Shopify Affiliate Program FAQs

Shopify Affiliate Program FAQs

Getting Started

What is the Shopify Affiliate Program? 

​​The Shopify Affiliate Program is free to join and enables you to monetize your audience and earn commission for every qualified Shopify merchant referral you send our way. As an affiliate, you can earn a commission when new merchants purchase a full-priced Shopify store plan through your unique affiliate referral link. 

 

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a commerce platform that helps merchants sell online and in person. Entrepreneurs, retailers, and global brands use Shopify to process sales, run stores, and grow their businesses. With Shopify, you can start your first ecommerce website or manage a world-leading retail business.

For more information on Shopify, check out this Shopify Guide for Affiliates to learn more about our product and how Shopify can help your merchant audience.  

 

How can I promote Shopify?

There are many effective ways to promote Shopify and earn commission. Whether you create engaging social content, share Shopify with your merchant network or use paid advertising to spread the work, there’s a strategy that works for you! 


To help you get started, check out our Shopify Affiliate Referral Guide, packed with tips, tricks, and best practices to successfully promote Shopify and maximize your earnings today. 

 

Where can I find my Shopify Affiliate link(s)?

You can manage your Shopify Affiliate links in your Impact dashboard. To get started, simply create a Shopify referral link by following this easy step-by-step guide. To manage all existing links, navigate to the ‘Content’ tab on the top navigation bar in your Impact dashboard and click ‘Vanity Links’. Here you’ll find all the Shopify referral links you’ve created. 


What is Impact? 

Impact is the platform we use to manage the Shopify Affiliate Program. Impact provides everything you need to track your performance, access material to promote Shopify, create referral links, and receive your earned commission. 

To get started, log into Impact.com and explore your dashboard!

If you haven’t joined the Shopify Affiliate program yet, you can apply here. 

 

Commissions & Payouts

What is the Shopify Affiliate Program commission structure? 

Shopify Affiliates can earn up to $150 USD for every qualified full-priced merchant referral, based on the country where the merchant is located.


Which Shopify products can I earn commission from referring merchants to? 

As a Shopify Affiliate you can earn commission for referring merchants to purchase the following Shopify products: 

  • Shopify store plans (Basic, Shopify & Advanced plans)
  • POS Pro (when they add POS Pro to a store you referred)

For more information on which plan referrals are eligible for affiliate commission, check out this detailed blog post. 

 

How do I earn commission? 

As a Shopify Affiliate, you can earn commission when new merchants sign up for a paid Shopify plan through your unique affiliate referral link. Your referrals are tracked throughout their sign-up process, and your commission is earned when your referred merchants purchase a full-price plan. 

Check out this blog post that walks you through our commission timeline in detail. 


How do I get paid? 

The Shopify Affiliate Program supports payment by direct deposit to your bank account or PayPal.

The Shopify Affiliate Program requires that you earn a minimum balance of $10 USD before withdrawals can be made. Affiliates can choose to be paid when their balance reaches a certain amount or on a bi-weekly basis. Please note that Shopify issues commissions to your balance only once a month on the 22nd of each month, for the prior month’s referrals. This is independent of your withdrawal settings. 


What currency are my earned commissions paid in? 

The Shopify Affiliate Program issues commissions in USD. However, you will receive payouts in the currency specified in your Impact account, with the currency conversion handled by Impact.


Is there a cap on how much I can earn as a Shopify Affiliate?

No! There is no cap on how much you can earn as a Shopify Affiliate making your earning potential limitless!


How can I track my Shopify Affiliate earnings?

To keep track of your earned commissions, log into your Impact account. From the top right navigation menu, select the dollar value. From here you can keep track of your balance, pending commissions and earning history. 


How long are my Shopify referrals tracked for?

All referrals are tracked for a 30 day tracking period from the date of click. 

 

Tracking & Report

My referral link is not working, what do I do? 

If you think that your referral link isn’t working, follow these troubleshooting steps: 

  • Check the link format: Ensure the link is copied correctly from your Impact dashboard without any missing or extra characters. We recommend not altering the link in any way, to ensure tracking persists. Also, you should always promote the link as you copy it from Impact, not the resolved link after clicking.
  • Test on different devices & browsers: Some browser settings (like adblockers) may interfere with referral links. Try using a different device or browser to test this.  
  • Check for expired or changed links: If the link was created a while ago, log into your Impact account and create a new one. 
  • Contact Impact support: If you still think your referral link is not working as intended, reach out to Impact’s support team. 

 

What reporting can I use to track my performance as a Shopify Affiliate? 

Impact’s reporting helps you track your performance, optimize your efforts and maximize your earnings. To access the reports in your Impact account, simply log in, and navigate to the ‘Reports’ tab on the top navigation bar in your dashboard. Then, click on ‘More Reports’. Here, you’ll find a comprehensive list of all the reports accessible to you as a Shopify Affiliate.

