Understanding why Mention Me requires all transactions

Mention Me requires all transaction data for two reasons:

1. When a friend is referred, we need to know they've made a transaction so the referrer can be rewarded.
2. We need to keep an updated list of existing customers. Existing customers can't be given an introductory reward for being referred, so we need to exclude them.

Examples

It can be helpful to run through a couple of examples of how Mention Me would work if we did or didn't have all transaction data.

We'll focus on two examples, the first is about ensuring referral works. The second is about protecting the program.

We'll use two fictional customers, Alice and Bob. Alice is referring her friend Bob.

Ensuring everyone is rewarded fairly

A working example

Let's run through an example where the integration is fully setup as expected, with transaction tracking:

1. Alice loads your app or website.
2. Alice sees the refer a friend experience.
3. From here, Alice refers Bob by giving him a Mention Me link.
4. Bob follows the Mention Me journey, and is given a coupon code or other discount.
5. Bob visits your website.
6. Bob makes a purchase. It doesn't matter if he uses the coupon code or not.
7. Because Mention Me receives all transaction data, Mention Me records Bob is a new customer.
8. Mention Me knows that because Bob is a new customer and was referred by Alice, we can give Alice (Bob's referrer) a reward for completing a referral.

The end result is Alice is happy (she got a reward for referring Bob) and Bob is happy (he got a discount for being introduced to a new brand).

An incorrect example

Now let's run through an example where Mention Me only receives some of the transaction data.

Steps 1-6 are the same. Bob has made a purchase after being referred by Alice. However, because:

1. Mention Me doesn't receive all transaction data.
2. This means Mention Me never sees Bob make a purchase, and so never records that Bob is a new customer.
3. Mention Me has no idea that Alice's introduction to Bob led to a completed transaction.
4. Alice never gets a reward.

The end result is that while Bob is happy (he got a discount) but Alice is unhappy (she didn't get a reward for a referral).

How we stop people claiming rewards they aren't owed

In this example, Bob is going to try and claim he's a new customer even though he is already an existing customer.

A working example

1. Bob makes his first purchase on the app or website. Bob found out about the app or website from an advert, unrelated to referral, this morning.
2. Because Mention Me sees all transaction data, Bob is recorded as a customer.
3. Sometime later, Alice saw the referral program and found out she and Bob both get £10 if she refers Bob. Alice tells Bob about the referral program. Even though Bob is an existing customer, they decide to try their luck.
4. Alice gives Bob a link.
5. Bob tries to use the link.
6. Because Bob is an existing customer, Bob gets an error and is never given a code. He's encouraged to share with his friends instead.

An incorrect example

1. As above, Bob makes his first purchase on the app or website. Bob found out about the app or website from an advert, unrelated to referral, this morning.
2. Mention Me doesn't know about all transaction data and so doesn't know that Bob is a customer.
3. Sometime later, Alice saw the referral program and found out she and Bob both get £10 if she refers Bob. Alice tells Bob about the referral program. Even though Bob is an existing customer, they decide to try their luck.
4. Alice gives Bob a link.
5. Bob tries to use the link.
6. Because Mention Me doesn't know Bob is an existing customer, Bob is given a code he doesn't deserve.