How to Find Affiliates for Your Shopify Store: 7 Sources

To find affiliates for your Shopify store, start with people who already know your products (customers, email subscribers and creators who tag you), then search for niche creators, bloggers and newsletter owners whose readers match your buyers, and finally open a public application page so interested partners can come to you. Audience fit matters more than audience size, and a written scorecard keeps you honest about both.

This guide covers seven recruiting channels, outreach email templates, a 100-point scorecard with worked examples, what real brand recruit pages promise, and the arithmetic for judging a partner. Each outside data point links to the page where we read it. Brand rates and terms are as of October 2026 and can change.

Key takeaways

• Recruiting is the bottleneck. In IAB’s 2025 creator report, brands cite identifying the right creators to partner with as their top challenge.
• Look in order of warmth: customers, people who already mention you, niche creators and newsletters, then communities, partner brands and marketplaces.
• Score every candidate on the same five criteria before approving anyone.
• Expect a low yield. In the worked example, 200 emails produce about 10 active partners, an assumption you should test.
• Publish your terms and your disclosure rules before you send the first email.

Why recruiting is the hard part

Creator and affiliate marketing is no longer a side channel, which means good partners get many offers. IAB projects U.S. creator ad spend at $37 billion in 2025, up 26% year over year, and says that spend has more than doubled since 2021, from $13.9B to $29.5B in 2024. It also reports that nearly half (48%) of ad spenders consider creators a must buy.

The creators you want already receive offers from larger brands, so your first message has to be specific, your terms visible and your replies fast. The same report says creator reputation (58%) and audience alignment (56%) are the top factors brands weigh when they choose creators. Score those same things.

Rakuten Advertising’s 2024 Global Influencer Marketing Study found that 61% of people bought something because an influencer recommended it in the past six months. That is a consumer survey, not a promise about your store.

Creator tier also matters. In the 2026 Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report from Influencer Marketing Hub, 51.43% of respondents indicate expansion intent for nano creators and 52.83% for micro creators, while macro creators are described as essentially neutral.

What makes a good affiliate for a Shopify store

A good affiliate has an audience that already buys products like yours. BLOOP’s documentation lists audience overlap first, then the promotion plan, then reach (in that order), and treats brand safety as a reason to reject regardless of reach. A creator with 3,000 followers who all care about your niche can outsell an account with 300,000 followers who do not.

That is the reason to be selective: in an affiliate program you pay only for sales, so a weak partner costs little cash but costs management time. If you have not set up the program itself yet, the basics are in our guide to starting an affiliate program on Shopify.

Before you recruit: write the offer down

Publish your offer before you recruit. A recruit page needs the commission, the cookie window (how long a click counts), the payout schedule and how to apply. The table summarizes what four public pages said when we opened them in October 2026.

Beardbrand and Perfect Keto state their numbers up front, and Allbirds splits creators by channel. On rates, a useful reference point is Shopify’s own guidance for Collabs, which says commissions and discounts on Collabs usually are set at around 10% on average. BLOOP’s affiliate module starts with a Default Campaign with a 15% percentage commission and a 30-day cookie window, which you can change. Our guide to affiliate commission rates on Shopify goes deeper on choosing yours.

On a $60 order, 10% costs $6.00, 15% costs $9.00 and 20% costs $12.00. Perfect Keto’s structure moves a partner from $6.00 to $9.00 per $60 order after 100 conversions, since 10% plus 5% is 15%.

7 places to find affiliates

Work the list in this order, from warmest to coldest. Each channel below says how to start.

1. Your own customers

Your best affiliates are often people who already bought. Here is how to find them:

1. Export customers who ordered two or more times.
2. Add anyone who left a detailed review in the last 12 months.
3. Add anyone who tagged your brand on social media (search your handle and your hashtags).
4. Remove refunds and anyone who complained recently.
5. Send a short, personal invitation with your application page link.

