Retail Affiliate Programs: The Complete Guide for 2025

Creators aren’t just influencing culture—they’re reshaping retail. By building authentic connections, creators tap into niche audiences that traditional marketing often misses. Affiliate marketing leverages the trust these creators have earned, letting them do the selling for you. Their audiences relate to their point of view and respect their opinions.

Global spending on affiliate marketing is expected to hit $15 billion by 2028. Platforms like TikTok make it easier than ever to find creators willing to promote your products in exchange for a commission—and also to turn your happiest customers into influential brand advocates. 

Here's a look at how the best affiliate marketing programs work, how you can launch an affiliate program for your store, and some real-world examples of successful programs.

What is a retail affiliate program?

A retail affiliate program is based on relationships between a retail brand and affiliates—such as influencers, bloggers, or content creators— who promote the retailer’s products in return for commission. 

For retailers, an affiliate marketing program leverages a network of affiliate partners who introduce products directly to their audiences. When someone clicks an affiliate’s link and makes a purchase, the retailer pays the affiliate a commission for generating the sale.

Who are affiliate marketers?

Content creators, social media influencers, YouTubers, and other publishers can all become affiliates for a retail brand—as can media-savvy customers who are naturally able to share their enthusiasm for your products. These partners often share special coupon codes or referral links, and encourage their audience—social media followers, subscribers, and readers—to visit your brand’s online and retail stores.

How affiliate programs work in retail

Affiliate programs help retailers reach new audiences through affiliates who promote their products using unique referral links. These partners promote and link to your products from their own website, blog, social media platforms, or email. When referred customers click that link and ultimately make a purchase from your store, you pay out the commission (say, 5%) based on the total amount of that order.

Affiliate links and tracking mechanisms

Retailers track affiliate orders using unique affiliate links that clearly show how visitors arrived at the retailer’s online store. Here's an example of what an affiliate link looks like:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/ASIN/?tag=123456

In this example, the tag "123456" represents the unique ID number assigned to a specific affiliate. 

You'll assign a different number to each affiliate you partner with. This allows you to identify and track the visitors they send your way, how many of them become paying customers, and how much they spend. This makes it easy to see which affiliates are sending the highest and most valuable traffic, so you can focus your efforts and resources on the most productive partners.

Should you pay affiliate commission per sale, per lead, or per click?

Most retail affiliate programs pay affiliates for each order generated through their unique affiliate link, a structure known as pay per sale. 

However, some retailers also opt to pay affiliates per lead, per click, or a combination. The way you set up your affiliate program, including the percentage commission you offer, can fluctuate and evolve depending on what works best for you and your affiliates.

Deciding which method is best for your store depends on the primary goal of your affiliate marketing program. If you're looking to increase brand awareness and recognition, pay per click could be the best option. If you're strictly in it to boost revenue, the typical pay-per-sale model is likely a better option.

Key metrics to track for affiliate program success

Much like any retail campaign, a data-driven approach is the best way to optimize your affiliate strategy and generate more word-of-mouth referrals. 

Key performance indicators (KPIs) for retail affiliate programs include:

• Click-through rates (CTR): This metric shows the percentage of viewers who click on your affiliate’s link after seeing their content. A high CTR suggests the audience finds their content and your offer compelling enough to learn more.
• Affiliate conversion rates: Measure traffic quality and effectiveness by comparing the number of visitors referred by affiliates against how many become paying customers. 
• Cost per acquisition: This KPI measures how much you spend for every new customer your affiliate delivers. It helps you determine whether you’re overspending on affiliate commission, as well as how individual affiliates compare to one another. It also helps you compare affiliate spending against other marketing channels to understand the most cost-effective channels for acquiring customers. 
• Average order value (AOV): Identify individual affiliates who drive larger (or smaller) baskets. You can also use this KPI to tailor commission tiers—for example, you might reward creators who drive higher average order values with a higher percentage of the total sale. 
• Customer lifetime value (CLV): This measures how much customers referred by affiliates spend over time. This metric lets you identify affiliates who attract repeat customers instead of one-time buyers, and helps you set sustainable commission rates.

How to implement an affiliate marketing program for your retail store

There are two main ways to launch a retail affiliate program: either creating your own and working directly with affiliates, or joining a third-party network that gives you immediate access to affiliates and simplifies management. Here's how to do the former. 

