● E-commerce
Referral Rate
Proportion of customers who actively recommend the brand to others. An indicator of satisfaction and organic customer acquisition.
Full definition
The referral rate measures the proportion of customers who actively recommend a brand to their network — whether through word of mouth, social media, a referral program, or public reviews. It is one of the most powerful indicators of customer satisfaction: a customer who recommends is a convinced customer whose act of recommendation generates acquisition at near-zero cost.
General formula: Referral Rate (%) = (Number of Customers Who Referred the Brand / Total Number of Customers) × 100. In practice, it is measured via NPS (Net Promoter Score), referral programs (number of referrals / number of active customers), or the number of reviews published on third-party platforms. Each channel produces a different expression of the metric.
Industry benchmarks indicate that an NPS above 50 is excellent in e-commerce. High-performing referral programs generate 10-20% of new customers through this channel. Public reviews on Trustpilot or Google represent a structured form of recommendation: a rating of 4.9/5 across hundreds of reviews carries more purchase influence than most advertising campaigns.
Concrete example
A sustainable fashion brand launches a referral program: each customer can refer a friend and receive €15 off their next order. Of 8,000 active customers, 960 refer at least one friend (referral rate via program: 12%). These 960 referrals generate 480 new orders at an acquisition cost of €15 — versus an average paid CAC of €38 via advertising.
A natural cosmetics retailer observes that 35% of new customers mention in their post-order survey that they discovered the brand via a Trustpilot or Google review. This indirect referral rate — via public reviews — constitutes a free, credible acquisition channel that contributes to structurally reducing the brand's overall CAC.
With Review Collect
Review Collect is directly linked to referral rate: a 40% post-purchase review collection rate transforms satisfied customers into public advocates on Trustpilot, Google, and Avis Vérifiés. Each published review is a structured recommendation, visible to thousands of prospects, with a demonstrable impact on the purchase decision.
A global rating of 4.9/5 across hundreds of reviews — maintained through AI responses delivered in under 60 seconds that demonstrate care for each customer — reinforces the credibility of the recommendation. RC merchants benefit from a permanent referral channel, at near-zero marginal cost, that continuously feeds their organic acquisition.
