During BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday), most brands try to outspend their competitors by offering affiliates higher commissions.
Fragrance retailer FragFlex does the exact opposite. Their strategy is built on a simple but powerful idea: a great customer deal is the best tool an affiliate can have.
This case study examines FragFlex’s unique BFCM playbook, which focuses on empowering affiliates through market exclusivity, year-round support, and creative trust, rather than short-term financial incentives.
FragFlex’s BFCM 2024
For their Black Friday Cyber Monday 2024, FragFlex focused its strategy on creating powerful in-store promotions to drive customer sales and build long-term loyalty.
Instead of creating special programs for their affiliates, they relied on the strength of their customer-facing deals, which gave their affiliates a highly attractive offer to promote.
The Customer-Facing Strategy
The base offer available to everyone was buy one, get one 24% off, combined with free shipping on all orders.
The BOGO deal encouraged customers to add more items, increasing average order value while moving inventory quickly.
Loyal customers received exclusive extras on top of the base deal. “Additional discounts for people who belong to the higher-tier loyalty program,” Urik, the marketing lead at FragFlex noted.
This approach served two purposes: it rewarded repeat customers during the biggest shopping weekend and reinforced the loyalty program as “the hook that will keep them buying with us” year-round.
The Affiliate-Facing Strategy
Unlike many brands that increase affiliate commissions for BFCM, FragFlex kept their program consistent.
The company’s philosophy is that providing a strong, high-converting offer to customers is the best way to support its affiliates.
The powerful BOGO deal and free shipping made it much easier for affiliates to turn their audience into buyers.
The thinking was simple: a high volume of sales driven by a great customer discount is more beneficial for everyone than a small, temporary increase in commission.
The affiliates’ job was to bring people to the site. And the company’s attractive promotions ensured that a large number of those visitors would make a purchase.
Problems Solved Before BFCM 2025 – Managing Two Markets
FragFlex operates in the competitive fragrance retail space, offering everything from affordable Middle Eastern brands to luxury niche fragrances like Creed and Roja.
The company manages two Shopify stores. Originally, FragranceBuy was the primary store, but the team created FragFlex to test new features and apps before implementing them on the Canadian store.
However, recent US tariff changes forced a strategic shift. The company decided to make FragFlex exclusively for US customers and FragranceBuy for Canadian ones.
This decision created a critical challenge for their affiliate program.
Core Problem: Maintaining Attribution Across Stores
FragFlex has built strong relationships with influencers over time. Many of these influencers had affiliate links embedded in existing YouTube videos that people were still watching.
The store split threatened to break all those links.
“We don’t want them to lose the attributions from those old links,” Urik explained. “Many influencers had existing links on past videos.”
The team needed a solution that would allow influencers to use one affiliate link that worked across both stores, without losing credit for sales generated from their older content.
The Solution: UpPromote’s Multi-Store
FragFlex turned to UpPromote to connect their two stores for better management. The system helped the brand track sales across two Shopify stores based on the customer’s location.
We’re happy that UpPromote has that function where we can link stores with one affiliate link,
Urik noted.
Influencers could keep their existing links. When customers clicked through, they were automatically directed to the appropriate store based on their IP address.
And most importantly, influencers received proper attribution regardless of which store completed the sale.
“Our influencers are very happy with that,” Urik confirmed. “It made our transition even painless for our influencers. And that’s very important.”
With the technical infrastructure solved, FragFlex could focus on their BFCM 2025.
BFCM 2025 Affiliate Strategies
For the upcoming Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) 2025, FragFlex ‘s plan is to empower their affiliates with irresistible customer deals and exclusive products that make converting their audience easier.
The company expects even better results than in 2024 with their refined strategy and affiliate network expansion.
As Urik noted, “We’ve added some more influencers in our roster.” He also added now “We’re more connected with them and coordinating with them with various sales,” which means the entire affiliate team will be better prepared for the big event.
Preparing A BFCM Dress Rehearsal
Before launching their biggest sale of the year, FragFlex is taking a smart and careful step to ensure everything runs smoothly.