1. Define the goals of your program

The first step in building your program is to identify the audience you want to reach:

• Who are your ideal customers?
• Where do they spend time online?
• Who do they listen to?

This information helps you select influencers, bloggers, and other affiliates who best match your customers' interests. For example, if you're targeting Gen Z, focus on creators posting short-form video content on TikTok, where 55% of all users are aged under 35 and half of all purchases are influenced by creators.

2. Choose affiliate software and tools 

Your retail affiliate program is simple to build and easy to automate, provided you have the right tools. 

Affiliate marketing tools allow you to recruit partners, track commissions, and pay out your creator partners, without the need for spreadsheets or manual tracking. 

Popular apps for Shopify stores include:

• Refersion
• Referral Candy
• UpPromote
• impact.com

3. Set competitive commission structures and cookie windows

Consider how much commission you're willing to pay affiliates per sale—either a percentage of the total order value or a flat fee (like $5 on every sale). 

The former is more common, as it incentivizes affiliates to refer customers to larger purchases. The bigger the order, the more they earn.

The average affiliate commission rate for retail ranges between 5% and 50%. Rates vary from one type of product to another depending on each item's popularity or profit margin. Amazon Associates, for example, offers up to 10% commission on luxury beauty items but just 3% on children's toys, furniture, and pet products.

It's also common to offer higher commissions to retail affiliates who send more orders your way. For example, you could offer a 5% commission to new affiliates, then increase their rate to 8% once they've made 10 sales. This gamifies the affiliate experience by incentivizing them to continue promoting your products.

Finally, think about your cookie window—the period during which an affiliate can earn a commission after a user clicks their tracked link. A standard cookie window is 30 days, though you can make yours longer (or shorter) depending on your typical sales cycle.

4. Legal and compliance considerations

In the early days of affiliate marketing, the practice was largely unregulated. Creators could post an advertisement for a product without disclosing that the brand was paying them.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has since introduced endorsement guidelines that govern how creators disclose their brand partnerships. If you run a retail affiliate program, you're responsible for ensuring your creators follow these rules:

• Affiliates must clearly state if they earn commission when someone buys through their link.
• Disclosures must be clear, not buried in captions or footnotes.

Data privacy regulations also influence affiliate strategies since most platforms use cookie-tracking to attribute sales to creators. Regulations like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California give internet users greater control over how brands collect, store, and use their data. You must be transparent about how you use this data and provide audiences with the option to opt out at any time to maintain compliance with affiliate marketing regulations.

5. Affiliate recruitment 

When you have a list of potential affiliates and you know what you're willing to pay for a commission, the next step is to recruit those affiliates for your store. 

Popular channels to source influencers include:

• Customer feedback surveys: Add a question to your customer feedback survey, asking them to share the creators they follow. These creators should be the highest priority for an invitation to your affiliate program. 
• Social media search: Search niche communities and hashtags—for example, #travelcreator if you're selling travel backpacks—to find potential affiliates on the platforms your target audience uses.
• Inviting VIP customers: Happy customers make the best affiliates because they can share their personal stories and experiences with your products. Automate the invitation by adding a link to your affiliate registration page in purchase confirmation emails. 

Why strategic partner selection is crucial

A one-off sale isn't as valuable as a repeat customer—but if they come from an affiliate, you'll likely pay the same for both. That's why the best affiliate marketers select their partners carefully. 

Use a customer data management (CDM) platform, like the unified customer profiles inside Shopify, to track the entire lifecycle of new customers brought in through affiliate marketing. 

The single customer view displays where they shop, the products they've purchased, surveys they've completed, and the customer loyalty points they've accumulated. This makes it easy to see where to allocate resources and refine your affiliate marketing efforts to achieve the best long-term returns.

Top affiliate networks for retailers in 2025

A third-party affiliate network makes it easy to market your program and bring on affiliate partners. However, this means having to pay an additional commission to the third party (on top of what you pay affiliates). If you're a small retailer, this can quickly eat into your profits.

