As a Shopify merchant, you must determine and pursue a strategic combination of the most successful marketing strategies. Affiliate marketing is one such strategy you may use to increase sales on your Shopify store. According to statistics, affiliate marketing accounts for 15% to 30% of sales for e-commerce stores. Though what exactly is affiliate marketing?
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where people or organizations (affiliates) advertise goods or services on behalf of another company (merchant) and get compensated for each sale or action that results from their marketing efforts. Affiliates are paid for sending customers to the merchant's website, and the merchant obtains visibility and potential purchases without investing in upfront marketing expenses.
Companies only pay affiliates when a sale occurs as the commissions are performance-based. As a result, risks are diminished and ROI is improved.
With Shopify, there are two opportunities, you can either become an affiliate marketer for Shopify with the Shopify Affiliate Program or you can set up your very own affiliate program to drive traffic and sales toward your Shopify store.
Our blog will discuss what the Shopify affiliate program is, what the Shopify partner program is, and how you can get started as an affiliate marketer for both of these programs. You will also learn how you can set up an affiliate program for your own Shopify store.
What is the Shopify Affiliate Program?
The Shopify Affiliate Program is a special chance for business owners, educators, influencers, and content producers who want to motivate and instruct their audience about starting a business using Shopify. They may monetize their audience and earn money from each new Shopify merchant referral through the program, which is free to join. Affiliate marketers can use this marketing initiative to leverage their networks and expertise in order to produce passive revenue. Shopify had its own affiliate program prior to June 2022; starting on that date, however, it is now powered by the Impact affiliate network.
Affiliates get a unique affiliate link or referral code after signing up for the program. They can share that link using a variety of platforms, including websites, blogs, social networking sites, and email marketing campaigns. The affiliate receives a commission when a prospective merchant clicks on their affiliate link and enrolls in a paid Shopify plan.
Depending on the specific plan that the suggested user enrolls in, affiliates may receive commissions. These commissions are frequently reoccurring, so affiliates can keep getting paid as long as the user they suggested continues to be a live, paying customer. This acts as a huge prospect for passive income.
Shopify offers a variety of tools and services to help affiliates with their marketing initiatives. Affiliates have access to data and analytics to monitor the effectiveness of their referrals. Additionally, they have access to marketing tools like text links, banners, and logos that they can utilize to enhance their promotional campaigns.
The Shopify affiliate program, however, has some requirements regarding who can apply. To be accepted for its affiliate program, you must meet the following:
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Own and run an active website
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Have an established and relevant audience
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Create original content, such as online courses, seminars, blog posts, or videos
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Have experience with Shopify or other e-commerce platforms
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Have read and agreed to the Shopify Partner Program Agreement
To apply to the program, visit the Shopify Affiliate Program page and click on Apply Now.
When you select Apply Now from the Shopify Affiliate Program landing page, you will be redirected to the Impact website for additional processing. If you are not already an affiliate marketer on Impact, you must sign up. That means sharing details about you and your website, such as the primary channels you leverage to drive traffic toward your website.
Each application is carefully and manually screened by Impact, which could take up to two business days. After that, you must enroll in the Shopify Affiliate Program. Although you are not required to provide information at this point, your profile will be evaluated. Within five business days, you ought to get an email confirming your approval. However, do note that due to the vast majority of applications, Shopify does not notify you in case of a rejection.
Commission Rates
Finding an exact answer to this is difficult. Fortunately, we've already done the legwork and identified a more precise number: A fixed bounty of $150 is given to affiliates by Shopify for each successful referral.Shopify Partner Program For Developers, Designers & Agencies
If you’re a Shopify agency, Shopify developer, or designer, you can leverage the Shopify partner program which allows partners to make money through:
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Referring clients to Shopify
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Creating e-commerce themes and publishing them in the Shopify Theme Store
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Developing Shopify apps and publishing them in the Shopify App Store
Regarding the commissions Shopify pays, it is important to note that all referral earnings are calculated on the fees paid by the merchant to Shopify, net of any discounts or credits. This means that stores without an associated subscription fee, such as Plus Expansion stores, do not contribute to your referral earnings.
For Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans you will receive a recurring commission equal to 20% of the merchant's monthly subscription fee.
For Shopify Plus, you will receive a recurring commission equal to 20% of the Plus merchant's monthly base platform fee on the billing store, for each net new merchant referred by a partner that signs a Shopify Plus deal.
