Partner groups

Partner groups with rates of their own and automatic promotion.

A partner group gives many partners the same commission: type, rate, rate for subsequent orders, minimum order value and maximum commission. That way you split partners into tiers such as bronze, silver and gold, into clubs, studios and influencers or into retailers and customers. If you like, partners move up automatically when they reach a turnover, a number of orders or of referred customers, and see in the partner area how far it is to the next group.

Marketing → Affiliate program → side menu Commission → Partner groups

What partner groups are

All partner groups in one list

An active partner group replaces type, rates and limits of its partners completely, without overwriting them: the partner's own values rest and apply again as soon as the partner has no active partner group any more. An inactive partner group does not count at all, neither for the rate nor for promotion nor in the partner area. A partner has at most one partner group.

  • Order: sorts the groups from bottom to top; the higher number is the higher group. Automatic promotion only moves into a group with a higher order.

  • Priority: the group competes with commission rules with it, 50 by default. More on this below.

  • Commission and Subsequent orders in the unit of the group, such as “8 %” and “3 %”.

  • Automatic promotion: the condition in one line, such as “from €6,500.00 turnover · last 12 months”; “--” means without promotion.

  • Partners: how many partners have the group, as a link to the filtered partner list.

Create a partner group

Create a partner group: Gold with promotion from €6,500 turnover

The page has five cards: Partner group, Commission, Commission limits, Automatic promotion and Partners. The example is the top group Gold with 10 %, 4 % for subsequent orders and promotion from €6,500.00 turnover in the last 12 months.

  1. 1Open Partner groups and click Create partner group.

  2. 2Enter the Name. The partner sees it in the partner area; you translate it with the language selection at the top. Switch on Partner group active.

  3. 3Set the Order: Bronze 1, Silver 2, Gold 3. It decides where promotion leads.

  4. 4Leave the Priority at 50 or place the group between or above your commission rules. The blue box below says what the chosen priority does.

  5. 5Choose the Type of commission and enter the Rate; with the purple bracket it also applies to subsequent orders, with the bracket removed you enter a Rate for subsequent orders of its own.

  6. 6Optional: Minimum order value and Maximum commission per order of the group. Empty means no limit, even if the partner has one.

  7. 7Optional: Partners are promoted automatically with metric, threshold and period. Without promotion you assign the group on the partner.

  8. 8Click Save. The card Partners then shows how many partners have the group.

Partner group or commission rule: which rate applies?

An active partner group competes like a commission rule that matches every line of its partners, with its priority and its rate. Rules with a higher priority come first, rules with a lower one do not apply to these partners. On equal priority the commission selection decides. With the default 50 the group sits below migrated rules (100 to 500) and below new rules, which start at 300.

  • Example: Yoga mit Lena is in Silver (8 %, priority 50) and sells a yoga mat for €59.90 net. The rule “Yoga mats” (12 %) has priority 20, “Sale products” (3 %) priority 10. Silver wins: 8 % of €59.90 = €4.79. For “Yoga mats” to apply to Silver as well, it needs a priority above 50.

  • The box below the priority of the group says exactly that: the group applies with priority 50, rules with a higher one come first.

  • Type of the group: if the group has “Per order: fixed amount”, it competes as an amount per order; rules without a type then only count by the customer selection for its partners. If it has a type per product, partners who have “per order” themselves calculate per line as well.

  • “Always” modes: with “Always highest rate” or “Always lowest rate” the priority does not count; with an active group the partner's own rate does not compete.

Assign partners

Choose or lock the partner group on the partner

On the partner, the tab Commission shows the card “Partner group” below the card “Own commission”. There you choose an active partner group or none. With an active group chosen, the card shows its values to read, and the partner's own rates rest.

  • Partner group: only active groups can be chosen; empty means no partner group, the own values apply.

  • Locked partner group: no automatic promotion for this partner, for a special partner who should stay in the group for example.

