Creators & affiliates
Put Social Snowball affiliate payouts into every order's profit
Social Snowball can tag every referred order in Shopify with the program it came from. MerchantFlow reads that tag, deducts your affiliate commission from the order's profit and reports it as a separate P&L line.
Social Snowball turns customers and creators into affiliates and pays them out in bulk, as cash or gift cards. Its dashboard knows what each affiliate earned. Your profit numbers do not, because the payout is a separate transaction days or weeks after the order, so referred orders look more profitable than they are.
Each Social Snowball program can tag the orders it tracks as Referral - SS - followed by the program name. MerchantFlow's Social Snowball rule matches every tag that starts with that stem, so one rule covers all of your programs, or you can write one rule per program when they pay differently. The commission is deducted from the order's profit and kept in step with refunds and cancellations.
What it syncs
The Referral - SS - program tags on your synced Shopify orders
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 already has the affiliate's commission taken off, wherever you see order, product or customer profit.
One rule or one per program
The template matches every program's tag. If programs pay different rates, create a rule per program with its exact tag, such as referral - ss - vip ambassadors, and place those rules above the general one.
Fraud tags never charged
Social Snowball's separate self-referral, leaked-code and welcome-gift tags do not start with the referral stem, so those orders are never charged commission.
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.
What this unlocks
Profit after affiliate payouts
Contribution margin and net profit with Social Snowball commissions deducted, for any period.
Cost per program
With one rule per program, what each program costs in commission and what it leaves in margin.
Commission as a share of revenue
Affiliate cost as a percentage of net revenue over time, next to your ad spend.
Referred order margin
The margin left on referred orders after product cost, fees and commission.
Connection details
| Detail | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Status | Live - set it up in Settings > Commissions |
| Connection method | A commission rule on Social Snowball's referral tag. No Social Snowball login or API key |
| Tag format | Referral - SS - followed by the program name |
| Setup in Social Snowball | Turn on Tag referral orders in Shopify in each program's Advanced Settings |
| Commission types | Percentage of net product revenue, or a fixed amount per order |
| Plans | Every plan |
How it connects
Turn on order tagging
In Social Snowball, open Programs, then the program builder, then Advanced Settings, and turn on Tag referral orders in Shopify. Shopify may ask you to approve new permissions. Repeat for each program.
Start from the Social Snowball template
In MerchantFlow, open Settings > Commissions and pick Social Snowball. The referral stem is filled in as a starts-with match; set your commission and preview it.
Commissions apply automatically
Tagged history is recalculated in the background, and every new referred order is charged as it syncs.
How teams use it
Affiliate programs are easy to grow and hard to judge, because the payout and the order never meet in one report. Putting the commission on the order answers the real question: after the affiliate is paid, did that order still make money?
- Compare margin on referred orders with your store average.
- Split rules by program to see which programs earn their commission.
- If your Social Snowball plan also charges a share of affiliate revenue, add it as a second, stacking rule on the same tag.
- Check that refunded referral orders have had their commission reduced.
Good to know
Tagging starts when you turn it on
Orders referred before you enabled tagging carry no referral tag, so the rule cannot charge them. Record earlier payouts as expenses for those months if you want them in the P&L.
Tags identify the program, not the affiliate
The tag names the program, so a rule cannot pay different affiliates within one program at different rates. Use one rule per program at that program's rate.
Your rule sets the rate
MerchantFlow does not read Social Snowball's payout history. Keep each rule in step with the program's commission settings and record bonuses as expenses.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to connect my Social Snowball account?
No. MerchantFlow reads the referral tag on your synced Shopify orders, so there is no Social Snowball login or API key to share.
My programs have different names. Does one rule cover them?
Yes. The template matches tags that start with referral - ss -, which covers every program. For different rates, add rules with each program's exact tag above the general rule: only the highest matching rule in your list is charged.
Will self-referral orders be charged?
No. Social Snowball marks self-referrals, leaked codes and affiliate welcome gifts with their own tags, which do not match the referral stem.
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.
Which plans include this?
Commission rules are available on every MerchantFlow plan.
