Skip to content
Menu

Popular

How to Set Up Referral Confirmation Emails

Shopify API · October 22, 2026

The Referral confirmation email tells an affiliate that a referral has been credited to their account. Simple Affiliate sends it automatically each time one of their referrals is confirmed, so partners see their results without having to log in to check.

This guide covers the four steps to turn it on: connect your domain, enable the email, select its template, and update the content with the available shortcodes.

Availability: This email is set up on Settings > Emails. It requires a verified Custom sender address.

How Referral Confirmation Emails Work

  1. A referral is confirmed: Simple Affiliate confirms each referral according to Settings > Referrals, on payment or on fulfillment, after any confirmation delay you set.
  2. The email is sent: the affiliate who earned the referral receives the email at the moment of confirmation. It includes the order details and commission you choose to show with shortcodes.
  3. The affiliate opens their dashboard: the Visit dashboard button links to the affiliate dashboard, where the affiliate can see the referral.

Unlike other affiliate emails, the referral confirmation is never sent from noreply@simple-affiliate.com. It goes out only from a sender address on your own domain.

Step 1: Connect your domain

  1. In Simple Affiliate, go to Settings > Emails.
  2. On the Custom sender address card, enter a Sender email on your domain and click Connect.
  3. Add the four DNS records that the card shows at your DNS provider.
  4. Click Check status until both Domain ownership and Email authentication (DKIM) show Verified.
Custom sender address after verification, both badges Verified, Hide DNS records showing three DKIM CNAMEs

DNS changes can take up to 72 hours. For the full setup, the DNS records, and troubleshooting, see How to Send Affiliate Emails from a Custom Domain.

Step 2: Enable the referral confirmation email

  1. On Settings > Emails, scroll to the Email notifications card.
  2. Under To affiliates, turn on the Referral confirmation toggle.
  3. Click Save.
Settings > Emails, Email notifications card with the Referral confirmation toggle on, under To affiliates

The toggle stays disabled until your sender address is verified. Until then, the help text under it reads "Connect and verify a custom sender address above to enable this."

Step 3: Select the referral confirmation email template

  1. On Settings > Emails, go to the Email content card.
  2. Open the Select an email to translate list.
  3. Under Program updates, select Referral confirmation.
Email content card, Select an email to translate list open with Referral confirmation selected under Program updates

The card then shows the template fields and the shortcodes for this email. The Email preview beside it shows the email with sample values.

Step 4: Update the email content

The default template is ready to send. To change it:

  1. Button text: change the label of the dashboard button. The default is "Visit dashboard".
  2. Subject: change the subject line. The default is "A referral for [SHOP] has been credited".
  3. Body: edit the message. Use Text for the formatting toolbar, or HTML to write your own markup.
  4. Insert shortcodes: click a shortcode at the top of the card to insert it where your cursor is in the Subject or Body.
  5. Click Save.
Email content card for Referral confirmation with its shortcodes, Button text, Subject and Body, beside the Email preview and Send test

Available shortcodes

Each shortcode is replaced with the value for the affiliate and the referral when the email is sent:

Shortcode

Replaced with

Example

[FIRSTNAME]

The affiliate's first name

John

[LASTNAME]

The affiliate's last name

Doe

[FULLNAME]

The affiliate's first and last name

John Doe

[CODE]

The affiliate's discount code

JOHN

[SHOP]

Your store name

Your Store

[ORDERNAME]

The Shopify order number of the referral

#1001

[COMMISSIONAMOUNT]

The commission the affiliate earned on the referral

$12.32

[ORDERAMOUNT]

The order amount of the referral

$123.20

For example, add "You earned [COMMISSIONAMOUNT] on order [ORDERNAME]." to the body to show the commission for each referral.

Send a test email

After you save, click Send test under the Email preview. Simple Affiliate sends the saved email with sample values to your Primary contact email. You can send 20 test emails a day.

Important Rules to Remember

  • ⚠️ Verified sender required: the referral confirmation is never sent from noreply@simple-affiliate.com. If your domain stops being verified, for example because the DKIM records were removed, the email pauses. Referrals confirmed during that time do not get an email later.
  • New confirmations only: the email goes out for referrals confirmed after you enable it. Referrals confirmed earlier do not get an email.
  • Active affiliates only: suspended or deleted affiliates do not receive the email.
  • Confirmation timing: the email follows your Settings > Referrals setup. With a confirmation delay, it goes out when the delay ends, not when the order is placed.
  • One language: the email is sent in your store's default language. The Email content card edits the text for that language.

What Happens Next?

Each time a referral is confirmed, the affiliate who earned it receives the email from your sender address, with your store name as the display name. Affiliate replies go to the Reply-to email on Settings > Emails.

Regular updates on credited referrals keep affiliates engaged and show them that their promotion pays off.

Related articles