What Happens If A Customer Clicks Two Different Affiliate Links Before Purchase?

  • Resolved jamierbw

    (@jamierbw)


    6 years, 1 month ago

    If a customer was to click two different affiliate links, which one would be credited with the affiliate sale? The first or the second? Or both (which would be a huge problem as technically a customer could click 5 affiliate links of 20% each and then you would be paying 100% of the product cost to affiliates)?

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Plugin Support mbrsolution

    (@mbrsolution)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    Hi, let me answer your question individually.

    If a customer was to click two different affiliate links, which one would be credited with the affiliate sale?

    Only the link that a sale has occurred. If both links produce a sale then a commission is paid out to both different links.

    The first or the second?

    As explained above.

    Or both (which would be a huge problem as technically a customer could click 5 affiliate links of 20% each and then you would be paying 100% of the product cost to affiliates)?

    If the customers clicks on 5 different affiliate links (each pays 20% commission). The payout would be 20% of each link. Yes the total would appear to be 100%. This is an accumulation of 5 different links and each link produce a sale.

    Let me know if you need more help.

    Kind regards

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by mbrsolution.
    • This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by mbrsolution.
    • This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by mbrsolution.
    Thread Starter jamierbw

    (@jamierbw)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    Thank you for your reply, however I am still unsure.

    I set Cookie Duration (days) to 90. Thus the cookie will remain for 90 days and will be valid for all purchases, correct? So in theory, someone could click affiliate link A, go away from the site, and click affiliate link B, then make a purchase. So where would the affiliate sale credit go to as both still have active cookies. With an affiliate link that generates the cookie, either the second link should be ignored until the cookie expires or the cookie should be overwritten by the second link as this is the most recent affiliate link that has been followed. It shouldn’t credit both affiliates because then the store can end up selling things for nothing or paying out more in affiliate sales than the cost of the products.

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by jamierbw. Reason: Forgot to add something
    Plugin Support mbrsolution

    (@mbrsolution)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    Hi, let me see if I can clear this up for you.

    So in theory, someone could click affiliate link A, go away from the site, and click affiliate link B, then make a purchase. So where would the affiliate sale credit go to as both still have active cookies.

    If someone clicks on affiliate link A and later on clicks on affiliate link B. The commission will be awarded to the link that generated the sale. So in this case, lets say that affiliate link B is the link that generated the sale. The sale from this link would be rewarded with the commission.

    Let me know if you need more information.

    Kind regards

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by mbrsolution.
    Thread Starter jamierbw

    (@jamierbw)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    What about the cookie? Are you saying it os overwritten by the latest click?

    This might clear it up a bit more….
    Customer clicks affiliate link A and leaves site after.
    Customer clicks affiliate link B and leaves site after.
    Customer comes back to site one week later (not clicking any affiliate link) and makes purchase 1.
    Who gets affiliate credit for purchase 1?
    Customer likes the item and makes another purchase one week later (purchase 2) without going through an affiliate link. Do the affiliates still get credited with the sale?
    The cookie is set to 90 days so the sales occur within this time.

    Plugin Support mbrsolution

    (@mbrsolution)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    Hi, please read the following documentation. This should help you understand how the cookie works.

    In regards to your second question. Can you give me an example of what you mean.

    Thank you

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by mbrsolution.
    Thread Starter jamierbw

    (@jamierbw)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    I know this. But I have been trying to ask the same thing in each of my three posts. Will the cookie be overwritten to credit the latest referrer or will the cookie exist for its entire lifespan?

    Affiliate WP for example, offers the ability to set both options:
    https://docs.affiliatewp.com/article/52-common-questions-on-affiliate-tracking
    “If a customer clicks on 2 different affiliate links from 2 different affiliates, which one is saved?
    The first affiliate link that the customer clicks will store the affiliate’s ID in a cookie and it cannot be overridden from the second link unless the cookie expires, or the customer clears their browser cookies and then clicks on the second link, or the Credit Last Referrer setting is enabled on Affiliates → Settings → General .”

    I want to know how the cookies work in this instance for this plugin.

    Plugin Support mbrsolution

    (@mbrsolution)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    Hi, I have submitted a request to the developers to answer your question. Unfortunately my knowledge about your question is limited.

    My apologies.

    Kind regards

    Thread Starter jamierbw

    (@jamierbw)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    OK, thank you.

    Plugin Author wp.insider

    (@wpinsider-1)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    From the example you gave, Affiliate B will get the commission. Basically, the last affiliate click gets it. This is the most common method of affiliate tracking. This is the same model that amazon affiliate system uses (just to pick one example).

    Thread Starter jamierbw

    (@jamierbw)

    6 years, 1 month ago

    Exactly what I needed to know, thank you.

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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