# QR codes for referral programmes

> A referral QR code puts a customer's unique referral link into the physical world (on packaging inserts, receipts and packing slips), so recommending your shop is a scan rather than a copied link. Attribution requires a unique code per customer, generated in bulk with the referral ID in the URL.

Source: https://useqr.app/docs/ecommerce/qr-code-for-referral-programs · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · UseQR is free forever, no signup.

---

## What the code adds to a referral scheme

Referral programmes live or die on how easily an advocate can pass the link on. Digitally
that is solved, share buttons exist. Physically it is not: the moment a customer shows a
friend the actual product ("where did you get that?") happens in kitchens and offices,
nowhere near a share button. A referral QR code puts the link into that moment: the
friend scans the card the customer kept, or the customer shows the code from their
account page, and the referral attributes itself.

The mechanical requirement is a **unique URL per referring customer**:

```
example.com/r/anna-7h2k
```

The parameter identifies the referrer; the landing page credits both sides. Without
per-customer uniqueness there is no attribution and therefore no referral programme,
just a discount code with extra steps.

## Generating per-customer codes

- **Digital-first**: render the customer's code dynamically in their account page and
  post-purchase emails: one image-API call per customer via the
  [keyless API](/docs/developers/free-qr-code-api-no-key), no pre-printing.
- **Print runs**: export customer referral URLs and generate codes
  [in bulk](/bulk): the [spreadsheet workflow](/docs/how-to/how-to-make-qr-codes-from-a-spreadsheet)
  handles a mail campaign; `POST /api/v1/qr/batch` handles **up to 1,000 per request**
  for larger runs merged into print templates.
- **Semi-unique compromise**: where per-customer print is impractical, per-*channel*
  codes (one per store, per insert version) still attribute the placement, though not
  the person, half the value, a tenth of the logistics.

## Double-sided incentives, stated plainly

The incentive structure that consistently works gives something to **both** sides
("give £10, get £10"), because one-sided schemes ask the advocate either to profit from a
friend (feels grubby) or to gain nothing (why bother). The give side lowers the friend's
first-order risk; the get side compensates the advocate's social capital. Set both
values so the pair costs less than your blended acquisition cost, and the scheme funds
itself; that comparison, not scan counts, is the number that decides whether the
programme survives: see
[measuring offline-to-online conversion](/docs/ecommerce/measuring-offline-to-online-conversion).

Referral rewards are coupons, so coupon fraud applies: self-referral (new accounts
redeeming your own code) and farmed sharing on deals sites. Single-use reward tokens,
new-customer checks and velocity limits are the standard controls: the full toolkit is
on [preventing coupon QR fraud](/docs/ecommerce/preventing-coupon-qr-fraud).

## Print placements that reach the friend

Rank placements by whether they can physically reach a *second* person:

1. **A keepable referral card in the parcel**: wallet-sized, the customer's unique code,
   designed to be handed over. This is the only placement whose explicit job is transfer.
   Follow the [one-card-one-action rule](/docs/ecommerce/qr-code-in-the-unboxing-experience);
   a referral card competes badly with a review card in the same box.
2. **The packing slip**: order-aware, low cost, reaches the buyer at high attention;
   fold the referral action into the [slip's order page](/docs/ecommerce/qr-code-on-a-packing-slip)
   rather than adding a second code.
3. **Receipts** at retail, per-transaction codes are easy where the POS can print them.
4. **The product itself**, for visible/giftable goods, a hang tag the recipient of a
   gift can scan.

Print at **≥ 2 × 2 cm**, label with the offer ("Give £10, get £10: scan"), and
[verify a printed proof](/validate) of each template before the run.

## FAQ

### How does a referral QR code work?
Each customer gets a unique referral URL encoded as a QR code on cards, slips or their account page. A friend's scan lands on a page crediting the referrer, and both sides receive their incentive after the qualifying purchase.

### How do I print a different referral code for every customer?
Export each customer's referral URL and batch-generate codes (bulk tools or a batch API handling up to a thousand items per request), then mail-merge into the print template. For digital surfaces, render the code on demand from an image API.

### What referral incentive structure works best?
Double-sided (a reward for the friend and one for the advocate), with the combined cost set below your normal customer acquisition cost. One-sided schemes underperform because they ask the advocate to profit from, or do free work for, a friendship.

### How do you prevent referral fraud?
Treat rewards as single-use tokens, verify referred customers are genuinely new, and rate-limit redemptions per referrer. Expect codes to appear on deal sites and decide in advance whether that spread is acceptable acquisition or abuse.

## Try it

- https://useqr.app/url
- https://useqr.app/bulk
- https://useqr.app/validate