Affiliate Module Settings


	Affiliate Module Settings
	Last Edited - 02/24/2015 1:38pm PST
	Category Path - Shopping Cart Software Components > Administration Area > Modules > Affiliate Marketing

These options control the behavior of the Affiliate Marketing module in your store.

Affiliate Marketing Options

Require Admin approval for new Affiliates?
If this option is set to "YES", then new affiliates will be created in an "unauthorized" state. While in this state, the affiliate will neither earn commissions nor be able to log in to the storefront's Affiliate Account area. Store administrators can search for and approve unauthorized affiliates on the Affiliates Requiring Admin Approval page.

Affiliate Terms of Service link
If affiliates must accept a Terms of Service when registering, the URL of the Terms of Service page should be entered here. Detailed information about requiring acceptance of a Terms of Service is available in the following Knowledge Base article:
Add a "Terms of Service" agreement to a store page

Affiliate Cookie Term
This sets the number of days that the affiliate's tracking cookie will be retained on the customer's computer. If set to 0 (zero) the cookie will be deleted from the customer's computer the next time they close their web browser.

warning

Some admins, in an attempt to make the affiliate cookie to last forever, have entered a very large number (such as "999999") in this field. However, entering a number that is too high will actually have the opposite result: it will cause the cookie to be deleted immediately. This is because most server operating systems can't handle dates after the end of the Unix Epoch on January 19, 2038. To prevent the cookie failure due to too large of an integer, the maximum value this field will accept is 5000.

Allow Affiliate "bumping?"
If set to "YES", then customers will be associated with the most recent affiliate link they have clicked.

how it works

When a potential customer clicks an affiliate tracking link, the shopping cart attempts to place a cookie on the customer's computer, with the affiliate TID associated with the affiliate tracking link. The cookie will be set to automatically remove itself from the customer's computer after the number of days specified in the Affiliate cookie term setting.

As long as the affiliate cookie is present, every time the customer places an order in the storefront, those orders will be associated with the affiliate TID from the affiliate cookie.

However, if the Allow affiliate "bumping"? setting is set to NO, then each time a customer with an affiliate cookie places an order, the shopping cart will check to see if that customer account has previously placed any orders, and if so, if any affiliate commission was generated for any prior order. If an affiliate commission was generated for any prior order, then the shopping cart will use the affiliate TID from the prior order for the new order as well, regardless of which affiliate TID is specified in the customer's current affiliate cookie.

Additionally, the customer might later click a different affiliate tracking link, which would prompt the shopping cart to place a new cookie on the customer's computer, with the affiliate tracking ID from the new affiliate tracking link. If the Allow affiliate "bumping"? setting is set to YES, the shopping cart will place the new affiliate cookie, overwriting the old affiliate cookie. If the Allow affiliate "bumping"? setting is set to NO, the shopping cart won't actually place the new cookie... instead it will continue to use the old cookie with the original affiliate TID.

Once the affiliate cookie expires, any more orders from the customer won't be associated with the affiliate.

In terms of the Place an Order tool, the shopping cart doesn't refer to an affiliate cookie when processing an order through the Place an Order tool. Instead, it refers to the Affiliate Tracking ID field within the Place an Order tool itself. If the Allow affiliate "bumping"? setting is set to NO, then each time an order with an affiliate TID is placed through the Place an Order tool, the shopping cart will check to see if that customer account has any prior orders, and if so, if any affiliate commission was generated previously. If an affiliate commission was generated for any prior order, then the shopping cart will use the affiliate TID from the prior order for the new order as well, regardless of which affiliate TID is specified in the Affiliate Tracking ID field within the Place an Order tool. If the Allow affiliate "bumping"? setting is set to YES, then the affiliate TID specified in the Affiliate Tracking ID field within the Place an Order tool will be used, regardless of any affiliate TIDs assigned to any prior orders.

example

For example, I have two affiliates: Juan and Tula. On Monday, a customer clicks on an affiliate link on Juan's website and then places an order in my store. Juan is earns a commission for that order. Then, on Tuesday, the customer clicks on an affiliate link on Tula's website and places another order in my store.

