BON Loyalty Program & Rewards vs. ReferTech: A Practical Comparison

Introduction

Selecting the right retention tools for a Shopify store involves more than just looking at a feature list. It requires an understanding of how specific software fits into the daily operations and long-term growth strategy of a business. Merchants often find themselves choosing between specialized tools that excel in one niche and broader platforms that cover multiple bases. This comparison focuses on two distinct paths for improving customer retention: the comprehensive loyalty suite offered by BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and the targeted referral focus of ReferTech.

Short answer: BON Loyalty Program & Rewards is a versatile choice for stores needing a full points and VIP system with multi-channel support, while ReferTech is better suited for merchants wanting a streamlined, high-touch referral setup specifically for the post-purchase experience. Moving toward a more unified retention strategy often allows brands to maintain a consistent customer experience without the friction of managing disconnected systems.

This analysis provides an objective look at both apps, examining their features, pricing, and operational impact. By evaluating these tools through a strategic lens, store owners can decide which approach aligns with their current scale and future goals.

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards vs. ReferTech: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison: Core Features and Workflows

Understanding the functional differences between BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and ReferTech is essential for identifying which tool matches the operational needs of a Shopify storefront. These two apps approach customer retention from different angles, one providing a broad loyalty ecosystem and the other focusing on the viral nature of word-of-mouth marketing.

Retention Mechanics and Customer Incentives

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards functions as a robust loyalty engine. It allows merchants to create a point-based system where customers earn rewards for various actions, such as making a purchase, following social media accounts, or celebrating a birthday. The inclusion of VIP tiers is a significant differentiator here. By categorizing customers into different levels based on their spend or engagement, brands can offer exclusive benefits that encourage long-term commitment. This structure is particularly effective for brands with high purchase frequency where customers see tangible value in moving up the ranks.

ReferTech, in contrast, focuses its energy on the referral workflow. The primary goal is to turn existing customers into brand advocates. The app is designed to capture attention at the peak of customer satisfaction: the thank-you page. By placing referral offers directly on the native Shopify thank-you page extension, ReferTech minimizes friction. Customers do not have to search for a referral link; it is presented to them immediately after they have committed to a purchase. This targeted approach is highly efficient for stores that rely heavily on new customer acquisition through social proof.

Referral Programs and Fraud Prevention

Both apps offer referral capabilities, but the execution varies. BON Loyalty includes referrals as part of its broader suite. It features an anti-cheat referral program to prevent self-referrals, which is a common issue when offering discounts. The referral system in BON is integrated with the points system, meaning a successful referral can trigger point rewards or specific discount codes. This creates a cohesive experience where referrals are just one of many ways to earn rewards.

ReferTech places a heavy emphasis on the security and management of referrals. It uses AI to help block self-referrals and suspicious activity, providing an extra layer of protection for the store's margins. ReferTech also provides customers with a dedicated dashboard where they can copy their links, track their referrals, and see their rewards in real-time. This level of transparency for the customer can lead to higher engagement with the referral program, as the rewards feel more attainable and trackable.

Multi-Channel and B2B Functionality

A standout feature for BON Loyalty Program & Rewards is its ability to handle complex business models. It supports Shopify POS, which means customers can earn and redeem points both online and in physical retail locations. For brands with a brick-and-mortar presence, this unified view of the customer is vital. Furthermore, BON offers a B2B loyalty program specifically for wholesale sales. This allows merchants to provide tiered rewards to business clients, which is a rare feature in standard loyalty apps.

ReferTech is more focused on the standard D2C (Direct to Consumer) model. Its primary integration is with the Shopify checkout and thank-you page. While it does not offer the same level of B2B or POS depth as BON, it excels in its specific niche of referral automation. For a merchant who only operates online and wants to maximize the impact of their thank-you page, ReferTech’s specialized focus provides a very low-barrier entry point.

Customization and Branding Control

The ability to make a loyalty or referral program feel like a native part of the website is crucial for building trust. If a rewards widget looks out of place, customers may be hesitant to interact with it.

