The fastest way to find affiliates for an e-commerce store is to combine three channels at once: join a major affiliate network like Awin, CJ, or Impact for instant access to thousands of bloggers and coupon sites, reach out directly to niche review sites and YouTube creators in your product category, and recruit your own customers who already buy and love what you sell. Run those three at the same time and you’ll have your first wave of active affiliates within a month.
Most affiliate recruiting advice is written for info-product creators selling courses and coaching. That advice doesn’t hold up for physical products. An info-product affiliate sends a recommendation and the buyer either trusts the affiliate’s word or they don’t. An e-commerce buyer wants to compare prices, read reviews, check if there’s a coupon code, and see the product in someone’s hands before they click “buy.” Different buying behavior means a different mix of affiliates.
This post breaks down exactly where to find affiliates for your store, which types matter most for physical products, and how to think about coupon sites, deal bloggers, and influencer affiliates without treating them like interchangeable recruits.
What’s the fastest way to start finding affiliates for an e-commerce store?
Joining an established affiliate network is the fastest way to start, because the affiliates are already there waiting to apply. Build an in-house program from scratch and you’re starting with zero relationships. Join a network and you’re applying to a pool that already includes coupon sites, review bloggers, and content creators actively looking for new merchants to promote.
Most new e-commerce stores get their first sales within 30 to 60 days of joining a network, simply because affiliates browse the new merchant listings looking for products to add to their site. That’s a head start you don’t get launching an in-house program cold.
If recruiting your first batch of affiliates feels overwhelming, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Find Affiliates Now is a 5-day intensive that walks you through finding and reaching out to the right affiliates with daily action items and templates, so you’re not guessing at what to send or who to contact.
Which affiliate network should you use to find e-commerce affiliates?
For most e-commerce stores under $50 million in revenue, Awin (the network that absorbed ShareASale) is the strongest starting point. It connects you with more than 240,000 active publishers, skews heavily toward content creators and niche bloggers, and integrates directly with Shopify and WooCommerce, which means setup takes days instead of weeks.
CJ Affiliate is the better fit once you’re established and want access to bigger, more selective publishers. It’s been around since 1998 and counts brands like Hello Fresh and Buzzfeed among its advertisers, but approval standards for new merchants with thin traffic histories are tougher. Impact is worth a look if you want to manage affiliates and influencers in one platform instead of running two separate programs.
None of these networks are free. Expect setup fees, a monthly platform fee, and a percentage cut of every commission you pay out, on top of the commission itself. Budget for that before you commit, and read the tradeoffs between a network and an in-house program before you decide which way to go.
How do coupon and deal sites fit into an e-commerce affiliate mix?
Coupon and deal sites belong in your affiliate mix, but they should never be your only type of affiliate. They’re effective at capturing shoppers who already decided to buy and are searching for a discount code right before checkout. That’s a real, valuable position in the buying journey. It’s just not the same as an affiliate who convinced someone to buy in the first place.
Because coupon sites typically show up at the very end of the customer journey, most programs pay them a lower commission tier than content affiliates and bloggers who actually drove the discovery and decision. Set that tiered structure in your program terms from day one so there’s no confusion later, and require that coupon affiliates only use codes you’ve explicitly approved. Coupon sites can absolutely work in your favor once you’ve set clear rules for how they’re allowed to promote you.
Coupon affiliate fraud is also worth watching closely. It costs companies and retailers millions by unfairly claiming commissions that don’t rightfully belong to the fraudsters, and coupon affiliates are one of the more common sources of it. Knowing what affiliate fraud looks like before you recruit your first coupon partner saves you from paying out commissions you never should have owed.
Should you recruit influencer and content creator affiliates?
Yes, and for physical products they’re often your highest-converting affiliate type. A creator who films themselves unboxing, using, and reviewing your product on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok gives potential buyers something a text-based review never can: proof the product works as described, in someone’s actual hands.
The conversion math backs this up. A YouTube viewer watches someone walk through a product, address objections on camera, and demonstrate the actual experience, and that level of trust translates into purchases at a higher rate than a static review post does. Search YouTube and Instagram for creators already reviewing products in your category, not just your competitors, and reach out with a simple offer: a free product to try plus a commission on every sale their link generates.
Many e-commerce brands now run hybrid deals with bigger creators, a smaller flat fee for the content itself plus a commission on resulting sales. Affiliate marketing for influencers works best when you treat the creator like a partner instead of a one-time ad buy, and the difference between influencer marketing and affiliate marketing matters when you’re deciding how to structure the deal.
How do you find niche bloggers and review sites for physical products?
Search Google for your product category plus “best” or “review” and you’ll find the blogs already ranking for the exact searches your future customers are running. These sites already have an audience primed to buy, and they’re actively looking for new products to feature because fresh content is what keeps them ranking.
