# How do customer referral-program records (who referred whom, referral rewards owed) migrate as customer metadata during a platform switch?

Reviewed by Martin Dejnicki, Director of SEO & AI Search · facts verified October 11, 2026 · canonical: https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/referral-program-records-migration

## Short answer

Referral records don't migrate into Shopify as customer metadata, because Shopify has no referral object: its customer import has no referral column ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/import-export-customers), October 2026). Who referred whom stays in the referral app, and rewards owed are a liability on your books. Export the ledger before cancelling the app, then honor, convert or pay out each reward.

- **Referral fields in Shopify:** None; supported metafields at most. Shopify's customer import takes names, contact details, consent, an address, a note, tags and six metafield types, so a referrer can be stored but nothing acts on it (October 2026) ([Shopify Help Center, Importing and exporting customer lists](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/import-export-customers))
- **Store credit caps:** Under $15,000 USD a customer; $10,000 a location. Credit on a customer profile works only in a direct-to-consumer store; business-to-business credit sits on a company location, shared by its buyers (October 2026) ([Shopify Help Center, Store credit](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/store-credit); [Shopify Help Center, Setting up store credit for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/store-credit))
- **Imports of past referrals:** UpPromote only, of four apps checked. UpPromote takes email, total_sales and commission_amount, 200 rows a file. ReferralCandy imports contacts; Smile.io and LoyaltyLion import points and tiers, not referrals (October 2026) ([UpPromote, Manually add referral](https://docs.uppromote.com/management/referrals/manually-add-referral); [ReferralCandy Help Center, Importing customers to a segment](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457897-importing-customers-to-a-segment); [Smile Help Center, Move a Smile loyalty program to a new eCommerce platform](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/13370251-move-a-smile-loyalty-program-to-a-new-ecommerce-platform); [LoyaltyLion Help Center, Imports](https://help.loyaltylion.com/en/articles/5553630-imports))
- **Deleting a ReferralCandy account:** Disables pending rewards and referral links. Uninstalling on Shopify doesn't delete the data at once, but the account may be removed after a short period; deletion is permanent (October 2026) ([ReferralCandy Help Center, Cancelling and deleting your ReferralCandy account](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457904-cancelling-and-deleting-your-referralcandy-account))

## Deploi's call

Referral records stay in the referral app, so the migration decision is about the rewards still owed. Treat those rewards as a liability with an owner in finance, not as a data-mapping row. Exporting the ledger before you cancel the app is the one step you can't redo.

**BUY: Restart referrals in an app on the new store when**

- Referrals still earn their place: [Deploi's referral program record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/referral-program) scores them BUY when bundled in a loyalty suite (October 2026).
- The old ledger is exported first, because deleting a ReferralCandy account disables pending rewards and active referral links ([ReferralCandy Help Center](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457904-cancelling-and-deleting-your-referralcandy-account), October 2026).
- Unused reward codes are recreated as Shopify discount codes, because Smile.io says existing codes won't work on a different platform ([Smile Help Center](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/13370251-move-a-smile-loyalty-program-to-a-new-ecommerce-platform), October 2026).

**CUSTOMIZE: Settle rewards owed in Shopify store credit when**

- Each reward is a dollar amount under Shopify's caps: $15,000 USD per customer account ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/store-credit)) and $10,000 per company location ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/store-credit), October 2026).
- Finance has valued the balance and named who signs it off.
- Wholesale advocates are mapped to company locations, because credit on a customer profile can't be spent in a business-to-business store ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/store-credit), October 2026).
- Customers use the new customer accounts, because store credit isn't available on legacy ones ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/store-credit), October 2026).

## Where do referral records live when a store moves to Shopify?

Referral records live in the referral app, not in Shopify, so a platform switch leaves them wherever that app keeps them. Shopify's customer record has no referral field. Its customer import takes names, email, phone, marketing consent, a default address, a note, tags and supported metafield columns ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/import-export-customers), October 2026). None of them records who referred whom. The referral graph, the attribution rules, the reward ledger and the payout history all sit with the app that runs the program. ReferralCandy, one app in a crowded category, lists from $9 a month plus a success fee on referral sales ([ReferralCandy on the Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/referralcandy), October 2026). Its listing shows 4.9 stars from about 1,480 reviews.

A customer metafield, Shopify's custom field on the customer record, can store a referrer's email. Like [a wholesale credit limit kept in a metafield](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/b2b-net-terms-history-credit-limits-migration), it enforces nothing. So the honest question isn't how this data migrates. It's what happens to a liability when the system holding it changes.

## Which parts of a referral program survive a platform switch?

Only one part of a referral program survives a platform switch as the same kind of Shopify object: the reward codes already issued, once you recreate them. The other two parts stay with the app and with your books, because Shopify has no referral object to hold them as they are.

