Affiliate & Reseller Tracking

Affiliate marketing has emerged as a powerful tool for driving traffic, generating sales, and rewarding affiliates for their promotional efforts.

To accurately track and attribute sales to these affiliates or resellers, Vanilo offers a simple tracking system.

TL;DR

It is possible to track resellers and/or affiliates separately.

The tracking happens with two HTTP query parameters:

  • affiliate id: __afid
  • reseller id: __rsid

When any of these query parameters is passed to any of the pages on the shop, the values are stored as unencrypted cookies for 30 days.

The cookie names are:

  • affiliate id: _vclafid
  • reseller id: _vclrsid

When these cookies are present when submitting an order via the checkout, then the values of the cookies will be stored in the reseller and affiliate fields of the order, respectively.

Detailed Guide

Step 1: Passing the HTTP Query Parameter

To initiate the affiliate or reseller tracking process, the URL provided to potential shoppers should include a query parameter that carries the affiliate ID.

For example, the URL might look like this:

https://your.shop/p/product-page?__afid=123456

Here, the affiliate id will be set to "123456," representing the unique identifier for the affiliate or reseller. This ID could be generated by the platform or provided to affiliates for inclusion in their marketing links.

The reseller id can be passed via the __rsid parameter:

https://your.shop/c/category/lemming-shaped-pillows?__rsid=xyz999

Affiliate and reseller parameters are treated separately. You can pass either or none of them. It is possible to pass both an affiliate and a reseller parameter, if that is required by your business.

Once the shopper accesses the website using the affiliate/reseller link, Vanilo Cloud extracts the ID from the query parameter and stores it as a cookie in the shopper's browser. This ensures that the affiliate association persists across multiple pages and even subsequent visits.

The cookie has an expiration time of 30 days, providing an ample window for conversions to occur. When the shopper subsequently opens a link in your shop having the mentioned query parameters, the cookie's lifetime will be extended by another 30 days.

Step 3: Storing the Affiliate ID During Checkout

When a shopper proceeds to make a purchase or reaches the checkout page, the platform's order processing system saves the affiliate/reseller ID in the order details.

This allows the system to attribute the sale to the respective affiliate or reseller and ensures they receive proper credit and commission for their efforts.

This tracking mechanism enables accurate attribution of sales, empowering businesses to compensate their affiliates appropriately while gaining valuable insights into their marketing performance.

By leveraging this method, e-commerce platforms can foster successful affiliate partnerships, increase sales, and drive the growth of their online businesses.