Key Affiliate Program Stats You Should Know
Affiliate marketing has experienced incredible growth in recent years and is now responsible for a large portion of ecommerce revenue.
Keys to a Successful WooCommerce Affiliate Program
Create the Right Affiliate Program
Before you jump in, it’s wise to do a bit of research on the other affiliate programs that you’re up against. Once you know how your competitors are positioning their affiliate programs and what offers they are making to other marketers, you’ll have a much better idea about what you can do to set your affiliate program apart from the rest.
Read more about how to research your competitor’s affiliate programs.
Acquire Affiliate Partners
Start by making your existing customers affiliates, giving them incentives and education about the benefits of joining your program. Try offering high commission rates, even up to 50%, to recruit your first set of affiliates.
Don't just stick to one type of affiliate. Reach out to a diverse group of affiliate marketers, including bloggers, influencers, and developers. Pay special attention to influencers on platforms like YouTube and Twitter, who often appreciate affiliate programs, and to affiliates already working with your competitors.
Learn how to acquire affiliate partners.
Avoid the Affiliate Marketing Pitfalls
Affiliate marketing comes with risks. The most common is fraud involving infalse clicks or transactions. Some networks might also ask for a membership fee or use tactics like cookie stuffing to create misleading affiliate sales data.
For more information, see Risks and Vulnerabilities for Affiliate Marketers.
Choose the Right WooCommerce Affiliate Marketing Plugin
The best WooCommerce affiliate plugin needs to be easy to set up, have direct integration with WooCommerce, provide great support for your affiliates, and keep you protected from fraud.
Read on for our list of the best affiliate plugins.
The Best WooCommerce Affiliate Marketing Plugins
#1 Solid Affiliate for WooCommerce
Solid Affiliate is our top choice and, in our opinion, the best plugin for building and managing a WooCommerce affiliate program. They make it very easy to set up an affiliate commission structure, add registration pages for affiliates, and onboard your current customers as affiliate marketers.
Price
Plans start at $99 per year. These include unlimited affiliates, creatives, and conversions.
Pros
- Extremely easy and simple setup process for beginners, with powerful options for experts
- Simple pricing, with no additional add-ons or hidden costs
- Pay affiliates all at once with PayPal Bulk Payout
- Create custom affiliate rates with commission rate overrides for affiliates and products
- Best-in-class guided affiliate setup process
- Streamlined WooCommerce affiliate payouts
- Notification emails for you and your affiliates
- Drag and drop to create affiliate registration forms
- Affiliate portal with links, coupons, and landing pages
- Dashboard with real-time data for affiliates
- Easily customizable commission rates
- Self-hosted, so you own the data
Cons
- Affiliate payouts only available through PayPal
- There’s a free trial, but no free version of the plugin
Reviews
Trustpilot: 4.5 with 23 reviews
WordPress.org: N/A
Recommended For
Vendors who want a fully functional affiliate program out of the box and won't settle for less than the best.
#2 SliceWP
SliceWP may not be our top plugin, but it’s a good option, and you won’t be disappointed if you choose it to build and manage your affiliate network. It has everything you’d expect to find in a WooCommerce affiliate plugin and doesn’t have any major drawbacks.
Price
A free version and paid plans starting at $169 per year. This includes all features and add-ons, with unlimited affiliate conversions.
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Great set of features without any unnecessary clutter
- Simple pricing, with all add-ons included in all plans
- Affiliates can create their own links
- Dashboard with real-time WooCommerce affiliate stats
- 30-day refund guarantee for all purchases
- Customizable cookies durations for maximum control
- Easy payments to affiliates via PayPal
- Free version with a solid set of features
- Self-hosted, so you own the data
Cons
- Affiliate payouts only available through PayPal
- Plans only allow a maximum of 10 sites
- Premium support not available for a single-site license
Reviews
Trustpilot: None
WordPress.org: 5.0 with 63 reviews
Recommended For
People who have tried Solid Affiliate and are seeking an alternative plugin.
#3 ReferralCandy
ReferralCandy is a larger, more expensive plugin. You can expect to find everything you need in a WooCommerce affiliate program, plus a lot you probably don’t need. However, it doesn’t focus just on WooCommerce, which may be a pro or a con depending on how you view the situation.
Price
Starts at $564 per year plus 3.5% commission.
Pros
- Dashboard with real-time affiliate stats
- Live chat support
- Dedicated affiliate account manager
- Uptime guarantees and SLAs
- Advanced affiliate fraud management
- Many mature features for advanced affiliate programs
- Support for platforms other than WooCommerce, such as Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce
Cons
- Charges a commission based on affiliate sales
- Not a WooCommerce-specific service
- Large, complicated affiliate platform
- Many features you probably don’t need
- Affiliate data is not self-hosted, unlike your WooCommerce products
Reviews
Trustpilot: None
WordPress.org: 4.9 with 193 reviews
Recommended For
Large stores that can take advantage of all the features offered by ReferralCandy, and don’t mind paying a higher price for them.
