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
To see the personalised documentation, click on the link below that will lead to your advertiser account:
Link: https://businessleague.2performant.com/advertiser/attribution-codes
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 (for all payment and shipping methods)
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://businessleague.2performant.com/advertiser/attribution-codes
You can download personalised PDF documentation where you can find the Big Bear attribution for 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 same Attribution codes section:
https://businessleague.2performant.com/advertiser/attribution-codes
There are several tracking code formats depending on the type of commissioning option, variable or fixed commission.
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]
If you are implementing the codes, make sure to place a test order and see what details are registered within the platform for each tracking code. Also, it is very important to notify your 2Performant contact about tracking changes so we can assure there are no issues.
Support team can submit test orders so we can confirm tracking codes are working, either if you are an active account or one to be started. And we can provide you with test scenarios of how to check the tracking code and also to help in discovering what may cause the issue with the implementation.
For active accounts, it is important to mention that you will need to be sure that tracking codes are working, because if they are not you will be charged with compensation amounts for the period of time while tracking was down. Beside that, it will give a strong hit to your active affiliate collaborators and may never come back.