Add-on plugin

Partners recruit partners and earn down to level 5.

With the multi-level marketing add-on plugin, commission goes not only to the partner whose code is on an order, but also to the partner who recruited them and up to three more above. The add-on plugin builds on the affiliate program: it calculates with its rules, books into the same balance and shows the network in the administration and in the customer account.

Marketing → Affiliate program → side menu Network → Multi-level marketing

How the network calculates

What is a level, and who earns from an order?

Level 1 is the partner whose code is on the order, the referring partner. Level 2 is the partner who recruited that partner, level 3 their recruiter and so on down to level 5. Each of these partners gets a booking of their own with their own rate. At the order, the tab Affiliate program lists every booking with its level.

  • Level 1: Felix Hartmann referred the customer. He gets his rate from the affiliate program, 5 percent here.

  • Level 2: RunCrew Leipzig recruited Felix Hartmann and gets the rate of level 2, 3 percent by default.

  • Level 3: Running Team Niklas recruited RunCrew Leipzig and gets the rate of level 3, 2 percent by default.

LevelPartnerRateCalculationCommission
1Felix Hartmann5 %€25.13 × 5 % = €1.2565€1.26
2RunCrew Leipzig3 %€25.13 × 3 % = €0.7539€0.75
3Running Team Niklas2 %€25.13 × 2 % = €0.5026€0.50
Together€2.51

The order has a net value of €25.13. Every level calculates from the same amount and is rounded to the cent. There is no recruiter above Running Team Niklas, so the chain ends at level 3.

How does a partner become the recruiter of another partner?

The add-on plugin needs no field “recruiter” of its own. The relation arises when a customer who already belongs to a partner becomes a partner too. How a customer comes to a partner is up to the affiliate program: partner link, short link, QR code, partner voucher or entering the code in the cart, described in the chapter Marketing.

  • Recruiting chain: Anna recruits Ben as a partner, Ben refers customers. When a customer of Ben orders, Ben gets the commission of level 1 and Anna that of level 2. If Ben recruits a partner himself, Anna is on level 3 for the customers of that partner.
  • Always current: the chain is read from the customer data each time. If the partner code on a customer changes, tree and statistics show it at once; commission already booked stays as it is.
  • No customer account, no recruiter: a partner you created without a customer account, for a blog for example, is at the top of their chain.
  • Circles are detected: if partners recruit each other, every partner still gets at most one commission per order.

Does the referring partner get less when the network earns too?

No. The add-on plugin books the further levels in addition. The affiliate program calculates the commission of level 1 as it does without the add-on plugin, with rate, partner group, commission rules, minimum order value and maximum commission. For levels 2 to 5 the add-on plugin lets the same calculator of the affiliate program run once more per level.

  • Only from turnover: commission only arises from real orders of customers. Recruiting a partner earns nothing by itself.
  • Base: percentages calculate from the net value of the goods on every level, just like level 1. Fixed amounts per order or per piece work as well.
  • Limits: minimum order value and maximum commission per order apply to level 1.
  • One booking per level: every order gets exactly one booking per level. Changed rates apply to future bookings; booked commission is not recalculated.
  • From activation on: further levels arise when the affiliate program books level 1 of an order. Orders whose level 1 was booked before the add-on plugin was active get no further levels.

Setup: levels, rates, priority

Install the add-on plugin: what the page shows before

The side menu of the affiliate program always has the entry Network → Multi-level marketing. Without the add-on plugin, the page explains what multi-level marketing is and calculates an example. The add-on plugin “Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) for Affiliate & Partner Program” comes from the Shopware Store and needs the affiliate program.

  1. 1Open Network → Multi-level marketing in the side menu. Without the add-on plugin it shows the explanation with the way to the store.

  2. 2The example calculates an order of €1,000 net with 10, 3, 2, 1 and 1 percent on five levels: €170 commission. The rates can be set freely.

  3. 3Install the add-on plugin under Extensions → My extensions and activate it. Afterwards the same page shows what is set up.

