Affiliate marketing basics for ecommerce brands
Core terms and decisions for brands thinking about launching an affiliate program.
What is an affiliate program?
An affiliate program pays outside partners, such as publishers, creators and review sites, a reward when their referral leads to a sale. The brand tracks each referral with links or codes and pays only for qualifying results, which makes the cost tied to performance.
How is affiliate marketing different from influencer marketing?
Affiliate marketing pays for tracked results such as sales, while influencer marketing often pays a flat fee for content. Many programs combine them, with creators receiving product, a fee or a commission. SendAffiliates sources both affiliates and influencers.
Is my brand ready for an affiliate program?
A brand is ready when its product converts on its own site, margins can absorb a commission and discounts, tracking works and the team can approve content and ship samples. A brand without these should fix them before recruiting partners.
What do I need before launching an affiliate program?
You need a working store, a tracking platform, clear commission rules, partner terms, approved product information and claims, brand assets and someone who approves partners and answers questions. The program setup service covers these foundations.
What is a commission?
A commission is the amount paid to a partner for a qualifying sale, usually a percentage of order value or a fixed amount. Rates should be set from your margins and customer value, not copied from other brands.
What is a cookie window or attribution window?
An attribution window is the period after a click during which a purchase still counts for the partner. Shorter windows favor last-touch sales, and longer windows give credit to earlier influence. Choose the length to match your buying cycle.
What is last-click attribution, and what are its limits?
Last-click attribution credits the final tracked click before a purchase. It is simple but ignores earlier influence, such as a creator who introduced the product. Review attributed revenue alongside new-customer rate and returns.
What does EPC mean?
EPC stands for earnings per click: partner earnings divided by clicks. Partners use it to compare programs, and brands watch it to see whether traffic converts. A low EPC may signal poor offer or landing page fit.
What is AOV and why does it matter for affiliates?
AOV is average order value. Commission cost is a share of AOV, so higher AOV supports higher commission or more spend on seeding. Bundles and thresholds raise AOV without raising commission rates.
How long does it take for an affiliate program to produce sales?
No timeline can be promised. Recruiting, approval, content creation and the purchase cycle all take time, and some partners never activate. Plan for months of groundwork and measure activation as well as revenue.
Should I run an affiliate program or use paid ads?
Paid ads and affiliate programs solve different problems. Paid ads buy traffic you control, and affiliate programs pay for results from partner audiences. Many brands run both, and compare cost per new customer in each.
How do I know if my affiliate program is profitable?
Compare attributed revenue with commissions, discounts, returns, product cost, seeding and management fees. A program is profitable when contribution margin stays positive after all of those, not only when revenue grows.
More affiliate answers
Related: Program setup
Statements about SendAffiliates come from this site's services, industries and about pages. Everything else is general affiliate marketing guidance. Pricing figures on this site are indicative and set by written proposal. Disclosure and claims answers are not legal advice, so confirm them with a qualified adviser.
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