give $5, Get $5” reward. Consumers only need to provide their email address to recommend as many friends as they like, and they will receive $5 for each one. They also save $5 on all of their friends!
Customers are encouraged to refer Omsom to others who will enjoy their products and be thrilled about a free first purchase through this simple referral program. With the title “Share the Omsom Love,” the brand is staying true to its reputation as a welcoming, diverse, and customer-focused business.
Omsom additionally makes it simple to find their referral link by including it in the website’s footer menu. Customers are encouraged to view and use the referral program link because of its ease of access.
Hydro Flask
Hydro Flask employs a unique strategy for rewarding referrals. Consumers are aware that they will receive “a little something” from Hydro Flask when a friend they referred makes their first purchase. Customers are encouraged to share and find out, but the nature of that prize is still unknown. (We’ve heard—but can’t confirm—that the prize is a substantial discount on a Hydro Flask purchase.)
Customers can choose from a variety of easy sharing alternatives, such as email, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, or a click-to-copy referral link, after entering their email address. We appreciate the fact that customers can choose to send a prefilled message or write their own to their friends.
Ztylus
Ztylus sells phone accessories, car-related accessories, as well as multifunctional phone cases and add-on lenses for smartphones. Their creative phone cases use a special disc-mount mechanism that allows you to connect accessories to the phone without taking it apart.
Their referral scheme seems more like an affiliate program. Referrers distribute their code and, for the duration of their fans’ and friends’ purchases, earn a 10% commission. Also, customers who are referred save 25% on their initial purchase.
In addition, affiliates receive additional compensation based on the total amount of sales they refer: 2% more when they reach $5,000, 5% more when they reach $10,000, and 10% more when they reach $50,000.
The program is highly attractive to content creators (popular Instagram accounts, YouTube video creators, etc.) because they make money from their referral codes forever. By appealing to influencers, Ztylus found a way to maximize the success of their referral marketing program.
Zulily
Zulily follows a unique ecommerce referral program. For a brief period, they offer things at massive discounts (more than 70%). They manage this by purchasing in bulk once their sale ends (so they know exactly how much to buy). This keeps their prices low and their selection fresh.
Referrers get $15 for each friend they invite who completes a purchase. Considering the store’s deep discounts, that $15 goes a long way.
By adding their email address, referrers can allow Zulily to search through their contacts and find the best people to invite. Or referrers can simply enter the addresses of their friends to send automated invites.
Lokai
Lokai embraces the popular strategy of rewarding a referral and their friend with a dual-sided reward. However, they provide 20% off of an order in place of shop credit. Given that Lokai hardly ever runs specials or coupons, this is a significant discount that probably convinces a lot of consumers to share.
When a customer buys a Lokai bracelet, the brand cleverly uses a pop-up to promote its referral program. This way, the customer is reminded of Lokai and given the chance to save money on their next purchases by thinking of a friend. That’s not the only place Lokai promotes its program, though. The referral program page is conveniently accessible through the menu at the bottom of the home page and by a callout that appears on other pages on the brand website.
Frank & Oak
Menswear brand Frank & Oak offers sustainable and ethically sourced products. They create eye-catching clothes by fusing traditional designs with contemporary cuts.
Instead of offering commissions for transactions made through referrals, Frank & Oak have a strong affiliate network in place. By providing their audiences with special deals and promotions, affiliates can make money. A commission of 5% is paid to affiliates on every purchase.
Frank & Oak supports their affiliates by giving them access to a wide selection of product photos, images, logos, copy, videos, and other assets. Affiliates can even create their own custom shop on the store’s website, filled with the affiliate’s curated products.
Outdoor Voices
Outdoor Voices offers a discount reward for customers who refer a friend. Customers who recommend friends to Outdoor Voices receive massive discounts. They promote their business with the hashtag #DoingThings and give a $25 discount on the next purchase to both the referred consumer and the referrer. They encourage customers to bring friends who will adore the company’s products through their program, by providing a fantastic discount to both parties.
Outdoor Voices makes the referral process simple, rewarding, and effective. Customers only need to provide their email address to receive a referral link, which they can use to send to friends in any way they choose.
Casper
Casper’s referral program invites customers to give before they get, making them feel good about their generosity and excited about their reward.
Casper offers a 20% mattress discount to new customers and a $75 gift card for existing customers who refer others. In this way, the business fosters connections amongst its customers and promotes the value of its brand.