The team plans to use their October anniversary sale as a live test run for BFCM. This is especially important because they have a new facility and updated systems.
As Urik shared, “Our first test for the new facility is the anniversary sale. Hopefully all the issues that will occur, will happen there, so we can prepare for the big one, the Black Friday one.
This proactive approach allows them to stress-test their website, checkout process, and shipping operations with a large volume of orders.
By identifying and fixing any technical glitches or logistical problems ahead of time, they ensure that the BFCM experience is seamless for customers sent by their affiliates.
Keeping Commissions Consistent, Focusing on Volume
Continuing the successful approach from 2024, FragFlex will once again keep their affiliate commission rates consistent through the holiday period.
The company would rather pass on value to the customer, which in turn helps the affiliate make more sales.
As marketing lead Jan Urik Bacani explained it clearly: “Their only job is to promote us. We assured them that with all the stock coming in and the good deals, as long as they promote, they can generate enough sales to offset the higher commission rate.”
Adding New Layers of Customer Excitement
While the core affiliate model remains the same, the customer-facing strategy is getting some exciting upgrades for 2025.
First, FragFlex will use a gamification tactic that proved successful in June 2025: tiered mystery gifts.
The first group of customers to spend over a certain amount will get a premium gift, with other tiers receiving different freebies. “It’s a mystery gift, hopefully that drives FOMO for people,” Urik shared.
Second, the company is leaning heavily on its biggest competitive advantage: market exclusivity.
FragFlex is often the first retailer in North America to get the most hyped new fragrances.
That means their affiliates have an incredible advantage. They can offer their audience a chance to be the first to own a product, creating a level of urgency that a simple discount can’t match.
As Urik put it, “By the time they (other retailers) get it, the hype is already died down because people have already bought it from us.”
Building A Year-Round Partnership to Motivate Affiliates
FragFlex’s strategy for keeping affiliates motivated during BFCM relies on the strong, year-round relationships they have already built.
The partnership is built on helping influencers with the costs and challenges of making content.
First, FragFlex offers retainer fees for their top influencers. A retainer means a steady income for creators to make great content without the constant pressure of getting sales right away.
Second, the company provides a monthly supply of products.
As Urik explained, “Basically they don’t need to spend to get the products. We send it to them, whatever they need for the content.“
The free fragrances ensure creators always have new and relevant items to review, which keeps their content fresh and their audience engaged.
Allowing for Creative Freedom
A final, crucial part of FragFlex’s partnership strategy is giving affiliates the power to be creative.
Instead of giving them strict scripts or telling them exactly what to say, the company steps back and lets the creators do what they do best.
As Urik said, “We leave how they do their content to them, because they know their audience best. We trust them to do it.“
The reason for granting such freedom is simple: influencers have a special connection with their followers.
They understand what their audience finds interesting, funny, or convincing. They know the best way to present a product so that it feels like a genuine recommendation. If FragFlex were to force specific talking points, the content would lose its personality and feel like a generic ad.
Having authentic content is especially important during the noisy BFCM period. During that time, customers are flooded with ads from every direction.
A scripted promotion can easily get lost in all the noise. However, personal and honest reviews from creators can cut through the clutter and grab their audience’s attention.
Conclusion
FragFlex’s approach provides a clear blueprint for a sustainable BFCM affiliate program. They prove that you don’t need to offer the highest commission rates to win.
Instead, the focus should be on creating a partnership that benefits everyone. By giving affiliates strong customer offers, exclusive products to promote, and the freedom to be authentic, FragFlex created a motivated team.
Their story is a powerful reminder that when you invest in your partners and your customers, the sales will follow.
Ellie Tran, a seasoned SEO content writer with three years of experience in the eCommerce world. Being a part of the UpPromote team, Ellie wants to assist Shopify merchants in achieving success through useful content & actionable insights. Ellie's commitment to learning never stops; she's always eager to gain more knowledge about SEO and content marketing to create valuable content for users. When she's not working on content, Ellie enjoys baking and exploring new places.
