Already this is causing a huge impact on cashflow for affiliates with a number suggesting that adspend in the vital 4th quarter may be affected. Other in the cashback sector are having to pass on the unpleasant news to their customers that the expected cashback they were to receive shall no longer be available or that they are dipping into emergency funds to pay consumers.

The discussions at Affiliates4U concerning this debacle are becoming heated and quite rightly so. Affiliates seem to be at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to payment protection. In addition, hundreds of retailers are now having to endure additional expenditure switching network programs or even taking affiliate marketing in-house.

The impact for retailers cannot be understated. Many successful affiliates and affiliate companies have potentially lost significant sums of money. Retailers looking for strong promotion by affiliates over the coming months could find that some affiliates they would usually rely on to generate vast numbers of sales for them, are restricted in what they can allocate in terms of resources for successful marketing campaigns.

What I find absolutely incredible is that networks generally have no mechanism in place to ensure protection of affiliate earnings. Some networks like Paid On Results do require that merchants Pre Pay on their accounts. Others like Affiliate Window operate a traffic light system which advises affiliates on which retailers to safely promote.

However no network to date separates the revenue allocated for affiliate commissions into escrow, separating these monies from their general expenditure. This means that there is no underlying guarantee of payment protection directly for affiliates. Reputable networks like Affiliate Window spend huge sums of money on credit insurance each year. This ensures that the network gets paid for all merchants in the event of merchant defaults and this goes some significant way to ensuring affiliates get paid. Yet what precise level of protection does ANY network provide to protect affiliates from network over exposure beyond the laudable activities of voluntarily provided information on merchant credit protection and an alert system on merchants behind with payments? There is no mechanism in place which states that affiliate earnings are ringfenced and will be paid even if the network folds.

Default Commission Rates
Repeat Orders 15% of order value
First Customer Order

Fashion is our Mission Statement…

My Rock City is a music inspired fashion web store dedicated to bringing you the coolest fashion brands and exclusive band collaborations. Myrockcity.com aspires to be ‘not just another online retailer’ we will be selling exclusive limited edition brand apparel as seen on some of the coolest bands of the moment “As Rocked by”. We specialize in those hard to come by brands here in the UK. We are constantly sourcing the up and coming brands your visitors should be wearing, as well as discovering the hottest bands your visitors should be hearing. We have taken every precaution to minimise commission leakage.

This affiliate program is like no other, once again Affiliate Program Advice offers affiliates more choice in terms of all the tools, information and creatives to fit into your own traffic aggregation initiatives. Affiliate Program Advice knows how much the value of each customer is worth, they have factored this into everything so affiliates can expect to receive a generous commission for sending new customers and receive higher industry standard commissions on repeat orders. Affiliates can also feel confident that MyRockCity.com will be aggressively working on customer retention. Possibly one of the biggest pulling factors is that our products and brand will be seen on some of the greatest bands out there.

Dedicated Affiliate Manager
Datafeed
Dynamic content links
Creatives (custom banners and customer emails for you to tag up and distribute to your own opt-in email subscribers)
Monthly new customer incentives and customer retention incentives
Affiliates will be paid twice a month providing they reach the affiliate network payment threshold
PPC Policy: Open PPC Policy but will be subject to review in six months.

INK CLOTHING

Ink clothing (or I’d never kill clothing) appeals to several music fashion communities with its diverse nature. The colourful and stylish design work printed on to a skinny fit tee or hoodie would look good on anyone associated with Emo, Punk or alternative music fashion scenes.

Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Ink clothing is the brainchild of one David Taylor whose ambitions of launching his own clothing line brings a refreshing attitude to the fashion business with his intent on creating purely what will look good for the scene kids:

“At INK we started cause we love the whole market and genre we’re involved in. We’re not 40 something guys trying to figure out what kids want to wear, we are kids just trying to make cool-ass clothing that people want to wear that competes and betters what’s out there, not ’cause we’re p***ed at anything or anyone”

The clothing line boasts an ever-growing list of fantastic designer tops – all of which at very affordable prices. The whole site and company is a virtuous effort at providing great clothes for affordable prices that will certainly appeal to the scene kids. Watch out for I’d Never Kill clothing as there is a certain feel that this small idea could become a big deal.

