Maxoutil.com, a leading French supplier of professional tools and equipment, had a strategic goal: activate a network of partners and influencers to boost online sales through a performance-driven, loyalty-integrated affiliate program. Off-the-shelf Magento affiliate extensions weren’t flexible enough to meet their requirements. That’s where Sutunam came in.
As a top Magento agency, we were tasked with developing a tailor-made affiliate program that fits seamlessly into Maxoutil’s ecosystem: empowering selected customers to become partners, track their impact, and get rewarded with loyalty points. This custom affiliate feature was delivered as part of a full Magento 2 revamp with Hyvä frontend, improving both performance and user experience.
Explore the full project in our Maxoutil Case Study.
The Business Need Behind the Feature
Why Standard Affiliate Modules Weren’t Enough
Many affiliate modules offer basic tracking and commission features, but Maxoutil needed more. They wanted:
- Dynamic commission rates
- Commission-to-loyalty point conversion
- Role-based customer participation
- Full partner and admin visibility on performance
What Maxoutil Wanted
The goal was clear: give partners the ability to promote Maxoutil products via unique links, track resulting orders, and earn commissions that convert into loyalty points. All this had to be done without creating friction in the existing Magento architecture or customer experience.
Designing the Affiliate System: Key Principles
Flexibility First
To support long-term growth, we built a flexible system where:
- Admins can activate affiliate roles via a simple customer attribute.
- Commission amounts and thresholds are dynamic and configurable.
- Loyalty point conversion can be adjusted anytime.
Seamless Partner Experience
The partner dashboard lets affiliates:
- Share links
- Track clicks, conversions, and earnings
- Request reward point conversions when minimum thresholds are met
Key Features We Developed
Partner Activation by Admin
Admins can designate any customer as a partner by enabling the “Referral program” attribute in the Magento admin panel. Default status is “No” to avoid confusion.
Smart Link Tracking & Commission Attribution
We created two types of affiliate models:
- Order-based partners: Earn commission on the full cart total via shared links
- Product-based partners: Earn commission per product when individual product links are used
This dual model lets Maxoutil work with both general influencers and niche product experts.
Commission-to-Loyalty Conversion
- Admins set the exchange rate (e.g., €50 = 10,000 points)
- Commission can only be converted if the affiliate reaches a minimum threshold (e.g., €50)
- This ensures meaningful engagement and reduces admin overhead
Admin Control Panel
Admins can:
- View and manage partner lists and types
- Define commission rates based on HT or TTC product/cart prices (French VAT)
- Track link performance (clicks + conversions)
- Manage and validate reward point conversions (withdrawals)
Tech Stack & Magento Customization Insights
Attribute-Based Customer Roles
We used native Magento customer attributes to add the partner role, ensuring clean integration and minimal disruption to existing flows.
Link Tracking & Secure Attribution
Custom URL parameters and secure session-based tracking allow us to accurately tie orders to partners while preventing abuse or manipulation.
Loyalty Point Logic
The loyalty point exchange engine is custom-built but fully compatible with Magento’s native rewards system, giving Maxoutil complete flexibility.
Results and Potential
The system is live and already seeing adoption from key actors. Maxoutil now has:
- A scalable framework to grow its affiliate community
- Improved visibility on partner performance
- A smarter way to incentivize both traffic and conversions
Conclusion: Magento’s Flexibility, Our Expertise
This project demonstrates how Magento’s extensibility, combined with Sutunam’s expertise, can produce highly customized features that directly impact sales and brand visibility.
The affiliate program was part of a complete Magento 2 + Hyvä storefront overhaul, offering enhanced performance, modern UX, and future-ready architecture.
If you’re an eCommerce business looking to activate a partner ecosystem or integrate a smart loyalty-reward mechanism, let’s talk.
Learn more about the full transformation in our Maxoutil Case Study.
