Affiliate Programme Guide
Affiliate marketing drives 16% of all eCommerce sales. If you do not have a programme, that 16% is going to your competitors.
Affiliate marketing is performance-based. You pay commissions only on actual sales. No upfront costs. No wasted ad spend. Affiliates — bloggers, content creators, review sites, comparison platforms — promote your products to their audiences. You pay them a percentage of each sale they generate.
The model is attractive but the execution is where most brands fail. Wrong commission structure. No affiliate recruitment strategy. No fraud prevention. Poor tracking. Affiliates who cannibalise your existing organic and branded search traffic. These problems are avoidable with proper setup.
This guide covers the full setup — from platform selection to launch to ongoing management.
16%
of eComm Sales
150+
Brands Served
$23M+
Revenue Driven
ROI
Pay Only on Sales
How to fix this — step by step
Choose an affiliate platform
For Shopify: Refersion, UpPromote, or GoAffPro. For larger programmes: ShareASale, Impact, or CJ Affiliate. Choose based on features, affiliate network access, and cost. Start simple — you can upgrade later.
Set commission structure
10-20% is standard for DTC eCommerce. Higher for digital products. Lower for low-margin products. Tiered commissions (higher rates for higher-performing affiliates) incentivise growth. Set cookie duration to 30-90 days.
Create affiliate assets
Product images, banner ads, email copy, social media copy, and unique tracking links. Make it effortless for affiliates to promote. The easier you make it, the more they promote.
Recruit targeted affiliates
Do not wait for affiliates to find you. Reach out to bloggers, YouTubers, and content creators in your niche. Search for "[your product category] review" and contact the top-ranking creators. Personal outreach converts better than listing on a marketplace.
Prevent fraud and brand cannibalization
Block affiliates from bidding on your branded keywords. Monitor for cookie stuffing. Require content-based promotion (not just coupon sites). Set rules in your affiliate agreement and enforce them.
Want us to handle this?
An affiliate programme is one of the most cost-effective growth channels for eCommerce because you only pay for results. The setup takes 2-4 weeks and ongoing management is minimal once the system is running.
If you want help building a growth system that includes affiliates alongside paid media, email, and SEO — that is the complete approach we take with our eCommerce clients.
Questions our best clients asked first
Build a growth channel that only costs money when it makes money
Book a call and we will assess whether an affiliate programme fits your business and outline the setup.
Pick a Time15 minutes. No pitch deck. Just your data and our honest take.
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