The page “Multi-level marketing” shows what is set up

With the add-on plugin the page shows no figures but the state of the setup: how many levels are active, where rates and figures are, what partners see in their customer account, and a sample calculation with the presets.

  • Active with 5 levels: commission for the own customers of a partner and for orders through up to 4 levels of recruited partners. With level 1 only, it says “Active, but with level 1 only”.

  • Rates per partner: level 1 and further levels are at the partner in the tab “Commission”. The link leads to the partner list.

  • Figures: Statistics → tab “Network” for the whole program, at the partner Statistics → “Levels”.

  • Partner area: whether partners see their levels, their network as a tree, both or nothing in their customer account.

  • Settings opens the configuration of the add-on plugin. The button appears for users who may manage extensions.

  • How the shop calculates: an order of €1,000 net with the rate of level 1 from the affiliate program and the presets of the further levels. Fixed amounts per piece are not part of the total.

LevelDefault rateCommission on €1,000 net
15 % (affiliate program)€50.00
23 %€30.00
32 %€20.00
41 %€10.00
51 %€10.00
Commission in total12 %€120.00

How many levels earn commission?

You open the settings of the add-on plugin with the button Settings on the page “Multi-level marketing” or under Extensions → My extensions → Configure. The card “Level settings” sets down to which level an order brings commission.

  • Level: from “Level 1 (only directly recruited customers)” to “Level 1 to Level 5”, by default Level 1 to Level 5. With “Level 1 to Level 3” at most three partners earn commission per order.

  • Only for future orders: a change applies to orders that become eligible for commission afterwards. Booked commission stays.

  • Sales channel: like every configuration, the card can be set per sales channel.

Which rates do new partners get on levels 2 to 5?

There is one card per level, “Commission - Level 2” to “Commission - Level 5”. Their values are presets: every new partner gets them when created, through registration, in the admin or through the API. After that only the rates at the partner count, in the card Further levels. The rate of level 1 comes from the affiliate program.

  • Commission - Level 1: the note says where the rate of level 1 is, in the settings of the affiliate program (5 percent by default).

  • Type of provision: “Percental” of the net value of the goods, “Absolut (per order)” as a fixed amount per order or “Absolut (per piece)” per piece bought.

  • Commission (absolute or percental): by default 3 percent for level 2, 2 percent for level 3 and 1 percent each for levels 4 and 5.

  • Activate individual commission for subsequent orders: off means subsequent orders get the rate of the level. On, the rate for subsequent orders below applies, 0 included. Subsequent rates only count if “Commission subsequent orders” is on in the affiliate program.

Which rate applies on levels 2 to 5 when partner groups and commission rules match too?

On levels 2 to 5 three rates compete for the recruiter: the level rate, their partner group with priority 50 and matching commission rules, usually with priority 100 to 500. The card “Commission priority” sets where the level rate is placed. The higher number wins; by default it is 10, so the level rate applies wherever neither a partner group nor a rule applies.

  • What the priority does and Note: only with “Priority first”: the priority only counts if one of the two “Priority first” modes is selected under “Commission selection” in the affiliate program, as by default. With “Always highest rate” and “Always lowest rate” only the amount decides.

  • Priority of rates for levels 2 to 5: 10 by default. A higher value gives the level rates precedence; on equal priority the tie setting decides. The rate of level 1 stays untouched.

  • Example: an order of €1,000 net, Anna is on level 2. Her level rate is 3 percent, and she is in the partner group Gold with 8 percent and priority 50. The table shows what Anna gets depending on the settings.

Setting in the affiliate programPriority of the level ratesCommission of Anna on level 2
“Enable commission rules” off103 % = €30.00, only the level rate competes
Commission rules on, “Priority first, highest rate on equal priority”108 % = €80.00, partner group Gold (50) wins
Commission rules on, “Priority first, highest rate on equal priority”603 % = €30.00, level rate (60) wins
Commission rules on, “Always highest rate, regardless of priority”any€80.00, the higher amount
Commission rules on, “Always lowest rate, regardless of priority”any€30.00, the lower amount

What partners see in their customer account is switched in the “Default settings”

Two switches decide what the tab “Multi-Level-Marketing” shows in the partner area. If one of them is on, the tab appears. What it looks like is shown below in the part In the partner area.

