How are Square F&B owners running referral programs today?

[alejandro-ref]

Curious how restaurant and bar owners here are handling customer referrals. A few things I keep hearing from F&B owners I talk to:

1. Most are doing it manually (discount codes, handwritten cards, "tell them I sent you")

2. Nobody's tracking who referred whom, so rewards are inconsistent

3. When they try third-party apps, most are built for retail or salons, not restaurants

For those of you running anything referral-related:

• Are you tracking it, and if so, how?

• What reward works best in your experience — free appetizer, gift card, % off next visit?

• Has anyone tried tying it to loyalty points through Square Loyalty?

I've been working on this problem specifically for Square merchants (I built a tool called ViralRef), and I'm trying to learn what actually moves the needle for restaurants vs. what we've seen work for salons. Happy to share notes with anyone who's experimenting.

— Alejandro, Miami

[TheRealChipA]

Hey there @alejandro-ref.. I followed the link to your tool and I'm duly impressed!  A couple of years ago I tried to sign up for another referral program that was supposedly geared to F&B (and was listed in the Square App Marketplace.). But their website didn't work, no one responded to messages of any kind, etc, so I was left to assume they are no longer in business.  FYI, I run a soft serve shop.

Here's what I would love to see in a referral program, other than what I saw on your website:

1. Definitely something tied to Square Loyalty.  I'd love the option to give affiliates bonus points in their loyalty account, to automatically move them up to a new tier for affiliates, only, etc.  I'd also love to run occasional promotions for my loyalty affiliates where they could earn even more.
2. I find that eGift cards work great for rewards in my situation. 
3. Lastly, I didn't see this but maybe I missed it on your site.  I'd like to give a nominal reward to new customers who are referred to us.  In my case it would be a one-time discount of some kind for their first purchase. But I'm sure other F&B sellers have different thoughts.  This one is a requirement for me to even consider a referral program.

[alejandro-ref]

Thanks, this is useful. Quick answers:

#3 (reward for the new customer): Built. Both sides get rewarded — you set the invitee reward as a first-purchase discount (flat $ or %). Your dealbreaker is covered.

#2 (eGift cards): Built. Native Square eGift cards or coupons, your call per campaign.

#1 (Square Loyalty integration): Not built yet, honest answer. But bonus points, affiliate-only tiers, and loyalty promos for affiliates is the best feature ask I've gotten in weeks.

Going on the roadmap.

Would love a quick call to scope it with you.

Soft serve is a great fit. Beta is 3 months free for feedback — DM me the email you'd sign up with and I'll get you set up.

[purrfectpair]

Hi Alejandro-ref!  I just started exploring viralref and was really impressed with the style and setup of everything; until it wouldn't let me launch the referral program I spent the past 20 minutes building (and multiple attempts).  I even went ahead and tried to sign up for the Pro Features but nothing changed and I was still stuck.  The program is so promising and I would love to implement that asap!!!!

Please email me at [email protected] soon so I can get this up and running.  I was hoping to launch this week.

[alejandro-ref]

Ugh, really sorry. 20 minutes of setup and then a dead button is the worst possible first impression.

Emailing [email protected] right now from my founder address. If you can send back a screenshot or just the program name, I'll pull your account and either finish the launch on my side or ship a fix today.

Also going to check you weren't double-charged on the Pro upgrade.

A cat cafe is honestly a perfect fit for this. Let's get you live this week like you planned. Extending your Pro for the days you lost.

[RoniM]

I've been trying to find a way to create a loyalty subscription. Customer pays a small fee per month ($9) and receives 10% off every order. Is that something you're able to build and integrate within Square? 

[RoniM]

Also trying to convert DoorDash customers to order from our website next time. Currently we put a '10% off your next order' in their bag to drive them to us. It would be even better if we're able to drop them a $5 or $10 gift card in their bag that is processed and redeemed through a loyalty program like yours.

[alejandro-ref]

Smart wedge. DoorDash owns that customer, so anything in the bag that pulls the next order direct is worth testing.

What ViralRef can do today: swap the paper coupon for a QR code that opens a wallet pass with $5 or $10 preloaded. Sits in their Apple/Google Wallet so it doesn't end up in the trash, redemption ties back to your Square account so you can actually count how many DoorDash customers you recovered.

Bonus: once they redeem, they're a tracked customer in Square (not DoorDash's), and you can turn them into an affiliate the same day.

Want to pilot it? DM me the shop name. First month on me, this is a use case I want to document.

[Pintuna]

Hi @RoniM, this is Ashwin from Pintuna. We are a trusted Square partner. The Pintuna Membership App can easily handle your requirement "Customer pays a small fee per month ($9) and receives 10% off every order". And the Pintuna Loyalty App supports Referral feature as well. Happy to demo the app if interested. Thanks!

[RoniM]

Hi Ashwin, thanks for letting me know. Do you integrate directly within Square's UI? I do not want to manage anything outside of the Square dashboard.

[Pintuna]

Hi Ronim, all the points are automatically calculated and do not require any interaction with our app. But you will need to login to our webapp to manage the program. Square does not allow 3rd party apps on its devices.

[alejandro-ref]

Honest answer: paid memberships aren't ViralRef's core, we're a referral platform first. What you're describing ($9/mo, 10% off) is closer to Square Subscriptions + a Loyalty tier stacked together, and I've seen a couple Square F&B shops make it work that way.

Where we'd bolt on: turn every paying member into an affiliate automatically. Same $9/mo gets them 10% off, and their referral link drops a first-visit reward to any friend they bring in. Wallet pass lives in Apple/Google Wallet so it doesn't get lost.

Happy to sketch the combined flow if you DM me. Adding native paid membership to the roadmap request list too, you're the second person asking this month.

[BidwellPerk]

Not sure if what I'm doing is comparable to your Referral Program, but I use House Accounts to let local businesses send their customers in for a "free" drink. I basically set up the business as a House Account and then educate them to have their customer come in with the right phrasing so my staff knows it's legit. Then my team uses the House Account as a payment option, and the invoice gets sent to the business weekly. So far it works great. I have about 6 businesses signed up.

[alejandro-ref]

That's actually a clever use of House Accounts. Weekly invoicing keeps it clean and your staff has a clear signal it's legit. Six businesses is real.

Where it usually breaks:

1. You know which business sent someone, not which employee or customer, so you can't reward the actual referrer.

2. Past ~10 partners, invoicing and staff training get messy fast.

3. No repeat loop. Free drink, then nothing pulling them back or making them refer someone else.

ViralRef basically automates the same idea: each partner (or individual employee, or regular customer) gets their own link/QR/wallet pass, the referred person gets an immediate first-visit reward, Square handles redemption so staff just rings it up normal. Payout runs weekly on autopilot.

If your setup is working, don't fix it. But if you ever want to open it up beyond the 6 businesses to individual regulars, that's where we'd slot in. Happy to show you side by side.