Managing Affiliate Transactions in OpenCart 1.5

Affiliate transactions are commission payments based on sales referrals completed through registered affiliate links. The OpenCart interface tracks all sales referrals, but payments are made only when an administrator uses the Administration interface to credit affiliates.  The following tutorial reviews both the report and affiliates interface for tracking affiliate sales and payment transactions in OpenCart 1.5.

Managing Affiliates Transactions in OpenCart 1.5

1. Login as an Administrator into the Dashboard
2. Hover over SALES in the menu bar, then click on AFFLIATES as it appears in the drop-down menu.  If you have registered affiliates, you will see an existing affiliates list as per the screenshot below.  However, if you have not created an affiliate yet, then you will need to add one by selecting INSERT.  For more details on adding Affiliates, see Adding Affiliates in OpenCart 1.5.
   
   Only registered affiliates can have TRANSACTION records.  Click on the check box next to the affiliate whose transactions you wish to view, then click on EDIT at the far right hand side of the screen.
3. When selecting a registered affiliate, you will see a screen similar to the following:
   
   
   
   The window opened by selecting EDIT for an affiliate allows you to edit or view GENERAL information on the affiliate, PAYMENT DETAILS for the affiliate, and TRANSACTIONS by the affiliate or administrator.  See Editing Affiliate Information in OpenCart 1.5 for further information.  Select the TRANSACTIONS tab.
   
   
4. Affiliates will only have sales referral TRANSACTIONS if they have created a sale using their specific TRACKING CODE.  For more information about the TRACKING CODE for Affiliates, see How to Add Affiliates in OpenCart 1.5 or Editing Affiliate Information in OpenCart 1.5.  Transactions occur when a sale has been completed using their tracking code.  Transactions for affiliates are based on their commission rate and the sales they have created.  The TRANSACTION interface in the administrator will appear as per the screenshot below:
   
   
   Affiliate TRANSACTIONS include referral sales commissions and commission payments made by the Administrator. Note however that for every referral sale, the commission addition for the affiliate must be manually approved.  Here is an example of a sale where the commission option appears in an order:
   
   
   
   
   When the commission is approved, then the transaction will appear on the report.  Note that NO PAYMENT is made to the affiliate at this time.
   
5. Making affiliate commission payments is accomplished by selecting ADD TRANSACTION, then  adding a description of the payment and then adding a value with a negative sign in front of the monetary amount.  Here is an example of how it would look in the TRANSACTION section of the affiliate:
   
   
   
   Note that in the screenshot above, the commission earned from Order ID:#21 has yet to be settled.  Therefore, there is a balance of $23.89 for the affiliate.  There was only a commission payment of $5.00 to the affiliate.
   
   
6. Once you have completed any changes through this interface, you can select SAVE in the top right hand corner to save your entries.

The other way you can review Affiliates commissions is through the reports available in the Administration Dashboard.  Here's how to get to and use the AFFILIATES report:

1. Login as an Administrator into the Dashboard
2. Hover over REPORTS in the menu bar, and then click on AFFILIATES, then select COMMISSIONS.  You will see the following screen:
   
   
   
   You can filter this report by setting a start and end date to the report.  Note that one of the options on the report is at the far right where it allows you to select EDIT.  The EDIT function allows you jump back into the section of the Administrator Dashboard so that you can edit affiliate information.
   
   
   
3. This report lists all of the transactions and the commissions earned by the affiliate per the date range you may or may not have set.  To set the date range, click in each blank and then select FILTER to narrow your results.   

Managing affiliates transactions means assessing their sales referrals and  the commissions paid to them in order to judge their impact upon your business.  Opencart 1.5 offers either the report or your Affiliates interface in the Administrator in order to manage this portion of your ecommerce store.  Keep close track of your affiliates and manage them carefully by setting appropriate commissions in order reward their efforts and you will have a healthier business as a result.