How to launch an affiliate program

Available on

Every plan, including Free. See Understanding plans and billing.

An affiliate program pays partners you recruit, such as creators, bloggers and publishers, a commission on the orders they bring in. Each affiliate gets a unique link and, if you want, a coupon. You only pay when an order comes through them.

When you install Bloop, it sets up your affiliate program with these settings:

Setting	Starts as
Affiliate program switch	Off, unless you already turned it on
Campaign	Default Campaign, Active
Commission	15% of sales
Cookie days	30
Auto apply discount	Inactive
Affiliate approval automation	Manually
Order approval automation	Manually
Grant commission when the order is	Paid
Revoke commission when the order is	Canceled or refunded
Affiliate payment methods	Bank transfer, Paypal, Debit cash and Google pay, all on
Registration form fields	First name, Last name, Email

The defaults work as they are, so skip any step you’re happy with. Want customers to refer friends instead? See How to launch a referral program.

1. Turn on the affiliate program

   1. In your Shopify admin, under Apps, click BLOOP Refer & Aff, then click Affiliate program in the app menu.

   2. Turn on the switch next to the Affiliate program title:

      

   The badge changes from Inactive to Active. If it already shows Active, go to step 2.

2. Set your commission → Click Save

   1. On the Campaigns tab, click Default Campaign:

      

   2. In Cookie days, enter how many days after a click an order still counts for the affiliate.

   3. In Type, choose Percentage of sales, Fix per order or Fix per item.

   4. In Value, enter the commission.

   5. Optional: in Auto apply discount, set Status to Active and enter a code in Discount code to apply. Shoppers who arrive on an affiliate link then get that discount without typing it. The code must already exist in your Shopify admin under Discounts.

      

   6. Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.

   Tip

   In Commission calculation, tick what to leave out before the commission is worked out: products, discounts, shipping, taxes or tips. Commission calculation example shows the result on a sample order.

3. Choose how you approve affiliates and sales → Click Save

   1. Click Settings in the app menu. Under Affiliate, click Automation:

      

   2. In Affiliate approval automation, keep Manually to review each applicant, or choose Immediately to approve everyone who signs up and put them on your default campaign.

   3. In Order approval automation, keep Manually to review each affiliate sale on the Sales tab, or choose Immediately to approve sales without review.

   4. If you changed anything, click Save in the bar at the top of the page.

   Tip

   Keep both on Manually while you start. You see every applicant and every sale before you owe anything.

4. Put the registration form on your store → Click Save

   1. Click Affiliate program in the app menu, then the Branding tab. In Affiliate registration, click Customize:

      

   2. Check the form fields. Click Add field if you want to ask for more, such as a website or a social profile.

   3. Click Open app block:

      

   4. The theme editor opens with the Aff registration form block added to your home page. Click Save.

   Tip

   To show the form on another page, open that page in the theme editor, click Add section and choose Aff registration form under Apps.

   The block only appears in the theme editor and on your store while the affiliate program is on.

5. Add your first affiliates

   1. Click the Affiliates tab, then click Add affiliate.

   2. Enter First name, Last name and Email, choose a Campaign, then click Add:

      

   The affiliate is approved right away and gets a welcome email with a link to activate their account. The link works for 3 days.

   Warning

   With Affiliate approval automation set to Immediately, Bloop puts the affiliate on your default campaign, not the one you chose. Open their record and check Affiliate campaign after you add them.

6. Approve applicants from the form

   People who sign up through the registration form appear on the Affiliates tab as Pending.

   1. Click the applicant’s name, then click Approve.

   2. In Affiliate campaign, click Select campaign and choose a campaign:

      

   Important

   An applicant you approve by hand has no campaign until you choose one. Until then, orders from their link earn no commission.

7. Choose when commission is earned and how you pay → Click Save

   1. Click Settings in the app menu. Under Affiliate, click Order settings.

   2. In Grant affiliate commission when the order is, keep Paid or choose Fulfilled.

   3. In Revoke the affiliate’s commission when the order is, keep Canceled or refunded, or choose only one of them. Click Save in the bar at the top of the page if you changed anything:

      

   4. Click Payment. In Affiliate Payment Methods, untick the methods you don’t offer. Click the pencil next to a method to change what it asks affiliates for, or Add payment method to add your own:

      

   Affiliates choose one of these methods in their portal. You pay them yourself, then record it on the Payouts tab.

8. Check an affiliate’s link and portal

   1. Click Affiliate program in the app menu. On the Affiliates tab, click an approved affiliate’s name.

   2. Under Affiliate campaign, find their Affiliate link. It’s your store address followed by ?baf_ref= and the affiliate’s code.

   3. Click Log in as affiliate to open their portal and see what they see:

      

   The login link works once and expires after 5 minutes. Click the button again if it has expired.

9. Turn on the app embed → Click Save

   The app embed is what puts Bloop on your online store and records visits from affiliate links, so it comes last. If App embed status already shows Active and a Manage button, the embed is on: skip to the test below.

   1. In the Shopify admin sidebar, click BLOOP Refer & Aff to open the Bloop home page.

   2. In App embed status, click Turn on:

      

   3. Click Save:

      

   Check it worked

   Go back to Bloop and reload the home page. App embed status now shows Active.

   Test it

   Open the affiliate link from step 8 in a private browser window and place an order. The sale appears on the Sales tab. For the full test, see Test your affiliate program before launch.

How it looks on your store

New affiliates sign up on the registration form you added in step 4:

Once approved and activated, affiliates log in to their portal. The dashboard shows their sales, their commission, their Affiliate link and their Coupon code:

Plan limit

The Free plan covers up to $400 of attributed revenue per 30 days, with no order limit. When your programs bring in more, Bloop asks you to approve a paid plan and gives you 30 days; if you don’t, the affiliate program pauses until you do. See Understanding plans and billing.

Related

• Set up affiliate campaigns and commissions - every commission type, advanced levels and product rules
• Manage affiliates - approve, reject, assign coupons and log in as an affiliate
• Build your registration form - fields, content and CAPTCHA
• Configure affiliate settings - approvals, order settings, tags and payment methods
• Pay your affiliates - from approved sales to a paid payout