User Interface and Store Integration

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards offers significant customization options. It provides a brand-tailored loyalty page and allows for the use of custom CSS, supported by their development team. This means that as a store grows and its branding becomes more sophisticated, the loyalty program can evolve alongside it. The app also integrates loyalty points at multiple touchpoints, including the homepage, product pages, and the checkout (for Shopify Plus users). This ensures that the rewards program is always top-of-mind for the shopper.

ReferTech focuses on a clean, native feel. Because it uses the native Shopify thank-you page extension, the referral offers look and feel like a natural part of the Shopify experience. Merchants can fully customize the campaigns with their own branding and copy, ensuring the messaging aligns with the brand voice. The dedicated referral page and customer dashboard are also customizable, providing a consistent journey from the moment a customer signs up to refer a friend to the moment they track their reward.

Technical Flexibility and Developer Tools

For larger brands or those with unique technical requirements, BON Loyalty Program & Rewards offers an advanced suite of tools. This includes a Software Development Toolkit (SDK) and full API access in their higher-tier plans. This level of access is essential for stores using headless commerce architectures (such as Hydrogen) where standard Shopify app blocks might not work. It allows developers to build custom loyalty experiences that are fully integrated into a bespoke frontend.

ReferTech provides a different kind of technical support. Instead of focusing on APIs for custom builds, they offer a "done-for-you" setup. Their team can configure the account, the first campaign, and the rewards for the merchant. This is a high-value service for store owners who may not have a dedicated developer or the time to learn a new software interface. It prioritizes speed to market and ease of use over deep technical extensibility.

Pricing Structure and Value for Money

Budget considerations often dictate which app a merchant selects, but it is important to look at the total value provided at each price point rather than just the monthly fee.

Entry-Level Options

Both apps offer a free-to-install tier, which is excellent for new stores testing the waters of customer retention.

• BON Loyalty Free Plan: Includes a basic points and rewards program, an anti-cheat referral program, automated emails, and various discount types. It even allows for points at checkout for Shopify Plus users, which is a premium feature often gated in other apps.
• ReferTech Free Plan: Allows for one campaign and up to 50 customers or referrals per year. It includes customizable campaigns and emails but offers limited reporting.

The BON free plan is more generous in terms of customer volume, while the ReferTech free plan is strictly capped by the number of referrals. This makes BON a better starting point for stores with high traffic but low initial margins, whereas ReferTech’s free tier is essentially a trial for the full system.

Scaling with Growth

As a business grows, its needs become more complex. The pricing tiers for both apps reflect this progression.

• BON Loyalty Basic ($25/mo): Adds features like a dedicated loyalty page, multi-language display, and POS rewards.
• ReferTech Premium ($39/mo): Increases the limit to two campaigns and 500 referrals per year, adding in-app reporting.
• BON Loyalty Growth ($99/mo): Removes order limits and introduces VIP tiers and B2B functionality. This is a significant jump in capability for stores looking to build a community.
• ReferTech Unlimited ($199/mo): Offers unlimited campaigns and referrals, along with a dedicated account manager.
• BON Loyalty Professional ($349/mo): Aimed at enterprise-level stores, offering full API access, SDKs, and custom development packages.

When evaluating feature coverage across plans, merchants must consider if they need a wide range of loyalty tools (BON) or an unlimited volume of referrals (ReferTech). BON’s pricing scales based on feature complexity, while ReferTech scales primarily based on referral volume and the level of personalized support.

Integrations and Technical Fit

An app is only as good as its ability to communicate with the rest of the tech stack. Fragmentation leads to data silos and manual work.

Ecosystem Compatibility

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards has built a wide web of integrations. It works with review apps like Fera, LAI, and Judge.me, as well as landing page builders like PageFly. Its integration with Klaviyo is particularly important for retention, as it allows merchants to trigger emails based on loyalty milestones (e.g., "You are 50 points away from a reward"). These integrations suggest that BON is designed to be a central piece of a larger marketing engine.

