Optimizing The Affiliate Channel For Deal-Driven Customers

Customers are flocking to affiliate deal sites that offer promotional coupons and offer codes. The slowdown in the economy, advances in technology, and a more favorable consumer mindset toward couponing are driving online shoppers en masse to horizontal coupon and deal sites such as ShopatHome and RetailMeNot, vertical coupon and deal sites such as TechBargains, and cashback sites such as Ebates and Upromise. But unlike just a few years ago, these sites now employ sophisticated merchandising tools and robust tracking and reporting technologies. In addition, in many cases they offer global reach. Yet for eBusiness professionals, some historical questions persist around measuring incrementality, sales crediting, and brand association. But the impressive traffic flowing to these sites, coupled with the relatively low-risk pay-for-performance model, offer eBusiness professionals compelling new opportunities in the space.