This guide explains how to leverage your existing customer base to grow your affiliate program. Simple Affiliate integrates directly with your Shopify customer accounts, meaning there are no separate login credentials for your users to remember. If a customer has an account on your store, they are already halfway to becoming an affiliate.
The "One-Login" Experience
The most powerful aspect of this integration is the seamless user experience. By removing the friction of a secondary signup process, you significantly increase the conversion rate of customers into brand advocates.
Existing Customers: They simply log in to your store as usual. Upon visiting the affiliate page, their dashboard is instantly generated.
New Customers: Once they create a standard Shopify customer account and log in, they gain immediate access to their referral tools.
Step 1: Make the Dashboard Visible
Your customers can't join a program they can't find. We highly recommend adding a direct link to your Affiliate Dashboard in your store's primary navigation (Header or Footer).
The URL: Your dashboard is located at
yourstore.com/pages/affiliate.Navigation: Go to Online Store > Navigation in Shopify to add this link to your menus.
Share the signup form link directly from your dashboard
Step 2: Understand the Onboarding Flow
When a customer clicks your "Affiliate" link, the app automatically guides them based on their status:
The Login Prompt: Visitors are prompted to log in to their store account.
The Registration Form: Once logged in, they click "Register" to see your custom signup form.
Instant Access (or Pending): * If Manual Approval is off, they see their referral link immediately.
If Manual Approval is on, they see the "Pending" message you configured in Settings > Translations.
Step 3: Promote via Email
Active promotion is key to a high-volume program. Use your existing email marketing tool (like Klaviyo or Shopify Email) to invite your best customers.
📧 Promotional Email Template
Subject: Join our team and earn while you share!
Body: Hi {{customer.first_name}},
As one of our valued customers, we’d like to invite you to join the official [Your Store Name] affiliate program!
You can now earn a [Commission Rate]% commission on every successful sale you refer to our store.
Getting started is easy: Simply visit our affiliate page and log in with your existing store account to get your unique referral link: [Link to Your Affiliate Dashboard Page]
We’re excited to partner with you!
— The [Your Store Name] Team
Important Rules to Remember
App Embeds Required: For the dashboard to appear correctly on your site, ensure you have followed the [App Embeds Activation Guide].
Tagging: When a customer joins, they are automatically tagged in Shopify (usually as
affiliate). This allows you to exclude them from using their own discount codes via Customer Segments.Manual vs. Auto: Decide in your Settings > Signup whether you want to vet every customer or let them start promoting instantly.
What Happens Next?
Once your customers start signing up, you will see them appear in your Affiliates > Pending (or Active) list. From there, you can move them into specific Groups to offer them higher commission tiers as they grow.