When partners recruit partners themselves.
A partner program rewards whoever brings the customer. A network additionally rewards whoever brought the promoter. That pays off wherever a structure grows instead of a list: in sales teams, in clubs, in large communities. For an ordinary shop it is overhead.
What the bottom partner turns over, four above them earn on.
The rates fall towards the top, otherwise the structure gets more expensive than the revenue it brings. A usual curve looks like this, and you set every value yourself.
- Level 1 is the normal case. The partner whose code brought the order gets their own rate, exactly as without a network.
- From level 2 you pay on top. These amounts come in addition; they are not deducted from the first level.
- Switch levels off individually. If two are enough for you, leave three to five out rather than setting them to zero.
10 % · €100.003 % · €30.002 % · €20.001 % · €10.001 % · €10.0017 percent of the net goods value goes into the structure, not 10. That is the price for the network enlarging itself.
A product rate beats every level.
The point where a carefully planned structure quietly runs away with you.
An individual rate on the customer, the product, the category or a dynamic product group cuts through the level rate on every level. Whoever wants to protect a product's margin with 2 percent does not only lower level 1 but at the same time raises the upper levels from 1 to 2 percent.
What follows from that: rates on the range and level rates want working through together before they go live. Calculate the least favourable case across all five levels, not just the first.
Do you even need levels?
The partner program alone is enough
When many customers should refer for you and each stands on their own. That is the normal case: regular customers, influencers, blogs, a practice with business cards. None of them recruits partners, all of them refer customers.
Levels pay off
When recruiting partners is itself part of the model: sales structures, teams with area management, communities meant to enlarge themselves. There the second level is the actual engine.
The plugin represents the reward structure, it does not judge it. What should be rewarded are sales, not the recruiting itself. How you shape the model is something to settle with legal advice before the start.
Common questions
What is multi-level marketing in this context?
Not only the partner whose link or code brought an order earns, but also the partner who recruited them, and above them the next, across up to five levels. A chain of recommendations thus becomes a structure in which every level shares in what happens below it.
Is that included in the partner program?
No, it is a separate plugin that builds on the partner program and is bought separately. For most shops the partner program on its own is enough: it is sufficient if many customers refer. Levels are only needed once partners are to recruit partners in turn.
How many levels are there and how high are the rates?
Up to five. You set the rate per level shop-wide and can overwrite it per partner. Individual levels can be switched off if two or three are enough for you. A falling curve is usual, 10 percent on the first level and 3, 2, 1 and 1 above it.
What happens when an individual rate and a level rate collide?
The individual rate wins, and on every level. A rate you have stored on the customer, the product, the category or a dynamic product group cuts through the level rate. That is the most important trap when building a structure: whoever sets a product rate of 2 percent gets it on level four as well, instead of the 1 percent intended there.
How does somebody reach a higher level?
By referring a partner who becomes a partner themselves. The assignment comes about as it does with customers: through link, voucher or code. Whoever was referred hangs permanently under their referrer as long as you do not explicitly allow poaching.
Do the partners see their structure?
Yes, there is a network view for the partner in their account and for you in the administration. The referred customers stay anonymised there too, with a first name, an initial and a town.
Is this legally unproblematic?
The plugin represents the reward structure, no more. Whether your model is permissible depends on how you shape it: what may be rewarded are sales, not the recruiting itself. Settle the structure with legal advice before the first level goes live.
Other ways to turn customers into partners.
Field sales and trade
Partners who buy nothing themselves: created by you, rewarded per order.
Read on → Receipt 50002Payout and accounting
A number range, a PDF receipt and, on request, a real order for the warehouse system.
Read on → Espresso mail orderCustomers refer customers
The regular customer spreads the word and takes a voucher instead of money. The balance stays in the shop.
Read on →First the program, then the levels.
Both plugins start with a free trial month and can be booked separately.