Can I migrate an existing affiliate program?

Yes. There are two routes: rebuild the program by hand, or import your existing affiliates by CSV where your Shopify plan, store age, and Simple Affiliate subscription meet the import safeguards. Either way, the work that matters is preserving the right referral relationships and telling partners exactly what changes.

Rebuilding from scratch

The right choice when you want to redesign commissions, groups, links, or onboarding rather than carry old records forward.

1. Review your current affiliate list, commission rules, groups, referral links, and discount codes.
2. Decide which affiliates and tracking methods to recreate.
3. Configure the new groups, commissions, referral links, and codes in Simple Affiliate.
4. Invite affiliates to the affiliate dashboard with sign-in instructions. They sign in with your store's Shopify customer accounts: new customer accounts use Shopify's customer-account area, classic ones use a branded theme page at /pages/affiliate unless you change the address.
5. Test a referral link and a discount code before publishing the new program.

Importing by CSV

CSV import brings eligible affiliate records in so you're not entering each one by hand, but it's gated: eligible paid Shopify plans only, with store-age and app-subscription safeguards on top. Not every store qualifies immediately. Check first.

To import, go to Affiliates and click Import affiliates. Click Download CSV template, fill it in, upload it with Add file, choose the group for the imported affiliates, and click Import. The group sets their commission and discount rules. The import rules are:

• Each file can have up to 100 affiliates. Split a larger list into several files.
• Each row needs an email address, a first name, and a last name. A row with a missing value, or an email address or discount code that is in the file two times, stops the whole import.
• A row with an email address that is already in your affiliate list is skipped. A row with an email address that isn't valid fails, and the other rows still import.
• If a discount code in the file already exists in your Shopify store, it's reassigned to the imported affiliate. A row fails when another affiliate already uses the code.

Imported affiliates are active as soon as the import finishes. The import window has no welcome-email option, so send each affiliate their dashboard instructions yourself. Clear out duplicates, outdated contact details, and records that shouldn't carry forward before you import, then configure whatever groups, commissions, links, or codes the imported records still need. Have a test affiliate sign in and confirm the affiliate dashboard shows what you expect. The full steps are in How to import affiliates.

Treat the import as a data migration, not an automatic conversion of your old tracking rules. Keep a record of the source program so you can compare affiliates and settings afterwards.

The tracking cutover

Moving from another Shopify affiliate app? Schedule a cutover window instead of switching silently. Old links and discount codes may need to redirect, be replaced, or stay active temporarily while affiliates update their marketing materials.

Go method by method. Referral links attribute through a tracking code such as sacode, with optional UTM parameters for campaign reporting. Confirm every existing discount code has a corresponding code in Simple Affiliate before affiliates replace published links or promotions. Connected customers, on the Pro plan with the feature enabled, can keep a customer connected to the referring affiliate after the first referred purchase. Then sweep the published materials: email campaigns, social profiles, paid ads, blog posts, partner websites.

Assume nothing carries over until you've verified it. Test the exact journey your affiliates' customers take: landing page, checkout, order attribution, commission result.

Before you announce

• Each migrated affiliate can reach the correct Shopify customer account and affiliate dashboard.
• Groups and commission rules match the terms you intend to honour.
• Referral links and discount codes record the expected attribution.
• Existing customers still reach the intended store pages and checkout.
• Affiliates know which links or codes to use after the cutover date.
• You keep an export of the previous program for reconciliation and support questions.

Then notify affiliates of the effective date, the dashboard access instructions, and any replacement links or codes. Keep the old program available during the agreed window only if that's compatible with your previous provider and your tracking requirements. Simple Affiliate provides the new program and its tracking tools; which legacy links, codes, and commission outcomes to retain is yours to define and verify.