Affiliate Commission Rates by Industry: Shopify Data [2026]

The typical Shopify affiliate program pays a 10% commission, whatever it sells.

Across 158 programs in Affilitrak's data, 10% is the median rate in apparel and in food and drink, and beauty is the one industry where the data shows a step up, to a 15% median.

What moves far more from one industry to the next is the size of the order, so the same 10% median rate earns an affiliate $2.20 per sale in food and drink and $5.18 in apparel.

Personally, I think that makes the industry average the wrong number to copy, and the commission per sale the right one to check.

What is the average affiliate commission rate?

The median commission rate across 149 programs is 10%, and the middle half of programs pay between 10% and 15%.

• Exactly 10%: 38% of programs pay exactly 10%. That figure counts programs, while our guide to choosing a commission rate counts individual affiliates and puts 48.8% of them at 10%, so the two numbers measure different things rather than disagree.
• 15% or more: 32% of programs.
• 20% or more: 16% of programs.

So 10% is both the median and the most common single setting, but most programs pay something other than exactly 10%.

Average affiliate commission rate by industry

Most industries sit at a 10% median, while beauty and health reach 15%

Industry	Median commission rate
All programs	10%
Apparel	10%
Beauty	15%
Health	15%
Food and drink	10%

1. Apparel: a 10% median across 30 programs, with the middle half between 7% and 13.7%, and 47% of apparel programs pay exactly 10%.

2. Beauty: a 15% median across 20 programs, the only rate difference our data flags as clear. Just 20% of beauty programs sit at exactly 10%, and 55% pay 15% or more, against 32% of programs overall.

3. Health: also a 15% median, across 17 programs, but at that sample size the data cannot confidently separate it from 10%, so I would read health as somewhere between 10% and 15%. 41% of health programs pay 15% or more.

4. Food and drink: a 10% median across 13 programs, and 54% of them stay on exactly 10%, the highest share of the four, while only 15% pay 15% or more.

The other six categories in the data (media, sports, arts, electronics, pets and home) have between 5 and 7 programs each.

At that size a single store can swing the median, so I have left their rates out rather than publish a benchmark that one program could move.

I also recently had a conversation with a merchant who sells beauty products and they did change the default 10% program set by Affilitrak to 15% and they also wanted to reward affiliates with a one time fixed amount payment worth $50 once they hit a certain amount of orders.

So based on experience, Beauty products reward affiliates really well.

That's not just based on the quantitative data obtained from Affilitrak but also the qualitative data I've gotten from chatting with merchants on Affilitrak.

Average order value by industry

Electronics orders run more than four times the overall median

Industry	Median order value (USD)
All programs	$50.2
Apparel	$46.05
Beauty	$62.52
Health	$61.99
Food and drink	$26.85
Electronics	$225

• The overall median: a referred order is worth $50.20 across 155 programs.
• Beauty and health: both sit above that, at $62.52 and $61.99, while apparel sits a little below at $46.05.
• Food and drink: the lowest of the published categories, at $26.85.
• Electronics: $225, more than four times the overall median. It rests on only six programs, but it is one of only two differences the data picks out with confidence, so it stays in with its sample size beside it.

How much affiliates earn per sale by industry

This is the number an affiliate actually feels, because it is what lands in their account each time someone buys.

Food and drink affiliates earn less than half as much per sale on the same 10% median rate

Industry	Median commission per sale (USD)
All programs	$5.42
Apparel	$5.18
Beauty	$5.61
Health	$5.54
Food and drink	$2.2

• Beauty sets the highest rate and earns barely more per sale: the median commission per beauty sale is $5.61, just 43 cents above apparel's $5.18, even though the median beauty rate is five points higher.

• Food and drink pays the same median rate as apparel and less than half the dollars: $2.20 per sale, because the typical order is $26.85.

• Electronics sets the lowest median rate and pays the most per sale: $13.29 at a 9% median, across only six programs, because its orders are so much larger.

The per-sale figure is a median of what programs actually recorded, so it does not simply equal the median rate multiplied by the median order.

An affiliate who weighs one brand against another is comparing what a sale earns them, so that is the figure I would benchmark against, not the percentage.