As an illustration with assumed numbers, say you have 3,000 customers and 20% ordered twice or more. That is 600 people (3,000 x 0.20). If 5% of the 600 also have a public audience you can see, that is 30 people worth a personal message.

A customer who only wants to share with friends belongs in a referral program, not an affiliate one. We explain the difference in referral program vs affiliate program, and you can run both.

2. Creators who already mention you

Search your brand name, product names and hashtags on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and set a Google alert for your brand. Anyone posting about you without being paid is your warmest lead. Check that the mention was positive, then offer a personal link, a commission rate and, if your margin allows, a code.

If you send free product, tell the creator how to disclose it. The FTC’s guidance for influencers says if a brand gives you free or discounted products or other perks and then you mention one of its products, make a disclosure even if you weren’t asked to mention that product. Explain this in your first reply.

3. Niche creators and bloggers

Search the way your customer would. If you sell cold brew equipment, search for recipes, gear reviews and “best” lists, and note who published the top results. Review and comparison articles are especially useful because their readers are close to buying. Query patterns that work:

• Review intent: “best [product type]”, “[product type] review”, “[competitor] alternative”.
• Problem intent: “how to [job your product does]”, “[problem] fix”.
• Roundups: “gift guide [niche]”, “[niche] must haves”.

Record each candidate in a spreadsheet (channel, link, topic, last post date, audience size, contact route, score, status). Start with 30 to 50 names, because not everyone will reply. Bloggers should also know how to mark your links. Google’s documentation says to mark links that are advertisements or paid placements with the sponsored value, and adds that nofollow was previously recommended for these links and is still an acceptable way to flag them, though sponsored is preferred.

4. Newsletter owners

A small, engaged newsletter in your niche can be worth more than a social account with more followers, because subscribers chose to receive it. Subscribe to newsletters in your niche for two weeks, note which ones already recommend products, then offer an affiliate arrangement with an exclusive code so the mention is easy to track.

5. Communities and forums

Hobby forums, Discord servers and subreddits are full of people who recommend products daily. Join, answer questions for a few weeks without linking to yourself, then offer an affiliate link to moderators or regular helpers by direct message. Read each community’s promotion rules first, and never post the same message in several groups.

6. Complementary brands

Stores that sell to the same customer with a different product are natural partners. A running shoe shop and a sports nutrition brand share a buyer but do not compete. Propose a swap: each recommends the other in a post-purchase email, with tracked links and the same commission on both sides.

7. Marketplaces and networks

Shopify Collabs is Shopify’s own app for connecting merchants with creators. According to its App Store listing, you can recruit creators with a custom affiliate application page and direct invites, and a 2.9% commission processing fee on automatic payments may apply. Shopify’s Collabs page says you can search millions of creator profiles in the Collabs app and that merchants need the Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Shopify Plus plans.

Shopify’s getting-started guide describes three recruiting routes: an application page, direct invites that can include an affiliate offer and a gift, and an open access offer that lets Collabs creators start promoting your products for a commission, without additional approval. Its changelog says that since January 31, 2023 merchants can bulk-invite creators to work with them.

The same guide says creators receive automatic payouts after a holding period you can set between 7 and 90 days, provided they meet a $25 minimum threshold via your Shopify bill. For a quick check: a partner who sends $150 of orders at 15% earns $22.50 (150 x 0.15), which is below $25, so that payout waits for the next order. At $180 of orders the same partner earns $27.00, which clears the minimum.

Make it easy for people to find you

Recruiting is not only outbound. Add a “Become an affiliate” link to your footer, Instagram bio and order confirmation email, pointing to a short page with your terms. In BLOOP, you enable self-registration by adding the registration form to a page in your store with the BLOOP app block in your theme editor. New applicants stay Pending until you approve them, unless you turn on automatic approval in settings.

Ask for what you need to judge fit. BLOOP’s documentation notes that asking for an audience link, audience size, and a promotion plan turns a blind approval into an informed one. Review applications every few days, because good partners often apply to several brands at once.

