Get Additional Income with Shopify

Stacy

5 years ago

What is Shopify?
Where to start
The commissions and the plans
Setting up the Shopify affiliate program
Shopify affiliate applications
What about design?

This mechanism can be used to sell various products using your website, blog, or videos. Numerous online services have such programs and they allow their partners to earn money to do so. However, there’s one popular platform which shouldn't be missed if you are looking for an additional income source – the Shopify affiliate program.

It’s enough to study the report to see how big the eCommerce sector is. The eCommerce retail industry was around $1.3 trillion in 2014 and it’s expected to be around $4.9 trillion in 2021. This report embraces both products and services sold using online services.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a comprehensive online platform, which can be used by all businesses no matter how large they are, from individuals to large companies. The multi-channel cloud-based design of Shopify allows it to deliver first-class solutions to anyone who uses it.

This platform is used to create and use online stores across various sales channels, like websites, mobile applications, and social media. The Shopify application is also available for mobile devices.

The Shopify affiliate program is self-hosted and it uses the proprietary Shopify affiliate tracking software solution. This program is available to anyone – everyone can join and use it. The application process is not difficult – you just need to visit the official website and apply. The website is completely user-friendly and you shouldn’t have any problems with it. You need to provide such information as the website you run, how you would like to promote Shopify on your platform, and your previous experience (if you have any). At the same time, Shopify doesn’t introduce any limits related to your experience, language knowledge, location, or visitors.

However, Shopify can deny your application and in this case, you will get an e-mail in which the company answers why your application was denied. It’s recommended to check the “about” section beforehand so you are prepared for any situation that might arise.

Where to start

When you have something to offer – it may be a product or some media content and you want to get a new income source, you need to build a smart and efficient model. It can be quite challenging. To get the general idea of where to start and how Shopify can help you – you should visit Shopify academy. You can find useful information here and get the impact that will help you move in the right direction. Correct Shopify affiliate marketing can be quite profitable, but you still have to learn where to start and what you should do.

The commissions and the plans

Shopify has great commission rates and that’s one of the factors that make this platform so popular. When a referral signs up for a paid plan (a person uses Shopify affiliate links) you receive a complete commission on the first and the second payments. One of the Shopify plans is “Basic Shopify” and if a referral signs up using this plan you will get $58 (the plan costs $29 per month and it’s multiplied by two, so you get $58). If a person signs up for the Shopify Plus plan, then you will get $2000.

Conversions may also vary based on the country you live in. Shopify may pay up to 300% in certain countries.

Shopify has different additional features which can be very important for people who work with the eCommerce sector.

Setting up the Shopify affiliate program

The Partner Dashboard allows you to control your account. You can find additional details about your current referrals and campaigns. It also includes information about how to build an application, themes, or stores for corresponding sections.

Shopify affiliate links have a 30-day cookie used for tracking. When a visitor clicks on the affiliated link used on your website, you will get the referral (the visitor has to sign up for a trial within 30 days). You get a special commission bounty if the person starts using a paid plan. A default link sends the visitor to the free trial page. If you want to lead a visitor to another Shopify page, you need to use “deep linking.”

There are three main pages:

“Referred stores” provides you with a list of the stores which you referred to Shopify. This page also has information about stores' activity and the plan they chose.
“Affiliate tools” includes information related to earnings for your Shopify affiliate campaigns. It lets you make various affiliate links that will provide you with tracking parameters.
“Payout” has all the information about payouts, including detailed reports about each store.

The Omnistar solution may help with setting it up. To get it running, you need to:

Log in to your account.
Click “Campaign” on the left panel and you open a submenu – click “Manage Campaign.”
Click “Add” and enter the program name, description, etc.
Then you will have to select where customers will be sent when they click the link. You will have some options here, like “My store,” “Coupon with Template,” and “Coupon with Image.”
Click the “Finish” button.

Now you need to ask affiliates to join and there are several ways to do it. You can use a sign-up widget that asks to enter an e-mail, or create a website that registers affiliates.