How to set your commission rate by industry

If you're a merchant reading this to set your commission rate based on the industry average, I believe our data will surely help so you don't set your program's commission rate above industry average.

But to be honest with you, there are other factors to consider when setting your commission rate and these include what your margin is and what rate and structure will motivate your affiliates to promote your products.

If you're looking to set a commission rate, definitely look at the industry average but also:

1. Find your ceiling from your margin first: the rate you can afford is a margin question, and the guide linked above walks through the calculation, so work that number out before you look at any benchmark.
2. Turn your rate into dollars: multiply it by your typical order value. 10% of a $30 order is $3, which is close to where food and drink programs sit.
3. Compare the dollars with your industry: if your figure sits well below the per-sale median for your category, an affiliate who compares brands sees a weaker offer, even when your percentage matches the norm.
4. On a low order value, raise the rate or pay a flat amount: if 10% of your typical order comes to a couple of dollars, I would raise the rate or pay a flat amount per sale, within the ceiling from step 1, so that one sale is worth an affiliate's post. Affilitrak supports percentage, flat and tiered commissions.
5. Do not expect a higher rate to rescue a quiet program: across 471 programs in our data, commission rate showed no correlation with performance (ρ = −0.032), so when a program is quiet I would look at who is promoting it before I touch the rate.

Top affiliate share of sales by industry

• The top affiliate drives more than half of a typical program's orders: a median of 56% across these 158 programs.
• One affiliate often carries the whole program: in 63% of programs, a single affiliate accounts for half the orders or more.
• Industry barely changes the pattern: the top affiliate's median share sits between 47% and 60% in every category.

So I would worry less about matching the rate to your industry and more about the one affiliate who will drive most of your sales.

The Affilitrak marketplace is one place to look, because affiliates there browse brands by category and apply to the programs they want, and affiliates who join you through it carry a 20% share of the commission they earn, charged to you, while affiliates you recruit yourself stay free.

Setting commission rates in Affilitrak

Affilitrak is free for affiliates you recruit yourself, with no monthly fee and no cut of their sales.

You can pay a percentage, a flat amount per sale or a tiered rate that rises with performance, so a low-order store can switch to a flat amount instead of stretching a percentage.

Each affiliate gets their own tracked link and discount code, so every commission is tied to the order it came from.

Methodology

• Population: 158 Shopify affiliate programs on Affilitrak, of which 122 carry one of ten store categories.
• What the figures are: every rate, order value, per-sale commission and top-affiliate share is a median across programs, and each chart caption gives the number of programs behind each figure.
• Shares of programs: "exactly 10%", "15% or more" and "20% or more" are the share of programs whose commission rate falls in that band.
• Exclusion rule: categories with fewer than 13 programs are not published as rate benchmarks. Electronics is the one exception, reported for order value and per-sale commission with its six-program sample stated, because its order value is a clear difference from the overall median.
• How to cite this data: Affilitrak, "Average Affiliate Commission Rate by Industry: Data From 158 Shopify Programs", affilitrak.com/blog/affiliate-commission-rates-by-industry.

FAQ

What is a good affiliate commission rate for beauty products?

Beauty programs in our data set a median of 15%, and more than half pay 15% or more, which makes beauty the one industry that stands above 10%. The median commission per beauty sale is still only $5.61, so check what your own order value produces before you match the percentage.

What commission do clothing brands pay affiliates?

Apparel programs set a median of 10%, with the middle half between 7% and 13.7%. On a median order of $46.05, that came to a median $5.18 per sale.

Is 10% a good affiliate commission rate?

It is the median across 149 programs and the most common single setting, so it is a normal place to start. Whether it is enough depends on your order value, because 10% of a $25 order earns an affiliate far less than 10% of a $200 one.

Conclusion

Your industry tells you less about what to pay affiliates than your average order does.

Most industries sit at a 10% median, beauty stands out at 15%, and the real spread is in dollars per sale, from $2.20 in food and drink to $13.29 in electronics.

So turn your rate into dollars per sale, compare that with your category, and set the rate inside the ceiling your margin allows.

You can install Affilitrak free and choose a percentage, flat or tiered commission for your program.