How to set up a referral program in BigCommerce (step by step)

BigCommerce does a lot well out of the box. A quick checkout, good catalog tools, and no extra transaction fees. But a refer-a-friend program isn’t one of those things.

There’s no referral feature in the dashboard, so if you want your customers to bring in their friends, you have to add it yourself.

It’s not hard, and it’s worth it. A referral is about the cheapest sale you’ll ever make, because you only hand out a reward after a new order comes in.

Below, I’ll walk you through your two real options, help you pick the one that fits, and show you how to get people actually using it.

First, does BigCommerce have a referral program built in?

No, it doesn’t. BigCommerce gives you products, a cart, and checkout, but referrals are left to apps and add-ons. So there’s no setting you can flip to let customers refer their friends.

You’ll add that part yourself, and the rest of this guide shows you how.

Your two routes to set one up

BigCommerce has a smaller app store than Shopify, so it pays to pick the right path early instead of switching halfway through. Here are your two real choices.

Most stores end up on an app. It’s less work, it grows with you, and you don’t pay for loyalty extras you might not need yet. Let’s start with the free way, then walk through the app way step by step.

Turn BigCommerce buyers into your sales team

WiserReview hands every customer a referral link and pays the reward only after a referred order goes through. Start on the free plan.

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The free way: do it with coupon codes

Before you pay for anything, you can put together a simple referral program with the coupon tools BigCommerce already gives you. It works fine, it just runs on your time. Here’s how to do it.

1. Open your coupon codes: In your BigCommerce control panel, go to Marketing, then Coupon Codes.

2. Create a code for each referrer: Click Create a Coupon Code and make one per customer who wants to refer. Name each code after the customer (like SARAH10) so you can tell whose referral it is later.

3. Set the discount: Pick the discount the friend gets, a percentage or a fixed amount off, and set any rules you want, like a minimum order or a single use per customer.

4. Share the codes: Send each customer their code to pass on to friends. The friend enters it at checkout and gets the discount.

5. Watch the Marketing reports: BigCommerce shows how many times each code was used, so you can see which referrals turned into orders.

6. Reward the referrer yourself: Once a referred order is paid for, send that customer their thank-you, store credit, a coupon, whatever you promised. There’s no automation, so you keep track by hand.

This is fine for ten customers. Around fifty, it gets messy, you’re making codes, checking orders against them, and sending rewards one by one. The day it starts to feel like a part-time job, switch to an app.

The easy way: let WiserReview run it for you

An app takes over the busywork. It gives every customer their own link, puts the friend’s discount on automatically when they arrive, and pays the referrer once their order goes through.

WiserReview does this next to your product reviews, so a customer who just left you five stars can be asked to refer a friend in the same breath. Here’s the setup, it takes a few minutes.

Step 1: Set your offer in WiserReview

First you tell WiserReview what the rewards are. This is where the offer lives, not in BigCommerce.

1. Log in and open Referrals: Sign in to your WiserReview account and go to the Referrals section.

2. Enable the referral program: Switch it on to start the campaign.

3. Set the friend reward: Choose the discount a new friend gets, a percentage or a fixed amount off their first order.

4. Set the referrer reward: Choose what the customer doing the referring earns, store credit, cash, or a coupon.

5. Set the conditions and save: Decide when a reward unlocks (set it to a completed order), then save your settings.

Step 2: Turn on the widgets in BigCommerce

Now you pick where shoppers see the referral offer. There are two widgets, and it’s worth turning on both.

6. Open Referral Widgets: In WiserReview, go to Referrals, then open Referral Widgets.

7. Turn on the On-Site widget: Enable it and publish the change. It shows across your storefront, so any shopper can open it and grab their link.

8. Turn on the Post-Purchase widget: Enable it and save. It appears right after someone checks out, when they’re most likely to share.

Step 3: Match it to your brand

Last, make it look like the rest of your store.

9. Customize the look: From WiserReview, change the widget colors, button styles, fonts, referral wording, and success messages. Every change shows up on your store right away.

That’s the whole setup. If you want the click-by-click version with screenshots, it’s in the BigCommerce referral setup doc.

What actually happens when someone refers a friend

Once it’s live, the whole thing runs on its own. Here’s the loop, start to finish:

1. A customer opens the widget and gets their own referral link.
2. They send it to a friend. The friend clicks, lands on your store, and the discount is already on, no code to copy.
3. The friend buys. BigCommerce confirms the order and passes it back to WiserReview.
4. WiserReview checks the referral is real and pays the first customer their reward.

Fake, expired, or self-referred codes get skipped on their own, so you’re not chasing down cheaters by hand.

Pick a reward people will actually share for

The reward is what makes or breaks the whole thing. Too small and nobody bothers. Too big and you lose money on every order.

A two-sided “give X, get X” deal works best almost every time, because both the friend and the referrer get something, so both have a reason to act.

Match the size to what you sell. A flat $10 each way is fine for everyday products. For pricier stuff, 15% each way usually lands better.

And whatever you pick, only pay the referrer after the order is fully complete, so a canceled order never costs you.

If you want ideas, our roundup of referral program examples shows what the best programs do with their rewards.

Put the program where people will see it

A referral program nobody notices earns nothing. The best moment to ask is right after someone buys, while they’re still happy with you, which is exactly what the post-purchase widget is for.

Back that up in a few more spots:

• Your emails: Drop the offer into order and shipping confirmations, and send a “refer a friend” note to past buyers now and then.
• The account page: Show it to logged-in customers so regulars can grab their link whenever.
• The box: Slip a small referral card into orders. The unboxing moment is a great time to ask.
• Social and texts: A quick reminder goes a long way, most people forget the program exists unless you bring it up.

The thing that works: ask when people are happiest, then remind them gently over time. One launch email and silence after that won’t get you far.

How to tell if it’s working

Your app gives you a dashboard. Four numbers tell you whether it’s working:

• Share rate: How many customers send at least one referral? If it’s low, your reward is too small or too hard to find.
• Conversion rate: How many referred visitors actually buy. Referred people usually buy more often than cold traffic.
• Referred revenue: The sales coming from referred orders. This is the number that proves the program is worth it.
• Cost per customer: Total rewards paid divided by new customers won. Stack it against your ad spend; referrals usually come out cheaper.

Check these once a month. Low sharing means rework the reward or move it somewhere more visible. Low conversion means fix the page referred friends land on.

Reviews and referrals, one BigCommerce app

WiserReview collects reviews and runs referrals from one dashboard, free to start. No demo call, no code.

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A few things that’ll trip you up

Most programs that flop trip over the same few things. Dodge these, and you’re ahead of most stores:

• A reward that’s too small: Five percent off doesn’t make anyone text a friend. Make it worth the ask.
• Hiding it: If people can’t find the program, they can’t use it. Put it in a few places.
• Rewarding one side only: Give the friend a reason to buy too, not just the referrer. Two-sided wins.
• No fraud checks: Without duplicate and self-referral rules, you’ll pay out on fake orders.
• Setting it and forgetting it: A referral program needs the odd reminder, not one announcement and done.

The bottom line

BigCommerce won’t give you a referral program, but adding one is an afternoon’s work. Coupon codes if you’re just testing the water, a referral app once you’ve got orders worth automating.

Keep the first version simple, point it at your real margins, and let your happy customers do the talking. For a BigCommerce store, it’s about the cheapest way to grow there is.