  • View multi-level marketing statistics in the affiliate program, on by default: the overview “By level” and the orders of the network with their level in the order lists.

  • Show the network as a tree in the affiliate program, off by default: the partners recruited directly and indirectly, level by level with shortened names, their figures and the last five orders of their customers.

At the partner and the order

Rates per partner: the card “Further levels”

At the partner, in the tab Commission, the card “Further levels” comes right below the partner group. It shows one row per active level with the rates this partner gets as a recruiter. So a partner who builds up many partners can get more on level 2 than others.

  1. 1Open Partners, choose the partner and the tab Commission. At the top is the rate of level 1 (“Own commission”), below the partner group and “Further levels”.

  2. 2Choose the Type of commission per level: “Per product: percentage of net”, “Per product: fixed amount per piece” or “Per order: fixed amount”.

  3. 3Enter the Rate, in percent or as an amount in the default currency.

  4. 4Rate for subsequent orders: the purple link takes the rate of the level for subsequent orders as well. Undo the link for a rate of its own, 0 included.

  5. 5Click Save. The new rates apply to orders booked afterwards.

Who recruited whom: the tab “Network” at the partner

The last tab of the detail page shows who recruited the partner and whom the partner recruited, level by level down to the highest level. The levels count from the partner you look at: the partners RunCrew Leipzig recruited itself are on level 2, because RunCrew Leipzig earns from the orders of their customers on level 2. The tab exists for partners taken into the program.

  • Recruited by: the recruiter with a link to their detail page, otherwise “Not recruited by a partner”.

  • This partner: the top row with the partners recruited directly, the size of the whole network below and the total commission from level 2 on, €31.11 here.

  • Direct and Network per partner: Felix Hartmann recruited one partner himself and has two partners below him. A dash means none.

  • Commission from it: what the partner you look at earned on the orders of the customers of each partner, for example €5.77 from the orders of the customers of Felix Hartmann.

  • One colour per level: the legend assigns the colours of the circles to levels 2 to 5.

  • Search partners in the network: from two characters on, by name or partner code, up to ten matches with their level. A click opens the way to the partner in the tree and highlights it.

The arrow in front of a partner loads the next level. Ten partners appear per level, the largest network first; “Show 10 more” loads the next ones. The admin shows every partner of the chain, also those not yet taken into the program. Amounts are in the default currency.

What does the network of a partner bring? The statistics “Levels”

In the tab Statistics of a partner taken into the program, the sub tab Levels follows “Overview” and “Clicks”. It shows partners, customers, orders, turnover and commission per level, with the row “Total” below. Level 1 are the own customers, from level 2 on the customers of the recruited partners.

  • Level 1: 8 customers with 12 orders and €32.69 commission. Running Team Niklas referred 12 customers; 4 of them became partners themselves and count as partners on level 2, no longer as customers.

  • Level 2: 4 partners with 23 customers and €1,382.35 turnover. The €41.47 commission are the 3 percent of level 2.

  • Total: 14 partners in the network, 108 orders, €5,386.92 turnover and €126.92 commission across all levels.

LevelTurnoverCommissionShare
2€1,382.35€41.473.0 %
3€2,147.94€42.972.0 %
4€683.17€6.851.0 %
5€293.35€2.941.0 %
2 to 5€4,506.81€94.23

Orders count including cancelled ones; turnover and commission are the totals of the bookings from orders, without the settlement of a cancellation.

Bookings, cancellations and settlement through the affiliate program

The commission from the network is in the same balance as the own one. The partner redeems it as usual, as a voucher or a payout via SEPA or PayPal, also automatically, as described in the chapter Payout. In the tab Bookings the list “Commissions from orders” shows the column “Level”.

