Selling Affiliate Products on Shopify: All You Need To Know
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Although eCommerce is growing rapidly, running a full store can be draining. That's why selling affiliate products on Shopify is a great way to earn extra income without dealing with inventory or logistics. Here we’ll guide you through both ways to sell affiliate products on Shopify.
Why is selling affiliate products on Shopify worth trying?
Selling affiliate products on Shopify offers numerous benefits to online entrepreneurs, from ease of setup to significant earning potential. Here’s some reasons why it might be worth considering:
- Low startup costs: One of the key advantages of selling affiliate products on Shopify is the low startup costs. With Shopify, you don’t need to invest in inventory or production costs. You can focus on marketing and promoting products from established affiliate programs. This makes it an affordable way to start a business.
- Scalable business model: As you don’t need to worry about physical products or shipping, you can scale your business quickly by adding more affiliate products or driving more traffic to your store. You can focus on growing your audience and refining your marketing strategies.
- Access to a wide range of products: Shopify allows you to promote a variety of affiliate products from different industries, giving you the flexibility to choose products that match your audience's interests and needs.
- Automated revenue streams: Once your affiliate links are set up and your Shopify store is running, you can earn passive income through commissions from sales made via your referral links. This creates a steady income stream, even when you're not actively working on it.
- No inventory management: Since you’re selling affiliate products, you won’t have to worry about stocking inventory, managing shipping, or handling returns. This allows you to focus entirely on marketing and optimizing your store for higher conversions.
- Flexibility: You can run your Shopify store solely based on affiliate products or combine them with your own products, creating multiple revenue streams.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a way for people to earn money by promoting products or services for companies. Affiliates get paid a commission when someone buys a product or takes action through their promotion.
Here’s how it works: An affiliate - usually a website with lots of visitors or an influencer with many followers - promotes a company’s product. When a customer buys something or completes an action (like signing up) through the affiliate's link, the affiliate earns a commission. There are a commonly 3 types of affiliate programs:
- Pay-per-action: The affiliate earns a one-time payment whenever someone they refer clicks a link, signs up, or makes a purchase. This is common for companies that sell physical or digital products.
- Revenue share: The affiliate gets a percentage of the sale amount. This is often used by companies offering long-term services or products with varying prices.
- Hybrid: This is a mix of both above models. Affiliates can earn different types of commissions depending on the product or service being promoted.
Affiliate marketing helps you earn money by promoting products or services for companies
How to sell affiliate products on your Shopify store?
Affiliate marketing on Shopify is totally doable, and you can choose between two main approaches: Starting an affiliate program for your store, or selling only affiliate products. Let’s explore both options in detail so you can figure out which one works best for your Shopify store.
Option 1: Create an affiliate program on Shopify
Creating an affiliate program on Shopify is a popular choice for many store owners. It helps drive more traffic to your store and increases sales of your current products.
Step 1: Choose the products to promote
The first step is to pick which products from your store you want to include in your affiliate program. If you have a lot of products, you can offer all of them, but it’s best to focus on those with higher prices. The goal is to choose products that are attractive to your affiliates and also bring in good profits for your store.
- Affiliates want to earn more: If you’re offering a 5% commission, affiliates will be more interested in promoting products that cost $100 rather than ones that cost only $10.
- Low-value products may not be worth it: If you’re using a pay-per-sale model, promoting cheaper products might not be profitable for you or your affiliates.
Step 2: Set clear goals for your affiliate business
Before you start planning your Shopify affiliate program or recruiting affiliates, it’s important to know what you want to achieve. Here are some questions to help you shape your goals. Answering them will help you create an affiliate program that works for your store:
- Who are your ideal customers? Think about the type of people you want to attract to your store through your affiliate program.
- What kind of affiliates will help you? Consider what kind of affiliate partners can bring in your target customers.
- What affiliate model suits your program? Do your affiliates prefer a pay-per-sale model, or do they want a revenue-sharing approach? Why?
- How do you want your store to grow? Will this affiliate program help you reach more customers and increase your store’s exposure?
- What sales do you need to make this profitable? How much revenue do you need to make your affiliate program worthwhile?
- What are your short- and long-term goals? What steps do you need to take now to get started? What’s required to manage the program in the future?
- How will you find the right affiliates? What strategies or platforms will you use to attract the best affiliates?
Know what you want to achieve and set clear goals for your affiliate business
Step 3: Set affiliate pricing and commission rates
Setting the right commission rates is a key part of making your Shopify affiliate program successful. Both you and your affiliates want to earn money from this partnership.
You’ll need to decide whether to offer percentage-based or flat-rate commissions. To make this decision, look at the products you’re promoting and figure out how much profit you can afford to share with your affiliates. Most Shopify stores choose a percentage-based commission, with 10% being a common rate across many industries.
You can also think about using a hybrid model, which combines both percentage and flat-rate commissions. This can work well if your products have a wide price range, as it may attract more types of affiliates.
Step 4: Use a Shopify affiliate marketing app
As a Shopify store owner, using an affiliate marketing app can save you a lot of time and effort. These apps are made to help you set up, launch, and manage your affiliate program easily. However, it’s important to think about how each app’s features match your store’s needs before choosing one. A few top recommendations for you are UpPromote, Automizely and GOAFFPRO.
