Affiliate Program for Shopify: Anchor Partners Plus Test-and-Learn Campaigns

Sachin Bhargava, Senior Director of Digital Product and E-Commerce at John Hardy, breaks down the types of creator partnerships that actually move the needle for consumer brands. Drawing on work across Gilt Group, M.Gemi, and his own baby brand Any Baby, Sachin argues that brands need both long-term anchor partners (like John Hardy's ongoing relationship with Athena Calderone) and short-term test-and-learn campaigns to figure out what messaging truly resonates.

For Any Baby, he secured full content rights across all channels with no time limits, something he calls rare and hard to negotiate. His most distinctive tactic comes from his time at natural deodorant brand Myro: instead of promoting the product directly, the team hosted yoga studio events, handed out samples in goodie bags, and let brand-adjacent influencers discover the product organically in the moment they needed it most.

Watch to see how he connects this community-first approach to building a scalable affiliate program for Shopify and DTC brands that compounds over time.