For Shopify Apps, you will receive 100% of the total revenue from the one-time sale price or recurring subscription fees and all app purchases or upgrades made through the Shopify App Store on the first 1,000,000 USD. On revenue over 1,000,000 USD, you earn 85% of the total revenue.
For Shopify themes, you will receive 100% of the total revenue from themes sold through the Shopify Theme Store on the first 1,000,000 USD. On revenue over 1,000,000 USD, you earn 85% of the total revenue.
Leveraging the partner program is a great opportunity to test the potential of your expertise and generate a passive income with it.
How to Start a Shopify Affiliate Program for your own Shopify Store?
Not keen to become an affiliate for Shopify? Want to instead start an affiliate program for your own Shopify Store? Follow our tips and you’ll be well on your way to running a successful affiliate program for your own Shopify store.
Let’s get started!
Choose an affiliate platform. There are many Shopify apps on the Shopify App Store that can help you manage your affiliate program, such as UpPromote, GOAFFPRO, or ReferrLy to name a few. These platforms allow you to create and track affiliate links, set commission rates, pay affiliates, and generate reports. You can compare different platforms based on their features, pricing, and integrations with Shopify.
Below is a review of our top picks:
UpPromote
Price:
Free plan available
Paid plans start at $29.99 (USD) per month.
With over 2,300 5-star reviews, it’s fair to say that the UpPromote Shopify app is one of the most popular and trusted affiliate marketing platforms available in the Shopify app store. The Shopify app allows all merchants to work with unlimited partners regardless of their tier and comes with tons of impressive features. The free plan allows you to approve or deny 200 affiliate orders and you can change your plan as your business grows.
Add App Now
GOAFFPRO
Price:
Free plan available
Paid plans start at $24 (USD) per month.
There are almost 1,500 5-star reviews for this Shopify app. All merchants may collaborate with an unlimited number of affiliates with this Shopify app. The features the app provides serve all the essential elements you need to run an effective affiliate marketing strategy. Take a look:
The free plan offers:
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Unlimited Affiliates
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Unlimited Revenue
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Branded Affiliate portal
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Welcome Emails
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Analytics
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Post checkout popup
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Mobile Apps
The premium plan offers everything in the free plan along with:
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Multi Level Marketing
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Affiliate portal on your own Domain
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Bulk Email
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Advanced Analytics
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30+ Customization options
Add App Now
ReferrLy
Price:
Free
This Shopify app is totally free and provides a ton of value to its users. It provides a smooth and easy Affiliate Onboarding process as well as the option to customize the signup page & form fields Merchants can set commission rules by affiliates, products, collections, achievements & more. The app automatically creates referral links & coupon codes for affiliates. A unique feature the app provides is post-purchase pop-ups which allow you to turn your customers into affiliates on order pages. You can also share marketing assets with your affiliates all in a single place.
Add App Now
Once you’ve decided on your affiliate program platform, you can move on to the next steps.
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Locate & onboard affiliates. You must locate affiliates eager to market your goods or services after selecting an affiliate platform. You might start by contacting your current customers, email subscribers, followers on social media, or bloggers in your niche. Shopify Apps available on the Shopify App Store can also be used to locate affiliates looking for goods to market.
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Provide marketing resources to affiliates. You should offer your affiliates tools like banners, logos, product photographs, product descriptions, customer testimonials, and more to make it simpler for them to market your goods or services. You can also develop a specific landing page or an affiliate portal that affiliates can visit to access these resources and receive updates on your program.
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Monitor and optimize your program. Finally, to make sure your Shopify affiliate program is operating efficiently and successfully, you should monitor and optimize it. Your affiliate platform's analytics tools can be used to monitor your affiliates' performance in terms of clicks, conversions, sales, and commissions. To keep your affiliates involved and motivated, you may also connect with them frequently and offer them advice, suggestions, and rewards.
This is the best option for Shopify merchants who wish to drive up their average order value and scale their business. Combining our tips with effective marketing resources can take your Shopify store to unmatched levels of success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Shopify Affiliate Program, and the Shopify Partner Program offer a lucrative opportunity for individuals and businesses to earn commissions by promoting the Shopify platform. By understanding what the programs entail and following the steps to get started, you can unlock the potential to generate passive income through referrals. And if you’re not interested in becoming an affiliate marketer for Shopify, you can also start an affiliate program for your own Shopify store. Follow the guide we’ve provided and you should face no issues.
In the meantime, if you require full-scale 360-degree marketing solutions, feel free to reach out to the SANOMADS team of Shopify experts.