You can use support apps to set up, launch, and manage your affiliate program
Step 5: Recruit affiliates
Getting affiliates to promote your store is a two-step process. First, you need to make your commission plans and products attractive enough to grab the attention of potential affiliates.
At the same time, you want to ensure your profit margins stay healthy and that the affiliates you choose can actually reach your target customers. To help your affiliate program grow quickly, try using these methods:
- Social media: Share news about your affiliate program or run ads to find potential affiliates on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
- Your store: Create a dedicated landing page for your affiliate program and turn interested visitors into affiliate partners, especially those with their own websites or social media following.
- Affiliate networks: Look for affiliates on networks like ShareASale, where you can find people actively seeking affiliate partnerships.
- Email marketing: Use your existing email list to invite people who are already interested in your store to join your affiliate program.
As you build your list of affiliates, consider adding success stories or positive feedback to your landing page or emails. Showing potential affiliates how others have succeeded can encourage them to join.
Also, don’t forget to offer training! Both you and your affiliates want good results, so provide helpful resources like sales emails, ads, or banners to make their job easier.
Step 6: Track your affiliate performance
Not all affiliates who join your program will perform well. Some may forget to share your Shopify affiliate links, or they may not promote your products effectively.
That’s why it’s important not to assume everything is going well just because you’ve signed up new affiliates. You should keep an eye on the sales and revenue each affiliate brings in. If the numbers are low, check in with them to see what's happening.
For your affiliate program, you should track: Total number of affiliates (including new sign-ups), sales from affiliates (overall and per affiliate), affiliate payouts (total and per affiliate) and payout-to-sale ratios and profit margins.
This is where Shopify affiliate marketing apps really help. They offer easy-to-use dashboards where you can quickly see all these key details in one place.
You should always keep an eye on your affiliate performance
Option 2: Sell affiliate products on your Shopify store
If you're interested in affiliate marketing, you can also choose to sell affiliate products on your Shopify store. Instead of promoting your own products, you can list other people's products and earn a commission whenever someone makes a purchase.
Step 1: Join an affiliate program
As a Shopify store owner, you already have customers and a set of products. When adding affiliate products to your store, make sure they match the style and theme of your existing products. If they don’t fit well, they may not attract the right customers. To make affiliate products work for your store, choose an affiliate program that aligns with your store’s goals.
A good option for Shopify owners is Amazon Associates. You can earn up to 10% commission on sales made through your website, and there’s a huge range of products to choose from.
Step 2: Add affiliate product links to your Shopify store
After getting approved for Amazon Associates or another affiliate program, it's time to start adding affiliate products to your store.
Adding affiliate products is similar to adding your own products, but instead of managing your own inventory, you'll just use affiliate links. These special links track the sales made through your site. Here’s how to add affiliate links to your Shopify products:
- Install the “Outlink” app.
- Go to the Online Store, choose “Themes”, then “Actions”.
Install the Outline app to start selling affiliate products on your Shopify store
- Click on Edit Code and scroll to the “product-template.liquid” file under Sections.
- Find the “Add to cart” button and add your affiliate product link in the Outlink field.
Add the link of your affiliate product on Add to cart button
Step 3: Optimize and promote your store
Now that you have a great selection of products, it’s time to make sure people find your store! Here’s how to optimize your store for better performance and more visitors:
- Write great product descriptions: Make sure your product descriptions show you truly believe in the products you're selling, not just trying to make money. This helps build trust with customers.
- Speed up your store: More products mean more images, which can slow down your store. Make sure to optimize images so your store loads faster. This will also improve your search engine rankings.
- Use SEO best practices: To get noticed in search engines, make sure your store is optimized. This includes having fast load times, using the right meta tags, fixing broken links, etc.
Make sure to write good description for your product to attract customers
Key considerations when selling affiliate products
Selling affiliate products can be a great way to boost your income without the hassle of managing inventory. However, to make affiliate marketing work for your Shopify store, there are several important factors you need to consider.
Affiliate disclaimer requirements
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) requires you to clearly inform your customers when you're promoting affiliate products. This means you need to add a disclaimer or disclosure on your site. Additionally, some affiliate programs may have their own rules about how and where to include this disclaimer.
You can use tools to create your affiliate disclosure. Just make sure you check the legal rules for your country or region to ensure your store is following the proper requirements.
Follow the rules of affiliate programs
Different affiliate programs have their own rules for promoting their products. It's important to know these rules and follow them. For example, Amazon Associates has specific guidelines you must follow. Be sure to check the terms for any program you join to stay compliant.
Build trust with your audience
No matter if you're using a brand name or your personal name to sell affiliate products, it's essential to earn your audience's trust. You can do this by regularly providing helpful content and being consistent, which will help you build credibility in your niche.
Using organic content to promote affiliate products
It is estimated that over 40% of commissions go to bloggers and content creators, so creating useful content that naturally promotes affiliate products is key. This helps build trust and encourages people to click and buy, even with a smaller audience. You can write detailed product reviews that explain the features and benefits, or create video tutorials to make the content more engaging.
Also, make sure to add links to your affiliate products within other relevant content on your site to improve your search rankings and user experience. Working with micro-influencers can also help you reach more people by having them feature your affiliate products in their posts.
Final thoughts
The article above has helped you learn more about selling affiliate products on Shopify. If managing inventory is too challenging for you, this sales approach can be a great alternative. If you're considering getting into affiliate marketing, be sure to try out the tips and guides we’ve shared.
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