Definition
EPC (earnings per click)
EPC is the average revenue a click earns the affiliate: commissions earned divided by clicks sent. It is the first number an affiliate looks at.
The calculation is one line: €500 of commissions on 2,000 clicks is an EPC of €0.25. English-language affiliate networks usually quote it per hundred clicks, which is where the two-digit figures come from.
It is the decisive number because it is the only one you can arbitrate with. An affiliate has a finite audience and must choose which product to recommend; the commission rate alone tells them nothing. Fifty percent on a product that does not convert earns less than fifteen percent on one that does, and EPC is exactly what makes the two comparable.
On the merchant side, publishing it is a powerful recruiting argument, on two conditions: that it is computed on enough volume to mean anything, and that you say over what period. An EPC built on thirty clicks and one lucky sale does not survive the first affiliate who tests it.
Related terms
Affiliate conversion rate
A program's conversion rate is the share of affiliate clicks that end in a sale. It means nothing until you say what counts as a conversion.
Affiliate-driven MRR
Affiliate-driven MRR is the share of monthly recurring revenue brought in by affiliates. It is the number that says whether a program is a channel or a gadget.
Affiliate marketplace
An affiliate marketplace is a directory where programs and affiliates find each other, without cold outreach. It is the distribution side, not the tooling side.