DTC Post-Purchase
A template for direct-to-consumer retail, triggered at the moment of highest satisfaction — the order confirmation screen. Both sides receive matched store credit, and the referrer is paid only after the referred order passes the return window, which removes refund cycling entirely.
- Referrer reward
- Store credit, matched to the referred discount
- Referred reward
- Equivalent discount on a first order above a minimum basket value
- Trigger
- Order confirmation screen, and again in the dispatch email
- Qualifying event
- Referred first order dispatched and past the returns window
- Eligibility
- New customers only — no prior order, no shared payment instrument or delivery address
- Payout
- Credit issued the day after the returns window closes on the referred order
Why this template is shaped this way
The confirmation screen is the highest-intent moment a retailer gets: the customer has just decided you are worth buying from and has nothing else to do on that page.
Store credit rather than cash keeps the reward inside the business at close to marginal cost, and it converts a referral into a future order rather than a payout.
A minimum basket value on the referred side stops the discount being used to buy the cheapest item in the catalogue at a loss.
Where this template goes wrong
Mostly through money paid too early and codes that escape: rewards released before the returns window closes, self-referrals to a shared delivery address, and discount codes leaking to deal sites when no per-advocate cap exists.
- Paying before the returns window closes is the single most common way this template loses money
- Shared delivery addresses are the strongest self-referral signal in retail — define it in the terms
- Discount codes leak to deals sites; cap referrals per advocate over a rolling period
Why credit for the referrer rather than cash?
Credit costs close to marginal cost rather than face value, and it is worth full value to a customer who intends to buy again. Cash leaves the business entirely and is the most expensive way to pay the same reward.
What minimum basket value should the referred discount require?
High enough that the order still carries positive margin after the discount. Working from gross margin on a typical first order rather than from the discount amount is the reliable way to set it.
- UK Advertising Standards Authority / CAP — CAP Code section 8, Promotional marketing — how a promotion's terms must be stated
Last reviewed 9 August 2026.
Launch this template
ReferralFlo handles the tracking, reward rules and payout timing this specification describes — without engineering time.