DISTURBIA CLOTHING

Who is Disturbia clothing? It’s in the name. Disturbia clothing specialises in tee designs that grab modern day icons and idol imagery by the scruff and twists and moulds them into warped designs of the unhinged and downright macabre. Ever wanted to wear a t-shirt design where a certain famous cartoon mouse shoots himself in the mouth? Look no further.

Disturbia is certainly a site you should check out if you’re one for dark humour and want people to know about it. There is a certain punk ethos running throughout the site with constant denunciation of pop culture and the corporate world on every design and what’s more is that there is a large selection of tees for both guys and girls.

This is certainly something to check out, as some of the well-crafted designs have to be seen to be believed. A word of warning before entering the chasm of warped imagination that is disturbiaclothing.co.uk – this site is not for the easily offended!

PAINT THE STARS CLOTHING

The first thing you notice when you log on to the Paint The Stars website is how colourful and vibrant it is. The exact same thing can be said for it’s line of clothes. Very much suited for the Emo, Punk, Goth and Alternative scenes, Paint The Stars offers a large and diverse selection of some of the coolest cartoon style designer tops you’re likely to find.

The brand is very much suited for a mid teens to early twenties audience and there is no doubt that Paint The Star’s line of clothing will appeal to many scene kids. The clothing line is boosted by the fact that upcoming pop punk rock quartet All Time Low have been seen wearing some of their gear so if it’s good enough for them it’s certainly good enough for you!

BURN THIS FOREVER

Burn This Forever offer a huge range of designer tees, accessories and tour posters from not only their own unique brand but also many bands from the rock, emo, punk and metal fashion scenes.

The BTF brand itself is made up of bright and vibrant clever designs and the band t-shirts are much the same. The bands who have designs on BTF clothing include Alkaline Trio, All Time Low, Amber Pacific, Bad Religion, Bayside, Finch, HelloGoodbye, Mayday Parade, Metallica, New Found Glory, Panic! At The Disco, Paramore, Saosin, Say Anythin, Underoath and more!

If that wasn’t enough, BTF also sponsor and work with all those aforementioned bands as well as The Almost, The Bled Cute Is What We Aim For…, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, Hoobastank, Houston Calls, Lorene Drive, Lostprophets, Taking Back Sunday, The Used and many more.

Tenderness dvd PYKNIC CLOTHING

Pyknic Clothing brings something to the table that seems to be hard to find in music fashion these days – uniqueness. What’s more unique than the clothing line is the back-story as to how this particular idea came about:

“Those eating in the University cafeteria considered us to be bullies but the two of us found art in our food fights and other edible hijinks. We traded in our initial concoctions of spaghetti stained undershirts and other recipes of disaster for fashionable feasts that we would soon cater to others.”

The line of clothing is filled with bright and colourful cartoon style designs based on food. The designs almost capture the silly imaginations of your typical teen and print them onto a shirt.

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Bands who wear Pyknic Clothes include A Day To Remember, A Rocket To The Moon, Anarbor, Artist vs. Poet, Automatic Loveletter, Brighten, Cartel, Danger Radio, The Devil Wears Prada, Every Avenue, Farewell, Forever The Sickest Kids, Four Letter Lie, The Getaway Plan, Lydia, Hey Monday, Mercy Mercedes, The Maine, My Children, My Bride, New Found Glory, Powerspace, Racing Kites, The Secret Handshake, The Years Gone By.

The Ugly Truth rip Pyknic Clothing certainly appeals to those who dig the pop punk and alternative music fashion. With so many great designs to choose from, it’s easy to see why so many bands are endorsing Pyknic Clothing.

