Extension Settings

Start configuring the extension by going to Stores > Configuration > AHEADWORKS EXTENSIONS > Affiliate. The configuration page is divided into five sections. We will explore each separately.

Signup

The 'Signup Settings' section is presented by two parameters:

• Select Terms & Conditions CMS Page - defines the page on your web store with affiliate program terms & conditions.

• Admin Approval Needed - defines whether you need to manually approve affiliate program signup requests. If left to No, all requests will be approved automatically.

Commission Configuration

The 'Commission Configuration' section has the following options:

• Add Commission When The Order Item Obtains Status - defines the referred customer's order status upon which the affiliate will get a commission (pending until the commission holding period expires): Ordered, Invoiced, or Shipped;

• Deduct Commission When The Order Item Obtains Status - the option sets automatic commission deduction (before the commission holding period expires) upon the selected order status: Canceled, Refunded, or Returned.

Payout Configuration

The 'Payout Configuration' section contains the following parameters:

• Minimum Balance for a Payout - defines the minimum payout balance (in the base currency) upon reaching which the payout can be created (either manually or automatically);
• Allow Payout Requests - if enabled, the affiliate can send payout requests by sending requests from their account. The appropriate button appears when their balance reached the defined minimum value. This way, the affiliate can create payouts from the storefront and the admin can then process the newly created payouts from the admin area;

• Generate Payout by Schedule - defines if payouts should be generated once in a certain period. Provided that the affiliate's minimum balance reached the defined value, the payout with all the available commissions will be created automatically;

• Payout Creation Period, Days - defines the frequency of payout regular generation;
• Enable Admin Payout Reminders - defines whether you should be reminded of regular payout issuing.

Admin Email Configuration

The 'Admin Email Configuration' section comes with the following parameters:

• Admin Email - the email address for admin alerts. If left empty, admin alerts will be disabled;
• Sender - the name of the default email sender;
• New Signup Request Template - the email template for new affiliate program signup requests;
• New Payout Template - the email template for new affiliate program payouts;
• Payout Reminder Template - the email template for payout issue reminders;

Affiliate Email Configuration

The 'Affiliate Email Configuration' section comes with the following parameters:

• Payout Complete Template - the email template for payout completion reminders;
• Payout Cancellation Template - the email template for payout cancellation alerts;
• Affiliate Rejection Template - the email template for affiliate program signup request rejections;
• Affiliate Confirmation Template - the email template for affiliate program signup request confirmation.

Affiliate Campaigns

To work with affiliate campaigns, proceed to Marketing > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Campaigns.

Managing Affiliate Campaigns

The Campaigns grid is designed for affiliate campaign management and monitoring. The data in the grid is split into the following columns:

• ID - the ID of the campaign;
• Name- the name of the campaign;
• Allow Link Generation - shows whether promotion via links is allowed within the campaign;
• Coupon - shows whether promotion via coupon codes is allowed within the campaign;
• Commission - the commission amount provided by the campaign. Can be fixed (displayed in the website's base currency) or percent (as shown in the above picture);
• Status - the status of the campaign;
• Website - the website the campaign is assigned to;
• Action - provides the 'Select' box with the following per-campaign options: Edit, Delete, Disable.

From the 'Action' box above the grid, you can delete, enable, or disable campaigns one by one or massively.

Creating/Editing Affiliate Campaigns

To create a new campaign, click on the New Campaign button at the top right of the page. To edit a campaign, click on the corresponding Select selector in the Action column.

The Create/Edit Campaign pages is split into several sections: General Information, Conditions, Link Configuration, Coupon Configuration, Commission Configuration and Recommended Products.

In the 'General Information' section, you can specify campaign credentials and assign affiliate groups (individual groups or all groups) to the campaign.

In the 'Conditions' section, you can set campaign-specific conditions based on Cart and product attributes.

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Refer to the 'Link Configuration' section to enable link generation for the campaign. This is where you can define a link tracking gap - the period [of the lifetime of the cookie] during which the Affiliate will be able to get commissions from campaign-related purchases.

Refer to the 'Coupon Configuration' section to enable and set up the coupon-based promotion type of campaigns. To enable the coupon, select Specific coupon in the 'Coupon' box. You will then be able to define the coupon code, the number of coupon uses per affiliate, discount type (percent or fixed), and discount amount.

