10 min read
With influencers gaining large and loyal audiences, influencer marketing has become one of the fastest ways to grow a business. Consumers are looking for recommendations from creators that they trust instead of traditional targeted ads.
That’s where Shopify Collabs comes into play. It’s a platform that helps brands seamlessly collaborate with creators, grow brand awareness, and ultimately increase sales.
Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about Shopify Collabs, what it is, and how to set it up for success.
What are Shopify Collabs?
Shopify Collabs is an affiliate marketing tool created by Shopify that helps businesses promote their product through creators or influencers. It’s a two-way marketplace where Shopify brands can use creators to gain more sales and brand exposure, while creators can find brands that align with their audience.
Platform for influencers to find brands
Shopify Collabs give creators the tools to browse, find, and apply for collaboration with brands that match their style and values. They can filter brands by niche, product categories, and brand types, so finding the right companies is easy.
Platform for eCommerce owners to find influencers
Shopify merchants can easily discover the right influencers for promoting their products through Shopify Collabs. You can review their profiles and send invitations for collaboration, or you can create application forms so influencers can find your brand.
You can also learn all about their content, including audience and engagement statistics, categories, gender, age, location, and, in some cases, risk analysis.
Installation and setup
Installing and setting up Shopify Collabs is easy to do for anyone. All you need to do is install the app from the Shopify App Store, set up your Collabs account, and start creating affiliate programs. Here’s a full step-by-step guide on how to do it:
1. Search for “Shopify Collabs” in the App Store
Open the Shopify App Store and type “Shopify Collabs” in the search box. The right app will highlight “by Shopify” as the app developer.
Now, just click the “Install” button to start the installation. You’ll be redirected to your Shopify account.
2. Complete the installation
Once you’re redirected to Shopify, a Shopify Collabs installation window will pop up. It will request access to view personal data and store data, including customers, store owner, products, orders, analytics, and more.
If the “Install” button isn’t available, you’ll need to enable the Shopify Network Intelligence. You need to be the store’s admin to turn it on. You can do it by ticking the box in the installation window or heading to your Shopify account Settings > Customer Privacy and clicking Enable by the “Shopify Network Intelligence” section.
Once you enable the feature, you can click the “Install” button to proceed with installation. That’s it – the app will open after installation is complete.
3. Configure your profile
After you open the Shopify Collabs app, you’ll find a short introduction to the app’s functionality.
Click the “Get started” button.
You’ll have to set up your Shopify Collabs account. Start by providing an email address where you want to receive the app’s notifications.
Then, select the target audience, including product category and the countries where you want to promote your products.
Press “Finish Setup” after agreeing to Shopify’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
4. Create a collaboration program
After setup, you can start creating your Shopify Collabs programs. The tool lets you create three types of programs:
- Open access program – any creator can join your affiliate program without applying
- Invitation-based program – you can send program invitations to creators you want
- Application form – you can create a form for creators to apply to work with your brand
For example, let’s take a look at how to create an invitation-based program. Just open the app and head to Programs > Create program.
Here, you can customize your new program, including setting up the affiliate link, customer discounts, and affiliate commissions. Once you’ve inserted the necessary information, click “Create.”
Next, you can start inviting or assigning creators. Click “Invite creators” to start an application form.
That’s it. All that’s left to do is wait for creators to respond to your invitation.
Dashboard sections
The Shopify Collabs app is easy to use and doesn’t require much time to figure it out. To help you out, I’ll walk you through the app’s dashboard and other sections, so you can learn how to make use of its full functionalities.
Discovery tools
Shopify Collabs comes with a recruiting section to help you discover creators for your business. You can find creators of different niches by going to Collabs > Recruiting. Here, you can filter influencers based on their platform, location, and audience statistics.
While I couldn’t find a way to filter creators by category, you can still type in the category in the “Search creators” section.
Affiliate programs
With Shopify Collabs, you can mainly create two types of programs – open access or invite programs. An open access program allows all Collabs creators to join the program without applying.
You can create an open access program by going to Collabs > Programs > Activate open access. Here, you can set commission rates for specific collections and publish the program in one click.
In the same section, you can create an invitation-based program by clicking “Create invite program.” You can set commissions for specific collections or products, set customer discounts, and create affiliate links.
Application management
You can create an application page so creators can easily apply to your affiliate program. All you have to do is go to Shopify Collabs > Settings > Profile > and click the Edit icon by “Online Store application page.”
Here, you can click “Create page” under the Online Store page section, and the app will instantly create a separate application page.
You can customize the application to your business needs, including adding specific questions with yes or no answers or text fields. Plus, you can select what social accounts the creator can choose from and request specific details, like location, gender, or birthday.
Campaign tracking
Once you start running your affiliate program and working with creators, you’ll be able to track results straight from the Shopify Collabs dashboard. You can select a specific date range and monitor affiliate sales, orders, commissions, and gifted value.
