SMS Consent for Referral Sharing Post Purchase (Shopify Extensibility) - CASL Compliance

Samantha Brown Updated by Samantha Brown

Overview

Friendbuy’s SMS Consent feature adds a required consent checkbox to the referral sharing widget on your Shopify post-purchase (thank you) page. When enabled, customers must confirm they have a personal relationship with their referral recipient before sharing via SMS. This ensures your referral program complies with consumer consent regulations such as CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation) and similar requirements.

This feature works alongside the existing email CASL consent option. SMS and email consent checkboxes operate independently, giving you granular control over how consent is collected for each sharing channel.

What Customers See

When SMS consent is enabled, customers will see an additional checkbox in the referral sharing widget on your post-purchase page. The checkbox reads:

“I confirm that I have a personal relationship with the friend(s) I’m referring and that they would reasonably expect to receive this referral message from me.”

The following behavior applies:

•       The checkbox is unchecked by default.

•       The Share via SMS button is disabled until the checkbox is checked.

•       If a customer attempts to share via SMS without checking the box, an error message is displayed prompting them to provide consent first.

•       Consent is recorded with each SMS share for your compliance records.

Follow these steps to enable the SMS consent requirement for your store.

  1. Open Checkout Settings

In your Shopify admin, navigate to Settings → Checkout. You’ll see your checkout configurations listed under the Configurations section.

  1. Open the Checkout Customizer

Click Customize on your live checkout configuration to open the checkout editor.

  1. Locate the Friendbuy App Block

In the checkout editor, look at the left sidebar under Apps. Find the Friendbuy Post Purchase Referrals - CASL app block. If you’re using the CASL variant, this block already supports email consent and will now also support SMS consent.

If you don’t see the CASL variant in your app blocks, contact Friendbuy support to have it enabled for your store.
  1. Confirm the SMS Consent Checkbox Is Active

Once the Post Purchase Referrals - CASL app block is added to your checkout, the SMS consent checkbox is included automatically. The checkbox appears unchecked by default for each customer, requiring them to actively confirm consent before sharing via SMS.

  1. Save and Publish

Click Save in the top right corner of the checkout editor to publish your changes. The SMS consent checkbox will now appear on your post-purchase referral widget.

How It Works

SMS Sharing Flow

1.     A customer completes a purchase and arrives at the thank-you page.

2.     The referral sharing widget loads with the Share via SMS button in a disabled state.

3.     The customer checks the SMS consent checkbox to confirm they know the recipient.

4.     The Share via SMS button becomes active.

5.     The customer taps the button, which opens their device’s native SMS app with a pre-filled referral message and unique referral link.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if a customer tries to share via SMS without checking the box?

The Share via SMS button will remain disabled. If the customer attempts to interact with it, an error message will be displayed asking them to confirm consent before proceeding.

The SMS sharing option (and its consent checkbox) appears on the post-purchase thank-you page. Since SMS sharing is primarily used on mobile devices, the checkbox is designed to work seamlessly on mobile screens.

SMS consent is recorded as an attribute on each share event. This means every SMS referral share includes a record of whether consent was provided, which can be used for compliance reporting.

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