Proceed to the 'Commission Configuration' section to define the type of the commission (% or fixed) and indicate the amount of thereof. 

Refer the 'Recommended Products' section to (optionally) pick products to be displayed as recommendations for the promotion. The recommendation list can be further edited whenever required.

Signup Requests  

All signup requests can be monitored and managed via Marketing > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Signup Requests.

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The data in the 'Signup Requests' grid is broken down by the following columns:  

• ID - the ID of the request;
• Customer Name- the name of the Customer;
• Customer Email - the email address from which the Customer sent a signup request;
• Website - the website to which the Customer sent the request;
• Signup Date - the date of the signup;
• Referral Website  - the primary traffic source from where the Affiliate will promote the products within the campaign;
• Status - the status of the signup request status: Pending, Approved, or Declined;
• Action - the 'Select' selector to allow one of the following: View, Delete, Approve, and Decline.

You can also perform the latter three operations massively from the 'Actions' box above the grid.

In case of signup request decline, you can optionally specify the reason in the Decline Reason text-box on the 'Signup Request' 'page.

Affiliate Accounts

To work with affiliate accounts proceed to Marketing > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Accounts.

Managing Affiliate Accounts

The 'Accounts' grid lists the information about affiliate accounts split by the following columns:

• Affiliate Name - the name of the Affiliate;
• Affiliate Email - the email address of the Affiliate;
• Website - the website where the Affiliate implements the campaign;
• Affiliate Group - the group the Affiliate belongs to;
• Signup Approval Date - the date when the Affiliate's signup request was approved;
• Available Commissions - the total sum of the available commissions (the ones with the holding period already expired) plus admin transactions per affiliate;
• Paid Commissions - the total amount of paid commissions. The amount is calculated based on the sum of completed payouts;
• Status - the current status of the affiliate's account;
• Action - the 'Select' selector with the following options: Edit and View Signup Request.

From the 'Actions' box above the grid, you can activate/deactivate the selected account(s).

Adding Affiliate Accounts

To add a new Affiliate account, click on the Add New Affiliate button in the top right of the page. This will redirect you to the Add New Affiliate page. The page allows selecting a web-site and a group for the Affiliate. Do that with the help of the two drop-boxes:

• Website (Main Website by default, if not set otherwise)
• Affiliate Group (Default group by default)

The page enables assigning a customer for the Affiliate account.

To assign a customer to the account, click on the Add Customers button at the bottom of the Add New Affiliate page. A popover will emerge prompting to select a customer from the grid. Click Add Customers in the top right of the popover when done. You will be returned to the Add New Affiliate page. The Customers grid at the bottom of the page will feature the following details of the chosen customer:

• Customer ID
• Name
• Email
• Group
• Website
• Actions

To remove the customer, click on the Remove active link in the corresponding Actions cell.

To finalize the configuration of the account(s), click on the Set As Affiliate in the top right of the Add New Affiliate page.

Editing Affiliate Accounts

To edit an affiliate account, click on the corresponding Select selector in the Actions column on the Accounts page. You will be redirected to the Edit Affiliate Account page. This is where you can view the details of the affiliate account.

Use the Status and Affiliate Group drop-boxes to update the status and group of the Affiliate.

To view the signup request of the Affiliate click on the View active link next to the Signup Request option. You will then be redirected to a page featuring the details of the sign-up. 

Affiliate Groups

To view the affiliate groups presented in the store, follow to Marketing > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Affiliate Groups.

Managing Affiliate Groups

The 'Affiliate Groups' grid shows data on affiliate groups broken into the following columns:

• ID - the id of the affiliate group;
• Group Name - the name of the group;
• Commission Type - the type of commission provided for the group (fixed or percent);
• Commission Premium - the amount of the commission premium (if provided) for the group;
• Commission Holding Period, day(s) - the duration of the commission holding period (in days) per group;
• Action - the column contains the 'Select' box from where you can edit/delete the corresponding group.

With the 'Actions' box above the grid, you can delete selected affiliate group(s) in bulk.

Creating/Editing Affiliate Groups

To create a new affiliate group, click the New Affiliate Group button above the grid.

To edit an affiliate group click on the Select selector in the relevant Action cell and choose Edit. In each case you will be redirected to the Create/Edit Affiliate Group page.

