Creators & affiliates
Bring Refersion affiliate commissions into your order profit
With order tagging switched on, Refersion marks every referred Shopify order with the affiliate's ID. MerchantFlow deducts your commission from those orders and reports it as its own line in your P&L.
Refersion runs affiliate and influencer programs for Shopify brands, with tracking links, coupon codes and percentage, flat, recurring or tiered commissions, and pays affiliates out on a schedule. Until that payout happens, nothing in your profit reporting says the order owes anyone money, so referred orders look more profitable than they are.
Refersion can write the referring affiliate onto each order as a set of tags: rfsn.aff.id with the affiliate's ID and, when available, their name, the commission, the currency, the coupon code and the offer. It is not switched on by default; Refersion's team enables it for your store. Once it is, MerchantFlow's Refersion rule matches every order with a tag that starts with rfsn.aff.id and charges your commission against it.
What it syncs
The rfsn.aff.id tag on your synced Shopify orders, which marks an order as referred
Net product revenue per order, after discounts and refunds, excluding shipping
Refunds and cancellations, which reduce or remove the commission
Product tax, excluded from the commission basis unless you choose to include it
The commission per order and per rule, written into your P&L history
What you get
Affiliate commission inside order profit
Each referred order's margin has the commission taken off, on the order list, the order detail page and in product and customer profit.
Rates per affiliate when you need them
Because the tag carries the affiliate's ID, a rule on an exact tag such as rfsn.aff.id: 8042069 can pay one affiliate a different rate. Place it above the general rule and only that rule is charged on their orders.
Refunds handled for you
A partial refund reduces a percentage commission in proportion, and a cancellation removes it, on the next sync after Shopify records the change.
A Commissions line on your P&L
Commissions sit in contribution margin beside payment fees and ad spend, with a breakdown by rule, so you can judge the program on the profit it leaves rather than the revenue it claims.
Connection details
| Detail | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Status | Live - set it up in Settings > Commissions |
| Connection method | A commission rule on Refersion's order tags. No Refersion login or API key |
| Tags written by Refersion | rfsn.aff.id with the affiliate ID, plus name, commission, currency, coupon code and offer when available |
| Setup in Refersion | Ask Refersion's team to turn on order tagging. The app needs permission to edit orders, which can mean reinstalling it |
| Commission types | Percentage of net product revenue, or a fixed amount per order |
| Plans | Every plan |
How it connects
Ask Refersion to enable tagging
Contact Refersion support and ask for Shopify order tagging. Refersion needs permission to edit your orders, which its app does not request by default, so you may be asked to reinstall it.
Start from the Refersion template
In MerchantFlow, open Settings > Commissions and pick Refersion. The rfsn.aff.id stem is filled in as a starts-with match; set your commission and preview it on recent orders.
Commissions apply automatically
Tagged history is recalculated in the background, and every new referred order is charged as it syncs.
Good to know
Only orders tagged after setup are covered
Orders referred before Refersion turned on tagging carry no tag, so the rule cannot charge them. Record earlier payouts as expenses for those months if you want them in the P&L.
MerchantFlow uses your rate, not the commission tag
Refersion may also write the commission it calculated onto the order, but MerchantFlow charges the rate in your rule. If you pay tiered or recurring commissions, set the rule to your typical rate and record the difference as an expense.
Key the rule on the affiliate ID
The coupon code tag only appears when a code was used. Keep the rule on rfsn.aff.id, which names the referring affiliate, rather than the coupon tag, or orders referred by link are missed.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to connect my Refersion account?
No. MerchantFlow reads the tags Refersion writes to your synced Shopify orders. Refersion does need permission to edit your orders so it can add those tags.
Why does the rule use a starts-with match?
Refersion writes the affiliate's ID into the tag itself, for example rfsn.aff.id: 8042069, so no single exact tag covers every affiliate. Matching tags that start with rfsn.aff.id covers them all.
What happens when a referred order is refunded?
A partial refund reduces a percentage commission in proportion, and a full refund or cancellation removes it, on the next sync.
How is the commission calculated?
A percentage rule charges its rate on net product revenue: the subtotal after discounts, less refunds, excluding shipping and, by default, tax. A fixed rule charges the same amount on every tagged order in your store currency.
Which plans include this?
Commission rules are available on every MerchantFlow plan.
