Referral

Overview

gaiia’s Referral feature enables users to launch a fully white-label referral program in minutes. Existing customers receive unique referral codes, new customers apply them at checkout, and rewards are issued based on your business rules.

This article explains how the referral feature works, how to configure it, and what customers and users will see.

The Referral feature allows you to:

• Automatically generate unique referral codes for every customer.
• Allow new customers to apply referral codes during checkout.
• Issue rewards automatically or manually based on your configuration.
• Track referral status in both the client portal and gaiia.

Key concepts

Referrer

An existing customer who shares their referral code.

Referee

A new customer who signs up using a referral code.

Referral code

Each customer automatically receives a unique 8-character referral code, visible in their client portal.

How the referral flow works

1. Existing customer shares their code.
   Each customer has a unique referral code in the client portal and can share it via text, email, social media, or word of mouth.
    

   

2. New customer enters the code.
   During checkout, the referee enters the referral code. A user can also apply it manually when creating or updating an account.
    

   

   A customer can use either a referral code or a promo code during signup, but not both.

3. gaiia validates the referral.
   gaiia confirms the code is valid and that the referrer’s account is active. If you use a custom workflow, you can define your own validation logic.
4. Rewards are issued based on your settings.
   Rewards may be applied immediately at checkout or delayed until the referee meets a minimum active period.
5. Status tracking.
   Referrers and referees can view reward status in the client portal. Users can access full referral history and detailed statuses in gaiia.

Referral settings

Referral settings are configured in Admin → Settings → Referrals.

Enable or disable referrals

• Enable referrals: Customers can share referral codes and apply them during checkout.
• Disable referrals: Referral sharing and rewards are turned off entirely.

Rewards

You can configure rewards for both the referrer and the referee. Each role can receive a different reward type and amount.

Reward application options

Apply a discount

This option automatically applies a one-time, dollar-based discount (for example, $50 off at order submission) when a referral is used.

The discount must already exist as a product in gaiia’s product catalogue. This is the recommended option for teams that want rewards to be applied automatically and managed entirely within gaiia.

Grant rewards manually

Use this option if you want to issue rewards outside of gaiia, such as gift cards, cash, donations, or other external incentives.

Referral data is made available in Snowflake to support manual or third-party fulfillment.

This option does not send notifications when referral codes are entered or validated. Your team must monitor referral activity and manage fulfillment manually.

Run a workflow

This option triggers a custom workflow when a referral code is entered.

Using a workflow, you can issue discounts in gaiia, trigger external rewards, and apply custom business rules. When this option is selected, reward delay periods for both the referrer and referee, as well as the reward description shown at checkout, are defined directly within the workflow rather than in Referral settings.

Workflows must be built and maintained by your team using gaiia’s workflow builder.

Reward delay period (optional)

You can delay rewards for the referee, the referrer, or both until the new customer meets a minimum active period.

Delay periods are configured independently. One role may have a delay while the other does not, and the length does not need to match.

Communicating rewards to customers

Reward descriptions

• Discount product: gaiia automatically displays the discount description transcription at checkout and in the client portal.
  Learn more about discounts.
• Manual rewards: Define the reward descriptions for the referrer and referee directly in Referral settings.
  Learn more about Snowflake.
• Custom workflows: Reward descriptions must be configured within the workflow and are not managed in Referral settings.
  Learn more about workflows.

If reward descriptions are configured both in Referral settings and in a custom workflow, the descriptions defined in the workflow will be displayed.

Client portal message

Customize the short message existing customers see in their client portal when viewing or sharing their referral code.

Referral program information URL

You can optionally link to a public page with full details about your referral program, including terms, eligibility, and reward timing.
 

Referral validation

Default validation rules

When using gaiia’s default referral logic, validation occurs in two stages.

Initial validation: gaiia confirms that the referrer’s account is active when the referral code is entered.

Final validation: After any delay period, gaiia evaluates eligibility before issuing rewards.

If the referrer disconnects during the eligibility period, the referee still receives their reward. For the referrer to receive a reward, the referee must be active and not delinquent, as defined in your billing settings, on the validation day.

Once validation is complete, configured discount products are automatically applied. Referral data is also synced to Snowflake for tracking and reporting.

Custom validation via workflows

You can override gaiia’s initial and final referral validation logic using custom workflows.

To override initial validation, select a validation workflow in Settings → Referral → Referees → Referral code validation workflow.

To override final validation, select a workflow in Settings → Referral → Referees → Reward application → Run a workflow.

Learn more about workflows.

Apply referral codes after signing up

When enabled in Referral settings, users can apply referral codes after a customer has already signed up.

This supports customers who forgot to enter a referral code and teams creating accounts on behalf of customers.

User visibility

From gaiia's interface, users can:

• View a customer’s referral code.
• See full referral history and statuses, including "Pending", "Rewarded", and "Failed validation".
• Manually apply referral codes to accounts.

Changes to referral settings

When you modify referral program settings, changes apply only to new referrals created after the update.

Existing in-flight referrals are not affected. Referrals that are already pending will continue to follow the rules that were in place when the referral code was originally applied.

Example: If you change the referrer reward from $25 to $50 on March 1st, any referral codes entered before March 1st will still receive the $25 reward when validated, even if validation occurs after March 1st. Only codes entered on or after March 1st will receive the $50 reward.