One sector that saw absolutely insane growth during the pandemic was e-commerce. With people locked in their homes and the ability to buy things a distant dream, it was e-commerce that enabled people to have their most important and other needs delivered right to their doorstep.

In a way, the Covid-19 pandemic has called for and highlighted the need and importance of e-commerce in the modern world. It helped people meet all of the mandates related to the health crisis – social distancing, not venturing out, and staying away from large crowds. Many new ecommerce brands are doing great things through ecommerce platforms like Shopify, and the success has been phenomenal.

And the proof is in the numbers – the number of new Shopify stores rose 71% in the second quarter of 2020. Not just ecommerce stores and brands, but Shopify partner ecosystem apps have seen tremendous growth, with over 80% of registered Shopify merchants using third-party tools to make their operations easier.

Ecommerce apps, old and new, have seen unprecedented growth in the past 12-15 months. ReferralCandy is one of them, and as a seasoned e-commerce veteran, they made the most of it.

RecommendationCandy is an app that enables e-commerce merchants to set up and run customer referral programs. This is a very inexpensive way to attract new customers and keep existing ones.

The idea arose from the need for honest marketing

The idea for ReferralCandy came about at a modest lunch meeting in 2010. We got into conversation with Raúl Galera, the Chief Advocate and Partner Manager at ReferralCandy. He tells us: “The co-founders were talking to a friend of theirs who ran an online shop. During the conversation this friend mentioned to them that he knew that his customers were satisfied with his products and that they would like to recommend his shop to others. “

“Mind you, that was pretty early on in the age of social media, as Facebook was still very new to a lot of people. He wondered if there was a way to not use the platform for advertising but to encourage customers to recommend their friends to buy from them, ”he adds.

ReferralCandy was then designed to work with ecommerce merchants to find an additional source of income for them through word of mouth and referral marketing. As one of the first movers in this area, ReferralCandy has been able to work with over 30,000 dealers so far.

ReferralCandy works as a plug-in or add-on that ecommerce merchants can add to their online store. What helped them grow was their ability to build and collaborate with businesses on major ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and most importantly, Shopify.

Raul says, “Our partnership with Shopify has allowed us to grow together with these really big companies. I would say that the journey Shopify has made in particular over the past few years has not only helped us, but also many other companies under the Shopify umbrella. “

“I mean, especially last year when e-commerce was booming, it was an important turning point for us and everyone else in the industry. I think it’s more about trendsetters in the sense that e-commerce is going nowhere. If anything, it’s becoming more common as we all do more and more of our purchases online, ”adds Raul.

Raul Galera has been with ReferralCandy since 2016 and points out the clear difference in the change in e-commerce. “When I started here, we always had a massive increase in sales during the Christmas season – like Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. Many purchases focused on a specific time of year. While this is still happening, the difference between the two is getting smaller every year. For example, last year after April, Shopify recorded Black Friday-Cyber ​​Monday traffic every day. “

He also notes that previous people bought things online for special occasions or things they just couldn’t buy in a store. But now we see people buying pretty much anything and everything, even the normal boring shopping, from an online store.

How ReferralCandy works and how it stands out from its competitors

How it works is pretty simple – an ecommerce merchant creates an account, sets up the reward system that’s right for them, and starts sharing their referral program with their customers. As simple as that.

Every time a customer recommends a friend who ends up making an in-store purchase, both the customer and the person they referred are rewarded. In this way, they not only create an incentive to refer a friend, but also to come back and buy in the store again. And this helps in attracting repeat customers.

“We also offer cash rewards for advocates that are fully automated. Merchants just need to set up the reward system and it will literally run everything on autopilot after they set it up. From the consumer’s point of view, they will receive a notification from the brand after purchase. And your recommendation automatically applied the voucher code to your till, so you don’t even have to copy and paste it, ”continues Raul.

For ReferralCandy it was definitely an advantage to have been around for more than 10 years. For one, it has helped them gain brand awareness and social trust. When asked about her biggest selling point, Raul says, “The first mover advantage helped us create strong social proof for ourselves. Ecommerce brands now recognize us much more easily. Another thing that helps us is that we operate in a niche and are good at it. While we are constantly improving our offering, we stick to what makes us unique and offer this experience to our customers. “

“One of the reasons we can keep customers on ReferralCandy for a long time is because we’re fairly transparent and honest with them. The most important metric that we always show you is sales – the one that really matters. We’ll show them the referral program revenue right away so they know exactly what ROI they’re getting from it. ”He continues

ReferralCandy has its eye on the e-commerce market and considers any online retailer that sells directly to their consumers to be perfect for their product. Since their focus isn’t limited to any particular region, they have seen dealers from all over the world, from the US and North America to all of Europe, Latin America and even Africa.

“We’ve been a global company from day one, and as long as they’re a DTC brand, ReferralCandy works pretty well for them regardless of the products they sell. These brands have a direct connection with their customers and we want to help them leverage that for loyalty and sales. Our main goal is to help SMBs, and ReferralCandy has clients of all types – from solo-run companies to larger brands with an order volume of 10,000 to 30,000 orders per month. We serve e-commerce companies from the entire spectrum. “

“We just want to eliminate all weaknesses for our dealers so that we can literally offer everyone the same functions – from small business owners to large ones. Our philosophy is that we make money when traders make money. Everyone is happy in this scenario, ”he adds.

Customers love the problem that ReferralCandy solves for them

One thing that ReferralCandy’s customers love is how easy it is for them to start their own referral program and generate income and growth with it. After being in business for a while and being one of the first companies to step into the Shopify app ecosystem in the referral marketing space, they have made a name for themselves.

And that’s something that many e-commerce retailers care about. Since they saw the product, the recall is much faster. Another thing that drives them is that they operate in their niche and are 100% focused on it. This, they say, helps set expectations with their customers and build confidence that it will meet their needs.

Raul continues: “Especially last year, but to be honest, it was a trend that more and more e-commerce apps are regularly coming onto the market. We’ve had a lot of competition joining the game, giving traders more options than ever before. But since we have a name that people know and our service has allowed us to assert ourselves. “

One observation Raul made related to the referral marketing industry in general. “I would say that companies didn’t know that much about referral marketing in general. When I spoke to a dealer or agency a few years ago, I had to explain what referral marketing is. But now the brands are aware of it. And they are able to automatically see the needs and benefits of a strong referral program, especially as they scale.

Also, what is helping ReferralCandy grow is the fact that the cost of customer acquisition in e-commerce has skyrocketed. It is far cheaper to keep a customer than to acquire a new one. Merchants need to get creative to ensure they can attract customers and grow on a massive scale, and ReferralCandy really helps with that.

The future is exciting for e-commerce and referral marketing

According to Raul, everyone in the room needs to keep improving their products. You now have more competition than ever, and how to look even more seriously for competitors. “In the past, you had to look out for a hundred competitors. Now you have to be on the lookout for a thousand competitors who are literally doing pretty much what you’re offering, and they’re all targeting the same market. “

In the tech space, newer competitors may have the ability to get products to market faster and take a new perspective that existing players may not have really thought about. Raul says these are things that companies in this space need to be aware of.

“There is always this unknown possibility. So we have to keep an eye out for that. As a product and as a company, our goal is to continue building a solid referral marketing tool. And of course we are constantly adding new functions and improving the systems that are already in place. We actively try to listen to the dealers and hear what they say – what they like and what they dislike – and make changes accordingly. That is, I would say, the roadmap for us over the next few years, ”concludes Raul.

And based on what we’ve gathered in this exciting discussion, they’ll continue to grow their business and dealer base. And you can look forward to it.