Scalable Ecommerce MLM Platform for a Wellness Brand
Learn how Global MLM Solution helped Flat Stomach Tea, a South African brand, upgrade its existing MLM setup with a centralized platform.
Meet Flat Stomach Tea
A South African wellness brand scaling its MLM journey
Flat Stomach Tea is a wellness brand known for its herbal products and strong customer community. As its MLM model matured, the existing setup needed to evolve to support better performance, clearer earnings, and sustainable growth.
Industry
Health & Wellness
No of Distributors
19.7K
Location
South Africa
Website Url
www.flatstomachtea.co.zaProject Scope: Building and developing a centralized platform to support Flat Stomach Tea’s smooth MLM operations, including distributor management, commission logic, product sales, and payouts.
Integrations
The Challenge
Strengthening an Early-Stage MLM System
Flat Stomach Tea had already had a basic MLM model in place. As the business expanded across multiple African regions, the client faced the following challenges:
Organizing a Growing Distributor Network
As more distributors joined, onboarding and role management became harder to track without a structured system.
Limited Commission Flexibility
As the business grew, the existing system could not support more complex commission calculations.
Low Motivation for Personal Sales
The clients noticed that distributors earned commissions from purchases made by their downlines without selling much themselves. This weakened engagement and slowed growth.
Staying in Control While Scaling
Growth made it difficult to maintain visibility, enforce rules, and monitor overall performance.
Project Goals
Replacing a limited MLM setup with a scalable system
Flat Stomach Tea needed a reliable platform that could replace the existing system. During the discovery phase, the client outlined the following project goals:
Implement a Structured Unilevel Commission Plan
The client wanted to set up a unilevel MLM commission plan with nine distributor ranks, starting from Newbie and progressing to Ambassador. The goal was to create clean earning paths and performance incentives.
Encourage Personal Sales
The system needed to reward distributors for their own product sales, not just downline sales activity, to improve engagement and sales quality.
Improve Distributor Management
The client required better control over onboarding, role assignment, and network hierarchy as the distributor base grew.
Enable Better Visibility and Reporting
Admins needed clear dashboards and reports to track performance, earnings, and network activity in real time.
Connect Sales, Commissions, and Payouts
Product orders needed to flow directly into commission calculations and payouts to reduce delays and errors.
Support Regional Expansion and Compliance
The platform needed to handle distributors across multiple African regions while supporting consistent commission logic and operational control.
Our Solution
A Purpose-built Upgrade Proposed by Global MLM Solution
After assessing Flat Stomach Tea’s existing MLM setup and growth plans, the Global MLM Solution’s team proposed a structured platform upgrade to improve commission logic, enhance distributor behavior, and support long-term scalability.
Structured Unilevel Commission Framework
Our team implemented the client’s unilevel commission model into a structured system with clear earning rules and progression logic. This brought consistency, transparency, and scalability to how commissions were calculated and paid.
Personal Sales–Driven Earnings
To correct passive earning behavior, the team introduced eligibility rules that tied downline commissions to personal product sales. This ensured distributors remained actively engaged in selling.
Centralized Distributor Management
The team proposed a unified system to manage distributor onboarding, roles, and network hierarchy from a single platform. This gave administrators better control over permissions, rank assignments, and distributor activity as the network continued to grow.
Support Specific Rank Advancement Rules
The team built logic that moves distributors to the next rank only when they meet three conditions: personal sales, team sales, and monthly personal activations. For senior roles, from Senior Manager to Ambassador, the system also manages fixed salaries and releases them only when all eligibility criteria are met.
Enhanced Visibility and Reporting
Along with a customizable dashboard, our team introduced visual KPI tracking for key metrics such as distributor registrations, total users, and monthly sales. Monthly product stock reports were added to provide a quick and clear view of inventory levels.
System Integrations
The team suggested integrations with Payfast for secure payments, Pargo for order delivery and logistics, and Brevo for automated communications. These integrations ensured smooth transactions, reliable fulfillment, and consistent customer and distributor engagement.
Strategy and Execution
Translating Business rules into a scalable platform
To upgrade Flat Stomach Tea’s MLM platform, the Global MLM Solution team followed a structured execution plan focused on accuracy, stability, and scalability.
Reviewing the Existing Platform and Defining Requirements
The team began by reviewing the current MLM setup to understand how commissions, ranks, and distributor workflows operated. Key requirements were gathered through discussions with stakeholders and documented before development started.
Designing Commission and Rank Logic
Next, the team defined how unilevel commissions, rank progression, and eligibility rules would work in practice. Special attention was given to edge cases and salary eligibility for senior roles.
Configuring the Platform and Building Custom Logic
With the rules finalized, the team configured core platform modules and developed custom logic to support complex commissions and rank conditions. The system was designed to allow future changes without major rework.
Implementing Integrations and Aligning Data
Payment, logistics, and communication integrations were added to ensure smooth operations. The team aligned data flows so that sales, commissions, and payouts stayed consistent across systems.
Testing Real-World Scenarios
Before launch, the team tested commission calculations, rank movements, and payout releases across multiple real-world scenarios. This helped catch issues early and ensure accuracy.
Deployment and Ongoing Optimization
The upgraded platform was rolled out in a controlled manner. After launch, the team monitored performance and fine-tuned configurations based on real usage.
The Results
Measurable Growth Backed by a Stable MLM Platform
With the upgraded platform, Flat Stomach Tea gained better control over MLM operations and distributor experience:
Expanded and Active User Base
The platform now manages a large and steadily growing distributor network. These systems were now supported by structured onboarding and clear role progression.
Sustained Order Volume
Streamlined sales, commission, and payout workflows enabled the business to handle consistent order flow without operational strain.
Business Operating at Scale
The upgraded system supports high turnover and complex commission structures, which gives the brand the stability and capacity to scale confidently.
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