Affiliates want to make the sale, but do they care about the customer experience? Some do for sure – there are lots of affiliates that do a great job in providing a seamless flow to merchants. CashKickBack.com is not one of them.
This affiliate uses a unique means to drive traffic through their affiliate links. They run auctions touting coupons for brand names.
For instance, they’ve got an auction for a FootSmart coupon with the title “Foot Smart Shoes Socks Sandals Boots Coupons Discount.”
Consumers can get the “Footsmart dot com Coupon – 6% – 6.5% Off Discount” for $0.01.
They bill the deal as follows:
Coupon Details:
- You will get the discount off ANYTHING at the above store (only valid online and cannot be used for purchasing gift cards and ipods).
- This discount can be applied on top of ANY other coupon/discount guaranteed!
- This coupon is valid for 1 month after purchase.
What You Will Get:
- You are bidding on the time it takes us to send you the email. The discount will be included for free as a gift.
- Within 24 hours you will receive an email with the details for your discount.
So what happens when somebody buys one of these “coupons”? Well, I decided to invest my penny in the name of research.
Oddly enough, I didn’t get a coupon. Instead I got the following:
Hello!
Thank you for your interest in our ebay coupons!
To receive your discount you must follow these 3 simple steps below:1) When you are ready to shop, go to www.cashkickback.com (DO NOT SIGN UP AS A MEMBER!!!) and browse to the store you want to shop at by clicking on the category and then on the store’s link on that page.
2) Shop like normal and make your purchase at the store (your discount will NOT appear).
3) Then send an email to xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.com with:
the amount of money you spent at the store, the store’s name, and your paypal email address.…And within 48-72 hours (after we verify your purchase with the store) you will receive your percent off discount in your PayPal account from us!
Clever and innovative, maybe. Deceptive? No doubt. In my opinion, it’s a lousy customer experience that counts on consumers not jumping through hoops to get their “coupon” redeemed.
No worries for the affiliate, but detrimental to the many brands being leveraged in this way.
You know what time it is? Time for affiliate managers to audit their affiliate programs and clean house.