Next - Wiping The Slate Clean or Pulling The Wool Over Our Eyes?
We’ve all been waiting with bated breath (well OK, we haven’t) for Next to announce the ‘changes’ to their Affiliate Programme as outlined on the A4UForum and, although we’re still waiting for Buyat to roll this programme out, Affilinet have emailed the full details this morning, and …
mmm, well nothing’s changed actually, apart from the change of Network, the commission is still only 2%.
which will come as no big surprise to the majority of affiliates. True, they are offering incentives to all affiliates who swap their links from Affiliate Window to either of the two new networks, so that’s a plus - well, it is if you’re one of the lucky 6!!
SO WHY THE SWITCH?
Obviously merchants and agencies do not need to explain why they choose one network over another, and sometimes it does seem like a virtual merry-go-round with all the switching that goes on between the networks - it is a pain, but part of Affiliate life.
But the timing of this particular switch leaves a very sour taste in the mouth (Jonny started with the cliches - I’m just going with the flow)
In my view it’s been a case of get someone to do the dirty work (Awin), they get all the flak and when the sh!ts well and truly stuck to the fan, then we’ll cut and run with our shiny reputations in tact and reinvent ourselves on other networks - DOH!!!
only one thing wrong with that scenario, Next and I-level are assuming most Affiliates are, in the words of Affi-liate, NUMPTIES of the finest order, and we’re so incredibly gullible that we’ll smile and swallow all that bullsh!t, as we did when they lowered their commission rates - twice!
So two things to think about before swapping those links -
Would you be happy in Affiliate Windows shoes now? and
If John Lewis, The White Company, Otto Group and The Home Shopping Group can afford to pay decent commission rates for quality traffic - why can’t Next, Argos, ToysRus etc?
IT’S YOUR FUTURE - ACT NOW - ONLINE SPENDING IS ONLY GOING IN ONE DIRECTION AND WE CANNOT AFFORD TO SELL OUT TO THE LOWEST BIDDER
February 1st, 2008 at 02:08 pm
I couldn’t agree more with you Elaine. Even if they increased the commission to 20% and pais out within a week with no clawbacks I still wouldn’t promote Next now. Something smells bad round these parts (and for a change it isn’t the old man)!
Jules
February 1st, 2008 at 05:01 pm
Would it not be true to say that the big boys like Next and Argos have already got a reputation? They are high street brands everyone is familiar with. Could this be why the rewards are so low?
At the end of the day, they don’t need affiliates unlike some other companies who’s affiliate traffic is a large chunk of their customer acquisition base. Therefore, the big boys can afford lower payouts as they can acquire customers through different channels.
I don’t promote Next but I do promote Argos. I sent a fair amount of traffic their way but most of my money comes from online reservations for instore collections. 25p per reservation is nothing when I’m selling £200 ticket items but it’s better than nothing. It just makes me work harder pushing alternative merchants.
I understand where you are coming from and in your sector, Next returns are pathetic in comparison. But 2% is better than 0%.
My 2 pence!
February 1st, 2008 at 05:41 pm
firstly, this 2% is better than 0% really, really bugs me - does removing a low paying merchant, like Next, leave a huge unfillable hole on a website/blog - NO IT DOES NOT - would visitors even notice if Next/Argos/ToysRus weren’t there - NO THEY WOULD NOT
as regards huge brands having a high street presence and not needing Affiliate Marketing - get real! Next were bemoaning their poor pre Christmas High Street Sales - why - ‘cos more and more people are shopping online through Affiliate sites.
These huge brands aren’t daft, they’ve got one eye on the future of retail marketing and know it’s probably going to be online and they are trying to set the bench mark as low as possible to maximise their future profits.
We have to ensure that the bench is set at a comfortable level for ourselves.
BE WARNED!
February 1st, 2008 at 07:17 pm
“At the end of the day, they don’t need affiliates unlike some other companies who’s affiliate traffic is a large chunk of their customer acquisition base. Therefore, the big boys can afford lower payouts as they can acquire customers through different channels”
in that case, they should not enter affiliate marketing at all and if they have done so, exit at the earliest convenience…