OpenCart Affiliate Program extension Archives - Knowband Blog

1.0 Introduction

As a shopper, you must have seen many of the online stores provide their customers with additional income from the store by providing them the option to become affiliate customers and invite new customers to the store. So, there are several tools out there to provide affiliate customer and referral commissions to the customers. However, with the OpenCart Affiliate Program extension, the admin allows the customers to become an affiliate and earn a commission whenever a new customer registers using the affiliate customer’s referral code or order products. And even can customize the commission rate globally or individually for an affiliate customer and so on.

2.0 Salient Features of OpenCart Affiliate and Referral module

Users can register as affiliates to earn commissions on referrals.
The admin can enable or disable the new affiliate register option.
Admin can select the referral methods which will be available on the affiliate customer dashboard by which affiliate can invite customers.
The admin can enable or disable the social sharing for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Admin can set if the affiliate is permanent or it will auto become a normal customer after input days.
The admin can set if the affiliate always gets commissions for orders from the referrals or the commission will be closed after how many orders.
Admin can set when the referral will be counted for commission.
The admin can view affiliate customers and edit and update their details like commission rate and all.
The admin can view the list of referrals that have been entered by the customer. Moreover, he can approve and reject them for commission.
Admin can see the total commission earned by the affiliate customer and his commission history.
The admin can see the lists of payout requests and can accept and reject them.
Users can see the list of all the commissions earned by him/her, also can see the commission is from order or user register.
Users can pay out the commission using vouchers and direct payout requests.

3.0 Installation Guide

Before starting the installation process, you have to buy the Affiliate & Referral Program Extension by Knowband. Once purchased, you will receive the following files in your registered email.

Source code of OpenCart Affiliate & Referral Program extension in zipped file format.
User Manual of OpenCart Affiliate & Referral Program extension.
Now to install this on your online shop, follow the given steps:

Step 1: Unzip the zip file. You will get the folders as shown in the image below

Step 2: Copy the content of one of the folders as per your OpenCart version. You will get the following files inside.

Step 3: Copy these folders to the root folder of your website. In case of any issue, you can reach us.

Step 4: After copying this go to your admin panel and install the module with the modification file.

Step 5: After uploading the ocmod file your module will be ready to use. You can go to the extensions and install and configure the module as per your need.

4.0 Admin Interface of OpenCart Affiliate Program

To configure the OpenCart Affiliate Program extension you can navigate to the module configuration page either by clicking on the Knowband Affiliate Program menu in the side menu.

Or you can go to the Extensions > Modules > Knowband Affiliate Program.

In the admin you will see the following main settings tabs those are:

Basic Configuration
Affiliate Customers
Referral Listing
Commission Listing
Payout Requests

4.0.1 Basic Configurations

These are the basic settings that you can apply regarding the referral rates, referral methods, and module settings. Here you have the option to enable disable the module and much more.

4.0.1.1 Status

Enable/Disable this module.

4.0.1.2 Enable affiliate registration

Enable the option for normal customers to become affiliate customers and get a chance to earn a commission.

4.0.1.3 Select the referral systems to be enabled

Referral methods to show on affiliate customer dashboard using which he/she can share the referral link and get commission.

4.0.1.4 Enable Sharing Link With Facebook

Enable to show share on Facebook in referral methods on affiliate customer dashboard.

4.0.1.5 Enable Sharing Link With Twitter

Enable to show share on Twitter in referral methods on affiliate customer dashboard.

4.0.1.6 Enable Sharing Link With Pinterest

Enable to show share on Pinterest in referral methods on affiliate customer dashboard.

4.0.1.7 Enable/disable affiliate after

Enable to disable the affiliate customer after the number of days.

4.0.1.8 Disable affiliate after

Several days after which affiliate gets disabled.

4.0.1.9 Enable/disable multiple commission

Enable this to disable affiliate commission after several orders.

4.0.1.10 Disable commission after

The number of orders after which the affiliate gets disabled.

