What is an affiliate program?

An affiliate program is the set of rules a store uses to work with affiliates, the people and businesses who promote its products in return for a commission. The program decides who can join, what each referred sale earns, how referrals are tracked, and how affiliates get paid. You can run a program in-house from your own store, or join an affiliate network that runs part of it for you.

What you will learn

• The parts of an affiliate program: terms, commission rules, groups, referral methods, and payouts
• How an in-house program differs from an affiliate network
• What to compare before choosing one

The parts of an affiliate program

Program terms

Program terms are the written rules every affiliate agrees to when they join. They usually cover who can join, how affiliates may promote the store, which orders earn commission, and when commission is paid. As the merchant, you write the terms and explain them to your affiliates. Do not promise affiliates anything the terms leave out, such as a payout date.

Commission rules

A commission rule sets what an affiliate earns on a referred order. It is usually a percentage of the sale, such as 10% of a $50 order ($5), or a fixed amount per order, such as $5 on every order. Many programs start with one default rule and add overrides: exceptions that pay a different amount for specific products. In Simple Affiliate, a program has a global commission rule, plus product, variant, or collection overrides where your plan supports them.

Groups

A group is a set of affiliates who share the same rewards. For example, you might keep most affiliates in one default group and create another group with a higher commission for your most active partners. In Simple Affiliate, every affiliate belongs to a group, and the group sets their commission rates and discount rules.

Referral methods

A referral method is how an order gets connected to the affiliate who referred it. The two most common are referral links, web addresses that carry a tracking code naming the affiliate, and discount codes that are unique to each affiliate. Many programs offer both, so each affiliate can use whichever suits their audience.

Payouts

A payout is the payment that sends earned commission to an affiliate. Your program decides when commission is paid and how. In Simple Affiliate, commission is either paid automatically through Autopay or held for your approval and a manual payout, depending on your setup and plan.

In-house programs compared with affiliate networks

An affiliate network is a third-party company that connects many stores with a shared pool of publishers: affiliates who promote products for many stores at once. An in-house program is one you run from your own store, usually with an app.

How an affiliate network works

A network gives you access to its publisher pool and its recruitment tools. In return, it typically charges fees on referred sales, and affiliates work on the network's own website rather than yours.

How an in-house program works

With an in-house program, you recruit affiliates from people already around your business, such as customers, creators, and business partners. With Simple Affiliate, affiliates join and sign in through your store's Shopify customer accounts, and the affiliates, referrals, commissions, and customer relationships stay with your store. There is no network referral fee, and the affiliate receives the full commission. Your costs are the app subscription and any applicable Autopay processing fees, both listed on the Simple Affiliate pricing page.

Which one fits your store?

A network is the better choice when your main need is its existing publisher marketplace or its recruitment tools. An in-house program fits when you plan to recruit from your own customers and partners and want the program attached to your store. Before choosing, compare:

• Where your affiliates will come from: your existing customers and partners, or a network's publisher pool
• Whether affiliate and customer relationships stay connected to your store
• A network's fees on referred sales against an app subscription plus any payout processing fees
• Whether keeping tracking, affiliate access, and payouts close to your store makes support simpler for your team

To see how groups set commission rates and discount rules in practice, read How to set up Groups in Simple Affiliate in the help center.