You can require customers to have an account before a referral code gives them a discount. Since version 1.7.0, a guest does not lose the code: they keep it and validate it by creating an account during checkout. This article explains what your visitors see.

The Deny guests option

In your administration, go to

Toggle on Deny guests. Its tooltip says: Guest visitors cannot use a referral code. The widget won’t be displayed. The Usable only once option is only available when Deny guests is on.

With this option on, a guest can still arrive with a referral link, or type the code in the coupon field if you turned on Read Referral Code in Coupon field. The code is kept for them, but the discount is only validated when they have an account.

What a guest sees

• Under the referral code form: You will have to create an account to validate the discount.
• At the top of the classic checkout page, as an information notice: You will have to create an account to validate the referral discount CODE
• On the Cart block, the same sentence as an information notice. It disappears when the visitor logs in.

Validation when the order is placed

When the customer places the order, the plugin checks the account:

• If the customer created an account during checkout, or is logged in, the referral code is accepted.
• If the customer is still a guest, the order is refused with You have to create an account to validate the referral discount CODE

For guests to be able to register, your WooCommerce checkout must let customers create an account.

If Usable only once is on and the customer already used a referral code, the order is refused with Using a referral code was only allowed once.

Coupon label on the Cart and Checkout blocks

On the classic cart, the referral discount appears in the totals as Referral from CODE. On the WooCommerce Cart and Checkout blocks it appears as Referred by CODE, with the code in capital letters.