We strongly recommend you use the following reports: 

  1. Shopify Advanced Action Listing report: A custom made report specifically for Shopify Affiliates that allows you to view deeper action level data for the referrals you’ve made to Shopify. Individual Free Trial, Paid Trial & Online Sale (full-price) actions are all visible in this report.
  2. Shopify Cohort reports: A selection of reports that allows you to keep track of your referrals from a specific time period and track their conversions. This will allow you to see the downstream lifecycle actions (Paid Trial & Online Sale) based on the month the Free Trial was referred, providing a clean view of conversions.

For more details on your Impact reporting, visit Impact’s Help Centre, or reach out to the Shopify Affiliate team at affiliates@shopify.com. 

 

I can’t see a merchant referral in my Impact reporting, what should I do?: 

If you can’t see a merchant referral in your Impact dashboard, reach out to our Affiliates Support team at affiliates@shopify.com. In order to best assist, you will need to provide the merchant’s ShopID (CustomerID field in Impact) and other relevant information for our team to investigate. If that is not available, please provide the referred merchant’s shop URL. Please note that a merchant's email address is not a unique identifier, as the same email can make multiple merchant shops. 

 

What are SubIDs and SharedID Parameters, and how can I use them? 

SubID and SharedID parameters are customizable tracking tags that you can append to your affiliate links to track specific sources of traffic, campaigns and ad placements. Many affiliates feel that using SubID and SharedID parameters is essential to help them review performance and optimize their campaigns when promoting Shopify with various creatives, multiple websites or traffic sources. 


Check out this article for a step-by-step guide on how to create SubID and SharedID parameters, and use these effectively. 

 

Support & Resources 

Where can I find additional Shopify Affiliate resources? 

  • Impact dashboard - access your referral links, performance reports, marketing material, text links and image assets all within your Impact account. 
  • Shopify Affiliate Resource Library - Explore guides and blog posts on promoting Shopify effectively and scaling your success as an affiliate.
  • Shopify Affiliate Newsletter - Stay informed on program updates, new promotional assets, Growth Center articles to boost your success, and the latest Shopify news. 

 

Who can I contact for Shopify Affiliate support? 


What is the difference between the Shopify Affiliate Program and the Shopify Partner Program?

The Affiliate Program is ideal for those looking to earn commissions by driving new merchants to Shopify via a referral link. The Partner Program is designed for developers and agencies who plan to directly build and manage Shopify stores, themes and apps for clients within the Partner Portal.


Can I get an exclusive Shopify discount to promote? 

We do not offer Shopify discounts or coupons for affiliates to promote. You can promote the Shopify Free Trial, which is our current public offering. 

 

Promotional Guidelines 

Are there any restrictions on how I promote Shopify? 

Yes, certain promotion methods are strictly prohibited, including: 

  • Trademark bidding - bidding on Shopify-branded keywords in paid search campaigns (we require that all affiliates include “shopify” as a negative keyword on all campaigns).
  • Ad hijacking - Imitating Shopify’s ads or redirecting traffic deceptively. 
  • Cookie stuffing - Placing cookies without user consent to fraudulently earn commission.
  • SubAffiliate - Participating in any sub-affiliate, sub-publisher, distribution partner or other similar third-party relationships without written consent (see our rules for operating as a sub-affiliate here).
  • Browser Extensions - Promoting Shopify through a browser extension without explicit written approval from Shopify.

Be sure to review our Shopify Affiliate Program Terms of Service for a full list of restrictions.


As a Shopify Affiliate, can I engage in trademark bidding? 

Bidding on our branded search terms is a direct violation of our Shopify Affiliate Program Terms (Part A, Sec. 6.3). We also do not allow the direct bidding on misspellings of our brand name. We also require that all affiliates include “shopify” as a negative keyword on all campaigns.


Can I use Shopify branding when sharing my affiliate link? 

Visit Shopify's brand guidelines to ensure you are correctly using our brand assets. By using our brand assets, you indicate your acceptance of our Trademark Usage Guidelines and you understand that a violation of these guidelines will result in the termination of your Shopify Affiliate account.


Am I required to disclose my affiliate partnership with Shopify when sharing my affiliate link?

As a Shopify Affiliate you must disclose that you may earn a commission for certain actions taken by your audience. Do not state or imply that being an affiliate means you are employed by Shopify.

 

Program Policies

Where can I read the Shopify Affiliate Program Terms of Service? 

  • You can find our Shopify Affiliate Program Terms of Service here. 
  • Please note that expanded terms for operating as a Sub-Affiliate are posted here.


Can my Shopify Affiliate account be suspended/terminated? 

Yes, your Shopify Affiliate account may be terminated under certain circumstances. Per our program Terms of Service, Shopify retains the right to terminate accounts without cause or prior notice.

Common reasons for termination include: 

To avoid account suspension/termination, check out this Shopify Affiliate Program Compliance Guide to stay in the know on our rules.

 

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