ReferTech has a more streamlined integration list, focusing on the essentials. It works with Shopify Checkout and Klaviyo. The Klaviyo integration ensures that referral data can be used in email marketing flows, which is critical for reminding customers to share their links. While the integration list is shorter, it covers the most important bases for a referral-specific tool.

Operational Overhead

Using multiple specialized apps can sometimes lead to a "stacking" effect, where each app adds its own weight to the store's loading speed and the team's workload. BON Loyalty is a relatively heavy app because it manages so many different functions (points, tiers, B2B, POS). However, because it replaces several smaller apps, it can actually reduce overall overhead for some stores.

ReferTech is a lightweight solution. Its focus on the thank-you page means it doesn't need to load heavy scripts across every page of the site. For merchants who only want referrals and nothing else, this is a major benefit. However, if a merchant later decides they also want loyalty points or VIP tiers, they will have to install another app, which increases the total number of tools being managed.

Support and Performance Reliability

When a loyalty program goes down or a referral link breaks, it directly impacts the customer's trust in the brand. Evaluating the support structure of these apps is a key part of the decision-making process.

Support Channels and Responsiveness

BON Loyalty emphasizes its 24/7 support. For stores operating in multiple time zones, having access to live chat at any hour is a significant advantage. Their higher-tier plans also offer "Support Priority" and direct developer assistance for custom CSS. This level of support is tailored to brands that cannot afford any downtime in their rewards program.

ReferTech offers a more personalized, boutique support experience. Being UK-based, they highlight their willingness to chat and offer a "done-for-you" configuration service. For many merchants, having an expert set things up correctly the first time is more valuable than 24/7 reactive support. On their highest plan, they provide a dedicated account manager, which is a great asset for high-volume stores needing strategic guidance.

Trust Signals and Real-World Usage

When scanning reviews to understand real-world adoption, it is important to note that both apps have very high ratings but relatively low review counts in the provided data (1 for BON and 2 for ReferTech). A 5.0 rating indicates that the early adopters are highly satisfied, but it also means that the apps may not have been stress-tested by thousands of different store configurations yet.

Merchants should look for apps that show consistent performance over time. A high rating is a good trust signal, but the depth of the feature set often dictates how reliable an app will be as the store scales. BON’s focus on enterprise features like APIs and SDKs suggests a commitment to stability at scale, while ReferTech’s focus on AI fraud detection shows a commitment to the integrity of the referral data.

The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform

As merchants add more tools to their Shopify stores, they often encounter "app fatigue." This phenomenon occurs when a store becomes a patchwork of different softwares, each handling a single task. A merchant might use one app for loyalty points, another for referrals, a third for photo reviews, and a fourth for wishlists. While each app might be excellent on its own, the cumulative effect can be detrimental to the business.

App fatigue manifests in several ways. First, there is the technical impact: multiple scripts loading on every page can slow down site speed, harming SEO and conversion rates. Second, there is the data silo problem: if the loyalty app doesn't talk to the review app, the merchant can't easily reward a customer for leaving a review. Third, there is the user experience: a customer might see three different pop-ups or widgets that don't match in design or tone, creating a fragmented and confusing brand image.

Growave addresses these challenges through a "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy. Instead of forcing merchants to manage five different subscriptions and five different support teams, it integrates these essential retention functions into a single, cohesive platform. By using loyalty programs that keep customers coming back, merchants can build a unified journey where every interaction is tracked and rewarded in one place.

This integrated approach simplifies the administrative side of running a store. When a brand uses review automation that builds trust at purchase time, that data flows directly into the loyalty system. There is no need for complex third-party integrations or manual data exports. This synergy allows for more creative and effective marketing. For example, a store can automatically increase a customer's VIP status the moment they share a referral link or upload a photo review.

Furthermore, moving to a consolidated platform provides seeing how other brands connect loyalty and reviews to drive higher engagement. Instead of looking at disparate metrics, merchants get a holistic view of customer lifetime value. They can see how a wishlist interaction leads to a purchase, which then triggers a review request, followed by a referral—all within a single dashboard.

