Calling MFI affiliates - feedback required

[MFI]

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Hi All,

This may not be in the right place so mods, feel free to move.

I am starting the ball rolling with Paul at perfiliate to get some content units in place for the programme and could really do with some ideas from you guys. I was thinking along the lines of providing the following:

Top six products for each category:

• Bathrooms
• Beds
• Bedrooms
• Living and Working
• Sofas
• Kitchens
• Appliances

And was also thinking about having a unit for one top product/range from each of the categories to fit better with the directory style sites.

What are your thoughts, can you see value in these or do you have suggestions for other content you'd need? I'm thinking that maybe you'll just need the one unit representing the best seller from all categories but we'll see.

Cheers

[Elaine]

I'd be happy with just the kids stuff - something I could paste and copy - brilliant

[KieronD]

Cole, I used to do a ton of sales with you guys but unfortunately your commission at 3% is far too low when your competitors offer 10% to 15%. I therefore swapped my links.

So maybe a starting point may be to review the commission structure?

[MFI]

Thanks Elaine,
I will think about splitting the nominations down further than category so you can maybe select the type of bedroom/sofa/whatever e.g. single beds, double beds etc.

and thanks also Kieron,

Whilst on the face of it 3% may look meagre, If you consider the ATV on MFI affiliate sales is leagues higher than any of our competitors, MFI commission is actually on a par with some financial institutions (e.g - up to GBP 50 per sale).

Coupling this with the TV advertising support and powerful sale messages increasing conversion allows you to see the true value of the program.

Cheers,
Cole

[KieronD]

Cole, I appreciate that MFI has a good brand and the TV campaigns also help immensely. However, this is not the be all and end all. I now promote Laura Ashley furniture amongst others where my average, but by no means highest commission (at 8% to 10%) is usually £50 to £100 per sale. I always get a few through at over £200 per month too. Before you say anything I know you can't compare Laura Ashley to MFI as they are two seperate brands in terms of price and marketplace. However, after having a good look around I can't find a single other furniture retailer offering commission as low as 3%.

Looking back to February which was my last full month promoting MFI I achieved 67 sales (OK not a huge amount) worth £16,661,67 to you which netted me £499.80 in commission. That's an average of £7.46 per sale in commission even when steering my visitors to high ticket items.

Now can you see why I swapped my links away from MFI? IF I had been earning anywhere near £50 per sale then I would have kept them with you.

You asked for honest feedback and I am giving it, I hope you take it on board in the spirit it is intended. Why not put a tiered commission structure in place? At least then you can incentivise us to achieve the commission levels offered by your competitors.

[MFI]

Cheers Kieron,

It's always good to hear (read) honest feedback.

Differential commission is something that I have been looking into with Buy.at and I understand the barriers that a percieved low commission can put up so am working to improve this perception. This is still very much in a development process as I'm sure you know, there are a lot of sums involved so we'll further address this in the near future.

In parallel to this expansion work I'm looking to make the creative work harder for the guys on board at the moment, hence the content units and the topic of this thread. I'm trying to find out what would make it easier for existing partners to promote MFI in terms of creative/content to increase conversion.

Again thanks for all the comments so far, keep 'em coming!

Cole

[Azam.net]

Kieron makes a good point and I'm glad you're looking into the situation.

Looking forward to the changes. Great to have an affiliate manager who is proactive.

I have a well-off friend who has a policy of not buying in the sales. She has been visiting mfi.co.uk for two years but you have had a sale on for that entire time (which is supposedly about to end soon).

Could you please tell me when the MFI sale will be over?

[MFI]

It will never end if I can help it Nadeem! )

No seriously though,the short answer is we are in sale for a large portion of the year. The current trading law dictates that you can only have a sale if products sell at a higher price for a specified period of time, this is called the price establishment period. MFI offer BOGOF and added value offers to keep conversion up during this period, but it is not a "sale" per se.

My main concern is the perception of your non-sale friend, do they think that warranty is limited on sale items or something?

Legally the end date of the sale must be on communications so you will always find an end date on the latest creative in Buy.at and CJ.

Thanks for your comments Nadeem, I hope this was of some help.

Cheers,
Cole

[Azam.net]

Hey, I was only joking about 'my friend' (my wacky sense of humour). Still, makes me extremely cynical and does put me off stores which have a sale for 12 months of the year. Then again, I have noticed many stores have a permanent sale, so it's just part of British capitalism.

Must dash, as there's a closing down sale on the high street which my mate has just told me about... ends 5pm.

[MFI]

lol, sorry Nadeem, you caught me with my sensible head on. It's just a case of keeping up with the current tough trading climate. Hopefully the EU regs will soon be in to make it a level (and less stressful) playing field. Good luck in the sale!