How Affiliate Tracking Works

This guide explains how Trankets tracks affiliate referrals from click to payout. It covers link format, tracking behavior, attribution rules, commission status lifecycle, and what happens when an order is refunded.

Where to find this

• Seller sales report: Dashboard → My Affiliate Program → Sales
• Seller commission approvals: Dashboard → My Affiliate Program → Payouts
• Affiliate dashboard: Dashboard → My Affiliate Earnings
• Affiliate earnings: Dashboard → My Affiliate Earnings → Earnings
• Affiliate links: Dashboard → My Affiliate Earnings → Promote

Affiliate link format

Every affiliate gets a unique referral code. The link they share looks like a normal product or event page with their code added:

https://trankets.com/shop/products/abc123?ref=XYZ789

In this example, XYZ789 is the affiliate's unique code.

When a buyer clicks the link:

1. Trankets records the click details.
2. A small browser record, sometimes called a cookie, is set to remember the affiliate's code for a set number of days.
3. The buyer is redirected to the product or event page.

The public page looks the same to the buyer.

Tracking behavior

• The browser record stores the affiliate code and click timestamp.
• It expires after the number of days set in your program settings (1 to 90).
• If the buyer clears their browser data or uses a different device or browser before purchasing, tracking is lost.

Attribution

Default attribution is last-click. If a buyer clicks multiple affiliate links before purchasing, the most recent click gets the commission.

If you enable first-click attribution in Dashboard → My Affiliate Program → Settings, the first affiliate link clicked within the tracking window gets the commission.

Commission lifecycle

An affiliate conversion moves through these statuses:

Payout workflow

1. A buyer makes a purchase through an affiliate link or coupon code.
2. The conversion is created with status Pending.
3. After the refund window passes, the status changes to Confirmed.
4. The seller reviews confirmed commissions at Dashboard → My Affiliate Program → Payouts and clicks Approve.
5. Trankets credits the commission to the affiliate's Trankets wallet and marks the conversion as Paid.
6. The affiliate requests a withdrawal from Dashboard → Wallet → Withdraw Funds.
7. Once Trankets approves the withdrawal, the money is sent to the affiliate's linked Nigerian bank account.

Withdrawal requests have their own statuses: Pending, Approved, and Rejected.

Refunds and reversals

When a product is refunded or an event is cancelled, the affiliate commission is reversed. If the commission was already paid, the affiliate's balance may become negative.

What happens next

• Affiliates can see clicks, conversions, and earnings in their dashboard.
• Sellers see the same data under Dashboard → My Affiliate Program → Sales.
• Commissions only become available for approval after the refund window passes.

Limits and requirements

• Attribution is tracked by browser record; cross-device tracking is not supported.
• Tracking duration is limited to 1 to 90 days.
• Sellers must approve commissions in Trankets. Trankets handles the wallet credit and bank withdrawal for the affiliate.
• Refunded or cancelled orders reverse affiliate commissions.

Common issues

• Click not tracked: The buyer may have cleared their browser data, used a different device, or had an ad blocker or privacy extension active.
• Wrong affiliate credited: With last-click attribution, the most recent link clicked gets the commission.
• Commission disappeared: The order was likely refunded or cancelled, triggering a reversal.
• Payout pending: The commission is still inside the refund window or waiting for seller approval.