#4 Tapfiliate
Just like ReferralCandy, Tapfiliate is not WooCommerce-specific and offers integrations with a broad range of ecommerce platforms. Like ReferralCandy, it’s also very expensive and has a lot of features. The question is: do you need them?
Price
Starts at $890 per year, with a wide range of capabilities and limits for plans.
Pros
- White-labeled affiliate onboarding process for affiliates
- No commission fees
- Many powerful features for complex affiliate programs
- Integrations with many services and platforms
- Endless options for customization and configuration of affiliate programs
Cons
- Plans are very expensive
- Complicated set of capabilities and limits between plans
- Takes a lot of time to learn
- Not a WooCommerce-specific service
Reviews
Trustpilot: 3.2 with 10 reviews
WordPress.org: 4.2 with 5 reviews
Recommended For
People who want a large, powerful affiliate platform and don’t mind paying for it but also don’t want to pay commission fees.
#5 YITH WooCommerce Affiliates
YITH is a well-respected company that specializes in WooCommerce plugins. You can expect a solid affiliate plugin, a simple setup process, and excellent support. It doesn’t offer you everything that the previous entries on our WooCommerce affiliate plugin list do, but it's ideal if you want something simpler.
Price
A free version and a paid version for $197 per year.
Pros
- Simple and easy to use
- Easy-to-understand pricing
- Pay WooCommerce affiliate commissions with PayPal and Stripe
- Integrations with other YITH software
- From a company that specializes in WooCommerce
- 100% refund guarantee with no time limits
- Free version of their affiliate plugin available
Cons
- Lacks the power and flexibility of other affiliate plugin options
- This company has many other plugins
Reviews
Trustpilot: 4.8 with 1652 reviews (for YITH in total)
WordPress.org: 4.2 with 17 reviews
Recommended For
WooCommerce store owners on a budget who just need a simple affiliate plugin without lots of customization options.
#6 Affiliates Pro for WooCommerce
Affiliates Pro is a simple, entry-level option made by a company with a wide range of WooCommerce plugins. It’s on our list because it’s a solid affiliate plugin, but we put it in 6th place for a reason. You can expect to find the bare minimum of features you’d expect to find in an affiliate plugin, but maybe not all the customization and polish you’d find higher on our WooCommerce affiliate plugin list.
Price
Plans start at $49 per year. They all include an identical feature set, just with a higher number of site licenses.
Pros
- Simple pricing structure
- Very cheap
- Simple and straightforward capabilities
- Free version available
Cons
- Dated design
- The developer has a wide range of WooCommerce plugins in their portfolio
Reviews
Trustpilot: 3.7 with 1 review (for itthinx in total)
WordPress.org: 5.0 with 6 reviews
Recommended For
WooCommerce store owners on a budget who haven’t found a free plugin that meets their needs.
#7 Affiliate for WooCommerce
Just like YITH and iithinx, StoreApps exclusively creates WooCommerce software, including an affiliate plugin. Like the other plugins in this category, it’s simple and easy to use but lacks a lot of the power and polish of the more advanced options.
Price
A free version, and a paid plan for $179 per year.
Pros
- Simple pricing
- Sold on WooCommerce.com
- Well-respected WooCommerce developer
- Easy to use, with a simple set of features
Cons
- Priced comparably to plugins with a much more polished and powerful set of capabilities
- The developer has a wide range of plugins in their portfolio
- Lacks a lot of the polish, customization, and power of other plugins
- No free version
Reviews
Trustpilot: 3.2 with 1 review (for StoreApps in total)
WordPress.org: N/A
Recommended For
WooCommerce store owners who have tried other plugins and haven’t quite found what they’re looking for.
WooCommerce Affiliate Plugins — Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use WooCommerce for affiliate marketing?
Yes, you can use WooCommerce for affiliate marketing. It has many plugins available at all price points that will let you set up the exact affiliate program that you need. WooCommerce is an excellent option for affiliate marketing and ecommerce in general.
How do I set up an affiliate program in WooCommerce?
- Pick a WooCommerce affiliate plugin and install it.
- Follow the plugin setup guide and set up a competitive affiliate program.
- Market your affiliate program to your existing customers and those already promoting your products.
- Research who your competitors are using as affiliates and try to onboard them.
- Reach out to influencers in your space and try to onboard them.
What is the best platform to build an affiliate program?
WooCommerce is the best platform to build an affiliate program. You can build your store for free and use a free WooCommerce plugin to set up your affiliate program. If you have a larger budget, you can take advantage of many premium options that are more cost-effective and powerful than other platforms.
How can I promote my affiliate website for free?
- Install a free WooCommerce affiliate plugin.
- Market your affiliate program to existing customers.
- Reach out to those already promoting your products.
- Create a program with more competitive commissions than your competitors, and approach their affiliates.
Does WooCommerce offer an affiliate program?
While WooCommerce does not offer an affiliate program of its own, a great many affiliate programs offer integrations with it. When it comes to ecommerce, WooCommerce is widely recognized as the top choice and is indeed the most widely used ecommerce platform in the world.
WooCommerce Affiliate Plugins — Related Information
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