Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is selling through referrers: creators, KOCs (key opinion consumers), review sites or coupon sites attach a product’s referral link or code and earn a commission when someone buys through it. The brand pays per order, not per impression or per click.

What is affiliate marketing?

Vietnam’s E-commerce Law No. 122/2025/QH15 defines affiliate marketing services as advertising goods and services through access links, referral codes or similar methods tied to an e-commerce platform (Vietnam Official Gazette, E-commerce Law No. 122/2025/QH15, issued December 2025). The law draws a clear line between three parties:

• The seller: owns the product and sets the commission rate.
• The affiliate marketing service provider: generates the links and referral codes. This can be a marketplace’s own affiliate program, such as Shopee’s or TikTok Shop’s, or an independent affiliate network.
• The affiliate: uses those links to promote products on digital platforms.

How does affiliate marketing work?

1. The seller turns on a commission for a product, usually a percentage of the selling price.
2. The affiliate grabs the link or tags the product in a video, livestream or post.
3. The buyer orders through the link. The platform records the order under its own rules and pays out the commission.

Affiliate cost per order = Selling price × Commission rate

Hypothetical example: a product sells for VND 300,000 with a 10% commission, so each order costs VND 30,000. Put that number next to your cost per order from ads and your CAC to see which channel is cheaper. Also check whether commissions are deducted on canceled and returned orders, because every program has its own rule.

Why is affiliate marketing getting so much attention in 2025 and 2026?

First, it now has a legal framework. From July 1, 2026, affiliate marketing service providers must verify each affiliate’s identity electronically before letting them start, refuse goods that are banned from trade, and remove violating links when they find them or when a state authority asks. Affiliates must supply information for verification and take links down on request (Articles 25 and 26 of the E-commerce Law).

Second, affiliate and advertising have merged on TikTok Shop. Product GMV Max automatically uses authorized affiliate videos as ads (TikTok, About Product GMV Max, September 2026). While a campaign is running, every order for the selected products is attributed to GMV Max, including orders from people who never saw or clicked an ad (TikTok, About attribution for GMV Max, June 2026).

So one order from an affiliate video costs you a commission and also counts toward GMV Max ROI. When you add up marketing costs, count both for the same order. If you only look at ad ROI, affiliate will look free when it isn’t.

Affiliate vs. influencer marketing vs. paid ads

The lines are not rigid. A KOL can take a posting fee plus a commission per order.

Frequently asked questions

Are affiliates and KOCs the same thing?

No. Affiliate is a way of paying per order. A KOC is a type of content creator. Plenty of KOCs do affiliate work, but price comparison sites and coupon sites are affiliates too.

What commission rate is reasonable?

There is no universal number. Work backward from your margin: maximum commission = margin after cost of goods and marketplace fees, minus the profit you want to keep. Put a high commission on a thin-margin product and the more you sell, the more you lose.

If you want to see affiliate costs and marketplace ad costs on one sheet so you know what each order really costs, Adtek’s Brand Commerce team can go through it with you. Reach us via the contact page.