When evaluating different platforms, prioritize features like:

• Affiliate management: Does the platform have a large and active network of affiliates? Does it simplify the registration process for happy customers who want to join? Verify that your shortlisted networks use software that facilitates the recruitment, approval, and onboarding of new partners. 
• Commission tracking: The modern retail customer journey isn't linear, which means affiliates may not receive proper credit if a customer makes a purchase later through another channel. Multi-touch attribution software lets you fairly reward partners who drive early or mid-funnel engagement.
• Payout automation: Timely payments keep affiliates motivated. Check that your software can automate payouts whenever affiliates hit the minimum threshold, in the affiliate's currency (if you're operating an international program). 
• Integrations: Affiliates should be rewarded whenever they make a sale, regardless of where the transaction occurs. Check that your chosen software integrates with your ecommerce platform, point-of-sale (POS) system, and social media storefronts. 
• Fraud detection: Check for fraud-detection tools, such as IP/country detection, click-fraud alerts, and FTC compliance disclosures, to avoid paying for fraudulent customer referrals. 

A few of the top retail affiliate networks for small businesses and scaling brands include:

Awin (formerly ShareASale)

Awin is an affiliate network that helps retailers connect with a large pool of affiliates—such as bloggers, influencers, and comparison sites—to promote their products. 

Formerly known as ShareASale, Awin handles affiliate tracking, reporting, and payments, allowing retailers to scale their programs without having to build their own infrastructure. Additionally, it features a dedicated Shopify app, enabling retailers to launch and manage their affiliate program with minimal development effort.

Awin charges a monthly subscription fee to access its affiliate network, starting at $59 per month. There's also a fee of 3.5% of the transaction value for each referred purchase. 

Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten has strong relationships with top-tier publishers, including media sites, loyalty/rewards platforms, and influencers, making it ideal for retailers looking to reach larger audiences. It also supports international referral programs with multiple languages and currencies, as well as regional affiliate options.

The monthly fee to operate an affiliate program on Rakuten starts at $39. The network also charges a $0.99 fee for every product you market through their platform.

CJ Affiliate

CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction) is an affiliate network that helps retailers connect with creators and publishers. You can create tiered, product-specific, or partner-specific commission models, as well as offer bonuses for top performers or specific actions (like new customer sign-ups).

CJ Affiliate doesn't publicly share pricing details, making it difficult to budget precisely for your affiliate program. 

How to optimize your retail affiliate program for long-term growth

The best affiliate programs can be a huge boon for your retail business. They can increase sales, grow brand recognition, and even promote trust in your business—that's why so many brands rely on affiliate marketing as part of their overall retail marketing strategy. Here are a few best practices to help you optimize your program and increase affiliate sales. 

Fraud prevention and brand safety

Because affiliate marketing has a low barrier to entry, there's a significant risk of affiliate fraud, in which creators misrepresent a product or make fraudulent purchases to earn commission.

Common types of affiliate fraud include:

• Typo squatting: Partners register domain names that are deliberate misspellings of popular brand websites to hijack traffic. These fake sites often contain affiliate links so that if a user mistakenly lands there and clicks through to the real retailer, the fraudster receives an unearned commission.
• Cookie-stuffing: Affiliates drop cookies onto a user's browser without the user actually clicking an affiliate link. This tricks the system into thinking the affiliate referred the sale, so they receive a commission even though they didn't drive the traffic.
• Fake leads: Partner affiliates enter false details on a form. It's costly if affiliates are earning commission for every lead they generate. 

Most affiliate marketing tools have native fraud-detection features to protect your retail business against this type of fraud.

If you're self-managing the program, establish and communicate strict terms prohibiting fraud, spam, unauthorized trademark use, and cookie-stuffing in your affiliate agreement. It’s also a good practice to validate affiliates before you invite them to your program, regularly monitor affiliate traffic activity, and block suspicious or known fraudulent websites from participating.

Advanced data analytics for performance optimization

It's rare for customers to view a creator's post, click their affiliate link, and make a purchase there and then. The default last-touch attribution deployed by some affiliate networks can make your program appear less successful than a deeper analysis would show. 

Instead of relying solely on surface-level metrics (like clicks or sales), advanced retail analytics dive deeper into patterns and behaviors across affiliates, customer journeys, and campaigns with techniques like:

• Segmentation: Break down affiliate performance by type (e.g., influencers vs. coupon sites), device, geography, or customer type to identify your highest-performing affiliate campaigns. 
• Conversion path analysis: Monitor the path a typical customer takes from clicking an affiliate link to making a purchase. 
• Predictive analytics: Forecast which affiliates or segments are likely to perform best over time, so you can reward them with higher incentives or product-specific commission rates.