One detail trips people up. In BLOOP, approving an applicant activates the referral link only once the affiliate has a campaign. If you approve a self-registered applicant manually, open the record and assign a campaign, or the link tracks nothing and their orders create no sales.

A 100-point qualification scorecard

A scorecard replaces gut feel with a repeatable rule. Score each criterion from 1 to 5, multiply by the weight, and divide by 5. The weights are our suggestion and follow the review order in BLOOP’s documentation (fit first, reach later).

Worked example with three candidates. The formula for each criterion is weight x score / 5.

Check the sums: A is 30 + 16 + 16 + 9 + 12 = 83. B is 12 + 12 + 16 + 15 + 6 = 61. C is 24 + 8 + 12 + 12 + 9 = 65. A suggested decision rule: 75 or more, approve and send a gift; 60 to 74, approve on the standard campaign and review after 30 days; below 60, decline kindly and keep the contact. Under that rule A gets the gift, while B and C start on the standard terms. These cutoffs are our own judgment, not an industry standard, so test them against your first ten partners.

In BLOOP you can approve applicants one by one or in bulk, and the documentation says self-registration scales recruitment, but makes your approval step the quality gate. Assigning a partner to a campaign is how you give a proven partner a higher rate than a newcomer.

Outreach email templates

Keep the first message short, specific and easy to answer: mention something real about their work, state the offer, and give one next step. The FTC’s CAN-SPAM guide says commercial email needs accurate header information, a truthful subject line, a clear ad disclosure, a valid postal address and an opt-out honored within 10 business days, and that each separate email in violation of the law is subject to penalties of up to $53,088. Include a postal address and an opt-out line. This is not legal advice.

Template 1: niche creator or blogger (cold)

Subject: Your [specific post title] and [Store]

Hi [Name], I read your [specific post or video] on [topic], especially the part about [detail]. I run [Store], where we sell [product]. We are launching an affiliate program: you get a personal link, earn [X%] on every order it brings in, with a [30]-day cookie and payouts on the [1st of each month]. I can also send you [product] to try first. Would you like the details? If not, just say so and I will not follow up. [Name], [Store], [postal address]

Template 2: a customer you want to invite

Subject: You might like this, [First name]

Hi [First name], thanks for ordering [product] [twice / and for your review]. We noticed you post about [topic], and we are inviting a small group of customers to our affiliate program. You would get your own link, earn [X%] on orders it brings in, [and get early access to new releases]. Here is the page with the terms: [link]. Reply with any questions. [Store], [postal address]

Template 3: the one-time follow-up

Subject: Re: [original subject]

Hi [Name], a quick note in case my last message got buried. The short version: personal link, [X%] commission, [30]-day cookie, paid monthly. If it is not a fit, no problem at all. [Store]

Send the follow-up after about a week, then stop. Creators recognize mass copy-paste messages immediately. Be ready for the three questions every partner asks: what is the commission, how long does a click count, and when do I get paid? The commission side is covered in our guide to referral commission.

What to expect: an outreach funnel with numbers

Plan your list size from the yield you expect. The figures below are assumptions for illustration, not benchmarks.

Three active partners from 60 emails is a 5% yield (3 / 60 = 0.05). To end up with 10 active partners at that yield you need about 200 emails (10 / 0.05 = 200). If your first batch performs worse, change the offer or the message before sending more.

Check whether a partner is worth it

Before you invest time in a partner, do rough arithmetic. The formula is: audience reached, times click rate, times your store’s conversion rate, times average order value, times your commission rate.

Here are three illustrative partners with assumed numbers. All three use a $60 average order value, a 2% store conversion rate, a 15% commission and a margin of $28 per order before commission.

The point is not accuracy. One small partner produces a handful of orders, so a program grows by adding many good partners and helping the best ones do more, not by finding one superstar. Model your own numbers in a spreadsheet before you commit.

One more check: use both a link and a code where you can. Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2026 survey found promo or discount codes lead adoption at 45.9% of those answering, followed by affiliate links at 26.0%. Codes suit podcasts and videos, while links give cleaner tracking. A code lowers your margin, so subtract its cost first.

