Can I create an affiliate site with shopify?

Store Design

Topic summary

A user wants to build an affiliate review site using Shopify, leveraging its SEO capabilities. The proposed structure includes categorizing affiliate programs (stores, hosting, etc.) and creating individual program listings with reviews, banners, videos, and affiliate links instead of traditional product sales.

Feasibility confirmed: Shopify can support this through custom pages, posts, and collections, though the platform is inherently price/product-focused.

Implementation challenges:

  • The trial account interface appears heavily oriented toward e-commerce pricing structures
  • May require third-party apps from Shopify App Store for affiliate link management, tracking, and commission monitoring

Key considerations raised:

  • Loss of customer service control (users redirect to third-party vendor sites)
  • Need for robust tracking systems across multiple affiliate agreements
  • Lower profit margins compared to traditional dropshipping

Alternative suggestion: Consider a blog-based approach with product reviews and comparisons, which could offer a curated niche catalog experience versus broad marketplaces like Amazon.

The discussion remains open with no definitive implementation path established.

Summarized with AI on November 1. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Odd question, I know, but I want to take advantage of the SEO and presence that Shopify has. I want to create a few sites, but instead of having a shopping cart and prices I want to have reviews and affiliate links.

So… kind of like this:

  • Create Categories of affiliate programs (Examples: Stores, Drop-Shippers, Hosting, …)

  • Create affiliate program listings (Examples: Amazon Affiliates, Walmart Affiliate Program, GoDaddy …)

Then, of course, have content for each based on what I want to display including links, banners, and videos.

The affiliate links would essentially be the ‘sale’ since I would make commissions off of those click-throughs.

Is this possible?

2

Hi @Convington

This is Kate from PageFly - Landing page builder, I’d like to suggest this idea:

It is possible to create a website using Shopify that displays affiliate links and reviews, instead of selling products directly. Shopify is a versatile platform that can be used for various types of websites, not just online stores. You can create pages, posts, and custom collections to categorize and organize your affiliate programs and their listings. Additionally, you can add affiliate banners, videos, and links to your pages and posts to promote the programs you’re affiliated with. Just make sure you follow the rules and regulations of the affiliate programs you participate in.

Hope my answer will help you

1 Like
3

I set up a trial account, but everything sees so price-focused I couldn’t figure out how to do what I wanted :disappointed_face: I’ll try harder.

4

If you’re having trouble finding the right tools within Shopify to build your affiliate review website, you may want to consider using a third-party app. There are several apps available in the Shopify App Store that are specifically designed for affiliate management and tracking, and many of these apps offer features such as affiliate link cloaking, real-time reporting, and commission tracking. By using a third-party app, you should be able to get the functionality you need to create your affiliate review website within the Shopify platform.

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5

I think what you wanting to do is setup a catalog grouped after niche products that just point to different vendor sites who actually sell the product and where you have a affiliate agreement with. Basically, “drop shipping” except you make a lot less $$. Some of the CONs might be; lost of control of customer service since your customer will end up at the 3rd party website. You would have to also find a way to keep track of all of your affiliate links and payouts if using more than one company agreement.

However, it does sound like a good concept because it could create a niche catalog instead for example a customer having to search through possibly thousands of products like on Amazon. Another approach might be to create a site with just a blog on it and review the products you are marketing. Or, if possible comparing.