FAMOUS STARS AND STRAPS

Famous Stars And Straps, or simply ‘Famous’, was established in 1999 by Travis Barker – a name synonymous in music as the virtuoso drummer of Punk Rock icons Blink 182 (as well as Transplants, Box Car Racer and +44). The clothing line consists of several stylish tops, tees, hats, trousers, shorts and accessories for both men and women.

Inspired by Barker’s Punk Rock fashion roots, selections from the line of clothing have been seen on music orientated celebrities stretching across various genres such as Barker’s band mates in Blink 182 Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge, B-Real from Cypress Hill, DJ Premier, Steve Jocz of Sum 41, Fergie of Black Eyed Peas, Lee Gaze of Lostprophets, Synister Gates from Avenged Sevenfold and Matt Tuck from Bullet For My Valentine.

Designed by a rock star and worn by rock stars, there is a certain appeal from Famous that not a lot of other brands have and that’s proven success with big people from the music community in general. Thoroughly recommended.

CRIMINAL DAMAGE

Criminal Damage is a fast upcoming brand of clothes for young adults from the alternative music fashion. There is a large selection of tops, tees, jeans, shorts and jackets for guys and an even bigger section for girls’ jeans, leggings, tops, dresses, jackets, vests and more!

Criminal Damage will certainly appeal to not only the alternative music fashion scene but also young adults in general as the stylish designs would appeal to anyone wanting to look their best.

LOWLIFE

Established in London in 2001, Lowlife specialise in designer belts that appeal to the punk, rock, goth, emo and alternative music fashion scenes. Their belts are synonymous within the music fashion world and their designs are very easy to spot on musicians, skaters, BMX riders, and tattoo artists. Lowlife have official support from great bands such as Cancer Bats, Gallows, No Children, Ollie Jason, Pristine and sounds Like Violence.

NEW ERA + EK

New era specialise in stylish designer headwear and are the official manufacturer and marketer of every cap, hat or visor worn by every Major League Baseball team. Founded in 1920 by an American-German businessman by the name of Ehrhardt Koch, the company have become well known in world of fashion for their stylish designs and licensed sponsorship agreements with the NBA, NHL and the aforementioned Major league Baseball franchises.

As well as some of the best looking headwear you can find, New era also sport their own line of apparel suited for the average sports enthusiast and people who’s fashion sense include the urban music fashion scene. Be sure to check out New Era’s EK range – a unique line of caps created to fit everyone’s personal style!

UPPER PLAYGROUND

Contemporary urban apparel and accessories designed by some of the best artists you’re likely to come across sums up Upper Playground in a nutshell. Here you will find designer Tops, Tees, beanies, belts, shoes, wallets, bags and if that wasn’t enough you can also find some cleverly designed house-wear products such as glasses, cups, ashtrays and shower curtains!

Upper Playground designs are the ultimate hybrid of fashion and art – coming together to fuse as one to create some of the most stylish designer clothes money can buy. With designs that capture the imaginative conjures of the human mind whether they be clever or downright weird, Upper Playground is a must see website for people who just want to look cool.

ORIGINAL PENGUIN

Seen on celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Adam Brody and Devin Setoguchi, Original Penguin is a lifestyle brand offers a line of stylish apparel suited for men, women and children. With roots in the 1950s and 60s evident in the look of the apparel, there is a wide range of products to choose from including Polos, tees, jackets, skirts, trousers, shorts, sunglasses, watches, footwear, hats and scarves.

Such is the style and popularity of Original Penguin, the line of clothing is often seen worn on actors and actresses featuring in such shows as “The O.C.”, “How I Met Your Mother”, “DirtySexyMoney” and “Heroes”. One can’t help but think if the line is good enough to be seen in such hit shows then they’re certainly good enough for anyone!

CARDBOARD ROBOT

When you think of the name Cardboard Robot you don’t exactly expect it to be a site dedicated to providing great-looking, affordable tops and hoodies however they do just that. With an element of punk rock evident in each design, Cardboard Robot provides amazing designs created in mind for the “craziest misfits, geeks and dorks”

But you don’t have to be a punk to appreciate the cleverly designed tops and recognise the message of rebellion that each print cries out. Cardboard Robot is definitely a place to check out no matter what your political or social beliefs are.

