eCommerce is big business and is responsible for 21% of global sales in 2021, according to Morgan Stanley, a global investment banking and wealth management firm. This year, the firm’s forecast estimates global eCommerce retail sales to be at 22% and is predicted to grow to a $5.4-trillion industry in 2026. One component of eCommerce that is making waves is affiliate marketing.
In fact, this multibillion-dollar global industry is projected to be worth $12 billion this year. However, before you can use it as a means to boost your sales and ROI and grow your eCommerce business, you need to fine-tune your program. This means observing affiliate marketing best practices, such as outlining your program goals, knowing which KPIs you need to achieve, and monitoring affiliate payouts.
The good news is, Shopify has made it easier for businesses to improve their brand’s visibility online, enjoy better sales and revenue, and build stronger relationships with content creators, influencers, and ambassadors.
Shopify hosts dozens of great apps for affiliate marketing, covering everything from helping you set up your own affiliate program and streamlining your workflows to tracking and monitoring your affiliates. These powerful apps can also take care of commission payments, drive more sales and revenue, and grow your brand’s reach.
Given the sheer volume of Shopify affiliate marketing apps available, finding the best ones for your needs can take up a lot of time and effort. We’ve rounded up some of the best apps that cover everything a Shopify affiliate program needs, from creating your custom affiliate program to accessing analytics and insights.
Discover the best Shopify apps that will help you boost your ROI and take your affiliate marketing program to the next level.
Why Use a Shopify Affiliate Marketing App?
94% of affiliate marketing publishers don’t just use one affiliate marketing network.
Nowadays, setting up your own affiliate marketing program has been made easier. With just a few clicks, you can build and execute your program. Growing it is a different matter altogether. Using Shopify marketing apps, you can enjoy benefits, such as:
- Establishing better relationships with your customers and empowering them by turning them into your growth partners
- Having access to a wider audience and increased revenue
- Enjoying on-brand assets as some Shopify affiliate marketing apps allow you to create bespoke landing pages, sign-up forms, and dashboards
- Having access to automation capabilities that allow you to save time and focus on other more complex tasks
Top 11 Shopify Affiliate Marketing Apps
Refersion: Affiliate Marketing
Refersion is an affiliate marketing and tracking software designed to drive eCommerce growth for your Shopify store. This Shopify affiliate marketing app lets you track unlimited offers, recruit unlimited affiliates, and access powerful reporting and payment features.
It simplifies the way you do affiliate marketing thanks to its complete Shopify integration. It’s also Shopify Plus certified and has features that allow you to focus on growing your Shopify affiliate program, such as automated affiliate recruiting and tracking. Best of all, you don’t need technical knowledge to get started! With its convenient Automatic Start Guide, in as little as 10 minutes, you can start finding and recruiting affiliates, as well as managing and tracking your affiliate programs.
Build fully customizable affiliate signup pages using your brand assets. Enjoy streamlined workflows by automating your product data feed. Plus, the app’s comprehensive analytics dashboard keeps track of all the important details, from conversions to commission payments, so you can easily stay on top of things.
Refersion’s Shopify affiliate marketing app also offers conversion triggers for cross-platform tracking while letting you create unique coupon codes. Plus, thanks to its Shopify integration, you can automatically create coupon codes in Shopify.
It integrates with other major apps such as PayPal, Klaviyo, and Yotpo. If you want something more robust for more complex affiliate programs, the app also offers Enterprise plans.
Key features:
- Merchants can post products and offer sto the Shopify Product Feed as well as the Refersion Affiliate Marketplace
- Search the Affiliate Discovery global database of over 3.6 million affiliates and publishers for affiliates that match your brand
- Merchants can post products and offer sto the Shopify Product Feed as well as the Refersion Affiliate Marketplace
- Automated registration for new affiliates, influencers, and ambassadors
- Versatile reporting with custom reports
- Affiliate-specific dashboards for better tracking
- Affiliates enjoy their own dashboard so all transactions are transparent
- User-friendly interface
Rating: 4.8
Price: After a 14 day free trial, the Professional plan starts at just $99 per month
ReferralCandy
ReferralCandy lets you quickly launch your very own Shopify and Shopify Plus referral programs. With ReferralCandy, you can send automated emails to invite customers to join your referral program. You can also create and send custom rewards to customers for successful referrals, as well as monitor referrals and top sales. Use the app’s dashboard to conveniently monitor your program’s progress.