The page will prompt you to indicate the following details:

• Group Name
• Commission Type
• Commission Premium
• Holding Period

By setting individual commission amounts and commission holding periods per group, you can reward best performing affiliate groups with higher commissions and shorter holding periods. This is how you can encourage their active participation in your campaign. At the same time such fine-tuning helps prompt the under-performing groups to collaborate with you more actively. 

Transactions

To work with affiliate program transactions, go to Marketing > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Transactions.

Monitoring Transactions

The data in the 'Transactions' grid is presented within the following columns:

• ID - the ID of the transaction;
• Affiliate Name - the name of the Affiliate;
• Affiliate Email- the email address of the Affiliate;
• Type - the type of the transaction:
  • Commission - transactions per purchase made during the campaign
  • Payout - transactions to affiliate balances (Completed payouts can be exported into XML/CSV)
  • Admin changes - in-coming/out-coming transactions which you create on the Backend

• Website - the website from where the transactions are performed;
• Status - the status of the transaction: Complete, Pending, or Canceled;

The table below shows the relation of an affiliate account balance with the status of the transaction.

• Amount - the amount of the transaction;
• Creation Date - the date of transaction creation;
• Holding Period Expiration Date - the date when a) the transaction changes the status from Pending to Complete; b) pending commissions in the affiliate account get decreased by the transaction amount, while the commissions available get increased by it, respectively;
• Comment - the comment the Admin may leave to the transaction. For transactions of the 'Commission' type, the comment will include the title of the items which invoked the commission;
• Action - the Go to Affiliate active link leading to the 'Edit Affiliate Account' page.

Creating/Editing Transactions

To create a new transaction, click the Create Transaction button in the top right corner of the Transactions page. You will be redirected to the Create Transaction page. The page prompts to do the following to create a transaction:

• Select the required affiliate - make use of the Select Affiliate button and the subsequent Select Affiliate popover. 
• Specify the transaction amount (positive or negative) - indicate the amount in the Amount field. Do that in the website base currency. Use negative values to subtract money from the affiliate's balance.
• Add a comment - type the comment into the Comment field.

Understanding Transaction Flow 

Transaction flow is illustrated in the chart below.

Payouts

To monitor money outflow in the context of affiliate payouts, go to Marketing > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Payouts.

The 'Payouts' grid contains the payout data presented within the following columns:

• ID - the ID of the payout;
• Affiliate Name - the name of the Affiliate;
• Affiliate Email - the email address of the Affiliate;
• Type- the type of the payout (manual or automatic);
• Payment Type - the type of payment (PayPal or other);
• Payment Info - the additional payment info. If the affiliate uses PayPal as the payment type, this field will indicate their PayPal email address. In the case of another payment type, the field will contain the corresponding info about the appropriate payment destination;
• Payout Amount - the amount of the payout;
• Currency - the base currency of the store;
• Status  - the status of the payout: Pending, Processing, Canceled, or Complete;
• Created At - the date of payout creation;
• Updated At - the date of the last update of the payout;
• Action - the column contains the 'Select' box from where you can go to the affiliate details page, process, complete, or cancel the corresponding payout.

With the 'Actions' box above the grid, you can change the status of the selected payouts in bulk. The options available here are Processing, Compete, or Canceled.

Sales by Affiliate Link Report

To access the performance statistics of the link-based promotions, go to Reports > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Sales by Affiliate Link.

The 'Sales by Affiliate Link' gridcontains the reporting data split by columns:

• Affiliate Email - the email address of the affiliate;
• Campaign - the related affiliate campaign;
• Hits - the number of clicks on the link;
• Orders - the number of orders within the campaign;
• Buyers  -  the number of visitors who came via the affiliate link and made at least one purchase;
• Commissions - the available commission amount;
• Conversion - the number of visitors who has come via the affiliate link and made at least one purchase to hits ratio.

Sales by Coupon Report

To view the performance of the coupon-based promotions, go to Reports > Affiliate by AheadWorks > Sales by Coupon.

The 'Sales by Coupon' gridcontains the reporting data split by columns:

• Affiliate Email - the email address of the Affiliate;
• Campaign - the related affiliate campaign;
• Coupon Code - the coupon code of the Affiliate;
• Total № of Uses - shows how many times the coupon was used;
• Commissions - the available commission amount.