CHEAP MONDAY

Formed in Sweden in 2000, Cheap Monday have become well known for their unique designer clothes and how affordable they are. Originally exclusive to manufacturing designer jeans, Cheap Monday have since broadened their line to include several well-crafted designer tops, tees, jackets and sneakers.

The line of clothing sports an iconic style logo of a skull with an inverted crucifix on the forehead. This apparently derives from logo creator Björn Atldax’s very punk-rcok statement of anti-religion, as he perceives religion as the cause of many conflicts. While this ethic may seem rather dark, the clothing line is anything but and sports a good range of clothes for guys and girls with all types of fashion sense.

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So What Genre, Format And Style?

Ink clothing: Ink clothing – ideal for the emo, punk and alternative scene kids

Disturbia Clothing – Cool and freaky designs taking a twist on modern day iconic imagery. Must see to believe.

Paint the stars: stylish cartoon design clothing suited for the punk, goth and alternative music fashion scenes. As soon on pop-punk quartet All Time Low

Burn This Forever: Awesome designer tees sporting logos from some of your favourite bands such as Metallica, Paramore, New Found Glory, Saosin, Panic! At The Disco and more!

Pyknic Clothing: Food inspired cartoon prints? You can’t say it’s not original! Cool tops as seen on such bands as New Found Glory, The Maine, Forever The Sickest Kids, Automatic Loveletter, A Day To Remember and more!

Famous Stars And Straps: Some of the best-looking Punk and Urban style fashion you’re likely to see brought to you by Blink 182’s very own human drumming machine Travis Barker! As seen on members of Lostprophets, Bullet For My Valentine and various other famous musicians!

Criminal Damage: Very stylish designer clothes aimed for the alternative and indie music fashions.

Lowlife: Belt manufacturers synonymous with stylish designs in the rock music fashion world. Official support given by such bands as Gallows and Cancer Bats

New Era: Specialising in designer caps and other apparel. The official marketer of the caps and visors worn by major league baseball players.

Upper Playground: From the cool to the downright weird, Upper Playground has some very imaginative prints on their line of designer clothes. Definitely worth checking out!

Original Penguin: Stylish line of clothes with roots from the 1950s and 60s evident. As seen on such celebrities as Brad Pitt, Jake Gyllenhaal and Adam Brody and on such TV shows as DirtySexyMoney, Heroes and The O.C.

Cardboard Robot: Designed in mind for “the craziest Misfits, Geeks and Dorks”. Stylish punk rock clothing.

Cheap Monday: Great designer clothes suited for anyone’s style!

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This article is aimed at all those MDs, Board of Directors, decision makers that don’t have the guts to hold up their hands and say “We suck and we need help” Hmmm but I have to concede that some times that’s easier said then done.

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I can confirm that many people who know nothing about ecommerce set up businesses every day and are very successful, how can that be? Because they buy in the right skill sets to help them do the job, they push their own ego, arrogance and their own lack of knowledge to one side and gain respect from the industry at large because they are doing the one simple thing we all learnt from the moment we started school, we ask questions because, knowledge is power.

Often is the case that buying in the help comes with its own set of problems based on lack of knowledge in core business key areas. How do you know if the company/person you have just spoken to are not out to rip you off? How do you know the person you have just spoken to is right for the job? It is, for some decision makers, a catch 22 scenario.

Quick quiz to get you thinking, these are real scenarios by the way.
World’s dumbest decision makers decisions.
Scenario 1
You have just started up a brand new company and you have retained a company that has a history of successful business practice and can prove results, you would…

a) Listen and implement their suggestions no questions asked?
b) Ignore their advice?
c) Bury your head in sand?
d) Ask the company why they have recommended xyz to get a better understanding?