Plus, you’ll be able to see which of your products are best-selling and which creators bring you the most orders. This way, you can gain insights into how to optimize your affiliate strategy.
Payment management
The Collabs app makes it easy to manage payments for your creators. You can head to the app, open the Payments section, and find a table with all commission progress. All of the payments on hold, in dispute, scheduled, paid, and cancelled will be shown in total and one by one.
The default holding period is 30 days, but you can change it from 7-90 days in the app’s settings. The reason for holding the payment for a month or longer is necessary to avoid situations where you pay the creator, and the user who bought your product through them returns it.
Benefits for eCommerce owners
Shopify Collabs is useful for eCommerce owners because it simplifies affiliate management and enables brands to spread brand awareness faster. Here are the main benefits of Shopify Collabs for merchants:
- Find interested influencers. Shopify Collabs enables merchants to find creators who are actively seeking partnerships, so you can build long-lasting or authentic collaborations. In the long run, this can lead to more sales and bigger brand awareness.
- Connect to creators that match your brand. Collabs lets you filter creators based on their location, audience size, and more. All of them have detailed profiles that describe their content type, so you can easily locate which ones align with your values and brand.
- Access pre-existing audiences. Creators build strong relationships with their audience, which usually translates into higher trust when it comes to product or service recommendations. So, by using the Collabs app, you get access to communities that are more likely to purchase products from their favorite creators.
- Streamlined affiliate management. With these tools, you can easily send offers, create programs, or invite creators to work together. It automatically tracks performance and results, letting you refine your affiliate programs over time.
Merchant and creator eligibility
When Shopify Collabs first rolled out, it was only available for US, UK, and Canadian stores with over $10,000 in yearly sales. Currently, it’s available for all merchant stores that use Shopify. The only criteria is that you have to be on an active Shopify plan, whether the Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Shopify Plus plan.
Meanwhile, creators need an active Shopify Collabs app account and they have to be located in the US, UK, or Canada. Shopify analyzes creator profiles and only selects those that offer unique content and have built a strong community.
How much does Shopify Collabs cost?
Shopify Collabs is free to install for all merchants on an active Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Shopify Plus plan. Yet, the platform charges a 2.9% commission processing fee on automatic payments. Plus, foreign currency exchange fees may also apply.
If you don’t have a Shopify store yet, you can get the free Shopify trial for 3 days and 3 more months for just $1/month. During the trial, you can install and test out Shopify Collabs.
For creators, Shopify Collabs is free. You only have to download the “Collabs: Content commerce” app on an iOS or Android device from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Real-world success stories
Many brands have already achieved excellent results while using Shopify Collabs. Shopify has already shared multiple success stories for various brands that prove its benefits. Here are the main ones:
- Solgaard – a sustainable travel gear store that used Shopify Collabs to expand their ambassador program. With the help of creators from Collabs, they achieved an average month-over-month revenue growth of more than 287% and over $50,000 in sales.
- Immi – a store that sells healthier versions of packaged ramen. With Collabs, they generated over $200,000 in affiliate sales and fulfilled over 4,000 orders through referrals.
- Moonboon – an eCommerce site that sells sustainable sleep accessories for babies. Through collaboration with creators on Shopify Collabs, they generated over $1,000,000 in sales and achieved an average ROI of 6.5x.
- Duradry – natural and sustainable deodorant store on Shopify. They have achieved over $50,000 in product sales through Shopify Collabs and decreased customer acquisition costs by 29%.
Is it right for you?
Shopify Collabs is an efficient platform for Shopify store owners who want to simplify affiliate marketing campaign management and discover creators to work with. It gives you everything you need for success, including simplified program creation, creator discovery and recruiting tools, performance tracking, and automatic payment handling.
Here’s a checklist for you to understand if Shopify Collabs is the right solution for your brand:
- You’re looking for ways to increase brand awareness through influencer marketing
- You want to increase sales through affiliate programs
- You have the budget for commissions or discounts
- You have the resources to review applications, invite creators, and track performance
- Your store is on an active Shopify plan
- You understand that Shopify has a 2.9% processing fee for automatic payments
If you find that the checklist matches your goals and you have the required resources, then Shopify Collabs is the right option for your marketing strategy. And if you're not yet a Shopify user, you can claim the free Shopify trial for 3 days and test the Collabs platform for free.
Frequently asked questions
Shopify Collabs is a Shopify App Store app that you can install and set up to connect with creators and start affiliate marketing. It lets you create affiliate programs (open access or invite-based), discover creators straight from the platform, and gain sales through collaboration.
Yes, Shopify Collabs is a legitimate platform developed by Shopify to help brands connect with creators. It’s a useful tool for growing your store sales and spreading awareness about your brand.
The default holding period for Shopify Collabs is 30 days. However, you can change it in your Shopify Collabs settings by going to the Payments section. Please note that the holding period can only be from 7 to 90 days.