4.0.1.11 Global referral rate for orders placed

Input the global rate for orders placed which the affiliate customer will get as a commission, will be treated as a percent of order value.

4.0.1.12 Global referral rate for user registration

Input the global rate for user registers which the affiliate customer will get as a commission will be treated as a fixed amount.

4.0.1.13 Referral Default Status

Default status of referral and commission when a new referral is entered into the system.

4.0.1.14 Select when the referral should be counted

Options when the referral and commission will be counted.

4.0.2 Affiliate Customer

In this tab, the admin can view the list of affiliate customers with their status and also have the sorting functionality and filters.

In the list of customers, the admin has the option to sort the columns on the and have the options to filter data based on customer first name, customer last name, customer email, customer status, customer date from, and customer date until.

Also, the admin has the link to the customer view/edit page.

4.0.3 View/Edit Affiliate Customer

On this page of the OpenCart Affiliate and Referral program extension, the admin can view the details of the individual affiliate customer and can edit them individually.

4.0.3.1 Customer Name

Affiliate customer name.

4.0.3.2 Email

Affiliate customer email.

4.0.3.3 Status

Affiliate customer status.

4.0.3.4 Affiliate From

Date when customer joined as an affiliate customer.

4.0.3.5 Affiliate Until

Date till when the customer will be treated as an affiliate customer.

4.0.3.6 Use global referral rates

Option to set whether to use global rates for orders defined in basic configuration or use individual affiliate customer rates.

4.0.3.7 Paypal Account Email

Paypal email to send approved payout request amount directly to the customer Paypal account(manually).

4.0.3.8 Bank Details

Bank details to send approved payout request amount directly to the customer bank account(manually).

4.0.4 Referral Listing

In this tab of the OpenCart Affiliate Program extension, the admin can view the list of referrals that have been interacted after getting the referral code from the affiliate customers.

In the list of customers, the admin has the option to sort the columns on the and have the options to filter data based on customer first name, customer last name, customer email, and customer status.

Also, the admin has the link to the referral view/edit page.

4.0.5 View/Edit Referral

In this tab of the OpenCart Referral Program extension, the admin can view the referral and edit their status only when it is not accepted, once accepted nothing can be changed.

4.0.6 Commission Listing

In this tab, the admin can view all the affiliates with the data like how much in total they have earned as commission and how much they have redeemed.

Also, they have the link to view the commission history as per each referral for that affiliate customer.

4.0.7 View Affiliate Commission History

In this tab, the admin can view the commission history of the individual affiliate.

4.0.8 Payout Requests

In this tab of the OpenCart Affiliates module, the admin can view the payout request from the affiliate customers and can accept them and reject them.

5.0 Front End Interface for the OpenCart Affiliate Program

On the front end, we will have a separate dashboard for the affiliate customers in which we have the following tabs:

Affiliate Dashboard
Referral Methods
Commission Listing
Payouts:

Voucher
Payout

5.0.1 Affiliate Dashboard

In the affiliate dashboard, customers can see his statistics as the affiliate customer like how much commission he has earned till now, how much he has redeemed, how much is not accepted yet, and how much payment request is not accepted yet.

Also, there is a graph that shows the last 8 day’s commission earned statistics.

5.0.2 Referral Methods

In this tab of the OpenCart Referrals plugin, we have all the options listed that were selected as the referral system in the basic configuration settings of the OpenCart Affiliate and Referral module.

In this, you can directly copy the referral code and referral link and give it to your friends.

Also, you have the option to share the referral code on social media.

Moreover, you have the option to share the referral code by email.

5.0.3 Commission Details

In this tab of the OpenCart Referral Program extension, we have all the details of the commission for the affiliate customer which he has earned with their status even if they are accepted or not yet.

5.0.4 Payout > Vouchers

In this tab, we have all the details of the coupons that were generated by the affiliate customer to redeem his commission in the form of vouchers to use on the site.

Also, affiliate customers can generate vouchers from this page and will receive those on their email.

5.0.5 Payout > Payout

In this tab of the OpenCart Affiliate and Referral module, we have all the details of the payout request. Further, the details the affiliate customer made to get the commission amount directly into his bank account/wallet.