Here the company did
b) & c)

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Scenario 2
You want to hire an ecommerce expert to look after your core business, traffic aggregation initiatives and analytics and logistics would you hire..

a) Website Development Company with no marketing, analytic experience, all they do is create 100k websites in flash?

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b) Promote the woman who does editorial content, no experience in anything web related, to head of ecommerce?

Colour Me Kubrick: A True…ish Story movie download c) Hire an ecommerce consultant who has a proven track record?

Company did a) & b)
Ok so it’s all very obvious which you would have opted for, but the lunacy out there never fails to surprise me. In scenario 1 & 2, these are real companies who had some of the best in the business sat at their table, not just referring to APA, but they decided that they knew better and so we watch as they go from “That potential” to “They lost the plot”

This is not just APA that has had to bang their heads against a wall, I can hear loads of you out there with your own baffling tales of stupid decision making practices.
But it gets a bit more serious when your company is a PLC. There can be no margin for ignorance, arrogance or ego, your share holders deserve better.

Moral in this story is if you have the right people at your table, you will know soon enough as your stats will prove this. If you have the right people at your table and you chose to ignore them, do so at your own peril. If you are looking for the right people to sit at your table, go get references from past/present clients and do your home work, if you go to these lengths to get the right people then for the love of god listen to them. The Happiest Millionaire movie

Its ok not to know things, no one said you had to know everything, most successful online companies, I can guarantee they did not start out knowing everything, they looked at where their areas of weaknesses were/are and they went out and got are getting educated.
Rock on and respect to them!

Its ok to make mistakes too, just as long as you lean from them, in scenario 1, that company should have known better!

“Dear Sir,

We came across your site, when searching for relevant link partners. You have an excellent site and we would be delighted to exchange links with you! Please Check our site and let me know your info if you are ready to trade link. For your kind consideration, here is our detail.

Women’s Clothing Boutique
http://www.opaj.net/

Shop for the hottest styles and fashion trends in children’s and women’s clothing, apparel and outerwear.
Here is the location where your link will be placed at http://www.alohabay.com/cgi-bin/listings/listings.cgi?subcat=1016

waiting for your quick reply.

Best Reqards
Shailendra
spandey@varshyl-tech.biz

NOTE: We are not spammers and are against spamming of any kind. We are sending this mail with sole intention of link exchange for mutual benefit. If you are not interested in Link Exchange then you can reply with a simple \”Don’t Disturb\” in subject line. And we will never approach you again for link exchange.”

Dear Shailendra.
Thank you for your request with regards to deeming our site worthy of a link exchange.
Firstly, www.affiliateprogramadvice.com is for our clients only and industry news and am wondering where the benefits would be in us linking to your sites?

Secondly, I noticed you did not contact us via our contact form and therefore I have to conclude that you have just randomly sent to info at affiliateprogramadvice.com.
I love your statement “we are not spammers” and just a quick heads up re future non spamming that you carry out.. Starting an email with Dear Sir is never a good move just in case the person who gets the email is in fact a woman!

Kind Regards JESSICA (WOMAN)

For new and small businesses that want to focus on new customer acquisitions and sales a “run of site” discount voucher will do the trick in most cases.
It helps build a brand and gets the merchants company out there in front of their target market and its all pay on performance. Just as a fyi, if a merchant offers 10% off a product o their customers who came via an affiliate link, the affiliate gets 10% less commission, in some cases affiliates are agreeing to less over all affiliate commissions just so they can have a voucher/coupon code to pass on to their visitors, there are even some affiliates who in addition to less commission will accept a reduced cookie or simple a session cookie, so this really is good news for the merchant, or is it? Just for the record, Im not a big fan of run of site voucher codes, but some ecommerce platforms cant support anything else. See hints and tips blow.

