What is lifetime attribution?

Lifetime attribution keeps a customer connected to the affiliate who first referred them, so the affiliate (a person or business that promotes the store) earns commission, the reward for a referred sale, on the customer's later orders too. Attribution is the rule that decides which affiliate gets credit for a sale. Usually each order needs its own sign of a referral; with lifetime attribution, the first referred purchase creates a lasting connection instead.

What you will learn

• How lifetime attribution differs from crediting one order at a time
• When lifetime attribution suits an affiliate program, and when it does not
• How permanent customer connection works in Simple Affiliate

Order-by-order attribution compared with lifetime attribution

In most affiliate programs, attribution works order by order. A customer opens an affiliate's referral link, a web address with a tracking code that identifies the affiliate, or enters the affiliate's standard discount code, a reusable code assigned to the affiliate, at checkout. That order is credited to the affiliate. Opening the link can also save a tracking cookie, a small file in the customer's browser, so a later purchase from the same browser is credited too while the cookie lasts. But if the customer comes back after the cookie has expired, or buys on another device, without the link or code, the new order is credited to nobody.

Lifetime attribution changes what happens next. After the first referred purchase, the store connects that customer to the affiliate. Later orders from the same customer are credited to the same affiliate, even when the customer does not use the link or code again.

An example

Say a customer buys a $40 bag of coffee through an affiliate's link, then reorders every month by going straight to the store after the tracking cookie has expired. With a 10% commission, order-by-order attribution pays the affiliate $4 for the first order and nothing for the reorders, unless the customer uses the link or code again. With lifetime attribution, the affiliate earns $4 on every monthly order.

When lifetime attribution fits a program

Lifetime attribution rewards affiliates for a customer's lifetime value, the total a customer spends with your store over time. It tends to fit when:

• Customers buy the same products again, such as coffee, skincare, or pet food.
• You want affiliates to bring in loyal new customers rather than one-off buyers.
• Repeat customers usually come back to your store directly, so affiliates would otherwise lose credit for them.

It may not fit when you only want to pay for a customer's first purchase, or when your margin (the profit left after costs) on repeat orders cannot cover a commission. Some programs choose a middle path: a time limit on the connection, or a higher commission on a customer's first order and a standard rate after that.

How permanent customer connection works in Simple Affiliate

Simple Affiliate calls lifetime attribution permanent customer connection. It is available on the Pro plan and above (see the Simple Affiliate pricing page), and you turn it on for a group, a set of affiliates who share the same rules. Once it is on, a customer who completes a first purchase through an affiliate's referral link or discount code is connected to that affiliate by their email address, and the affiliate earns commission on the customer's later orders.

• Lifetime or time-limited: by default, the connection lasts as long as both the customer and the affiliate remain in your program. You can instead set a duration limit, so the affiliate earns only on orders placed within a set time after the customer's first purchase.
• Commission, not discounts: the connection carries the commission, but a connected customer who wants a discount on a later order still enters the affiliate's standard discount code at checkout.
• Manual changes: you can connect or disconnect a customer by hand from their customer page in Shopify admin, where you manage your store, for example to correct a tracking error.

Tell affiliates whether their customer connections last for life or for a set time, so they know what they can earn.

To turn it on for a group, read How to set up permanent customer connection (Pro plan) in the help center.