ReferralCandy is a referral marketing platform built for ecommerce brands. It lets you run "refer-a-friend" programs where customers earn rewards for bringing in new buyers.
By connecting ReferralCandy with Omnisend, you can turn referral program activity into contact events – so you can trigger automated emails or SMS and build segments based on what happens inside your referral program.
In this article, you'll learn how to connect ReferralCandy to Omnisend, enable the three available automations, and use the data they send.
Before You Begin
You need an active Omnisend account.
You need an active ReferralCandy account with a running referral campaign.
Your ReferralCandy API credentials (API Access ID and API Secret) are required to authenticate the connection. You can find them in your ReferralCandy dashboard under Account → API Tokens.
Benefits
Automate your referral program communications: Trigger emails or SMS the moment an advocate enrolls, a referral purchase is confirmed, or a reward is earned.
Deliver rewards instantly: The Reward Earned event payload includes the coupon code, description, and expiry date – so you can send the reward directly from an Automation Workflow.
Build targeted segments: Identify advocates who have earned rewards, contacts who referred at least one friend, or advocates who haven't driven any purchases yet.
How It Works
The integration polls ReferralCandy every 12 hours (from the time you enable each automation) and sends new activity to Omnisend as custom events. Each event is attached to the relevant contact (the advocate) in Omnisend.
The following events are synced to Omnisend from ReferralCandy:
Event name in Omnisend | Fires when |
| A referred friend's purchase is attributed to an advocate |
| A new advocate joins the referral program |
| An advocate earns a reward |
Events appear in Omnisend within up to 12 hours of the activity occurring in ReferralCandy. Only activity that happens after you enable an automation flows through; past referral history is not backfilled.
Setup Process
Step 1. Get your ReferralCandy API credentials
Log in to your ReferralCandy account.
Go to Account → API Tokens.
Copy both your API Access ID and your API Secret.
Step 2. Connect ReferralCandy to Omnisend
Log in to your Omnisend account and go to Apps.
Search for ReferralCandy and open the app.
Enter your API Access ID and API Secret in the corresponding fields and click Connect.
Omnisend will validate your credentials against ReferralCandy. Once confirmed, you'll see a Connected badge next to the app name.
Step 3. Enable the automations
After connecting, you'll see an Automations section with three toggles. Turn on the ones you want to use:
ReferralCandy - Referral Completed → Omnisend
ReferralCandy - Advocate Enrolled → Omnisend
ReferralCandy - Reward Earned → Omnisend
Each automation is independent – enable only the ones relevant to your setup. Once toggled on, the automation begins polling ReferralCandy every 12 hours.
That's it! ReferralCandy will now automatically send new referral events to Omnisend.
What Data Is Passed
Each automation sends a custom event to Omnisend with a set of properties. Here's what each event includes:
ReferralCandy - Advocate Enrolled
Fires when a new advocate joins your referral program. The event is attached to the advocate's contact in Omnisend.
Property | Description |
| Advocate's ReferralCandy ID |
| Advocate's email address |
| Advocate's first name |
| Advocate's last name |
| Whether the advocate has made a purchase ( |
| Array of the advocate's purchases |
| ReferralCandy's own unsubscribe flag for this contact ( |
Example payload:
{ "id": 430711176, "first_name": "first", "last_name": "last", "email": "[email protected]", "purchase_made": false, "purchases": [], "unsubscribed": false }
ReferralCandy - Referral Completed
Fires when a referred friend's purchase is attributed to an advocate. The event is attached to the advocate's contact – so you can message them when a contact they referred makes a purchase.
Property | Description |
| Advocate's email address |
| The referred friend's email address |
| When the referral occurred (Unix timestamp) |
| Referral campaign ID |
| Whether ReferralCandy's review period for this referral has ended ( |
| The store order ID for the referred purchase |
Example payload:
{ "campaignId": 125143, "external_reference_id": "1480", "referral_email": "[email protected]", "referral_timestamp": 1781607304, "referring_email": "[email protected]", "review_period_over": true }
ReferralCandy - Reward Earned
Fires when an advocate earns a reward, after ReferralCandy's review period ends. The event is attached to the advocate's contact.
