I do not see an affiliate programme as ‘an army of people selling on your behalf’. It is another sales channel. It has its own economics, operating costs, fraud risk and measurement requirements. If these matters are not resolved before launch, the e-shop will mainly gain another source of commission disputes.
Start with the economics, then recruit partners
Commission should not be calculated according to what looks attractive on a recruitment page. It must fit within the actual margin after logistics, payments, returns and programme administration have been deducted. With different product groups, a single rate for the entire catalogue therefore often makes no sense.
Before launch, I would want an answer to at least three questions: which customer should the partner bring in, how much can we afford to pay for them over the long term, and what happens when affiliate, PPC, email and a discount meet on a single order.
Attribution is not a technical detail
Last click is simple, but it may reward a partner who entered an already well-advanced purchase. Overly strict terms, on the other hand, remove the incentive for content partners who reached the customer earlier. Attribution rules, validity periods and the use of coupons are commercial decisions. The measurement tool merely implements them.
If the company is unclear about how its other channels are evaluated, affiliate marketing will not solve the problem. It will only make it visible. I would therefore start with attribution, costs and an unambiguous definition of an approved order.
A partner is more than just a row in a system
A quality programme needs partner selection, up-to-date materials, prompt answers and oversight of where and how the brand is promoted. A thousand registered accounts are not an outcome. More important are a few partners who understand the target audience and bring in customers the e-shop would otherwise not reach.
When affiliate marketing makes sense
- The product has a sufficient and predictable margin.
- There are websites, creators or communities with genuine access to the target audience.
- The e-shop can correctly measure orders, returns and duplication between channels.
- Someone in the company truly owns the programme and develops it on an ongoing basis.
When I would not launch it yet
If the website, offer or basic measurement does not work, a network of partners will only send more people into the same problem. I would also postpone the programme where commission consumes the margin or the company expects sales without working with partners.
How to recognise a healthy programme
I would not watch turnover alone. I would be interested in the share of new customers, the actual contribution after returned orders, overlap with other channels, the concentration of performance among partners and the time required to run the programme. Only these connections make it possible to decide whether the channel supports growth or merely redistributes credit.
If you are dealing with a similar decision, look at my approach to marketing priorities or describe your specific situation to me.