It also allows you to provide your affiliates with creative elements to promote you. In this case, you need to click the “Campaigns” buttons (on the left panel) and then click “Manage Marketing Tools.”

Shopify affiliate applications

Various applications can facilitate the whole controlling process and make everything more effective for you. The corresponding Shopify section includes numerous applications that can boost up everything and help you with your program. Many affiliate apps have free trials, some have a 14-day period, and some apps have a 30-day free period. Some applications are free. However, free applications may have some restrictions.

Each application has a detailed description and a user review section, so you can check how good the application is and understand if it can help you achieve the necessary result.

Overall, such applications provide you with important information that can help you adjust your strategy to make your program more efficient. These applications also increase marketing outreach, which helps to reach more customers and increase your income rates. It may take some time to find the best Shopify affiliate app, as there are many of them and they may have different functions, so you should check reviews and a description section.

What about design?

Proper design not only increases your sales, but it can also turn your customers into loyal ones and make your business customer-friendly. Having a well-designed page that promotes your product properly is important when you want to find new customers. Of course, you can create everything on your own, but it takes time to learn how to design a page properly. Luckily, there are Shopify themes templates for all possible cases. This is the place where you can find a template no matter what you promote.

The jewelry store template would be a good option if you sell luxury-class products. Apart from its elegant design, it’s a flexible template that allows you to change it within seconds and make it look as you want. Here are some advantages of this template:

A drag-and-drop feature – no need to write code, just drag and drop the content you need, move various elements around, and build the page.
A gallery page – show customers what they can buy.
360 Degree product view – let customers see everything.
Advanced navigation – let customers find what they need easily.

SEO optimization, AJAX features, Instagram shop, and many other features that let you create a complete online store.

There are also multi-purpose store templates, which can be easily modified to suit your needs. This theme is responsive, fast, and flexible. This template is provided with several layouts that are good for different industries like furniture, fashion, electronics, etc. Again, this template is highly-customizable, so you can make it look as you wish. At the same time, it’s easy to manage – you can add and remove products without worrying about anything – everything will work as it should.

The Artinal template is an option for people who offer art-related products. This template has such features as:

A map – it’s useful if you have a store and you want to tell your customers where they can find it.
Instagram feed – Instagram became a good platform to promote your products and this template can work with it seamlessly.
Countdown – promotions can boost your sales rates and the countdown feature will show people who much time they have to buy a product.
A blog– let people know about your shop or write art-related articles. People may discover the blog and then buy your products. This feature also allows you to add various images.

There are many other features, like a product column layout, a collection list, testimonials, newsletters, etc.

The pharmacy bundle is completely user-friendly, so customers can find what they need within seconds. This template is highly customizable and allows you to add or remove elements without any problems. This bundle comes with three themes in a single package, so you can find a perfect base and modify it to meet your requirements. The main features of this theme are:

Fully responsive design – you have limitless customization options
Search form – your customers can find what they need fast
Google map – show where you are
Multilingual and multi-currency – this bundle is great if you have clients in different countries
Sorting options – facilitate the searching process

Ajax Cart, SEO optimization, and many other features can make your store not only more user-friendly but also make it easy to find using internet search engines.

The Finedive template would be a good choice for businesses that provide diving equipment. The visual builder allows you to create as many layouts as you want. Again, this template is a good basis for your store – all the elements work together perfectly and you don’t need to worry about website stability. Nevertheless, this template is very flexible and it has such features as:

Logolist – customers can find the products provided by a certain manufacturer
Text columns with images – you can share blogs, products, or promotions with your customers
Image with text – this feature can be used as a “call to action” button
Instagram feed – use this social network to attract new customers
Countdown – this is great for special offers

There are many other features which can make your store more efficient and attract new customers.

This is a great library of templates for your future store – there are templates for different kinds of businesses, whether you offer healthy food, clothing, footwear, diving equipment, etc. There are also versatile templates that allow you to create a store for different types of products. The common thing about all the templates is that they are super flexible and they come with various features that help you create a nice-looking, high-performance store that guarantees a perfect user experience.

Templates can speed up the whole process, so you can take a template you like, modify it as you want, and start selling your products.