By comparing plan fit against retention goals, it becomes clear that an all-in-one platform often provides better long-term value. While specialized apps like BON Loyalty or ReferTech serve their specific purposes well, the operational overhead of managing them separately can eventually outweigh their benefits. An integrated platform reduces the technical debt of a store, ensuring that as the business scales, the retention strategy remains agile and effective.

The strategic advantage of this model is especially apparent for high-growth brands. Using VIP tiers and incentives for high-intent customers within an integrated ecosystem means that the branding remains consistent across every touchpoint. Customers feel like they are interacting with one brand, not four different pieces of software. This consistency is what builds true brand loyalty.

For those looking to optimize their conversion rates, social proof that supports conversion and AOV is most effective when it is tied to a rewards program. When shoppers see that they can earn points for contributing content, they are more likely to engage. This virtuous cycle of engagement is much easier to maintain when the tools are designed to work together from the ground up.

Ultimately, the goal of any retention strategy is to create a seamless experience for the customer. Looking at real examples from brands improving retention shows that the most successful stores are those that minimize friction. Whether it is through a points system, a referral program, or a wishlist, every feature should feel like a natural extension of the shopping experience.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between BON Loyalty Program & Rewards and ReferTech, the decision comes down to the specific scope of their retention goals and the complexity of their business model. BON Loyalty Program & Rewards offers a broad, feature-rich environment that is ideal for stores needing a multi-channel loyalty presence, B2B functionality, or headless commerce support. It is a powerful engine for those who want to build a complex, point-based community. ReferTech, on the other hand, provides a highly focused and secure referral solution that excels in the post-purchase phase. Its specialized AI fraud detection and "done-for-you" setup make it a strong contender for merchants who want to maximize word-of-mouth marketing without a steep learning curve.

However, as a store grows, the limitations of using multiple single-function apps become more apparent. The challenge shifted from simply having a feature to ensuring that all features work together to create a unified customer profile. A fragmented tech stack often leads to missed opportunities for engagement and higher total costs of ownership. Strategic growth requires a shift away from app sprawl and toward a more integrated retention stack that can handle loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists under one roof.

By moving to an all-in-one platform, merchants can gain checking merchant feedback and app-store performance signals that show the benefits of a streamlined operation. This approach not only improves the site's performance but also provides a more consistent and professional experience for the customer. It allows the marketing team to focus on strategy and creativity rather than troubleshooting integrations between disparate tools.

Evaluating the total impact of your tech stack is the first step toward a more sustainable growth model. When you have a clearer view of total retention-stack costs, it becomes easier to justify the move to a more comprehensive solution that grows with your brand.

To reduce app fatigue and run retention from one place, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

Which app is better for a brick-and-mortar store?

BON Loyalty Program & Rewards is the better fit for physical retail because it offers a direct integration with Shopify POS. This allows customers to earn and spend points in-store, creating a unified experience between the physical and digital storefronts. ReferTech is primarily focused on the online checkout and thank-you page experience.

Can I run a referral program on both apps?

Yes, both apps offer referral capabilities. BON Loyalty includes referrals as one part of a larger loyalty suite, where referrals often earn customers points or general discounts. ReferTech is a dedicated referral app that focuses specifically on maximizing the referral rate through the thank-you page and offers advanced AI-driven fraud protection specifically for these campaigns.

Do these apps support Shopify Plus?

Both apps are compatible with Shopify Plus. BON Loyalty offers specific features for Plus users, such as the ability to show points directly at the checkout. ReferTech uses the native Shopify thank-you page extensions, which are fully supported on the Plus platform.

How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?

An all-in-one platform integrates multiple retention tools—like loyalty, referrals, and reviews—into a single interface. While specialized apps might offer deeper features in one specific area, an all-in-one platform reduces technical overhead, lowers costs, and ensures that customer data is synchronized across all retention activities. This leads to a more consistent customer experience and easier management for the merchant.