HOW IT WORKS

How Referlane works

Referlane is currently accepting applications for its private beta. This page explains the complete workflow Referlane is being built to support, from setting up a programme through to a recorded payout, in plain merchant language - not internal event names.

The complete workflow

Create a creator, ambassador or customer-referral programme

Define who's included and how they earn - a creator or ambassador partner programme, a customer-referral programme, or both running together.

Approve, invite or enrol participants

Review and approve creator or ambassador partners, or enrol customers into a referral programme, before their links or codes go live.

Issue referral links and Shopify coupon codes

Each participant gets a referral link, a Shopify coupon code, or both, tied to their programme membership.

Observe an eligible Shopify order

Referlane watches for a paid, eligible Shopify order within the standard supported order window.

Show the attribution evidence and plain-language reason

Referlane explains why an order was attributed - which coupon or link evidence decided it - rather than showing a total with no explanation.

Create and progress the commission or customer reward

An attributed order creates a commission or customer reward, which moves through review toward approval before payout or redemption.

Record the creator payout or complete the customer reward lifecycle

Creator payouts are recorded once paid externally by the merchant; customer rewards are recorded as available and then redeemed.

How the pieces work

Coupon and referral-link evidence

Attribution is based on two kinds of evidence: a valid Referlane partner coupon applied to the order, or a recent valid click on a partner's referral link. Both are visible on the order record, not hidden in a total.

Deterministic attribution

Referlane uses fixed, inspectable rules rather than a black-box model. A valid partner coupon takes precedence over a link click; if there's no coupon, the most recent valid link click is used; if neither is present, the order is not attributed automatically.

One current attribution per order

Each order can have only one active partner attribution at a time. If more than one partner's coupon appears on the same order, Referlane does not choose silently - the order is flagged for merchant review instead.

Commission and reward state

An attributed order's commission or customer reward moves from pending, through review, to approved, and finally to paid or redeemed. Refunds, cancellations, or a confirmed correction can move a commission to a reversed state instead; the original evidence is never deleted.

Manual external creator payouts in V1

Referlane does not move money or hold creator banking details. Creator payouts happen outside Referlane, on whatever schedule and method the merchant already uses; Referlane's role is to calculate the commission and record the payout batch as paid.

Transparent payout records

Every commission and payout batch is recorded and reviewable. Once a commission is marked paid, that record is immutable - later corrections happen through a visible adjustment, not a silent edit.

A bounded migration starter

Switching tools starts with a standard migration starter: a clean import of partner names, emails, and supported coupon mappings, with duplicate and rejected-row validation, followed by running Referlane in parallel before relying on it operationally. It is not a guarantee of complete historical reconstruction from every prior tool.

Planned for the private beta

Creator and ambassador programmes as the primary use case
Customer-referral programmes within the supported scope
Referral links and Shopify coupon-code evidence
One current, explainable attribution decision per order
Commission and customer-reward progress you can review
Manual external creator payouts, recorded in Referlane
A bounded standard migration starter for switching tools

Limited or not supported in the private beta

Shopify-hosted Online Store themes only - no headless, Hydrogen, or custom storefront guarantee
One Shopify store per Referlane organisation
No point-of-sale (POS) attribution
No automatic money movement - creator payouts stay external and merchant-controlled
No mobile-app, cross-device, probabilistic, or view-through attribution

Future possibilities, not promised

Broader storefront or channel coverage beyond Shopify-hosted Online Store themes
Additional attribution modes beyond coupon and link evidence
Expanded migration support beyond the standard starter
Other capabilities under evaluation, with no committed timeline

See if the private beta fits your programme

Apply for private beta to have your Shopify store and creator or customer-referral programme reviewed for V1 fit.

Apply for private beta