The great thing about the ReferralCandy Shopify affiliate marketing app is that it seamlessly integrates with other marketing apps, including ReCharge, Mailchimp, and Klaviyo. Whether you’re in the fashion industry or growing your nutrition brand on Shopify, you can use the ReferralCandy app to expand your reach and nurture customer loyalty.
Plus, it’s easy to use, so you and your customers can easily access its features and enjoy its benefits. You, as a merchant, can quickly set up your program while your customers can easily access discounts and offers. Furthermore, the app has features designed to help keep you and your customers safe. Its Fraud Center is capable of identifying and reviewing suspicious transactions, sending alerts when referral cookies are leaked, and managing referral fraud.
Key features:
- No limits on the number of referral sales and customers enrolled
- Doesn’t impose fees for the redemption of rewards
- Customizable landing pages
- Supports up to 12 languages including German, Chinese, and Japanese
- Also integrates with email automation platforms
- Embeddable tracking pixels for retargeting
Rating: 4.9
Price: Referral Candy offers a 30-day free trial, after which you’ll be charged $59 per month for the Premium plan and $299 per month for the Plus plan.
UpPromote Affiliate Marketing
UpPromote is a powerful affiliate management software designed to help you grow your Shopify business. It offers real-time tracking, fully customized email templates, white-labeled affiliate pages, and diversified commission offers. It lets you build an unlimited number of custom affiliate campaigns and gives you access to an array of advanced offer options, such as auto-tier commissions and commissions based on order values.
Furthermore, the UpPromote Shopify affiliate marketing app gives each affiliate their own portal that they can use to get resources and track their performance. Plus, its Product analytics feature lets you analyze product trends so you can stay on top of the latest trends.
Key features:
- Free migration from other platforms
- 24/5 live chat support
- Access to the UpPromote Marketplace
- Fraud protection
- Multi-language support
Rating: 4.9
Price: UpPromote offers four plans:
- Free
- Grow Affiliate at $21.99 per month
- Professional at $69.99 per month
- Enterprise at $139.99 per month
The app also offers a 14-day free trial.
GoAffPro
With GoAffPro, you can create your own custom branded affiliate portal in as fast as 5 minutes. Set it up in three easy steps:
- Install the app on your Shopify store
- Set up our commission structure
- Wait for your affiliates to send referrals your way
Use this Shopify affiliate marketing app to turn your customers into your growth partners. It gives you several options when it comes to setting up your commission structure. You can create a default commission or build bespoke commissions based on different products or different affiliates.
The app is also mobile-ready, allowing you to track your affiliates anytime, anywhere. It has a link sharing function that enables affiliates to share their affiliate links and coupons on channels like social media, email, and their websites. It integrates with popular marketing apps such as Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and Omnisend.
Key features:
- Real-time tracking
- One-click setup
- Supports more than 10 languages including French, Russian, and Italian
- Lets you offer recurring affiliate commissions
- Access to a referral link generator for your affiliates
Rating: 4.8
Price: GooAffPro offers two plans: the Free plan and the Premium plan, which costs $24 per month
LeadDyno
Grow your Shopify eCommerce business with LeadDyno, an all-in-one tool designed to help you launch, manage, and enhance your affiliate marketing program. The LeadDyno Shopify affiliate marketing app is easy to set up—set it up in just a few minutes, no coding know-how required. You also get a branded affiliate management portal, plus the freedom to create your own commission structure.
What’s more, the app lets you bulk pay your affiliates via PayPal or other online payment systems. With it, you can easily onboard your affiliates, who will then get access to their own affiliate dashboard, which has everything they need so they can start promoting your business to their audience.
One of LeadDyno’s best features is its automated marketing capabilities. It lets you automate invites for new customers, as well as emails for customer engagement. The app doesn’t use third-party cookies or third-party domains. Instead, it uses innovative tracking software that lets you closely monitor your affiliates’ or campaigns’ visitors, leads, and customers. It integrates with a variety of apps, including email and CRM apps like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and ZohoCRM.
Key features:
- Access to affiliate engagement tools, which include newsletters, time-based incentives, and trackable coupon codes
- Powerful tracking system
- Comprehensive customer support via live chat, phone, and email + 1:1 phone support
Rating: 4.4
Price: LeadDyno has several pricing options:
- Starter: $49 per month
- Plus: $129 per month
- Pro: $349 per month
- Premium: $749 per month
LeadDyno offers a 30-day free trial.
