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To start an affiliate marketing program, define what partners can promote, set commission and eligibility rules, choose a way to track referrals, recruit suitable publishers or creators, and monitor their promotions. The right commission, attribution setup, and partner mix depend on your margins, sales systems, and audience—not on a universal formula.
What an affiliate marketing program does
An affiliate program is a performance-based partnership: publishers or creators promote a merchant’s products or services through tracked links and can earn commission on resulting sales. The merchant supplies the offer and program rules; tracking connects eligible referrals to partner activity. Shopify’s 2026 guide outlines the core setup decisions, including commissions, tracking, recruitment, and program growth.
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It is not simply a way to get more links online. You need an offer that partners can explain credibly, economics that leave room for the commission, a process for handling attribution and reversals, and clear expectations for promotion.
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How to start an affiliate program
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Define the offer and the partner audience
Choose the products or services affiliates may promote and identify the customers you want to reach. Then look for partner types whose content and audience fit that offer—for example, publishers or creators who already cover the relevant subject. A large audience is not useful if its interests do not match your customers or the partner cannot explain the product accurately.
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Set the program economics and rules
Decide what counts as a commissionable action, how you will treat returns or cancellations, and which promotional methods are allowed. Set a commission your business can sustain after accounting for product costs, fulfillment, payment fees, discounts, and likely reversals. There is no universal commission rate or attribution window established by the available merchant guidance; choose terms that work for your own margins and sales process.
Write down the rules before recruiting. Partners should be able to tell what qualifies for payment, when commissions may be adjusted, which products are included, and what claims or traffic sources are not permitted.
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Choose how you will track referrals and manage the program
Your setup needs to connect partner referrals to eligible sales and give you enough reporting to review activity. Consider whether it works with your current storefront and checkout, whether it handles returns or cancellations in a way that matches your policy, and how much administrative work it creates. A commerce-platform feature, dedicated program-management software, or a manual approach may suit different businesses; no single method is best for every merchant.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsSpecial offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.Before launch, test a referral from click to purchase and confirm how the system records the sale, assigns it to a partner, and reflects any later cancellation or return. Make sure the people who administer the program know how to review reports and resolve attribution questions.
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Recruit and onboard partners
Invite publishers and creators whose audiences and content suit your offer. Give accepted partners the program terms, a contact route for questions, approved creative assets, and guidance on claims and disclosures. Explain how to create or access tracking links and where to find current product information. The merchant guidance does not establish one best recruitment channel or an ideal partner count, so focus on relevance and the ability to follow your rules.
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Monitor activity and improve the program
Review referred sales and partner content regularly. Check whether promotions use permitted claims and required disclosures, investigate questionable activity, and correct or remove promotions that do not meet your standards. Use what you learn about partner fit, conversion, returns, and operational effort to refine the offer and rules.
How to set affiliate commissions
Start with the event you are paying for—often an eligible sale—and calculate the amount your business can afford after variable costs. Specify how you handle cancellations, returns, discounts, and other circumstances that affect the sale. State those conditions plainly so partners understand when a commission is earned and when it may be reversed.
Then check that the commission structure supports your goals without undermining profitability. The available guidance does not set a standard rate, payout schedule, or attribution window. Those terms should reflect your business economics and be documented in your program rules rather than borrowed as a supposed industry default.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What affiliates should disclose
Under U.S. federal guidance, an affiliate should clearly and conspicuously disclose the financial relationship with the retailer so readers can judge the recommendation in context. Put the disclosure close to the recommendation. The FTC cautions that a bare “affiliate link” label may not tell readers that the publisher earns money; “paid link” next to a link can communicate the relationship. The FTC puts the principle simply: “The closer the disclosure is to your recommendation, the better.” See the FTC’s Endorsement Guides Q&A.
For social posts and video, disclosure should accompany the endorsement and be easy to notice and understand. A video disclosure belongs in the video itself, not only in its description, according to the FTC’s Disclosures 101 guidance for social media influencers.
Rules can differ by jurisdiction and platform. Amazon Associates participants also have program-specific requirements: Amazon requires a disclosure with links and an identification statement on the participant’s site under its Operating Agreement. Those Amazon requirements should not be treated as wording required by every affiliate program; consult Amazon Associates Central’s help page for its terms.
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What the merchant must do about partner promotions
Giving promotion to an outside partner does not eliminate the merchant’s responsibility for its advertising. The FTC says, “Delegating part of your promotional program to an outside company doesn’t relieve you of responsibility under the FTC Act.” Its guidance recommends explaining which objective product claims partners may make, instructing them about disclosure responsibilities, periodically checking partner statements, and taking appropriate action when practices are questionable. Read the FTC’s Endorsement Guides Q&A.
In practice, give partners approved facts and clear claim boundaries, tell them how disclosures should appear, and establish a way to flag or correct content. Monitoring can include periodic searches for partner statements and reviews of the content partners publish. If a promotion is misleading or omits a required disclosure, address it rather than assuming the partner alone is accountable.
Quick Recap
Launch checklist
- The offer and eligible products or services are defined.
- The target customer and suitable partner types are clear.
- Commissionable events, reversals, and permitted promotion methods are written down.
- The referral-tracking method fits the sales flow and has been tested.
- Partners receive terms, creative assets, contact details, and claim and disclosure instructions.
- A person or team is responsible for reviewing performance and partner content.
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