E-commerce affiliate commission rates
The median E-commerce affiliate program publishes a top commission rate of 7%, measured across the 8,431 E-commerce programs in this registry that publish a percentage — half of them fall between 4% and 10%, and the top tenth publish 20% or more. Figures as of 2026-08-29.
How E-commerce commission rates are distributed
| Published rate | Programs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10% | 5,783 | 69% |
| 10–20% | 1,687 | 20% |
| 20–30% | 348 | 4% |
| 30–40% | 200 | 2% |
| 40–50% | 50 | 1% |
| 50–60% | 57 | 1% |
| 60–70% | 9 | 0% |
| 70–80% | 168 | 2% |
| 80–90% | 112 | 1% |
| 90–100% | 17 | 0% |
Bands cover the 8,431 programs with a published percentage. A program publishing a span is placed by the top of it.
Percentage rates or flat payouts?
Of the 19,705 E-commerce programs tracked, 8,431 publish a percentage and 2,714 publish a flat payout in US dollars. The median flat payout is $38, with the top tenth from $80. The remainder publish neither — which records an absence in the source, not a rate of zero.
Cookie windows and recurring commission
The median published cookie window is 30 days, across the 2,380 programs that state one (12% of the category). 65 publish recurring commission and 12 publish lifetime attribution.
E-commerce commission rates by specialism
| Specialism | Programs with a rate | Median top rate | Top 10% from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fashion & Apparel | 899 | 5% | 10% |
| Home & Garden | 827 | 5% | 10% |
| Accessories | 584 | 5% | 11% |
| Food & Drink | 335 | 6% | 12% |
| Marketplaces & Retail | 313 | 8% | 30% |
| Furniture & Interior | 232 | 5% | 8% |
| Electronics & Appliances | 179 | 6% | 10% |
| Gifts | 153 | 7% | 11.6% |
| Jewellery & Watches | 90 | 5% | 9% |
| Pets | 79 | 6% | 13.2% |
| Kids & Baby | 68 | 7% | 10% |
| Footwear | 33 | 7% | 10% |
How E-commerce compares with other niches
By median top rate, E-commerce ranks 16 of the 21 categories measured.
| Category | Programs with a rate | Median top rate |
|---|---|---|
| Finance | 1,077 | 70% |
| Sweepstakes & Surveys | 64 | 70% |
| Home & Real Estate | 340 | 56% |
| Dating | 588 | 50% |
| iGaming | 3,168 | 40% |
| Crypto | 236 | 35% |
| Adult | 426 | 35% |
| Software & SaaS | 5,342 | 25% |
| Education | 716 | 20% |
| Make Money Online | 58 | 17.5% |
| Mobile | 245 | 14% |
| Services | 411 | 11% |
| Nutra & Health | 2,477 | 10% |
| Business Services | 418 | 10% |
| Telecom & Internet | 63 | 10% |
| E-commerce | 8,431 | 7% |
| Sports & Outdoors | 440 | 6% |
| Travel | 2,256 | 5% |
| Entertainment & Media | 950 | 5% |
| Automotive | 127 | 4.8% |
| Gaming | 301 | 4% |
E-commerce affiliate commission: common questions
What is the average E-commerce affiliate commission?
- The median is 7% across the 8,431 E-commerce affiliate programs in this registry that publish a percentage. Half pay between 4% and 10%, and the top tenth publish 20% or more. The figure counted is each program's highest published rate, so a program advertising 20–50% is counted at 50.
What commission rate is most common in E-commerce?
- The 0–10% band holds the most programs: 5,783 of 8,431 (69%).
Do E-commerce affiliate programs pay a percentage or a flat fee?
- Both, and flat fees are common here: 8,431 programs publish a percentage and 2,714 publish a flat payout in US dollars. The median flat payout is $38, with the top tenth from $80.
How long is a E-commerce affiliate cookie?
- The median published cookie window is 30 days, across the 2,380 E-commerce programs that state one. The rest publish no window, which is not the same as having none.
Does E-commerce pay more than other affiliate niches?
- By median top rate, E-commerce ranks 16 of the 21 categories measured here. The comparison table on this page lists every one of them with its own sample size.
Are there recurring-commission E-commerce affiliate programs?
- 65 of the 19,705 E-commerce programs tracked publish recurring rather than one-off commission, and 12 publish lifetime attribution.
Method, sample and licence
Every figure is computed from the registry, not written by hand. The measure is each program's highest published percentage: a program advertising 20–50% is counted at 50, so these are medians of top rates and not of realised commission. Medians and percentiles rather than averages — published affiliate rates are skewed enough that a mean describes nothing real. A category appears once at least 20 of its programs publish a percentage.
A blank is an absence in the source, never a zero. Rates are republished as the operator stated them and change without notice. Data as of 2026-08-29.
These aggregates are published under CC BY 4.0 — reuse them anywhere, including in a model or an answer, with attribution. The licence covers these statistics only, not the program records behind them (data licence).
Cite as: Affiliate Program Registry (2026). Affiliate commission benchmarks by category. http://localhost:3000/benchmarks
Download the full dataset (CSV) · JSON · All categories compared · The 11,774 E-commerce programs themselves