Affiliate customers can request payout requests and their status and payout request will be visible in the list.

For more details, click below:

Knowband’s OpenCart Affiliate and Referral module Product Link

OpenCart Affiliates module Marketplace Link

The OpenCart Referrals plugin Admin Demo

OpenCart Affiliate and Referral module Front Demo

A referral program, word-of-mouth marketing tactic used to motivate customers to advocate on behalf of your brand. Instead of writing online reviews or submitting customer feedback surveys, use referral programs as these programs will allow customers to share their brand experience with partners as well as friends.

The main agenda or purpose of a referral program is to attract new leads to your eCommerce business. However, you are not just bringing in anyone. Besides that, a referral program makes it easier for your marketing as well as the sales team to engage customers as these leads are good for your business. Along with that, these are familiar with your company as well as its reputation. The referral program is capable of increasing customer experience since they’ve been referred by someone they know. So when a reliable resource tells about your company, a trust factor is built leaving a good impact on your eCommerce business.

How to create a customer referral program?

Begin with customer referral templates

Templates are a tremendous assistance in the process, whether you’re a one-person customer referral machine or part of a multi-person referral team. Furthermore, referral templates customized to match your brand’s voice as well as tone. You can use these free client referral templates to create a bank of referral request emails, referral follow-up emails and even social copy regarding the business’s referral program.

Decide your goals

Before opting for a referral program, eCommerce store owners should consider what they intend to gain from this referral program. Do you want to include retention in the equation? Do you work in a field that demands a great deal of trust-building? Once you decide what your goals are, you can explicitly define them.

Research more and more

Having a good knowledge of the market will help you grow better and faster. Similarly, knowing how referrals are coming to your business can be helpful for your e-commerce business. Assessing where and how recommendations are arriving at your business — or if they’re going to your business at all — is an excellent place to start. This is where you should bring in marketing, sales management, and support — everyone who is responsible for creating customer relationships — to analyze how they’ve dealt with referrals in the past. This way you will get an idea of your current location.

Referred clients have a 16% higher lifetime value compared to non-referred customers. Therefore, doing the arithmetic is worth it to see how much money referrals could bring in and adjust your marketing budget appropriately.

Identify ‘Good Fit’ customer for company

Figure out your ideal clientele before urging customers to ask for references. Instead of just entering names to get the program’s reward, your existing customers will suggest leads who buy from your company.

Prominently explanations displayed across client referral programs. When you have a form for customers to fill out, for example, describe what a “good fit” customer is at the right in the start of the form. Attendees are reminded that you’re seeking specific people who require your product, not just a friend who might be interested in your company.

List your possible referral sources

We’ll refer to these people as advocates. Someone with whom you’re now linked or have previously been connected to. Hence, start by creating a list of them. Customers, prior customers, not yet closed leads, industry leaders, your vendors, and so on might all be on this list. This will provide you with a firm foundation, to begin with.

The functionality of Referral Program

In the referral program, visitors or customers recommend your items to friends or family members. In return you reward them with a referral bonus in case people suggested by the consumers purchase from your store. Further, a consumer has the option of sharing a product link or a coupon code.

Affiliate and Referral Marketing- are they different?

Affiliate and Referral Marketing do not have big differences. Both of the techniques help e-retailer to promote their brand as well as generate sales by providing incentives to affiliates; the process differs. Furthermore, one feature that makes Affiliate Marketing different from Referral Marketing is that Affiliate marketing focuses on rewarding your existing customers for referring your products to others. Whereas focusinging on rewarding your existing consumers for referring your products to others is what Referral Marketing is.

Knowband offers Affiliate and Referral Marketing modules for different eCommerce platforms. Hence you can install the module depending upon the platform you are using for your eCommerce business.

Prestashop Affiliate and Referral program addon

Opencart Affiliate Program extension

Magento 2 Customer Referral Module

Magento Affiliate Program extension

For any assistance, feel free to write us at support@knowband.com