Personal Project
Aston & West
An affiliate marketing e-commerce website featuring curated home decor products, evolved from an interior design brochure concept into a commission-based product platform.
Visit Live SiteThe Challenge
Wanted to create a passive income stream through curated home decor products without managing inventory, shipping, or customer service—essentially building a digital showroom that earns commissions.
The Solution
Built a WordPress-based e-commerce site with WooCommerce integration, using the Datafeedr plugin for seamless affiliate product imports from multiple retailer networks including ShareASale and Commission Junction.
Responsibilities
From concept to commission.
Brand identity & visual design
WordPress theme customization
WooCommerce configuration
Affiliate network integration
Product curation & merchandising
Performance optimization
Hosting infrastructure
SEO & content strategy
Tools & Technologies
The Outcome
Successfully launched a functioning affiliate storefront with automated product syncing, achieving notable performance improvements after migrating to Kinsta managed hosting. The site serves as both a revenue generator and a showcase of e-commerce capabilities.
The Approach
Aston & West began as a concept for an interior design brochure—a curated collection of home furnishings I admired. The realization that these products could be monetized through affiliate marketing transformed the project from a creative exercise into a functional business.
Choosing the Tech Stack
WordPress with WooCommerce was the obvious choice for several reasons:
- Mature ecosystem with extensive plugin support for affiliate marketing
- WooCommerce provides the familiar e-commerce UX customers expect
- Lower barrier to entry compared to building a custom solution
- Easy content management for non-technical updates
The key challenge was finding a way to automatically import and sync products from affiliate networks without manual data entry for each item.
Datafeedr Integration
Datafeedr became the backbone of the product catalog. This plugin connects to major affiliate networks and automatically imports product data—images, descriptions, prices, and affiliate links—directly into WooCommerce.
The integration required careful configuration: setting up product filters to exclude low-quality items, mapping affiliate categories to site taxonomy, and configuring automatic price/availability syncing to avoid showing out-of-stock items.
Design & Curation Philosophy
Unlike typical affiliate sites that prioritize quantity, Aston & West focuses on curation. Every product is selected to fit a cohesive aesthetic—modern, warm, and attainable luxury.
Brand Identity
The name "Aston & West" evokes sophistication and timelessness. The visual identity uses clean typography, generous whitespace, and a neutral color palette that lets the products be the hero.
- Serif typography for headings conveys elegance
- Product photography takes center stage
- Minimal UI chrome—the focus is always on the items
- Warm, inviting color accents that complement home interiors
Collection Strategy
Products are organized into curated collections rather than generic categories. Featured collections include partnerships with designers like McGee & Co. and Amber Lewis, whose aesthetics align with the Aston & West brand.
This collection-based approach serves multiple purposes: it provides editorial value beyond simple product listings, improves SEO through topical content clustering, and creates natural upsell opportunities within themed groupings.
Technical Implementation
WooCommerce Customization
The standard WooCommerce experience needed significant modification to work as an affiliate storefront:
- Removed the cart/checkout flow—products link directly to retailer sites
- Customized product pages to emphasize the "Shop Now" affiliate CTA
- Added external link indicators so visitors understand they're leaving the site
- Implemented proper rel="nofollow sponsored" attributes for affiliate links
Performance Challenges
Affiliate sites with thousands of products face unique performance challenges. Product images come from various retailer CDNs with inconsistent quality and sizes. Datafeedr syncs can strain server resources. The solution required multiple optimizations:
- Lazy loading for product images with proper aspect ratio placeholders
- Aggressive caching at the page and database query levels
- Scheduling Datafeedr syncs during low-traffic hours
- CDN integration for static assets
Kinsta Migration
The site originally ran on shared hosting, which couldn't handle traffic spikes during holiday shopping seasons. Migrating to Kinsta's managed WordPress hosting delivered immediate improvements:
Kinsta's server-level caching, automatic daily backups, and staging environments transformed the operational experience. Updates that previously felt risky could be tested safely before going live.
Affiliate Network Strategy
Monetization relies on relationships with multiple affiliate networks, each with different strengths:
Network Diversification
- ShareASale — Strong home decor merchant selection, reliable tracking
- Commission Junction — Access to major retailers like Wayfair and Pottery Barn
- Amazon Associates — Fallback for products not available through other networks
- Direct partnerships — Higher commission rates with select brands
Diversifying across networks protects against any single partner changing terms or going away. It also enables promoting the same product through whichever network offers the best commission at any given time.
Link Management
Affiliate links require ongoing maintenance—retailers change URLs, products go out of stock, commission structures shift. Datafeedr handles much of this automatically, but manual audits catch edge cases where products have been discontinued but affiliate links remain active.
Lessons Learned
What Worked
- Curation over quantity—focused collections outperform massive catalogs
- Quality hosting pays for itself in reliability and peace of mind
- Datafeedr automation eliminated hours of manual product entry
- Treating it like a real brand (not just an affiliate site) builds trust
What I'd Do Differently
- Start with a narrower niche before expanding to full home decor
- Build an email list earlier for direct traffic that doesn't depend on SEO
- Invest more in original content—buying guides, styling tips, trend reports
- Consider headless architecture for better performance at scale
Affiliate marketing is often dismissed as low-effort income. In reality, building a quality affiliate site requires the same design thinking, technical skills, and strategic planning as any e-commerce project.
Current Status & Future
Aston & West continues to operate as a side project, generating passive income while requiring minimal ongoing maintenance thanks to automated product syncing and reliable hosting.
Content Expansion
Adding editorial content—room tours, designer spotlights, seasonal guides
Email Marketing
Building a newsletter for direct audience engagement
Performance Audit
Evaluating migration to headless WordPress with Next.js frontend
Analytics Enhancement
Deeper tracking of which collections and products drive conversions
The project represents an ongoing experiment in building sustainable passive income through thoughtful curation and solid technical foundations.
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