How to create an affiliate marketing application: the complete guide

Affiliate marketing rests on a simple principle: a brand gives partners, content creators, bloggers, loyal customers or resellers, a personal link or code. Every sale that goes through that link or code earns the partner a commission, and the brand only pays for real sales.

Behind that principle, the application has to settle precise questions: who owns a sale, when does a commission become final, what happens when an item is returned, how do you spot abuse? This guide applies to the brand launching its own programme as well as to the entrepreneur who wants to offer this service to other merchants.

01Who an affiliate application is for

Three profiles share the tool. Each has its own space and rights, and none sees what does not concern it.

• The brand or merchant: they choose the products, set the commissions and the programme terms, then approve sales and payouts.
• The affiliate: they get their links and codes, share the visuals provided, follow their sales and earnings, and request their payouts.
• The administrator: they accept or reject applications, watch for anomalies, handle disputes and run the whole programme.

02The essential features

1. 01
   Unique link or code. Each affiliate gets a tracking link and, if needed, a personal promo code, easier to mention out loud.
2. 02
   Sales attribution. The app links each order to the right affiliate according to a rule everyone knows, for example the last link clicked within a validity window set in advance.
3. 03
   Commission rules. A share of the sale amount or a fixed amount per sale, which can vary by product category, campaign or affiliate level.
4. 04
   Validation period and returns. A commission stays pending during the return window. If the customer sends the product back or cancels, it is cancelled automatically.
5. 05
   Affiliate dashboard. Clicks, sales, pending, approved and paid commissions: the affiliate sees everything without having to ask.
6. 06
   Payouts. Once the agreed threshold is reached, the affiliate requests a payout, which the brand approves then makes. The history keeps a record of each one.
7. 07
   Creatives library. Banners, visuals, copy and product sheets ready to share, kept up to date by the brand.
8. 08
   Notifications. New sale, approved commission, payout sent, new campaign: the affiliate stays informed, and therefore active.

03The brand’s back office

The back office is where the brand keeps control of its programme. It contains:

• affiliate applications, their approval and their level;
• commission settings by product, category or campaign;
• the list of attributed sales, with their status: pending, approved or cancelled;
• preparing and tracking payouts;
• dashboards by affiliate, product and period, exportable for accounting.

For these dashboards, Codex draws on management tools it has already delivered, such as the BZ Telecom ERP and its tracking of sales, finances and real-time indicators.

04Preventing fraud

As soon as a commission is at stake, some people try to earn it without bringing anything. Prevention is built into the rules and the code from the start, and no commission is paid before approval:

• self-referral, when an affiliate buys with their own link or code, spotted by comparing accounts, payment methods and addresses;
• fake orders, placed then cancelled, which the validation period neutralises;
• artificial clicks and suspicious traffic, flagged by abnormal volumes;
• a code spread on voucher websites, if your terms forbid it;
• a log of anomalies and alerts, to decide case by case and explain every refusal.

05Transparent rules, and the tax and legal points

An affiliate who does not understand why a sale slipped away ends up leaving: the programme terms are therefore written down, available in the app, and any change is announced in advance. Other points go beyond technology and are checked with a legal and tax adviser, depending on your country and your affiliates’ countries:

• the status of affiliates and how their income is declared;
• the receipts or invoices required for each payout;
• the transparency rules for sponsored content;
• consent to tracking and the protection of personal data.

06Connecting the programme to your shop

The affiliate app receives orders, cancellations and returns from your shop: this integration is scoped early, because reliable attribution depends on it. If the shop is still to be built, the guide investing in an e-commerce website or app lays the groundwork.

On a multi-vendor marketplace, you also have to decide who pays the commission: the vendor or the platform. These flows of orders and statistics are at the heart of AZ fulfillment, the e-commerce management platform built by Codex.

07Mobile app, web space or both?

Affiliates mostly check their figures on their phones, often right after publishing content. A mobile-friendly web space is often enough at first; as the network grows, an app with notifications, built with Flutter or React Native, helps keep it active. The brand’s back office is mostly used on a computer.

08A useful first version, then improvements

To start, the essentials fit into four building blocks:

• unique links and codes, with sales attribution;
• a simple commission rule and its validation period;
• the affiliate dashboard;
• the back office for sales, affiliates and payouts.

Then, depending on results: affiliate levels, time-limited campaigns, richer creatives or commissions by category. Multi-level referral is first checked with your legal adviser.

09Mistakes to avoid

• launching without written terms, then changing the rules along the way;
• paying commissions before the return period ends;
• ignoring self-referral and fake orders until the first abuse;
• leaving affiliates with no visibility on their pending sales;
• leaving the programme’s accounts, domain or data in a contractor’s name rather than yours.

10What changes the budget

The price follows the scope, and no package fits every programme. The main factors:

• how complex the attribution and commission rules are;
• integration with your shop, your marketplace or your till;
• the level of fraud control expected;
• handling payouts and receipts;
• the target platforms: web space, Android, iOS.

After the scoping workshop, Codex sends a detailed quote. To get ready for it, the guide writing a project brief is a good starting point.

11The steps with Codex

1. 01
   Discovery. A workshop to set your attribution, commission and payout rules, and identify the integrations needed. You come out with a scope, a schedule and a detailed quote.
2. 02
   Design. Affiliate space, brand back office and technical architecture. You approve the screens before coding begins.
3. 03
   Development. Short sprints, each closed by a demo, with tests on the tricky cases: returns, cancellations, fraud attempts.
4. 04
   Launch and support. Release under your name, training for the team that runs the programme, then maintenance and new features.

Read next: ten mobile applications worth building and the Codex mobile development service.

12Building it with Codex

Codex is a software studio founded in Algiers in 2014. More than 15 engineers and designers build products in French, Arabic and English, and the team has built more than 20 products in-house. The source code, the accounts and the data stay in your name. See the published projects and the certificates of completion.

No office is added locally. The work starts from Algiers (Cité 440 Logements, Ain Malha, Djasr Kasentina), Doha (Building No. 157, Street No. 301, Zone 69, PO Box 8388) and Marseille (Rue de la République, 13002).