What is Shopify Partner Program: The Complete Guide

The Shopify Partner program is quite simple and very profitable for its members. It gives professionals many benefits that allow them to quickly increase their income.

The Shopify platform is interesting not only for those who want to do business online but also for professionals who want to earn extra income. It offers the Shopify Partner program, which allows you to earn money by attracting new customers and selling your products in the internal marketplace. In this article we will explain how to become a Shopify Partner, what revenue remuneration you will receive and which features will be available to you.

What is Shopify Partner program?

The Shopify Partner program is a community of professionals who help to develop online stores on this platform, receiving revenues. If you are already in the business of developing, maintaining, designing, and promoting websites, it will be a great opportunity for you to increase your income and even create passive income.

The basic principle of the Shopify Partner program is simple: you refer new customers to the platform and get revenue. In fact, it's a referral system. However, Shopify also motivates its members to attract customers by providing them with online store development, web design, and SEO services.

The Shopify Partner program is a bold experiment by Shopify that has yielded excellent results. The idea was not to inflate the company's staff in proportion to the number of its customers. On the contrary, many of the jobs were entrusted to verified members of the community formed on the platform. The results were positive for everyone involved in the process:

• Shopify has reduced operating costs and retained flexibility;
• Businesses have received expert help in creating, optimizing and maintaining online stores;
• Freelancers have already been able to enter a huge market of digital services filled with solvent clients.

The prospects of participating in the Shopify Partner program are confirmed by Shopify's statistics. Representatives of the platform claim that every third online store uses affiliate services at least once every 6 months. This means that the audience of your potential customers already numbers over 300,000 companies and continues to grow daily.

The advantages of participating in the Shopify affiliate program

The main advantage will be the opportunity to quickly increase your income. You can also realize 100% of your potential due to cooperation with regular customers and regular order fulfillment. In addition, all Shopify Partner program members get the following benefits:

• Access to the test store. It is a free platform with the same features available in the Shopify Plus plan. You can't use it to sell products and services, but it allows you to explore all the features of the platform and develop ready-made online stores for customers who are willing to pay for the subscription.
• The ability to create collaborator accounts. They allow you to work with certain parts of the client's web pages without exceeding the staff number. In fact, you temporarily join the customer's team without creating any discomfort for them or forcing them to switch to a more expensive pricing plan.
• Access to the Shopify Partner Academy. To increase your income, you need to constantly improve your knowledge and skills. The specialized training center that regularly publishes reference materials, tutorials, guidelines, reviews, and helpful articles will help you do that.
• Connection of professional tools. In the test store, you can use plugins for creating web pages without writing code, for quick design development, for segmentation of your customer base, and for creating a marketing strategy. Most of them are available to Shopify Partners for free or on preferential terms.
• Extended Support. Shopify Partner program participants can ask for assistance in the online chat as well as by email or phone. Employees of the portal provide them with comprehensive advice on how to use all professional functions and plugins, as well as consult them on how they can increase their income.
• A launch pad for rank advancement. Once you achieve success in the basic Shopify Partner program, you can pass the internal exam and get the certificate. It will provide you with access to Plus-level referral plans and the Shopify Experts program. This will give you even more benefits through increased commissions and popularity among customers.

One of the interesting features of the Shopify Partner program is the ability to create collaborations with other specialists. Some project implementations require teamwork, and you can form your own team in a few minutes. All you need to do is use the Team tab. It allows you to set permissions for each project participant, and distinguish their areas of responsibility and authority.

How much Shopify Partners earn

It depends on which Shopify Partner program you choose and how many clients you can refer attract. The following income options are available to you today:

• Arbitrage. You motivate businessmen to create online stores on the Shopify platform and get 20% off subscription fees. There is no time limit – as long as the web page exists, you get paid. In the basic plan, you have to create sites based on the test store, and in the Plus version, it is enough to convince the client to use your referral link.
• Selling digital products. You get income when someone buys your app or an online store design theme from Shopify's internal marketplace. If your lifetime earnings don't exceed $1 million, you get 100% of the price, and once that threshold is passed, you get 85%.
• Participation in promotions. You receive fixed rewards for completing tasks, such as involving companies in specific industries. These offers are only valid in certain regions for a limited time. They are ideal for Influencers and experts who can earn significant revenue quickly.

The exact amount you earn will depend on your activity, your professional level, and your persuasiveness in negotiations. It is also important to keep in mind that the revenue may vary depending on your location and the country of the client company registration. In addition, the income from the affiliate program is subject to income tax according to local legislation.

Another interesting point is the availability of the advanced Shopify Partner program. For example, by confirming your qualifications with the certificate and joining the Shopify Experts community, you can offer any services that do not violate the rules of the platform. Among them, the most popular are:

• SEO optimization;
• copywriting;
• technical diagnostics of sites;
• content management;
• the purchase of media advertising.

The company provides you with a convenient marketplace where you can place ads and advertise your services. In return, it charges a 10% commission, which means that you get 90% of the benefit. Add to that the ability to generate passive income, and you have the perfect alternative to freelance classifieds sites.

Who can participate in the program?

