Payment disputes ‘obstruct growth of affiliate marketing'
- Added:
- Nov 26, 2008
Payments are a major concern for affiliate marketers, according to recent research.
The study, from EntroPay conducted at the A4U Expo in October 2008, reveals a disconnect between affiliates and merchants in the way that payments are made, with only 23% of affiliates happy with the way they are paid, compared to 62% of merchants who are satisfied with current payment processes for affiliates.
The administrative costs for merchants when making global payments are often as high as £25 per transaction, but surprisingly 67% of respondents were unaware of these charges.
Failure to address this is a major obstacle for the growth of affiliate marketing in 2009.
The research also highlights that decreasing marketing budgets are the biggest concern for the industry in 2009. But it’s not all doom and gloom, with half of the respondents stating that the credit crunch will help increase demand for affiliate marketing, with almost 50% predicting it will drive growth of vouchers and discount affiliate marketing online.
Commenting on the research, Alex Mifsud, CEO of EntroPay said: “Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular sales and marketing channels in the online sector. But current payment methods are creating a barrier to affiliate marketing growth, with a divide in the way that affiliates and merchants view payment processes. Of all affiliates surveyed, the second biggest challenge to the industry is the speed of making payments, following decreasing marketing budgets.
“The growth in social networking and blogs has led to the rise of micro-affiliates who are not able to meet high payment thresholds imposed by merchants and can therefore miss out on regular payments, or may not even get paid at all. While this will clearly cause frustration for the affiliate, it represents a vast missed opportunity for the merchant. But on the merchant’s side, businesses also need to feel confident that they are not wasting money on administrative costs associated with payments, especially in today’s economic climate.
“The results highlight a clear need to introduce a global standard for such payments, ensuring rapid and efficient payments across the world regardless of how small each transaction is. Payment is an important part of increasing brand loyalty and ultimately helps drive sales back to the merchant’s site. In today’s environment, merchants cannot afford to waste money on costly administrative charges when making global payments. Prepaid open-loop cards – those that operate with the international card networks such as Visa and MasterCard – offer a cost effective, simple and secure way to pay affiliates quickly and efficiently, overcoming currency conversion and administrative issues across the world.”
EntroPay surveyed delegates at the A4U Expo 2008 including affiliates, merchants, networks, agencies and other industry figures.
Source: www.entropay.com