**Only issued reward codes carry across as the same kind of Shopify object, and only after you recreate them**

| Part of the program | Where it lives | What a platform switch does to it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who referred whom | The referral app's own database | Stays in that account, so export it before the account closes |
| Rewards earned and not yet redeemed | The app's ledger, and your books as a liability | Still owed, so finance decides how to settle it |
| Reward codes already issued | Discount codes on the old platform | Stop working on the new platform, so unused ones are recreated in Shopify |

Sources: [Smile Help Center, Move a Smile loyalty program to a new eCommerce platform](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/13370251-move-a-smile-loyalty-program-to-a-new-ecommerce-platform); [Shopify developer docs, discountRedeemCodeBulkAdd](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/mutations/discountRedeemCodeBulkAdd). Verified October 11, 2026.

Smile.io says existing codes "won't work" once you move to a different ecommerce platform, and suggests exporting its report of unused codes before you move ([Smile Help Center](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/13370251-move-a-smile-loyalty-program-to-a-new-ecommerce-platform), October 2026). Recreating them is mechanical: Shopify's Admin application programming interface (API) adds codes to a discount in bulk, up to 250 per request ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/mutations/discountRedeemCodeBulkAdd), October 2026).

## What do referral apps export and import?

Referral apps export far more than they import, so a referral ledger leaves an old app easily and rarely lands in a new one. Of the four apps we checked, only UpPromote, an affiliate and referral app, imports past referrals, and only at fixed commission amounts ([UpPromote](https://docs.uppromote.com/management/referrals/manually-add-referral), October 2026).

**All four apps export referral or advocate records, and only UpPromote imports past referrals**

| App | What it exports | What it imports |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ReferralCandy | Contacts with their referral activity, 10,000 a batch | Contacts by name, email and locale |
| Smile.io | Customers, and referral activity from its Activity page | Points balances, birthdays and tiers |
| LoyaltyLion | Referrals: the referrer, the referred customer, the voucher code and the order | Points, birthdays, blocks, customer activity and tiers |
| UpPromote | Affiliates and their information | Past referrals as email, total sales and commission amount, 200 a file |

Sources: [ReferralCandy, Referral Candy & Affiliate on the Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/referralcandy); [ReferralCandy Help Center, [Shopify] Downloading a list of your customers](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457895-shopify-downloading-a-list-of-your-customers); [ReferralCandy Help Center, Importing customers to a segment](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457897-importing-customers-to-a-segment); [Smile Help Center, Move a Smile loyalty program to a new eCommerce platform](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/13370251-move-a-smile-loyalty-program-to-a-new-ecommerce-platform); [Smile Help Center, Filter and export customers](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/4036251-filter-and-export-customers); [LoyaltyLion Help Center, Imports](https://help.loyaltylion.com/en/articles/5553630-imports); [UpPromote, Manually add referral](https://docs.uppromote.com/management/referrals/manually-add-referral); [LoyaltyLion Help Center, Exporting Your Data](https://help.loyaltylion.com/en/articles/5367139-exporting-your-data); [UpPromote, Import/Export affiliates](https://docs.uppromote.com/management/affiliates/manually-add-affiliate). Verified October 11, 2026.

So honoring rewards inside a new program works only where the new app imports referrals, and everywhere else the export is the record. [What Smile.io and LoyaltyLion import from a loyalty module](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/loyalty-module-mapping-smile-io-loyaltylion) covers their points and tier files. Affiliate programs, which pay partners rather than customers, follow [their own mapping onto Shopify's affiliate apps](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/affiliate-plugin-migration-app-options).

## Can rewards owed become Shopify store credit?

Rewards owed can become Shopify store credit, the balance Shopify lists for rewards in "a loyalty or referral program" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/store-credit), October 2026). Store credit comes in two kinds that don't mix, and the kind decides where a customer can spend it:

- **On a customer profile**, under $15,000 USD per customer account. That credit works only in a direct-to-consumer (D2C) store, not a business-to-business (B2B) one. Shopify says it "can be used only in a D2C online store and can't be used in a B2B online store" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/store-credit)).
- **On a company location**, under $10,000 USD per location. B2B credit is shared by every authorized buyer at that location and can't move to another location ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/store-credit), October 2026).

So a wholesale merchant who converts reward balances onto the wrong object creates credit the buyer can't spend, and finds out from an angry phone call. ReferralCandy's own store-credit rewards land on the customer profile ([ReferralCandy Help Center](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/10840654-shopify-advocate-reward-store-credits), October 2026). A bulk conversion is documented: Matrixify, a bulk import app, takes store credit transactions on its customer sheet, with expiry dates only in the future ([Matrixify](https://matrixify.app/documentation/customers/), October 2026). Store credit needs Shopify's new customer accounts, because it isn't available on legacy ones ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/store-credit), October 2026). [Loading dollar balances into store credit](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/lightspeed-loyalty-program-migration-path) has rules of its own.

## In what order should you settle the referral ledger?

Settle the referral ledger in six steps, export first, because closing the old app account before the export is the one step you can't undo.