GrowthHero Affiliate Marketing
Use the GrowthHero Shopify affiliate marketing app to find affiliate partners, track sales and payouts, and run custom affiliate programs. The app lets you unlock multiple rewards options for your affiliates, including program rewards, campaign rewards, and partner tiers.
With GrowthHero, you can easily share marketing assets with your affiliates. Plus, if you’re planning to work with influencers, the app lets you find and connect with influencers on popular social media channels like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. It integrates with apps such as Omnisend, Stripe, and Zapier.
Key features:
- Split A/B testing for affiliate landing pages
- Custom tracking URLs and discount codes for sales tracking
- API or Zapier integration for enhanced customization capabilities
- Lets you white-label your affiliate portals
Rating: 4.8
Price: GrowthHero has three pricing plans:
- Starter: $49/month
- Pro: $99/month
- Premium: $199/month
The app offers a 14-day free trial.
Automizely Loyalty
This free Shopify affiliate marketing app empowers you to transform your customers into your brand ambassadors. Create sales-driven, scalable campaigns and expand your reach by sending visually-striking emails to connect with influencers. The app is easy to set up, and with just one click, you can have your very own referral program for your Shopify store.
With the Referral & Affiliate Marketing app, you can create customized commission structures, add a loyalty or rewards program to your store, offer a variety of rewards, and access referral campaign analytics. Moreover, the app keeps you and your affiliates safe with its enterprise-grade platform and industry compliance. It complies with SOC 2 and GDPR standards and is ISO 27001 certified.
Aside from Shopify, the app also works well with Shopify Plus and integrates with Magento, and WooCommerce, among other apps.
Key features:
- Access to a customizable referral program widget
- 24/7 live chat support
- Intuitive dashboard for tracking and managing influencers
- Lets you create and send outreach emails, such as bulk invitations and campaign offers
Rating: 4.9
Price: Free
Snowball: Affiliate Marketing by Social Snowball
Take your word-of-mouth marketing to the next level with the Snowball Shopify affiliate marketing app. Unlike other affiliate marketing apps, Social Snowball automatically turns your customers into affiliates. They’re given their own affiliate accounts and access to marketing materials they can use to promote your Shopify business. It has the ability to organically expand your reach by automatically turning the customers referred by your affiliates into affiliates themselves.
With its powerful integrations, you can directly send payouts to your affiliates within your dashboard. Plus, it gives you the freedom to customize every element of your affiliate program. It offers multi-language support as well as multi-currency support so you can offer your affiliate program to a more global audience.
With Social Snowball, you can easily set up your program and go live instantly, even without coding know-how.
Key features:
- Onboarding support
- Seamless migration from your old platform to the Social Snowball app
- Create custom trigger events using app integrations
Rating: 4.9
Price: Snowball currently has two pricing plans:
- Snow Day for $99 per month
- Blizzard for $499 per month
Affiliate & Influencer by impact.com
This powerful Shopify affiliate marketing app lets you launch, manage, and optimize your affiliate partnerships and programs. With the Affiliate & Influencer app by impact.com, you can automate contracts and payments based on your unique terms, easily recruit new affiliates, and accurately track metrics such as affiliate link clicks and conversions.
With it, you can optimize your affiliate campaigns as it lets you track KPIs and forecast affiliate performance, as well as monitor customer conversion paths on different devices. Plus, it supports a wide range of marketing partnerships, including affiliates and referrals, sponsorships, social influencers, and ambassadors.
Key features:
- Accurate tracking of your partners
- Tools for messaging and automated workflows
- Support for over 70 currencies
- Access to fraud protection features such as reversion of payouts and identification of suspicious payments
Rating: 4.5
Price: Check out the app’s pricing plans below:
- Starter at $30 per month
- Essentials at $500 per month
- Pro at $2,500 per month
BixGrow: Affiliate Marketing
BixGrow is another popular Shopify affiliate marketing app that’s free and easy to set up. It’s a robust app that covers all affiliate management tasks, from link tracking and performance analytics to email automation.
