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 is a low-risk way to generate online income without managing inventory, shipping, or product fulfillment. Instead of handling physical products, you can focus on building traffic, creating content, and promoting products that match your audience’s interests.
Here are some key benefits of this business model:
- Low startup costs: You don’t need to invest in inventory or production, making affiliate marketing an affordable way to start an online business.
- Scalable income model: Since there’s no inventory or logistics to manage, you can grow your store by adding more affiliate products and increasing traffic.
- Professional storefront: Shopify helps you create a clean, branded storefront that looks more trustworthy and conversion-focused than a standard affiliate website.
- Wide product selection: You can promote products from different niches and choose offers that align with your audience and content strategy.
- Automated revenue streams: Once your affiliate links and content are live, your store can continue generating commissions 24/7.
- Easy app integrations: Shopify supports affiliate marketing apps that help track links, manage programs, and monitor performance more efficiently.
- Flexible business model: You can run a fully affiliate-based Shopify store or combine affiliate products with your own products to create multiple revenue streams.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing model where individuals or businesses earn commissions by promoting another company’s products or services. Instead of creating or managing products themselves, affiliates use unique tracking links to refer customers and earn a percentage of each successful sale or action.
Here’s how it works: A merchant provides an affiliate with a custom referral link. The affiliate then promotes the product through a website, Shopify store, blog, social media, or other marketing channels. When a customer clicks the link and completes a purchase or specific action, the affiliate receives a commission.
Affiliate marketing helps you earn money by promoting products or services for companies
There are three common affiliate commission models:
- Pay-per-action (PPA): Affiliates earn a fixed commission when users complete a specific action, such as signing up, clicking a link, or making a purchase.
- Revenue share: Affiliates receive a percentage of each sale generated through their referral link. This is one of the most common models in affiliate marketing.
- Hybrid model: A combination of fixed payouts and revenue sharing, allowing affiliates to earn different commission types depending on the offer or product category.
Affiliate marketing is popular because it allows businesses to increase sales with lower marketing risks, while affiliates can generate income without handling inventory, shipping, or customer support.
Read more:
- How to Set Up an Affiliate Program for Your Shopify Store
- Dropshipping vs Affiliate Marketing: Which Model Should You Choose?
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.
Organic and engaging content helps your affiliate products gain more appreciation
Best Shopify themes for affiliate products
Choosing the right Shopify theme is important for affiliate marketing because affiliate stores rely heavily on trust, content visibility, and click-through rates. Unlike traditional eCommerce stores, the main goal is to guide visitors toward external affiliate links as smoothly as possible, so your theme should prioritize speed, readability, and conversion-focused layouts.
When evaluating Shopify themes for affiliate products, look for features like:
- Custom affiliate CTA support – The theme should let you replace default “Add to Cart” buttons with external affiliate buttons like “Buy on Amazon” or “View Deal”.
- Fast loading performance – Lightweight themes with optimized code, lazy loading, and efficient image handling can improve SEO performance and reduce bounce rates.
- Clean and distraction-free layouts – Minimalist product pages and organized content sections help keep attention on product reviews, comparisons, and affiliate links.
- Strong blogging features – Since content drives most affiliate traffic, choose themes with flexible article layouts, related posts, featured content sections, and readable typography.
- Mobile optimization – Most affiliate traffic comes from mobile devices, so responsive layouts and smooth mobile navigation are essential.
- Conversion-focused sections – Sticky CTAs, featured product blocks, comparison tables, and customizable landing page sections can help increase affiliate clicks and engagement.
Some of the best Shopify themes for affiliate products include:
- Dawn – A lightweight free theme with strong speed performance and clean layouts for affiliate content.
- Agile – A modern theme with fast-loading product grids, flexible sections, and conversion-focused layouts for review-based stores.
- Impact – Ideal for visual storytelling, product showcases, and high-converting affiliate landing pages.
- Purity – A clean and polished theme designed for lifestyle, fashion, and branded affiliate stores.
- Align – A strong choice for affiliate blogs and review-focused stores thanks to its content-first layouts and sticky product sections.
=> Read more: 18 Best Shopify Themes for Selling Digital Products
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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