A generic run of site discount voucher/coupon needs to be carefully thought through, how does this affect the overall margins? Example on white label goods, margins can be already tight. Short term financial loss for long term financial gain approach based on the life time value of a customer perhaps?.The savvy merchant will know their metrics, they will know what the life time value of their customer is and be able to work out the financial cost associated to acquiring a new customer. They can factor this in with regards to giving a run of site vouchers/coupons to their affiliates. They will have their analytics in place and be able to interpret and understand the numbers.
Here is the first problem, there is a given industry assumption that the merchant knows what they are doing when they give out a run of site discount voucher/coupon to affiliates, we all assume that the merchant has factored in the costs associated, the affiliate commission, the affiliate network override, the cost price of the product (VAT), the postage and packaging, the storage, the labour costs. It may come as no surprise then when I say that some small to medium merchants don’t have a the foggiest idea of analytics or how to work out the cost of acquiring a new customer and focus only on first time sales. Just what the percentage is that don’t understand, I wonder if I would be too far off by suggesting 85% of small online businesses are operating a business using a scattergun approach, could be higher. I feel a survey coming on, any volunteers?

When run of site voucher codes gets out of control.
Scenario, you are anymerchant.com you rank No1 for your name on organic search (if you don’t then most likely you are new, less likely but possible you are black listed) Back to topic, so you rank No1 for your name then below you comes “ anymerchant.com discount voucher here”. As a consumer, what am I going to do?

A) Go to anymerchant.com browse products and buy direct?
B) Got to anymerchant.com browse products then go to anymerchant.com discount voucher here affiliate site and grab the voucher code and use it?
C) Go directly to anymerchant.com discount voucher here?

Just look for your self, type in discount vouchers or discount coupons then cross reference, some sites are still promoting voucher codes from merchants who have closed their affiliate program. Is this ok? I don’t think so. Some sites force cookies meaning the visitor gets cookied before they even see the merchant’s site.

Affiliates who don’t stick to the rules.
Well again it may come as no surprise that some affiliates don’t stick to the rules as has been laid out in the terms and conditions. Whilst rogue affiliates are few in numbers they are a real pain in the ass to deal with when I comes to run of site and in some cases category or product specific voucher codes (we will talk more about category and product specific voucher codes later on) such a pain in the butt that AffiliateProgramAdvice.com is now reviewing voucher codes re their clients (period).
The problem is three fold, the first I have explained above, the second is… if a merchant gives an affiliate an exclusive discount voucher code to a trusted affiliate (what is an exclusive voucher/coupon code?, myaffiliatesite.com has a merchant voucher/coupon called myaffiliatesite.com, means that myaffiliatesite.com is building a brand and by having a voucher for visitors to use helps reinforce the brand of the affiliate site for the purposes of coming back. Its also a clear signal that the affiliates site has the backing from the merchant.) What we have seen in the UK is an epidemic of rogue affiliates stealing and promoting some other affiliate’s exclusive discount/coupon code. It’s a mess out there! “Jess kick the rogue affiliate off the affiliate program”! I hear you shout? Errrm not that easy. Some rogue affiliates have no clue which merchants codes they have
a) stolen from other affiliates
b) which were legit
c) What planet they live on.
Essentially, even though the affiliate no longer earns commissions, they are still displaying voucher/coupon codes that most likely expired anyway (affiliates who don’t display expiry dates regardless of the code being authorised for that affiliate or even stolen codes, it may not have occurred to them but this can cause a logistics nightmare for customer care, if an affiliate promotes a voucher that has expired the consequences not only harms the merchant and the industry, but an irony if the affiliate thinks he/she is pulling in traffic this way then what are the chances of that referred visitor coming back to the affiliates site? Or even remaining in the merchants affiliate program. Im please to report that the majority of affiliates do display an expiry date).

Thirdly, the human resources that goes into policing this is not cost effective and a useful way to utilise time, are we really turning into an industry where by 70% of the time is spent on policing and 30% o relationship building?

