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      3. 1. First steps for beginners

      What is the tracking code?

      Understanding Attribution Codes for Affiliate Programs

      The attribution codes are necessary to record the conversions coming from the traffic sent by the affiliates and represent an essential point in the operation of the affiliate program.

      The attribution codes that must be implemented and maintained by an advertiser are of 2 types:

      • Big Bear attribution / full 1st party tracking
      • iframe tracking / 1st party - 3rd party tracking
      Links with specific details

      To see the personalized documentation, click on the 2 links below that will lead to your advertiser account:

      Big Bear attribution

      The attribution codes required for the Big Bear involve 2 different scripts:

      • script that must be installed in the footer of all pages
      • script to be installed on the thank you page/order confirmation page

      In the case of Big Bear attribution, the script details are only available if you log in to your advertiser account and go to the Big Bear section: https://network.2performant.com/advertiser/attribution/big_bear_attribution

      You can download personalized PDF documentation from there for installing Big Bear attribution on your site. 

      iframe tracking

      Iframe tracking code must be placed on the thank you page/order confirmation page for fast and standard orders, for orders placed with or without an account, and for all payment and shipping methods.

      For script details, you will need to log in to your account and go to the iframe section: https://network.2performant.com/advertiser/attribution/iframe_tracking

      There are several tracking code formats depending on the type of affiliate program: leads or sales and depending on the commissioning grid: fixed, percentage, or variable.

      Sale - percentage commission

      Most affiliate programs start with such tracking code.

      Three parameters are sent within this tracking code:

      • amount= sends the total value of the sale. The reported amount must not include VAT (TAXES) if the company is paying VAT, the shipping charges (shipping costs), or other discounts and vouchers.

      Consider: The decimal separator must be the dot. Thousands must not be delimited. Commas must not be used (when separating decimals or thousands). Only 2 decimals must be sent. Currency must not be included.

      • transaction_id= sends a unique sale ID that identifies the transaction.
      • description= sends more information about the transaction (product name, quantity, etc.)
        Important: it must be URL Encoded.

      Sale - variable percentage commission

      For online stores with a wide range of products where the margin may vary considerably depending on the category and/or manufacturers, a tracking code may be installed to provide different commissions based on the above criteria and others.

      Four parameters are sent within this tracing code. Three of them present in the tracking code for the previous percentage commission, as well as a fourth com_percent=

      com_percent= sends the affiliate’s percentage received for a shopping cart (with two decimals). It is necessary to calculate the difference between the percentages according to the established commissioning grid and communicated to all affiliates in the description.

      Therefore, if a user buys one product of 10 RON and the commission percentage is 20% and another product of 15 RON with a 10% affiliate commission, the tracking code should send `__ADD_AFFILIATE_SALE_COMMISSION_PERCENT__`14 (without percentage symbol). Thus, 20% from 10 RON means 2 RON commission amount and 10% from 15 RON means 1.5 RON commission amount. Out of the total order of 25 RON, the affiliate receives 3.5 RON, so 14% commission of the total shopping cart value.

      ((((x*xp)/100)+((y*yp)/100)))/(__ADD_SALE_VALUE__))*100
      x= product from a category that has one commission
      xp= commission for product x

      y= product from a category that has a different commission from product x
      yp= commission for product y

      Using the above example, the formula should be:

      ((((10*20)/100)+((15*10)/100)))/(25))*100=14

      Alternatively, you can send the commissioning percentage for each product along with the price for each product, encoded for URL.

      For the example above, it would be:

      amount=[10,15]
      com_percent=[20,10]

      Sale - fixed commission

      This type of tracking code is used for sites that usually sells a just a single product.

      Three parameters are sent within it, the same as the tracking code for percentage commission.
      The fixed amount is granted by the platform, based on the information filled in the Settings → General section.

      Lead - fixed amount

      This type of tracking code is suitable for programs that generate single-type leads.

      Two parameters are sent within this tracking code, following the same principle as in the case of a sale - percentage commission. The parameters in question are: 

      description= 

      and 

      transaction_id=

      Lead - variable amount

      This type of tracking code is suitable for programs that generate multiple-type leads.

      Three parameters are sent within this tracking code, and two of them follow the same principle as in the case of sale - percentage commission. The parameters in question are: 

      description= 

      and 

      transaction_id=

      Besides these two, there is another one com_rate= where the value for each lead type must be sent, depending on the established commissioning grid and communicated to all affiliates in the description.