Why aren’t referral rewards tracking?

Introduction

If referral rewards aren’t being awarded — either to the referrer, the friend, or both — there’s usually a setup or behavior issue behind it. This article covers the most common reasons why referral tracking may not be working, and how to fix it.

1. The referred friend didn’t use the referral link

Referral tracking only works when the new customer uses their unique referral link to access your store and complete a purchase.

What to check:

• Did the new customer click the link (not just visit the store directly)?
• Was their first purchase completed using that session?

👉 If the friend didn’t use the link, Roadmap can’t track attribution — and rewards won’t apply.

2. The friend didn’t complete a qualifying purchase

Referrals only trigger rewards when the referred customer places and completes a valid order.

Rules to check:

• Minimum spend met? (e.g. $30+ to trigger rewards)
• Excluded products or collections? (e.g. no rewards on clearance)
• Order status = “Paid” (Draft or abandoned checkouts won’t count)

👉 Roadmap will hold the referral until the qualifying order is complete.

3. The customer referred themselves

Roadmap prevents self-referrals based on email, browser, IP, and device detection.

Common scenarios that block tracking:

• Same customer opens their own referral link
• Friend uses same shipping or billing info
• Customer uses multiple emails on same device

👉 For fairness, Roadmap automatically blocks suspected self-referrals.

4. Referral rewards haven’t been set up yet

You must define referral rules in your Loyalty settings for rewards to trigger.

To set up:

1. Go to Roadmap → Loyalty → Earning Rules.
2. Click Add Rule → Referral.
3. Define:
   • Referrer reward (e.g. 500 points or $10 off)
   • Friend reward (e.g. $10 off first order)

👉 Without this rule, no rewards will be applied even if referrals are tracked.

5. The customer isn’t using the referral dashboard

Customers can only generate and share referral links via their account page — not by copying the URL.

To enable:

• Use Shopify’s theme editor to add the Referral widget to the Account Page.
• Customers can then copy their unique referral link to share.

👉 Tip: Use Klaviyo to promote referral sharing in post-purchase emails.

FAQs

Can I test a referral myself?

 Not accurately — self-referrals are blocked. Instead, use two separate test accounts and devices.

Can I view referral status per customer?

 Yes — go to Roadmap → Loyalty → Customers and view the referral history per customer.

Can referrals be rewarded after the fact?

 No — if attribution wasn’t tracked at the time of order, the referral can’t be retroactively applied.

Summary

If referral rewards aren’t tracking:

• ✅ Make sure customers use their unique referral link.
• ✅ Confirm the friend completed a qualifying order.
• ✅ Check that self-referrals weren’t blocked.
• ✅ Set up referral rules in your Loyalty settings.
• ✅ Add the referral widget to the account page.

Need help checking referral history? [Contact support →] and we’ll walk through it with you.