  • Level: on every booking, from 1 for the own customers to 5. Order 10619 brought Running Team Niklas €0.71 on level 5, 1 percent of €71.26.

  • Cancellation: if an order is cancelled, the affiliate program creates a negative manual booking for the same partner for every positive booking of that order, on every level. This needs the switch “Automatically settle canceled orders”, on by default.

Follow every level: bookings and log at the order

At the order, the tab Affiliate program shows the card “Commission” with one row per level. The log explains every booking step by step, those of the further levels too. It is created if “Log the calculation of commission for each order” is on in the affiliate program, as by default.

  1. 1Open the order and the tab Affiliate program. The column Level is in second place.

  2. 2Click ··· in the row and View log.

  3. 3The head names the level, “2 (additional level)” here, and the commission.

  4. 4The steps show subsequent order, commission base and rate: “Own rate of the partner, 3 %” of €25.13 gives €0.75. The tab “Commission rules” shows which rates competed.

Figures

The network in the dashboard

As soon as there is a booking from level 2 on, the dashboard shows the levels. Turnover and orders count every order only once, at the referring partner; the open balance contains all levels, because partners can redeem the commission of every level.

  • Commission (level 1): the commission tile is now called that and counts only the commission of the referring partners.

  • Of which from further levels: the part of the open balance of all partners that comes from levels 2 to 5, €385.63 of €1,958.49 here.

  • Commission per level in the section “Network”: commission and number of bookings per level in the period, with “All levels” below.

What does the network cost, and what does it bring? Statistics, tab “Network”

Under Overview → Statistics the tab Network is added with the first booking from level 2 on. Period and partner group at the top apply to all figures.

  • Levels: commission and number of bookings per level, plus “All levels”. Turnover counts only on level 1.

  • Commission per level: level 1 and “From the network” per month, per day for short periods.

  • Commission from the network: level 2 and deeper, here €258.44 + €106.67 + €15.44 + €2.94 = €383.49.

  • Share of the commission: €383.49 of €2,127.99 across all levels is 18.0 %.

  • Turnover of recruited partners: the own turnover of the partners who have a recruiter, €9,549.62 here.

  • Turnover per €1 of network commission: €9,549.62 ÷ €383.49 = €24.90. Every euro of commission for the further levels stands against almost €25 turnover of the recruited partners.

Who recruits the most partners? Growth, best recruiters and networks

Further down in the same tab are the growth of the program and the rankings of the networks. This is where you see which partners make the program grow.

  • New partners: per month, split into “recruited by partners” and “without recruiter”. In the example 49 partners, 22 of them recruited (45 %).

  • Best recruiters: who recruited the most new partners in the period, with the size of their network.

  • Largest networks: the most partners below, down to the highest level.

  • Networks with the most turnover: the turnover of the partners below, down to the highest level.

  • Top partners: the most commission in the period, switchable between “From the network” and “Total”, with the share of every level.

In the partner area

The tab “Multi-Level-Marketing” in the customer account

In the partner area the tab Multi-Level-Marketing follows “Statistics” as soon as “By level” or the tree is switched on in the sales channel. At the top is the network as a tree, below the overview “By level”. Every partner sees only their own network, nothing above and no recruiter.

  • You: the top row with the partners recruited directly, the size of the network and the total commission from the further levels: 4 direct, 14 in the network, €94.23.

  • Shortened names: all words but the last, the last as an initial, such as “RunCrew L.”. A name of one word stays whole. Below is the level, counted from the partner.

  • Your commission: what the partner earned on the orders of the customers of each partner. The footer of the card tells the partner that too.

Expand level by level

The arrow in front of a partner with partners of their own loads the next level. The line of every level has its own shade of the colour of the partner area.

  • Expand: ten partners per step; with 25 partners for example “Show 15 more partners” and “10 of 25”. Collapsing closes everything below.

