Selling online in 2025 isn’t what it used to be. Ads cost more, attention spans are shorter, and even the best D2C brands are struggling to get noticed. That’s why so many are turning to affiliate marketing, with over 80% of global brands now running affiliate programs (Global Growth Insights, 2025) to get real results.
With affiliate campaigns, you don’t pay for likes or views. You pay only when someone signs up, installs your app, or makes a purchase. It’s performance-first, and it works. In fact, India’s affiliate industry is expected to exceed $800 million USD by the end of 2025 (The Times of India). That’s a clear sign that more brands are choosing this smarter way to scale.
If you have a D2C brand and want it to reach a wider audience who genuinely engage with the product, affiliate marketing is worth a closer look. Let’s break down what actually works in 2025 and how you can tap into it.
For Top D2C brands in India, the advertising agenda of 2025 revolves around smarter spending and measurable outcomes. With ad fatigue rising and platform costs eating into margins, affiliate marketing has become a practical choice, not just a trend. Here’s why the Top D2C brands in India are doubling down on performance-based campaigns:
D2C brands struggling with rising ad costs and lower ROAS in 2025 should consider affiliate marketing models that are not just cost-effective but also aligned with customer behavior. If you’re selling skincare, apparel, home décor, or health supplements, choosing the right payout model makes all the difference.
Here are the most effective D2C affiliate marketing India 2025 models:
This is the most common and effective model for D2C brands. You only pay when a customer makes a purchase, no clicks or impressions, just real results. For instance, Giva, a silver jewelry brand, uses CPS, where they only have to pay when a user completes a purchase through their referral link. Also, Swiss Beauty and Foxtale rely heavily on CPS to push product sales during seasonal promotions. D2C brands often have tighter margins. With CPS, you only spend when you earn.
If your brand’s goal is lead generation, like email signups, quiz completions, or free trials, CPL is the way to go. You pay only when a user shares their contact info or takes a qualifying action. For example, Trybloom, a period care brand, works on the CPL model with vCommission
during product sampling campaigns to collect leads for future retargeting. MyMuse also runs CPL during campaigns focused on newsletter opt-ins or gated wellness guides. Top D2C brands in India can build email lists affordably and convert users later.
If your primary experience lives inside an app, like loyalty shopping, subscriptions, or personalized services, this model pays affiliates for every successful app install. For example, a beauty brand like Nourish Mantra runs a CPI campaign with vCommission. It’s measurable, scalable, and ideal for brands with app-first experiences.
In this model, you pay for every click your ad or affiliate link receives, regardless of whether the user converts. For example, a brand like Neeman’s, which focuses on sustainable footwear, runs CPC with vCommission to test new product launches or drive traffic to a landing page during Earth Day promotions. CPC is great for brand discovery or retargeting pools.
This model focuses on deeper user actions like watching a video, playing a game, or spending time on the site. Top D2C brands in India are experimenting with richer content to measure engagement. For example, MyMuse runs a CPE model with vCommission involving intimacy quizzes or product guides that engage the user before purchase. It builds trust and captures attention before asking for a sale.
Once your campaign is live with vCommission, the next important step is deciding where your brand should be promoted. The approved affiliates promote your products using channels that align with your goals.

Here are few of the channels, your brand can leverage:
These work best for products people research before buying, like skincare or wellness. vCommission connects your brand with bloggers and review websites that write about your products in detail, like how they work, what ingredients they have, or why they’re worth trying. Brands like Minimalist, Trybloom, and Nourish Mantra use this to attract buyers who are already interested.
Visual-first platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are ideal for brands such as Foxtale, Swiss Beauty, Giva, and Neeman’s. Influencers here create how-to content, product demos, and testimonials that bring your brand into everyday conversations. vCommission ensures the right creators carry your message forward with authenticity.
If you’re running offers or discounts, these platforms help you reach shoppers looking for the best deals. vCommission ensures your brand’s offers are featured on top coupon and cashback platforms to get more eyes on them. Brands like Ajio, Levi’s, and Ashpveda use this to boost visibility during sales.
For product drops, flash sales, or quick offers, platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp offer high engagement. For example, brands such as Bacca Bucci and Ashpveda use these channels to trigger impulse buys. vCommission connects brands with high-engagement affiliate partners who run active Telegram and WhatsApp communities.
When scale is the goal, paid campaigns via Google or Meta help capture wider intent. With vCommission’s vetted media buying partners, D2C brands like Trybloom, Minimalist, and Neeman’s activate controlled ad spends with full transparency, maximizing reach while sticking to performance goals.
For any affiliate campaign to succeed, accurate tracking is non-negotiable. It’s how we know whether a sale happened, who drove it, and what to credit them for. When it comes to D2C brands, vCommission ensures smooth and reliable tracking.
For D2C brands, vCommission helps integrate conversion pixels or postback URLs on the thank-you or success pages of your website. Let’s say a user clicks on an affiliate link to buy from Trybloom. Once they complete the order, the tracking pixel fires, sending back conversion data to vCommission’s system. If the brand has its own panel, we align our macros to reflect accurate sales tracking, real-time reporting, and smooth attribution for COD & prepaid orders accurately on both sides.
Since many Indian D2C brands offer COD (e.g., Baccabucci, Swiss Beauty, Neeman’s), vCommission supports COD tracking too. Affiliate sends a user to the brand’s site. The user places a COD order. The order is marked as “pending” in the affiliate dashboard. Once the customer accepts the delivery, the order status updates to “approved.” This ensures no commission is paid on canceled or returned orders.
Tracking works across platforms, whether your users shop on Websites (e.g., Giva.co, Nourishmantra.in), Mobile web, or brand apps (if integrated). This cross-platform coverage ensures no sale slips through the cracks.
Every affiliate promoting D2C brands with vCommission gets access to a dedicated panel with live campaign links and creatives, real-time clicks and conversions, order status: pending, approved, rejected, and payout summaries and export options. It’s a transparent, no-confusion setup where affiliates always know what’s working.
For D2C brands, affiliate marketing isn’t just an extra channel, it can become a major revenue driver when set up with the right foundation. But not all campaign models or platforms work the same way for every brand. For example, what delivers results for a premium skincare brand like Foxtale, think influencer-led Instagram Reels or YouTube reviews, may not work as well for a sustainable footwear brand like Neeman’s, which might perform better through Reddit threads, Pinterest boards, or community-led platforms where authenticity matters more.
That’s why the best-performing D2C affiliate campaigns in India today focus on two things: first, working with a network that has high-converting capabilities, and second, activating the right performance model, like Cost Per Sale (CPS), after the brand is successfully onboarded.
At vCommission, we work with niche-focused, high-converting affiliates who understand these platforms deeply. You get full transparency, seamless campaign setup, and expert alignment with your business goals, whether you’re aiming for top-funnel reach or bottom-funnel conversions. We make sure your affiliate program performs like a natural extension of your D2C team, just faster and smarter.