If affiliate bumping is allowed, Tula will earn a commission for Tuesday's order and all future orders placed by that customer.

If affiliate bumping is not allowed, Juan will earn a commission for Tuesday's order and all future orders placed by that customer.

"Parent" Affiliate percentage
What if you have an affiliate that brings in customers who later become affiliates themselves? Setting a "Parent Affiliate Percentage" will allow the original affiliate to earn commissions on the sales of any affiliates they have brought in. This allows a multi-tiered affiliate program. It also possible to limit the number of tiers, by entering a maximum number of tiers.

example

For example, a customer named Trey has come to our store by clicking on one of Tula's affiliate links. Then, Trey becomes an affiliate for our store too. Tula is now Trey's "parent" affiliate, and may earn a percentage of Trey's commissions.

If the store's "Parent Affiliate Percentage" is set to 10%, then Tula would earn $1.00 on a ten dollar commission earned by Trey, and Trey's commission would be reduced to $9.00.

But what if Tula was a child our affiliate Juan? In this case, Juan would earn 10% of Tula's commission. In this scenario, the ten dollar commission would result in $9.00 for Trey, $0.90 for Tula and $0.10 for Juan.

Detailed information about the parent affiliate percentage setting and multi-teir commssions is available in the following Knowledge Base article:
Offering multi-tier commissions to affiliates

Earn commissions on existing customers?
If this option is set to "NO" then affiliates will not earn a commission if the customer has placed a previous, non-affiliate order.

Retain TIDs on subscriptions?
If this option is set to YES, then any affiliate tracking ID associated with the original order will also be associated with the subscription, and will therefore be associated with future subscription transactions. If this option is set to NO, then any affiliate tracking ID associated with the original order will not be associated with the subscription.

Affiliate Pay Day
The store will generate an "Affiliate Payday" reminder message on the day of the month selected here. Select "No" to prevent the store from generating this reminder.

Minimum Payout Threshold
This will determine which affiliates are listed by default on the Record an Affiliate Payment page. Only affiliates that have outstanding commissions greater than the Minimum Payout Threshold will be displayed initially on that page.

Prepopulate the Payment Value field?
When enabled, this option will automatically populate the Payment Value field on the Record an Affiliate Payment page. Otherwise, the field will be left empty. This option is here simply for convenience. Some people like to have this field pre-populated with the amount to be paid to the affiliate. Others prefer to enter the Payment Value manually because they may make payments in an amount other than the actual amount calculated by the store to be due.

Use Affiliate Welcome email?
Determines whether an email is sent to the affiliate after they register to be an affiliate. If set to "YES" then an editor for this email will be displayed at the bottom of the page. This email can also be edited in the Email Messages section of the store's administration area.

Use Sales Notification email?
Determines whether an email is sent to the affiliate when they earn a commission. If set to "YES" then an editor for this email will be displayed at the bottom of the page. This email can also be edited in the Email Messages section of the store's administration area.

Affiliate Welcome Email Editor

Email Subject
Enter the subject of the email. Selected QuickCode Tags may be used in the email's subject.

Additional Recipients
It is possible to BCC other email addresses copies of the welcome emails that are sent. Enter a comma separated list of any email addresses to receive copies. The additional recipients' email addresses won't be included in the email message delivered to the original recipient.

Body of Email
There are two version of the email that can be specified; the HTML version and a Plain Text version. Use the toggle at the bottom of the editor area to switch from one to the other. Both the HTML and Plain Text versions of the email may contain selected QuickCode Tags.

Affiliate Sales Notification Email Editor

Email Subject
Enter the subject of the email. Selected QuickCode Tags may be used in the email's subject.

Additional Recipients
It is possible to BCC other email addresses copies of the sales notification emails that are sent. Enter a comma separated list of any email addresses to receive copies. The additional recipients' email addresses won't be included in the email message delivered to the original recipient.