Voucher Codes. Merchants Read This.

[morph_]

Voucher Codes

The key problem: merchants giving commission to voucher code sites when no valid codes exist.

Merchants, take action.

If there's no valid code (90% + of the time), do not award the voucher site a commission fee. Give commission to the prior referrer (if any). The vast bulk of voucher code sales come when the customer is already at checkout, visits a voucher site and clicks a link (where 90%+ of the time, no valid codes exist). Merchants - you are losing money giving unnecessary commissions away - most customers are ready and willing to buy (voucher code or not). Very few incremental sales.


Promo. box positioning on checkout is irrelevant when you ensure you reward for valid codes only. If you don't like the practice of voucher code sites posting codes you've advertised elsewhere (in papers, disgruntled customers, current customer codes), check the referrer - if it's a voucher site, don't give them a commission.

Ideally, we wouldn't have last referrer. Fairest would probably be dividing the commission up between all the cookies. 5 referrers, split the commission five ways.

Voucher sites with valid codes are fine, but giving the voucher sites sitting at the top of the SERPs easy money (and they offer few sales you wouldn't have got anyway) - well, it's a matter of principle.

Sites using deceptive, unethical practices should not be rewarded. Take action. Most of your affiliates will respect you for looking out for their interests - something which networks increasingly do not.

[mainlime]

Why have you created a new thread for this?

[aotagain]

I imagine complicated splits of commission are practically unworkable and by the time a solution is found, there'll be another more pressing problem to deal with anyway.

[Affi Liate]

morph_ ine

Call me old fashioned but your last post bored the a*se of of me, and I''m normally not easily bored on here... (that's not strictly true).

After glancing thru your last post I thought "fair do's" the guys obviouslly goty a gripe... but now you strike me as being a lame a*s whinger.

The time it took you to write the first post (and me to write this one, make a cup of tea, check my emails, write a suicide note, feed the cats, have a t*g, play a game of subbuteo, go to sleep for half an hour, wake up, make a hot dog and watch a DVD) I could've farted and made sh*t loads of cash.

Stop being a wu*s and make some money.

Aff.
F*****g numpty...

[drivetowin]

Originally Posted by morph_ Voucher sites with valid codes are fine

That's quite a change in stance from your previous thread....

[Markup]

Originally Posted by morph_ Voucher Codes (Merchants) ...Take action. Most of your affiliates will respect you for looking out for their interests - something which networks increasingly do not.

You make a much better case for your whinge here Morph_.

It is not realistic though to expect a merchant to police every single instance of a true or false voucher code display.

Best leave it to the user, who will return to a site where he/she gets a good experience... and won't if they don't.

[morph_]

Originally Posted by drivetowin That's quite a change in stance from your previous thread....

"voucher sites with valid codes are fine". Read that as "valid codes are fine".

The smaller voucher code sites I've seen still employ dodgy/less than honest tactics to get people to click - code or not. If you only list valid codes, that's great. If merchants only reward valid codes, it shouldn't affect those that list valid codes only.

The reality is, most clicks on most voucher code sites (including the smaller ones which keep expired codes and content offers displayed) don't have valid codes. Take away commission for codes that are not valid, and most voucher site commissions will plummet.

Many merchants can save quite a bit of money by not giving easy commissions for sales they were going to get anyway. Or, do the decent thing and give commission to perhaps those who added value earlier on in the process (videos, reviews, etc).

"I imagine complicated splits of commission are practically unworkable".

There's nothing complicated about it. Count the cookies, divide the commission. Microsoft are working on something similar. Can't find the link right now.

[drivetowin]

Originally Posted by morph_ There's nothing complicated about it. Count the cookies, divide the commission.

So then when you lose a share of your commission to the ppc agency, the seo agency, the agency who produced a magazine advert, the tv advertising company and the billboard company (not to mention point of sale in the retail store) you won't complain as they all 'touched the customer on their journey'.

[channel5]

Originally Posted by drivetowin So then when you lose a share of your commission to the ppc agency, the seo agency, the agency who produced a magazine advert, the tv advertising company and the billboard company (not to mention point of sale in the retail store) you won't complain as they all 'touched the customer on their journey'.

Be fair to the guy, you can't track most of those touch points you refer to and his point wasn't about them anyway.

The networks do count all the people that drop cookies as they record the cookie drop at each point, so sharing comission amongst cookie droppers would not be a problem. I personally think this is the way forward as it makes the entire award of comission much more fair.

I think that the only sites it would screw up would be the cashback sites, voucher, content, PPC/everyone else would not be messed up by this.

If the commission is split then it means that each site will have to work harder to try and provide everything the consumer needs to make their purchase decision improving the service to the consumer, the best sites would offer content, voucher codes, price comparison (and maybe even cashback) and then they would reap more reward for their extra effort.

Lazy asses would earn less potentially, but who cares about that eh?!

[Markup]

Originally Posted by channel5 If the commission is split then it means that each site will have to work harder to try and provide everything the consumer needs to make their purchase decision improving the service to the consumer, the best sites would offer content, voucher codes, price comparison (and maybe even cashback) and then they would reap more reward for their extra effort.

Not really, is all anyone wanting to take a share of a shared commission would then have to do is create a really eye catching link/ad/one liner, to send the user to any old land and be assured of his/her share of the pie.