💡Tip: As the only platform to natively unify POS and ecommerce, Shopify shows all of your customer data in one reporting dashboard—no patchy middleware or integrations required. This approach has been proven to lower the total cost of ownership by 22% on average and contribute to a 3% increase in GMV from improved marketing effectiveness through unified customer data.

Design an affiliate onboarding program

When affiliates join your program, use a clear onboarding process to welcome them and help them make their first sale.

Your affiliate onboarding program should include: 

• Clear instructions on how to access affiliate links
• Creative assets and promotional materials, such as product images
• Custom affiliate-specific discount codes to share exclusively with their audience
• Clear guidelines on your affiliate policy—like which types of promotion are allowed and how to disclose partnerships 

Future trends in retail affiliate marketing

The affiliate marketing industry has evolved significantly over the past few years. The rise of creator-led platforms has paved the way for many social media users to earn commissions by promoting their favorite products. Here are the most significant affiliate trends to consider in 2025 and beyond.

Artificial intelligence in affiliate marketing

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become essential for many retailers. It's capable of automating repetitive tasks, generating content, and analyzing large datasets—all key components of a retail affiliate program. 

Use cases of AI in retail affiliate marketing include:

• AI-powered affiliate discovery: AI can analyze vast volumes of web content, social media profiles, and historical performance data to recommend potential affiliate partners whose target audience aligns with your own.
• Fraud detection: Machine learning algorithms can detect unusual patterns like sudden traffic spikes, bot clicks, or cookie-stuffing attempts, helping you avoid affiliate abuse.
• Dynamic commission structures: AI can recommend or automate commission changes in real time—for example, increasing rates for affiliates driving high-CLV customers or decreasing rates for low-converting sources.

Privacy-first tracking solutions

Browsers like Safari and Firefox now block third-party cookies by default, and two-thirds of internet users actively disable cookies when visiting a new website. Privacy is a significant concern for consumers, directly affecting how online retailers track, attribute, and compensate affiliate sales.

Cookieless attribution is the alternative. It uses click ID tracking server-side matching to pass data directly from the retailer's server to the affiliate network, eliminating the need for cookies in the user's browser. 

Successful retail affiliate marketing program examples

Learn from five brands that use affiliate marketing to drive foot traffic and sales for their ecommerce and retail stores.

Moonboon: Carefully-selected affiliates 

Children's sleep brand Moonboon is extremely selective in choosing affiliates. With more than 300 creators across five markets, each applicant is vetted based on their online content and social media engagement. 

It's a strategy that has proven lucrative: Moonboon's affiliate program has driven over $1 million in sales for the brand. Around 10% of monthly net sales come from this highly selective creator network. 

Bombas: Mission-backed commissions

Bombas is a sock and apparel brand with a mission-driven focus, supported by its retail affiliate program. When items are bought through affiliate links or banners, Bombas affiliates earn commissions on net sales, supporting the brand's buy one, donate one approach.

Blendtec: Attractive rates and cookie duration

Popular blender company Blendtec offers an above-market rate of 8% commission to affiliate marketers driving online sales. The brand also offers a generous 45-day cookie duration, letting affiliate partners earn income for 45 days after a click.

immi: Building a community of authentic affiliates

Ramen brand immi took a unique approach to building their retail affiliate program. To grow the community authentically, they invited ramen lovers and happy customers to provide feedback on new products by offering free samples. Anyone who showed interest was invited to join the program and earn commissions on sales.

In just a few months, immi's affiliate program grew to over 400 ambassadors and 145 affiliates, who have driven more than $20,000 in retail sales.

Numi: Attracting the right partners

Fashion retailer Numi partnered with ShareASale (now Awin) to manage their affiliate marketing program, offering affiliates a commission of up to 18% on purchases driven by their efforts. The brand attracts the right affiliates by calling them "Style Partners" and specifically gearing the program toward style bloggers and influencers. 

Grow your business with retail affiliate programs

Your brand needs a retail affiliate program to tap into the revenue and reach of this powerful online marketing strategy. By building an affiliate program tailored to your business—and letting data inform your decisions and investments—you can generate revenue sustainably.