  • Down to level 5: Personal Training F. is on level 5 for Running Team Niklas and brings 1 percent, €2.94 here.

  • The “i” next to “Your network” explains the columns Direct, Network, Your commission and Orders to the partner.

The latest orders of a partner

The button “N orders” below a partner opens the last five orders of their customers, with date and the own commission from them.

  • 14 orders at Marathon M. opens the list.

  • Commission and turnover: “€3.02 of €100.67” is the 3 percent of level 2. “---” means the commission is not fixed yet, during the waiting time for example; a cancelled order shows “Cancelled”.

  • The latest 5 of 14 orders: if there are more, the footer names the total.

The overview “By level”

One row per active level with partners, customers, orders and turnover, the commission on the right. It appears with “View multi-level marketing statistics in the affiliate program”, on by default.

  • Level 1: the own customers, without a number of partners.

  • From level 2: the customers of the partners recruited directly or through other partners, with the number of these partners.

  • The “i” explains level 1 and the further levels to the partner.

Orders of the network in the statistics

With “By level” the order lists of the partner area also contain the orders of the network. Below every date is the level; for the own customers also the shortened name.

  • Still open: order 10641 on level 3 shows “---” until its commission is fixed.

  • Credited: order 10619 on level 5 brought €0.71 of €71.26, 1 percent. Order 10740 on level 3 brought €1.68 of €83.86, 2 percent.

  • Own customers: order 10684 on level 1 by Philipp K. brought €6.50 of €130.00, the 5 percent of level 1.

On the phone

On narrow screens the columns move together: direct and network appear as a line “3 direct · 5 in the network” below the name, the lines get narrower, the commission stays on the right. Amounts are in the currency in which the partner is viewing the shop.

One balance for all levels

The commission from the network lands in the same balance as the own one. In the tab “Commission” of the partner area the partner redeems it as a voucher or a payout, as set up. All about it is in the chapters Partner area and Payout.

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Common questions

Do I need a separate plugin for multi-level marketing?

Yes. The affiliate program books the commission of the partner whose code is on an order. The multi-level marketing add-on plugin builds on it and books additional commission for the partners above, down to level 5. Without the add-on plugin the affiliate program shows an explanation with an example under Network, Multi-level marketing.

Does the referring partner get less commission when multi-level marketing is active?

No. The further levels are booked in addition. The commission of level 1 stays as the affiliate program calculates it.

Which rates apply by default?

Level 1 comes from the affiliate program, 5 percent by default. For levels 2 to 5 it is 3, 2, 1 and 1 percent of the net value of the goods. On an order of 1,000 euros net that is 120 euros together. Every rate can be changed per partner.

Does a commission rule also apply on levels 2 to 5?

Yes, if the rule applies to all partners and its priority is higher than the priority of the level rates, 10 by default. If the level rate should always apply on the further levels, set the priority of rates for levels 2 to 5 higher than the priority of your rules and partner groups. This works with the selection Priority first, as by default.

Is there commission for recruiting new partners?

No. Commission only arises from real orders of customers. A new partner brings their recruiter something once their customers order.

Do partners see who is above them?

No. In the partner area every partner sees themselves and the partners below, with shortened names. Recruiters and partners above do not appear. In the admin you see at the partner, in the tab Network, who recruited them.

What happens when an order is cancelled?

With the switch Automatically settle canceled orders, on by default, the affiliate program creates a negative manual booking for the same partner for every positive booking of the order on every level.

Does a new setting change commission already booked?

No. There is exactly one booking per order and level, and it is not recalculated. New levels, rates or priorities apply to orders booked afterwards.

In detail in the manual

More chapters

All settings All cards of the configuration with every field, its default and its effect, for the affiliate program and multi-level marketing. Read on → Glossary The words of the partner program explained in two sentences each, with common synonyms and the place where you find them in the shop. Read on → Setup Install, grant the permission and get the partner program ready in ten steps with the setup assistant. Read on →