”Jess get the networks to sort it out”. Errrm not that easy either, some affiliate networks are better then others at policing rogue affiliates. But the majority of affiliate networks are not kicking the rogue affiliates out, rather they keep them for the sake of the legitimate codes that they have been issued, remember the affiliate network gets a % of the sales and leads. The networks have responded by offering a voucher/coupon tracking code that the merchant has to implement on their website, all fine and dandy but for a lot of merchants it was all they could do just to get the basic pixel tracking in place. The assumption here is that merchants are technical, marketing, analytical when in reality the basic day to day running of their online business is their priority. My question has got to be, if we report a rogue affiliate, what on earth are they still doing in that affiliate network weeks/months later, still promoting other merchants? A rogue affiliate is a rogue affiliate, period! There can be no allowances made. Aff networks holler “we are cleaning up the industry!!!” In this particular instance I would say you are doing some light dusting but have yet to take the vacuum cleaner out! The industry is getting to the point where by what started out as genius is degenerating into a cacophony of anarchy and all because there are few to police this bad practice and those that do police end up being seen to be the bad guys and get stick on forums and blogs for being “mean” “not affiliate friendly” simply because the networks allow this to continue. A merchant has ultimate control over how his/her products should be promoted, if the affiliate breaks the rules then not only should they be ousted from the affiliate program but ousted from the affiliate network too. This way I can give exclusive voucher codes to my trusted affiliates and know that they wont have to do battle with other affiliates who know the bucks, pounds and Euros that they generate for the networks will protect them.

Voucher/coupon codes offline and the general public.
Scenario, you got a great offer being promoted in some relevant magazine “get 10% off when you purchase x product, enter coupon tottenhamhotspursrule at check out (don’t knock em we won the Wembley cup). There are affiliate sites out there where the general public can post vouchers/coupons for other registered members. Now your offline stats are skew. If this has or is happing to you, contact the website owner either via the network or directly and state “You do not have our permission for your users to display this code, please remove”. The law states that information in the general public arena is acceptable, in theory anything a merchant publishes in a magazine for example, is not protected per say. Copyright infringement? Not when it comes to coupons/vouchers. So there is very little you can do here. Weigh up the pros and cons first.

So what can you do?
Never issue run of site voucher codes unless you are a new online business and you are looking to acquire new customers. Attach affiliate terms and conditions and one of them MUST be for affiliates to display an expiry date, at the very least. I hate run of site vouchers, my preference would be to have a generic first time customer incentive (providing the e-commerce platform can support this). A one time only discount either % or free P&P. Going forwards keep offline and online promotions the same and issue codes for either category or product specific only. This way merchants can work on their products that have bigger margins. Another good use of voucher codes is based on basket value, get % off when you spend $£x.00

Keep promotions short, issue clear guidelines to affiliates and to your PR agency or media partner. Category and product specific coupons will do the same job as a run of site voucher/coupon, how ever this will not resolve the problem of the code being plastered all over the net.

Don’t issue voucher codes unless you have the analytics in place in which to measure by. Merchants and affiliates alike should be measuring every click. Acquisitions, retention, sales, clicks, impressions, campaigns, basket abandonment, bounce rates, competitors (and their affiliate program). It’s a lot of work and data mining but if you don’t invest in this from day one I will hurt you financially down the line and you will be operating your business blindfolded and using best guess and not looking at worse case scenario.

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You can use the affiliate networks voucher/coupon tracking code, ask them for it, this would be the easiest way providing you have a tech head that can implement it on the site. If you do have a tech head then ask them to write a script that will do the same job if your network can not provide the tracking.

Id hate to see the day when I could not issue an exclusive code to one of my trusted affiliates, that day is fast approaching, unfortunately.

I love the guys and girls that I work with and have built up a good long term relationship with and these affiliate partners are a merchants dream come true by the way they promote them. I wont have a word said against them and some require exclusive voucher codes and for me, no problem at all. But it’s the rogue affiliates that are forcing merchants and agencies to rethink the whole voucher code allocation.
Solution, aff networks have got to get a zero tolerance approach or voucher codes for affiliates will soon become a thing of the past, can we all look beyond the here and now and start reading the writing on the wall.