Don’t stop at the first page of results. Sites that rank on page two or three for your category often have less competition for affiliate slots and are more responsive to outreach, since bigger merchants tend to ignore them. Pull a list of 20 to 30 sites, note who runs each one, and send a short, specific email mentioning the exact post you found and why your product fits.
Once you’ve built a list of review sites and creators worth approaching, the hard part is getting a reply, not finding the names. Your First 100 Affiliates breaks down the exact recruiting email templates and outreach sequence Matt used to recruit 604 affiliates and build a $1.1M/month program in 18 months.
How is recruiting e-commerce affiliates different from recruiting info-product affiliates?
Info-product affiliates lean on personal authority. Someone promotes a course because they trust the creator and want their audience to get the same result they did. E-commerce affiliates lean on product proof: photos, reviews, demonstrations, and price comparisons that show the item is worth buying.
That difference changes your commission structure too. Digital products routinely pay 30 to 50 percent because there’s no cost of goods to protect. Physical products run on much thinner margins, so most e-commerce programs pay 5 to 15 percent, occasionally higher for premium or specialty items. The best places to find affiliates overlap across both categories, but the pitch you send and the rate you offer have to match what your margin can actually support.
It also changes who you’re competing against for an affiliate’s attention. A SaaS company can offer a recurring commission that pays out every month a customer stays subscribed. You can’t match that with a one-time product sale, so your pitch needs to lean on what you do have: a tangible product, a visual story, and (if you set it up right) a healthy return customer rate that makes repeat promotions worth an affiliate’s time.
Should you recruit your own customers as affiliates?
Yes, and most e-commerce stores skip this step entirely. Your customers have already bought, already trust the product, and already talk about it without being asked. A simple email inviting your best repeat buyers into an affiliate program, with a unique code and a flat commission per sale, turns word-of-mouth you’re already getting into a tracked, paid channel.
Look at who’s leaving five-star reviews, tagging your product on social media, or referring friends without any incentive. Those are the customers worth a personal invitation, not a mass email blast. Recruiting affiliates from your existing customer base tends to produce some of the highest-trust, highest-converting partners in the entire program, because their audience already knows them.
Building a recruiting system that works across networks, creators, and customers at once is a lot easier with a framework instead of guesswork. The Book on Affiliate Management covers the full system Matt used to build a $1 million/month affiliate program in under two years, including how he balanced network affiliates, content creators, and customer referrals at scale.
Where should you start this week?
Pick one network and apply this week, not “eventually.” Pull a list of 20 review sites or creators in your category and send the first five outreach emails before the week is out. Email your last 90 days of repeat customers with a simple invitation to join an affiliate program. Do all three and you’ll have your first active affiliates within 30 days, not six months from now.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an affiliate network to find e-commerce affiliates, or can I recruit affiliates directly?
You can do both, and most successful programs eventually do. A network gets you in front of affiliates faster because they’re already browsing for new merchants. Direct recruiting takes longer to build momentum but gives you more control over who joins and what they’re paid, with no network fee cutting into your margin.
What’s a fair commission rate for physical product affiliates?
Most e-commerce programs pay 5 to 15 percent of the sale, with commodity products at the lower end and specialty or premium items at the higher end. Coupon and deal sites are commonly set at a lower tier than content affiliates and bloggers, since they typically show up at the end of the buying journey rather than driving the original decision.
Are coupon sites worth including in an e-commerce affiliate program?
Yes, as long as you set clear rules. Require pre-approval of any codes they promote, set their commission tier lower than your content affiliates, and monitor for fraud. Done right, coupon sites capture sales from shoppers who already decided to buy and were simply looking for a discount before checkout.
How long does it take to recruit a working affiliate base for a new e-commerce store?
Most stores see their first affiliate-driven sales within 30 to 60 days of joining a network, with a working base of regularly promoting affiliates by month three or four. Combining network signups, direct outreach to review sites and creators, and a customer referral push at the same time shortens that timeline considerably.
Should I recruit influencers the same way I recruit bloggers?
No. Bloggers respond well to a straightforward email with your affiliate terms and commission rate. Influencers and content creators usually respond better to a free product offer plus a commission, and many expect a flat fee on top of commission once they have a meaningful following. Treat the outreach and the offer differently for each group.
What’s the biggest mistake e-commerce stores make when recruiting affiliates?
Recruiting only one type of affiliate, usually coupon sites, because they’re the easiest to attract. A coupon-heavy program captures sales you were already going to make without driving new discovery. The stores that grow fastest combine coupon affiliates, review sites, content creators, and customer referrals so each type is doing a different job in the funnel.
If you are ready to take your business to the next level and start an affiliate program, start with my free report, Your First 100 Affiliates. This report takes nearly two decades of experience, trial and error, and lessons learned about finding top affiliates in nearly every conceivable niche and puts them all into one report. Grab your copy here!
