Boom times for affiliate programs in Indonesia as Tokopedia, Shopee onboard influencers

Affiliate programs on ecommerce platforms are trending in Indonesia, especially in the past year as social media users seek alternative sources of income from tasks that can be easily done from home.

These programs involve not just influencers with many followers but also everyday users. Participants – known as affiliates – earn commissions from every sale made through product links they share on social media.

Sellers and brands, meanwhile, can drive sales through these programs by reaching a wider range of consumers.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

In 2022, Shopee Indonesia recorded a 2x increase in the number of affiliates compared to the previous year. The platform also experienced a 3x growth in transactions through its affiliate program over the same period, says Monica Vionna, head of marketing growth at Shopee Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Tokopedia saw its active affiliates grow by up to 6x in the last 12 months. In addition, the number of product links shared by its affiliates increased by more than 2x in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period a year ago.

Nirmala Hapsari, Tokopedia’s associate vice president for content marketing platform, tells Tech in Asia that product sales go up by almost 40% once they’re recommended by the firm’s affiliates.

How it works

After selecting the products they want to promote, affiliates share links to their followers on social media to promote them. These links directly lead to the product page where their followers can make the purchase.

Affiliates earn commissions once a transaction is completed. Commission rates vary between platforms.

Tokopedia and Lazada offer commissions of up to 10% for each product sold, with maximum amounts of 50,000 rupiah (US$3.29) and 55,000 rupiah (US$3.62), respectively. Additionally, Tokopedia provides a commission of 50 rupiah (US$0.0033) for every validated page visit through the shared links.

On the other hand, Shopee divides its affiliate program into three groups: affiliates, influencers, and partners. For the first two groups, commission rates are up to 5% with a maximum of 10,000 rupiah (US$0.66) per product sold. For partners, it is up to 10% with a maximum of 50,000 rupiah.

To join the Shopee Partner program, affiliates need to have more than 2,000 followers on social media and agree to certain conditions with the Shopee team, such as not promoting affiliate links from other platforms.

Shopee and Tokopedia both allow sellers to provide additional commission of up to 20% for affiliates.

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