Refer a Friend lets your existing customers share a personal link with their mates. You set both sides of the reward — Lekka handles the rest, from the sign-up to the in-store redemption.
Four moments — none of which require anything from you in real time. The whole flow is built into the customer app and your dashboard.
Open their stamp card for your business and tap Refer a friend. A WhatsApp share sheet pops up with a pre-filled message and a personal link.
The link opens a single-purpose landing page showing your logo, name, and the welcome reward you've set. One tap and they're into the standard Lekka sign-up — no app download required.
When the new customer hits the trigger you've set — right away at sign-up, on their first scan, or once they've filled their first card — Lekka issues both rewards in the same moment. Stamp rewards land straight on each side's card; free-item rewards generate a 6-digit claim code.
Stamp rewards apply automatically on both sides — no manual claim step. Free-item rewards generate a 6-digit code the customer shows you in-store. Type it into your Referrals dashboard and you're done.
Refer a Friend is a premium add-on. Here’s how it works:
Open your vendor dashboard and you’ll find a Referrals tab in the top nav. Until the feature is enabled on your account, the page shows a Premium feature card with a contact prompt.
Drop us a message via the chat widget on lekkacard.co.za or email hello@lekkacard.co.za and we’ll get you set up. Once enabled, the Referrals page unlocks and the setup form appears.
Open the Referrals tab and you’ll see Programme Setup. Seven decisions, all live the moment you save.
Click Referrals in your top nav. Once activated, you'll see two tabs: Programme Setup and Referrals.
Choose which of your loyalty programmes any stamp-based rewards should target. This is the programme your existing customers and their friends earn extra stamps on.
Choose Stamps (a number of bonus stamps on their first card) or Free item (e.g. "Free flat white"). Add a short description — this is what they see on the landing page and in their welcome email.
Same options. This is the thank-you for your existing customer once their friend qualifies. You can match the friend’s reward, or make it different — entirely up to you.
Three options. Right away issues the welcome reward at sign-up — the most generous timing, best for filling cards fast. After first visit waits until they collect their first stamp from you — the safest for free-item rewards. On full card waits until they've earned a complete card, if you want maximum engagement before paying out.
If you want the programme to run for a specific window (e.g. a winter campaign), pick an end date. Leave blank for no expiry. Referrals already in flight when the programme expires still complete normally.
Your refer-a-friend programme goes live the moment you save. The Refer a friend button starts appearing under your customers’ stamp cards immediately. Pause anytime by flipping Active off.
If you choose Stamps as a reward and the bonus would push the customer past the threshold of their current card, Lekka caps the bonus at one stamp short. That avoids the awkward situation where a customer earns a reward they didn’t know they’d won. The next organic scan tips them over the line.
Only relevant if you set a Free item reward on either side. Stamp rewards happen automatically and need no action from you.
For Free item rewards, your customer sees the code in their app and in the confirmation email. They’ll show you the number at the till.
There’s a Redeem free-item claim code box at the top of the Referrals tab — always visible.
Enter the 6 digits and tap Mark issued. Lekka checks the code is valid for your vendor and hasn’t already been redeemed.
Lekka records the redemption with a timestamp — the row in your Referrals table updates instantly, the codes column clears, and the customer’s record is updated. Done.
Three surfaces where your referrals show up, plus the built-in safeguards that protect your reward budget.
Every referral lives here — Pending (friend joined, not yet qualified), Completed (trigger fired) and Rewarded (both sides paid out). A Stamps column shows exactly how many bonus stamps went to each side, with any pending free-item codes listed alongside. Filter by status.
Your Dashboard's Recent activity surfaces referral moments inline with normal stamps: New referral +N when a friend joins, Referral bonus +N when a referrer earns from a visit. Your Stamps today and This month totals include those bonuses automatically.
Customers see a Refer & earn pill on the front of their wallet stack — no need to expand a card to discover the feature. When a friend's visit pays them out, the bonus shows up in their own Recent activity as +N stamps from Ruth's referral.
Lekka blocks self-referrals (same phone or email as the referrer) and won't attribute a referral if the “friend” has already collected stamps at your business in the past. You only ever pay rewards for genuine new customers.
The things vendors ask most before turning it on.
Stamp rewards on both sides are fully automatic — they're added to the loyalty cards the moment the trigger fires, with no manual claim step from the referrer. Free-item rewards require one step from you: typing the 6-digit code into your Referrals dashboard when the customer claims at the till.
Yes. The two reward forms are independent. A common pattern: a smaller welcome reward for the friend (e.g. 2 bonus stamps), and a more generous thank-you for the existing customer (e.g. a free coffee). Tune to what feels right for your margin.
Two checks. First, Lekka rejects any referral where the new customer’s phone number or email matches the referrer’s. Second, anyone who has ever collected a stamp at your business before is considered an existing customer — they can’t be “referred.”
The referral sits as Pending indefinitely. No rewards are issued. The referrer doesn’t see anything to claim. It only costs you something when a real visit happens.
Yes. Flip Active off in Programme Setup. The Refer a friend button disappears from customer apps immediately. Referrals already in flight (waiting for a first scan) still complete normally if you turn it back on.
They see a pre-filled WhatsApp message with your business name, the friend’s reward description, and a personal link — e.g. lekkacard.co.za/r/abc123. They can also copy the link directly to share it elsewhere.
Yes. The Referrals tab shows both names — the new customer’s name and the referrer’s — along with the date, status, and any pending claim codes.
Refer a Friend is a premium add-on. Get in touch with us via the chat widget or email hello@lekkacard.co.za and we’ll switch it on for your account.
Get in touch to switch Customer Referrals on — we’ll have your programme live within the day.
Premium add-on · Configure rewards · Pause anytime