WARNING: Next

[laurawp]

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Hi,

Just thought I'd warn anyone who has been unfortunate enough to waste time and money promoting Next - if you're not part of the closed group and you're promoting anything other than the directory then stop now, you're wasting your time.

I have had confirmation from affiliate window that there is a closed group for Next and anyone not in this group producing sales (other than those for the directory) are not being tracked . This is despite there being:

a) No warning when signing up to the Next Directory program
b) A default commission group advertised separate to the directory commission group
c) No mention of this in the terms and conditions
d) Banners for womens, mens, homeware sections of the site freely available to those not in the closed group

I raised the above points over a week ago but seeing as Affiliate Window seem in no rush to deal with any of the above points I would like to warn anyone who may also be oblivious to this.

Laura

[drivetowin]

I presume this only applies to people driving traffic by ppc?

[KevinEdwards]

Hi there,

Next does not operate any closed groups.

Next launched an affiliate programme in January 2007 for their retail site. They have run a successful programme for a number of years specifically for their catalogue.

Due to the enormous success of the retail programme and concerns about the sheer volume of sales and commissions, Affiliate Window, in conjunction with Next and their agency, took the decision to 'hide' the programme. Every affiliate that had joined since January was able to continue to promote the programme, however, (for the time being) no new affiliates can join.

Directory has always been run on CJ as a standalone programme. A few months ago we also launched the directory programme. As this is so heavily focused on new customer acquisition we are able to continue to recruit new affiliates and run this as an open programme.

Thanks,

[gadget]

Kevin.

I'm impressed. Not only have you, on behalf of the network and the merchant, responded to this post - you did it within 11 mins!

Oh how I wish all networks were like you!

[laurawp]

Kevin,

As already mentioned to Rachel, I signed up to the Next Directory program a couple of months ago and have happily been creating content and deeplinking to all areas of the next.co.uk site because there is nothing on the page, in the ts&Cs or the banners to lead me to believe I can't.

However, I have been told that on this program commission is only given for directory sales and nothing else, despite banners etc being freely available to link to other areas of the site. Are you saying this is actually not the case?

Thanks,
Laura

[KevinEdwards]

Hi Laura,

You're right there are some banners that advertise the .co.uk site rather than Directory however all click-thru URLs are directed to the Directory sign-up page.

Plus the programme information page states affiliates are only rewarded for Directory sign-ups.

I agree some of the banners may be misleading to consumers therefore we'll endeavour to change them shortly.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Kind regards,

[fizzbird]

I agree some of the banners may be misleading

Understatement of the year

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Shame it had to be posted on here to get a response though, was it not?

[KevinEdwards]

Would you rather I didn't respond?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Who'd work at a network eh?

[laurawp]

Kevin,

Perhaps, I'm being blind or looking at a different page to you, but where on the page does it say that affiliates are ONLY rewarded for directory signups? The page details the directory commission structure but it also details a "3% default" commission group, what's this for?

The reason this frustrates me so much is because I have wasted a good deal of my time preparing and promoting deeplinked content that is effectively useless. That wasted time could have been prevented by a simple line in bold at the top of this page saying This program is for directory sign-ups only, commission will not be rewarded on any other sales

Laura

[fizzbird]

Would you rather I didn't respond?

I raised the above points over a week ago

To re-iterate - shame it had to be posted here to get a response!

[KevinEdwards]

Laura,

The copy has been changed to reflect this.

Thanks,

[Northside]

Thanks for the warning Laurawp.

I have been similarly misled and will be removing deeplinks today.

[fizzbird]

Thanks for the warning Laurawp.

I have been similarly misled and will be removing deeplinks today.

Already done

[fionah]

Hi all,

...and thanks to Kevin for your speedy response!

Just thought I should make all deeplinkers aware that when a new customer makes a purchase on the next site they are required to set up a new account and choose whether they want to order a directory or not. Currently we pay out on all new accounts with or without a request for the actual book. By deeplinking you should recieve a higher conversion for new accounts than if you were to direct traffic directly to the directory page.

Any further queries please feel free to get in touch with me directly or, if you prefer, you can contact Kevin & Rachel at AW.

All the best,

Fiona Hammond
Affiliate Planner for next

[laurawp]

Kevin, thanks for finally sorting this out, hopefully this will save yourself and other publishers some agro in the future!

Fiona, thanks for that additional information, I'm surprised that this isn't mentioned on the AW Next Directory page? Perhaps this page should be re-written to include a clearer explanation as to what is/isn't included in the program? Please could you just clarify, is the payout for the new account opening the same as a directory sign up, I'm still not clear what the "default 3%" commission is?

Kind Regards,
Laura