Help new affiliates succeed in the first 30 days

The first 30 days decide whether an affiliate becomes active. Send a welcome message with their link, product images, your three best sellers and your rules (for example, no paid search on your brand name), then check in at day 14 with one useful tip.

Disclosure belongs in that welcome message. The FTC says that, for a retailer’s affiliate program, you should instruct members of the network on their responsibilities for clearly and conspicuously disclosing their connections to you, including exactly how you want them to make the disclosures, and it adds that you should periodically search for what members of your network are saying. The FTC’s influencer guidance gives a simple model: simple explanations like Thanks to Acme brand for the free product are often enough if placed in a way that is hard to miss.

Watch for abuse early, such as partners buying through their own links or posting codes on coupon sites you did not agree to. Our guide to referral fraud lists patterns to look for. Pay only after your return window has closed. BLOOP’s documentation says why: a commission already paid or included in a payout is never revoked or recalculated, so approving before returns settle means paying on revenue you gave back.

On payouts, BLOOP’s documentation says BLOOP never moves money itself: you pay through your bank or PayPal, then record the payout. It advises setting a payout schedule and a minimum threshold, then sticking to both. Publish both on your recruit page.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Recruiting for follower count. Audience overlap beats reach.
• Approving everyone. A bloated roster is harder to support and hides your real performers.
• Leaving applications unanswered. Good partners will not wait.
• Ignoring the roster after launch. Review sales by affiliate monthly and move proven partners to a better rate.

Review four numbers monthly: reply rate, approval rate, activation rate (approved partners with a first sale within 60 days) and time to first reply. For more on running programs well, see our referral program best practices.

Where BLOOP fits

BLOOP gives you the pieces that recruiting depends on: a self-registration form you add with an app block, an approval queue with bulk actions, campaigns that set each partner’s commission and cookie window, a partner portal, and payout records. Its affiliate defaults are a 15% commission and a 30-day cookie, and payouts are recorded in BLOOP but paid by you. The Free plan ($0) covers 10 referee orders and 10 affiliate orders, and Premium ($59.90 per month, with a 7-day free trial) has unlimited orders. More than 2,000 Shopify merchants use it, and it has 190+ ratings on the Shopify App Store.

To see the affiliate features first, start with the BLOOP affiliate program page and check the pricing plans. You can build a first campaign during the trial and test it with a handful of partners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the best place to find affiliates for a new Shopify store?

Start with your own customers and anyone already mentioning your brand, since they need the least convincing. Then move to niche creators and newsletter owners whose audience matches your buyers, and publish an application page so partners can find you.

How many affiliates do I need to start?

Five to ten well-chosen partners is enough to learn what works. Add them by hand at launch, then turn on self-registration so new applicants can come to you. At the 5% yield in the funnel above, 10 active partners takes roughly 200 emails.

Should I approve every affiliate application?

No. Approve for fit, not volume. Score the channel, the audience and the promotion plan with the same scorecard each time, and decline applicants whose content or audience does not suit your brand.

Do I have to offer affiliates a discount code?

No. A tracked link is enough for attribution. A personal code can help conversion and works where links are awkward to share, such as podcasts or videos, but it also lowers your margin, so weigh it against your commission rate.

Can I email creators I have never spoken to?

Yes, but treat it as commercial email, with accurate headers, a clear ad disclosure, a postal address and a working opt-out, per the FTC’s CAN-SPAM guide. Keep messages personal and stop if someone says no.

How do I stop affiliates from gaming the program?

Approve manually, set a clear policy, and pay only after your return window has closed. In BLOOP only approved sales become payable, so you review sales in the Sales tab before you pay.

Do affiliates need to disclose that they earn a commission?

Yes in the United States, according to the FTC, which tells influencers to disclose financial, employment, personal or family relationships with a brand. Rules differ by country, and this is not legal advice. Put a short disclosure instruction in your welcome message and check posts after launch.