1. **Check whether the referral app moves with you.** Smile.io doesn't: "You cannot move or transfer an existing Smile account," so you start a new one on the new store ([Smile Help Center](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/13370251-move-a-smile-loyalty-program-to-a-new-ecommerce-platform), October 2026).
1. **Export the full ledger before you cancel anything.** Referrer, referee, reward earned, reward redeemed, outstanding balance and date, archived with a timestamp. ReferralCandy says account deletion "is permanent" and disables pending rewards and active referral links ([ReferralCandy Help Center](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457904-cancelling-and-deleting-your-referralcandy-account), October 2026).
1. **Get finance to value the outstanding balance.** It's an accrued liability with a number on it, so name who signs off.
1. **Choose a treatment for the balance.** Honor it in an app that imports referrals, convert it to store credit, convert it to one-time discount codes, or pay it out and close the program. All four are defensible. Silently dropping it isn't.
1. **Tell the customers.** Whatever you choose, a short honest email beats a support queue.
1. **Keep the referral graph as a file even if nothing imports it.** It's your cheapest record of who your advocates are, and a new program can invite those who agreed to hear from you by email ([ReferralCandy Help Center](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457897-importing-customers-to-a-segment), October 2026).

## When should you not carry the referral program across?

Don't carry the referral program across when the balance is immaterial, the referral vendor is changing too, or the program wasn't working. Each one turns a careful migration into wasted work, so settle the ledger and stop.

> **When not to do this**
> - **When the outstanding balance is immaterial.** Pay it out, close the ledger and start the new program clean. That's faster and cheaper than any migration path.
> - **When you're changing referral vendors mid-replatform.** Two changes, one weekend, one liability. Sequence them.
> - **When the program wasn't working.** A replatform is a legitimate moment to stop running a program nobody redeems, and carrying its ledger forward just to be thorough is work with no return.

## Deploi's point of view

**What we've seen.** The referral app is usually owned by a marketing manager and invisible to the migration plan until someone notices the store credit line in the accounts. It surfaces late because it is nobody's platform.

**Where we disagree.** The reflex answer is to recreate referral balances as store credit. Sometimes right, often wrong, and specifically wrong for wholesale merchants, because customer-profile store credit does not work in a B2B store. Check the object before you bulk-convert.

**What this page adds.** The parent answer moves wholesale credit limits into metafields that enforce nothing. This page follows referral data, which has no Shopify field at all, and shows that Shopify's store credit, the balance Shopify names for referral rewards, comes in a customer-profile kind for direct-to-consumer stores and a company-location kind for business-to-business stores that are not interchangeable, so settling owed rewards is a per-customer routing decision rather than a bulk load.

## When this answer changes

- Shopify adds a native referral program or a referral field on the customer record.
- Shopify changes its store credit caps, today under $15,000 USD per customer account and under $10,000 per company location.
- ReferralCandy, Smile.io or LoyaltyLion starts importing past referrals or rewards owed.
- UpPromote changes its referral import, today email, total_sales and commission_amount at 200 rows a file.
- ReferralCandy changes what account deletion does to pending rewards and referral links.

## Sources

1. [Shopify Help Center, Importing and exporting customer lists](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/import-export-customers), checked October 11, 2026
2. [Shopify Help Center, Store credit](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/customers/store-credit), checked October 11, 2026
3. [Shopify Help Center, Setting up store credit for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/store-credit), checked October 11, 2026
4. [ReferralCandy, Referral Candy & Affiliate on the Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/referralcandy), checked October 11, 2026
5. [ReferralCandy Help Center, [Shopify] Downloading a list of your customers](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457895-shopify-downloading-a-list-of-your-customers), checked October 11, 2026
6. [ReferralCandy Help Center, Importing customers to a segment](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457897-importing-customers-to-a-segment), checked October 11, 2026
7. [ReferralCandy Help Center, Cancelling and deleting your ReferralCandy account](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/2457904-cancelling-and-deleting-your-referralcandy-account), checked October 11, 2026
8. [Smile Help Center, Move a Smile loyalty program to a new eCommerce platform](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/13370251-move-a-smile-loyalty-program-to-a-new-ecommerce-platform), checked October 11, 2026
9. [Smile Help Center, Filter and export customers](https://help.smile.io/en/articles/4036251-filter-and-export-customers), checked October 11, 2026
10. [LoyaltyLion Help Center, Imports](https://help.loyaltylion.com/en/articles/5553630-imports), checked October 11, 2026
11. [UpPromote, Manually add referral](https://docs.uppromote.com/management/referrals/manually-add-referral), checked October 11, 2026
12. [Matrixify, Customers](https://matrixify.app/documentation/customers/), checked October 11, 2026
13. [Shopify developer docs, discountRedeemCodeBulkAdd](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/mutations/discountRedeemCodeBulkAdd), checked October 11, 2026
14. [LoyaltyLion Help Center, Exporting Your Data](https://help.loyaltylion.com/en/articles/5367139-exporting-your-data), checked October 11, 2026
15. [UpPromote, Import/Export affiliates](https://docs.uppromote.com/management/affiliates/manually-add-affiliate), checked October 11, 2026
16. [ReferralCandy Help Center, [Shopify] Advocate reward: Store credits](https://help.referralcandy.com/en/articles/10840654-shopify-advocate-reward-store-credits), checked October 11, 2026
17. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Should You Build or Buy a Referral Program on Shopify?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/referral-program), checked October 11, 2026, Deploi research