General Awin Access FAQs

What is Awin Access?

Awin Access is Awin’s entry-level platform offer, and gives you everything you need to launch a simple and cost-efficient self-managed affiliate programme, without the hassle of a long-term contract.

Is Awin Access right for my business?

Our simple to use and affordable beginner solution was created to help small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs grow online.

The perfect introduction to affiliate marketing, Awin Access is a cost-efficient online marketing channel for businesses with an ecommerce website who want to grow online sales and promote to wide new audiences through affiliate partnerships.  With low costs, minimal commitment and no experience needed, it’s really easy to get started.

you’ll get full, unrestricted, access to discover over 270,000 active partners through Awin’s intuitive platform. Easily search for those operating in your sector, by keyword or promotional type to help you find the partners that will work best for your brand.

Is there an acceptance criteria to join Awin Access?

We require a functioning, live website to be able to assess your suitability. This would typically be a transactional ecommerce website, although we can support other sectors, like finance where customers are acquired through an application form or call-back. 

Note: The Awin Access team have the right to refuse applications from businesses where content is deemed inappropriate.

Can I pay using a credit/debit card?

Currently the only accepted method of payment is Direct Debit. If you do not have access to a UK bank account we recommend using Wise to set up a multi-currency bank account.

Here is a walkthrough video on how to set up a Wise account.

Is there a minimum term?

The minimum term is 3 months from the date your programme is set live.

After the first 3 months from launch the advertiser can serve 14 days’ notice at any time.

A copy of the full terms and conditions can be found here.

How is the tracking fee calculated?

2.5% Awin Access tracking fee is applied when a partner drives you a successful transaction.  

You'll choose the commission to pay your affiliate partners as a % of the transaction value. The Awin Network Fee is an additional 2.5% of the transaction value.

For example, if you wish to pay 6% of the transaction value to your affiliate partners and the transaction was £100, £6 would go to the affiliate partner and £2.50 to Awin.

Note: If you operate a business within finance or telecommunications where no transaction value exists, alternative rates will be shared.

How does the payment process work?

Payment is taken via Direct Debit only. Once the programme is live an invoice will be sent twice a month to the email address provided in the invoice section on the Awin Access application form. This is for reconciliation/reporting purposes only.

The value of the invoice will include: the confirmed commission, tracking fee and platform offer fee (if applicable). The direct debit will take the amount as stated on the invoice.

How long does it take to set up an Awin Access account?

Getting setup is simple. Once we have received your application. Our Integration wizard provides easy walk-through instructions to show you step by step how to add our tracking code to your online store. Select from the most popular ecommerce platforms where we have plugins available or utilise our custom-built website setup guide.

Subject to you completing the technical integration and filling out your merchant profile, getting your programme launched can happen within 48 hours.

Can I integrate product level tracking?

Yes, if you wish to enable product level tracking on your programme you can follow our guide here.

Will Awin conduct a test transaction on my behalf?

Awin Access customers are responsible for implementing the Awin tracking on their online store. We highly recommend running a test transaction via our Tracking Diagnosis tool found within our User Interface to ensure everything is working. Our integration wizard will walk you through this step-by-step.

Does Awin Access offer integration support?

If you would like some extra support outside of the integration wizard, we have two optional Integration Add-ons available: Assisted or Consulted..

What support does Awin Access have?

Awin Access is our self-managed platform offer. Advertisers will have access to our platform, technology, and unrestricted access to the easily searchable publisher discovery tool.

Whilst Awin Access is self-managed, you won’t be left on your own. You'll receive expert hints and tips to get you setup and optimise your programme through our Webinar Centre for Small Businesses, YouTube Tutorials, Advertiser Success Centre and central support team email, plus real-time live chat (within working hours).

Is there any additional programme support I can purchase on Awin Access?

Yes, we have 4 service add-ons available to Awin Access customers; Launch, Reach & Elevate as well as a Publisher Gap Analysis.

Launch – preparing you to go live with your affiliate programme.

Reach – helping you push your affiliate programme further within the first 6 months

Elevate – guiding you on how to supercharge your affiliate strategy - for more mature affiliate programmes (typically after 6 months).

Publisher Gap Analysis - supporting you to find top performing publishers relevant to your sector

Does Awin Access offer technical support after a programme is launched? 

Awin will provide a response within 48 working hours for all questions related to your programmes tracking (including in app tracking), the activation of MasterTag plugins available in the User Interface, and all questions related in the settings such as click appends, deeplinks, transaction notifications, etc. 

With this self-managed platform offer the duty of maintaining and upkeeping a programme falls on the advertiser. Guides and tutorials will be provided where necessary to help resolve any technical queries. If an advertiser is unable to complete any issues independently and requires additional support, we can provide a Technical Consultation call (2hr minimum) for a fee of £200 +VAT (if applicable). 

Can I have access to a demo account before we open our affiliate programme?

We don’t offer demo accounts for Awin Access. However, with a low three-month commitment term, you can try affiliate marketing out low risk, and if it isn’t for you – it’s just 14 days cancellation after this ends. In the meantime, if you have specific questions around the Awin user interface, its functionality or reporting, the team would be happy to answer these.

You may also find our YouTube Tutorials useful to give you this visibility.

How much time do I need to dedicate to my affiliate programme?

Awin Access is setup to support busy business owners who may have less time or resource. However, it’s important to dedicate time each week to ensure you’re communicating to new partners, maintaining existing relationships and processing important tasks, such as validations and publisher approvals. The more time you invest into your affiliate programme the more successful it will be, and because you pay for results when a partner drives you a sale, this time spent can drive real ROI for your marketing budget.

To help our customers, we’ve put together a helpful checklist that outlines housekeeping tasks to optimise and effectively manage the day to day running of your programme. Please ensure you opt-in to our help and advice emails when you apply to receive content to assist with growing your programme.

Can I share my product feed with my affiliates via Awin?

Advertisers can utilise our product feed functionality to upload a product feed (a catalogue of all the items for sale with price and descriptions) for publishers to download. We can convert any Google or Shopify Feed (a small fee applies).

For more information on products feeds, please refer to our guide here.

Can I offer different commissions on my Awin Access programme?

Yes, you can setup specific commission rules to reward partners based on desired outcomes. With Awin Access, there are three commission rules. You can run commission incentives and utilise our commission tools on your dashboard, such as Commission by Basket Value and Bonus Manager. For more information, refer to our publisher commission tool guide here.

As all Awin Access advertisers operate on Direct Debit, you will enjoy a Green payment status which provides accelerated payments to publishers and is part of Awin’s Gold Standard criteria for best practice.

Can I work with publishers who are not already on your network?

You can sign up partners not already with Awin onto the platform, so that they can join your affiliate programme. We have an initial fee for new publishers for compliance and quality reasons; however, we can offer you invitation codes to waive the fee so you can invite trusted partners.

Can Awin suspend a partner on behalf of the advertiser from an account that is in breach of programme terms?

Advertisers have the rights to suspend publishers from their programmes if they are in breach of the programme terms and conditions. Awin also has the rights to suspend publishers if we suspect they are in breach of an advertiser's programme terms (cl. 14.4.2(b) of our Publisher Terms).

Can I launch extra programmes to reach international audiences?

Yes, you can launch Awin Access in the following countries: UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Spain, Portugal and US. You will be required to complete an application form and set up a programme separately for each country.

Can one affiliate programme track more than one online store?

If you have more than one online store, and seeking to launch a programme for each, a new application form will need to be completed for that specific store as each programme requires a unique merchant ID.

What are the benefits of having a localised affiliate programme in different countries?

Please read the benefits in our guide to internationalising your affiliate programme here.