Property | Description |
| Advocate's email address |
| Advocate's name |
| Reward type (e.g. |
| Human-readable reward description (e.g., "a €50 discount") |
| The reward coupon code |
| Coupon expiry date (Unix timestamp) |
| Whether the coupon has been redeemed ( |
| Reward status (e.g. |
| When the reward was earned (Unix timestamp) |
| Reward ID |
| Link to the underlying Shopify discount |
Example payload:
{ "advocate_email": "[email protected]", "advocate_name": "Advocate Name", "coupon_code": "THANKS-XXXXXX", "coupon_code_data": { "shopify_graphql_discount_code_id": "gid://shopify/DiscountCodeNode/0000000000" }, "coupon_code_expiry_timestamp": 1786792518, "coupon_used": false, "created_at": 1781608518, "description": "a €50 discount", "id": 7427724, "status": "delivered", "type": "coupon" }Note: Each event uses a different field name for the advocate's email address. When building segments or workflows that span multiple events, use the correct field for each event.
Event | Advocate email field |
Advocate Enrolled |
|
Referral Completed |
|
Reward Earned |
|
The referred friend's email (referral_email) is available only in the Referral Completed event.
Build Automation Workflows
Once the integration is active, use the custom events as triggers in Omnisend Automation workflows:
Advocate Enrolled → Send a welcome email explaining how the referral program works and sharing the advocate's referral link.
Referral Completed → Notify the advocate that the contact they referred just made a purchase, reinforcing the behavior.
Reward Earned → Email the advocate their reward. The event payload includes the coupon code (
coupon_code), the description (description), and the expiry date (coupon_code_expiry_timestamp).
You can also use the events for contact segmentation – for example, "advocates who have earned at least one reward" or "advocates with no completed referrals yet" for a re-engagement campaign.
Things to Know
Events are not instant. The integration polls ReferralCandy every 12 hours. Expect events to appear in Omnisend within up to 12 hours of the activity occurring in ReferralCandy.
No historical backfill. Enabling an automation does not replay past referral activity. Only events that occur after enabling flow into Omnisend.
No duplicate events. Each referral, reward, and advocate enrollment is sent to Omnisend once. The integration tracks what has already been synced.
No marketing consent. Contacts created through this integration are set to non-subscribed by default. They will not receive marketing emails or SMS until they opt in through an Omnisend Signup Form.
Reward timing. The Reward Earned event only fires after ReferralCandy's review period for the linked referral ends. This means Reward Earned will always arrive after Referral Completed for the same referral.
Read-only. The integration reads data from ReferralCandy. It does not write anything back to ReferralCandy.
Troubleshooting
An event isn't showing up in Omnisend
Check in this order:
Did ReferralCandy record it? Go to Purchases & Referrals in your ReferralCandy account and confirm the referral is attributed or the reward exists. If it's not there, the issue is on the ReferralCandy side.
Has a poll run yet? Events appear after the next 12-hour poll. Wait the full interval before assuming a problem.
Is the automation enabled? Confirm the relevant automation is toggled on in Omnisend.
Are the credentials still valid? If your API Access ID or API Secret was rotated in ReferralCandy, update the connection in Omnisend with the new credentials.
The reward hasn't arrived, but the referral has
This is expected. Reward Earned only fires after ReferralCandy's review period for that referral ends. The delay between Referral Completed and Reward Earned is normal.
FAQ
What subscription status do new contacts get?
Contacts created through this integration are set to non-subscribed by default. They will not receive marketing emails or SMS until they opt in through an Omnisend Signup Form.
Can I run only some of the three automations?
Yes. Each automation is independent. Toggle on only the ones you need and leave the others off.
Can I use the referred friend's email in an automation?
The referred friend's email (referral_email) is included in the Referral Completed event payload. However, that event is attached to the advocate's contact – not the friend's. To message the friend directly, you would need to create a contact for them separately.
Does the integration sync historical referral data?
No. The only activity that occurs after you enable an automation is sent to Omnisend. Past referrals and rewards are not backfilled.
A referral happened in my store, but no event arrived in Omnisend. What should I check?
First, check whether ReferralCandy attributed the referral to an advocate. If ReferralCandy's fraud detection blocked the attribution (e.g., a self-referral), no event will be sent to Omnisend – that outcome is decided entirely within ReferralCandy.
Can I use these events in Email Campaigns?
These events are designed as triggers for Automation workflows. To send a one-time campaign, create a segment based on the custom event (e.g., contacts who have the ReferralCandy - Reward Earned event) and send a campaign to that segment.
Stuck or unsure what to do next? Reach out to our support team anytime via in-app chat or at [email protected]. For ReferralCandy-specific questions, contact ReferralCandy support.