Use BixGrow to create affiliate sign up portals, calculate commissions, manage affiliates, automatically create coupons, and track referrals. It has an intuitive interface that’s fully customizable and mobile-optimized. Plus, it’s open for white labeling so you can create on-brand marketing assets, such as personalized links and branded affiliate portals. The service also offers extensive customer support and provides you tutorials, tips, and chat support.
Key features:
- Customizable affiliate registration forms
- Lets you create unlimited referral programs with different commission structures
- One-click installation
- Open to businesses of all sizes, including large corporations
- Advanced add-on features like the Shopping-with Toolbar and Fraud Detection capabilities
Rating: 5.0
Price: Free
Affiliate Marketing & Referral by Staqlab
This Shopify affiliate marketing app is a powerful yet easy-to-use affiliate and referral marketing tool that lets you specify product-level commissions, tap into multilevel marketing and create custom commission rules, such as multi-tier commissions, recurring commissions, and collection-level commissions, for your affiliates, and create a list of payments on your dashboard for easy monitoring.
It also gives your affiliates access to their own portal, allowing them to access tools, such as referral links, coupon codes, and marketing assets, that they can use to help you grow your Shopify business. Moreover, you can access add-on tools, which include automatic email alerts and bulk emails, to enhance your program.
The app integrates with PayPal, Appstle, and Recharge.
Key features:
- Incredibly affordable pricing plans
- One-click setup (automatic launching after installation)
- Separate affiliate dashboards that allow your affiliates to track their performance
- Lets you create custom commissions for different affiliates
Rating: 5.0
Price: Aside from the Free plan, the app also offers the following:
- Starter for $5/month
- Pro at $9/month
- Premium at $15/month
Affiliate Marketing Best Practices Worth Looking Into
An app may have a ton of cool features, but if you’re not able to optimize it by following affiliate marketing best practices, then it could end up being just another app in your tech stack.
To help you make the most out of the Shopify affiliate marketing apps we’ve listed above, we’re sharing some of the best practices that can help you build successful affiliate marketing campaigns and programs:
- Create a dedicated landing page that makes it easier for potential candidates to find and sign up for your affiliate program. Ideally, a high-converting landing page should have an attention-grabbing headline and images, engaging copy, and social proof. You also need a clear and compelling CTA that’ll help you stand out from the competition.
- Regularly monitor your KPIs to see which areas need improvement and which affiliate partners are performing well (so you can reward them accordingly).
- Consider using an affiliate marketing tool to help you discover new affiliates, monitor the performance of current affiliates, and get valuable insights via reporting and analytics.
- Always pay commissions on time—and make sure that they’re accurate. You can use Shopify affiliate marketing apps or affiliate marketing tools to automate payments and streamline the collection of tax documents.
- Train and nurture your affiliates. Don’t skimp on the fundamentals and make sure that your new affiliates know your standards, guidelines, and program agreements. Provide them with any additional information or relevant resources, such as access to marketing materials or brand assets. Be prepared to answer all their questions and address any concerns that they might have. Make it easy for them to get in touch with you and regularly ask for their feedback. Keep them in the loop and provide them with access to updates or new developments, especially if it concerns the product they’re promoting.
- Consider offering more flexible commission structures. This way, you can keep things exciting for your affiliates. For example, you can create a structure that pays higher commissions for affiliates who meet or exceed the threshold for a certain time period. You can also try implementing limited-time offers that have higher commission rates.
FAQ
How do these apps handle different affiliate commission structures, like tiered commissions or time-based incentives?
Affiliate commission structures can vary widely, and handling them depends on the flexibility of the affiliate marketing app. Some apps offer customizable options to manage different types of commissions, including tiered commissions based on performance levels or time-based incentives that reward affiliates for quick sales.
Can these affiliate marketing apps support cross-border or multi-currency transactions effectively, and if so, how?
Multi-currency and cross-border transactions require affiliate marketing apps to have robust payment processing capabilities. These apps must support currency conversion and adhere to international payment regulations. The ability to handle multi-currency transactions allows businesses to expand their affiliate networks globally and accommodate affiliates in different countries.
What is the process for migrating from one affiliate marketing app to another on Shopify, and are there any risks or challenges involved in this transition?
Migrating between affiliate marketing apps on Shopify involves transferring affiliate data, configuring the new app, and possibly retraining staff. The process can be challenging due to data compatibility issues and the need to ensure continuity of affiliate tracking and payments. Risks include data loss and downtime, but careful planning and support from the new app provider can mitigate these challenges.