The Shopify Partner program is designed for all professionals who help business owners create and develop online stores. These can be representatives of popular professions or freelancers working in niche fields. Below we list who the program is aimed at first.

Developers

Got a great idea for e-commerce? You can sell it on Shopify's internal marketplace in three ways.

First, you can develop an app using the platform framework. Place the app in the store and advertise it, pushing the sales. You will receive up to 100% of the amount customers pay for your plugin.

Second, you can create a ready-made online store in a test development environment and sell it to a client. This option is ideal for talented beginners who work for their portfolios. They can set frankly dumping prices, counting on their percentage of the subscription fee.

Finally, you can develop custom online stores for your clients. The Shopify platform is flexible and convenient enough that you can implement your non-standard ideas. This is the best way to make money for professionals who have a ready customer base. It allows you to supplement one-time revenue with repeated income.

Marketers

Professionals who promote businesses online can offer their services on the specialized Shopify Experts marketplace. To work here, you will have to prove your qualifications and complete a certain number of tasks. But the reward is worth it – you will receive up to 90% of the agreed price.

The key competencies of marketers include segmentation of the customer base, preparation, launch, and support of advertising campaigns, analytics, creating loyalty programs, etc.

Designers

The easiest income source will be themed for online store design. By posting them on Shopify's internal marketplace, you get up to 100% of the sales amount. Many designers also team up with developers to create sites in a test environment. This allows them to share one-time fees and subscription commissions.

Arbitrators

To make a passive income, all you have to do is convince a person to use your referral link. How difficult it is depends on you. You can use additional tools to attract customers — combine your efforts with the development and design teams, buy targeted ads, etc.

Experienced arbitrageurs and Influencers with a large number of subscribers should also follow Shopify promotions. They are valid for a limited time and only in certain regions but allow you to receive high rewards — up to several hundred dollars for one customer at once, without waiting for regular subscription payments.

Photographers

Another category of professionals is in demand on the Shopify Experts marketplace. Most often, they create hundreds and thousands of high-quality images of products, filling online store catalogs. However, you can also choose the category of art photographers. Their work is often regarded as a work of art. They help design the pages of travel agencies, architectural firms, and companies offering premium financial services.

How to become a Shopify partner: 4 steps

The registration process is very simple and accessible to everyone. Proof of qualification will only be required if you are applying for the advanced level programs — Shopify Plus or Experts.

Step 1: Fill in the registration form

Go to the Shopify Partner program home page. On the start screen, you will see an empty field where you need to enter your email address. After confirming your agreement to participate in the program, you can either fill in the form manually or use the social media registration feature. In either case, you will need a minimum amount of information—your first name and last name. You will also need to create and confirm a password to complete the process.

Step 2: Create an affiliate account

Open your email client. You will receive an email to confirm your email address. Click the link and complete the signup process. The platform will automatically redirect you to the Shopify account management center. There, you should select the Shopify Partners section and click Create new partner account.

Step 3: Enter the necessary information

The platform will offer you another form, this time much larger to fill in. It will ask you to answer a series of questions related to your qualifications, experience, and professional area of expertise. You'll also be asked what e-commerce tools and site-building platforms you use to provide you with all the features you need.

Answer all questions as honestly as possible. If you don't know how to fill t in the fields, it's better to consult the support service. If you fill in this form correctly, it will determine whether you can participate in certain projects and receive revenues.

Confirm that you have read the affiliate program terms and agreements. Go to the account management center and get started.

Step 4: Starting your career

The first page you will see is called Get Started. It contains all the ways you can earn money with the Shopify Partner program. Choose appropriate options, such as developing a new store in a test environment, creating a custom project, or improvement of an existing site. On the start page, you will also see some help materials for beginners. They'll tell you how to make money, find customers, and use professional affiliate features.

Once you have chosen the right field of work, confirm that you agree to the terms and conditions. You will also be asked to fill in a simple form to explain why you prefer to work in this field. Try to explain how it will benefit your clients and why they should choose you.

After you agree to cooperate with a customer, do not forget about the correct documentation of the transaction. In order to receive a referral fee, you need to create a store in a test development environment and transfer ownership of it to the customer. Be careful— violation of these rules can deprive you of earnings!

If your application was rejected

It rarely happens, but it does happen. Usually, the Shopify Partner program application is rejected if a specialist violates Shopify rules or can't prove his qualifications. If this is your case, don't get upset – one rejection does not mean a lifetime block on the platform.

Even if your application is rejected, you retain access to Shopify Academy. Its reference materials allow you to bring your knowledge and skills up to the required level. In addition, these materials will help you learn more about the rules of the service in order to eliminate mistakes when filling in the form again.

How to get the most out of Shopify partner program

To achieve your highest potential, you need to choose the appropriate tools. Claspo.io is a simple but very effective tool that will be useful for all categories of professionals participating in the Shopify Partner program.

It allows developers and designers to add one-click pop-up with a minimum amount of code. Marketers can use it to collect data for analytics and customer segmentation, and arbitrageurs can use it to create natural redirects without causing negative reactions from visitors.

Experience all the advantages of Claspo for Shopify stores today! Fill in the online form to test the features of this tool and choose the best subscription option.