  • The values of the group: type of commission, rate, subsequent orders, minimum order value, maximum commission and priority, with a notice below on how the group competes with rules and a link to the group.

  • The card “Own commission” shows “Resting”: the own values stay stored and apply again when the group is removed, deleted or inactive.

  • Partner group for new partners: in the configuration card “Partners · Defaults for new partners”, new partners can get a group straight away, Bronze for example. In the partner list the column “Partner group” shows the assignment, with a filter.

Automatic promotion

Move up automatically by turnover, orders or customers

If an active group has promotion switched on, the plugin regularly checks every active partner and moves the partner into the highest group whose condition is met. It only goes up, into groups with a higher order; there is no demotion. Partners with “Locked partner group” never change automatically. A group without promotion is only given to a partner by hand or as the group for new partners.

  • Metric: Turnover is the sum of the commission base of the booked orders, Number of orders the number of these orders, Number of referred customers the number of different email addresses with at least one such order. Only booked orders of the partner count, not cancelled ones; orders in the waiting time do not count yet.

  • From: the threshold, in euros for the turnover, otherwise as a number. Example: Silver from €1,000.00, Gold from €6,500.00 turnover.

  • Period: in total, last 12 months or calendar year, each in UTC. With “last 12 months” it is always the last year up to today.

  • When: the scheduled task dvsn.affiliate.promote_tiers runs every 15 minutes, at most 55 seconds per run, and always checks all active partners. By hand: bin/console dvsn-affiliate:tier:promote, if you like with --partner-code for one partner.

What the partner sees

Progress to the next partner group in the partner area

In the overview of the partner area the partner sees how much is missing to the next partner group with promotion, and under the terms the partner group with its rates. Example: Yoga mit Lena is in Silver and brought €5,014.78 turnover in the last 12 months; €1,485.22 are still missing to Gold from €6,500.00.

  • Your partner group: “€1,485.22 more turnover to reach Gold”, depending on the metric also orders or referred customers. It shows the next higher active group with promotion; with “Locked partner group” there is no progress.

  • The bar with period and state: “last 12 months · €5,014.78 of €6,500.00”.

  • Your terms: commission and repeat orders show the rates of the group, not the resting own rates.

  • The line Partner group names the current group.

  • Both are shown with the switch “Show the partner group in the partner area” in the card “Partners · Partner area”, on by default. As long as no partner group is active, nothing appears.

The registration page also shows the partner groups as a ladder, from the entry with registration up to the highest group with rate and condition. More on this in the chapter Registration.

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Common questions

Can I split partners into tiers like bronze, silver and gold?

Yes, with partner groups. Every group has rates and limits of its own, and partners can move up automatically when they reach a turnover, a number of orders or of referred customers.

Do partners move down again?

No. Automatic promotion only goes up. By hand you can change the partner group of a partner at any time.

What counts as turnover for the promotion?

The commission base of the booked orders of the partner, that is the net value of the goods after discounts, without shipping and without cancelled orders. Orders in the waiting time only count once they are booked.

What happens to the own rates of a partner in a partner group?

They rest. An active partner group replaces type, rates and limits completely. When the group is removed, deleted or inactive, the own values apply again.

Do commission rules come before a partner group?

The priority decides. The partner group competes with its priority like a rule, 50 by default. Rules with a higher priority come first, rules with a lower one do not apply to partners of the group.

Do partners see their partner group?

Yes, in the partner area with the progress to the next group and under the terms. You can switch this off in the configuration with “Show the partner group in the partner area”.

In detail in the manual

More chapters

Calculation How the commission of an order comes about: the way in ten steps, the log on the order and worked examples. Read on → Payout Commission as a voucher or a payout: fixed amounts, review list, SEPA file, PayPal run, automatic payout and payout document. Read on → Partner area What partners see in their customer account: overview, redeeming commission, statistics, settings and which switches control them. Read on →