By just providing their email address, customers obtain a unique link to share with friends and family. To give customers more sharing options, they even include a link to a second referral option on the same page (where users can earn $10 for referring to a different product).
Guide to Launch Ecommerce Referral Marketing Using Referral Rocket
Ishq Cosmetics is one of the ecommerce stores that built referral programs using Referral Rocket. It is a cosmetic brand that sells different kinds of makeup. It was a newly launched e-store, they weren’t able to gain new customers and generate repeated purchases from customers.
Their marketing team observed that Ishq products have a decent reach among makeup lovers but need to have a breakthrough moment to attract a huge number of customers who love using cosmetics.
This encouraged them to launch a referral program that could drive customers to their website and make purchases. Since it’s a newly launched business, they decided to take the free plan of Referral Rocket and launch a niche-specific referral program that excites the audience.
Ishq Cosmetics had a marketing plan to launch a referral program with one campaign. Their audience ranges from 150-250 and their marketing executive was responsible to oversee the process. They wanted a referral software that offers dashboards so they can get detailed reports of participants. With dashboards, the audience can see their status which enhances customer experience. And of course, they needed a software that offers hosting.
Ishq Cosmetics Requirements
- Free Referral Software
- Run Referral Campaign
- Access to team member (Marketing Executive)
- Hosting
- Dashboards to see reports
- Can go live in few minutes
Referral Rocket’s starter plan checked all the boxes that Ishq cosmetics was looking for and it’s free plan is the best option to launch a referral program with zero-budget.
Here’s a step-by-step process they followed to launch a referral program that increased their reach by 20% in just 30 days.
Easy Registration
Referral Rocket has a simple registration process where you give your full name, email and password to register and access the platform.
If you already have an account, you can login and access the Referral Rocket platform.
Profile Setup
After you log in, you need to set up your profile and give details of the company such as website, name and country.
You will land on a dashboard where you can trace the information related to referral campaigns.
Campaign Creation
Create a new campaign and choose a type that aligns with your business goals.
‘Refer a friend’ program is where existing customers are encouraged to refer their friends to a company’s products or services. Both the referrer and referee receive rewards when the referred friend makes a purchase or signs up, It is a great way to leverage word of mouth marketing.
Ishq cosmetics wanted their customers to recommend their products and hence chose the refer a friend campaign type.
You can select a single-sided or double-sided referral program based on your requirements.
Companies like Airbnb successfully leveraged a single-sided referral program by offering $30 travel credits to the customers who refer. This referral program worked like magic for them by bringing millions of revenue.
On the other hand, brands like Uber created one of the most successful referral programs by offering $10 to both referrer and referee. This is a really great way to encourage users to participate in referral programs.
Ishq Cosmetics wanted to reward both the referrer and the friend who had been referred. And the ideal referral program for them was a double-sided referral program.
Give details about the campaign. Choose a name and the host you would want to go with.
Ishq Cosmetics wanted Referral Rocket to host so the chosen option for them is Referral Rocket.
If you want self hosting, you can give your website for the same.
Reward Details
Fill out the details regarding the referral program you want to run such as referral program header, description, referral reward value and reward type.
Ishq cosmetics wanted to reward their customers with $20.
And once you save all the information, you can see a preview.
Preview
If you selected self hosting, your preview looks like below
You can see details of the campaign here.
Installation
An installation script will be given to you based on the hosting type you chose. If you choose Referral Rocket for hosting your program, you will get a dedicated link through which your audience can effortlessly join your campaign.
And if you have chosen self hosting, you would require to insert the JavaScript into your code to embed a Referral Rocket Widget. You need to put the JavaScript in your head tag on the index page and the div element for the widget on the page where you would like users to view your referral program. You can generate unique links without requiring user sign-up by passing the additional parameters.
For more information, refer to our developer guide or reach out to us at support@referralrocket.io
Building your own ecommerce referral program has plenty of benefits. You’ll find that it’s an easy, affordable, and proven way to grow your business and spread brand awareness. To get started with, select an appealing incentive, familiarize yourself with the customers you serve, and craft flexible shareable links. And then spread the word about your program. With these easy steps, you can increase your loyal customer base and craft a strong referral program to expand your ecommerce business.
If you are looking for free software to build customized referral programs for your business, sign-up to Referral Rocket and power your business with unlimited referral revenue.
