kmart, please correct link

waytogo · October 28th, 2003, 10:55 AM

Kmart bfpage=homepage goes to Deal Zone instead.
Please correct.

Mike Abolafia · October 28th, 2003, 11:12 AM

The "Deal Zone" destination was set intentionally. However, the links is now set to go back to the homepage.

Thank you,

Michael Abolafia
Affiliate Account Executive
Affiliates@GSICommerce.com

waytogo · October 28th, 2003, 02:06 PM

You have a nice halloween creative at the kmart front page, so I placed/copied the bfpage=homepage link at the top of my halloween section.

To my surprise, the link was not converting.

Visitors who came to expect a seasonal (halloween) sales pitch was greeted instead with a clearance sales pitch. Wrong match.

You already have a bfpage=clearance, so I'm really wondering why you would divert the front page traffic in the middle of the halloween buying season.

That really sounds odd, especially that it was done intentionally.

Tell this to the people at Kmart

marketing 101:
You have to match your buyers with the products. (ie. the link that is supposed to go to the homepage should go to the homepage and not somewhere else.)

waytogo · October 28th, 2003, 02:28 PM

This, from Julian Day, after Kmart was approved to exit Chapter 11;

Day said the company will "aggressively pursue opportunities to increase revenues, reduce costs and increase asset productivity."

Mismatching your sales pitch with the product demand
is a missed opportunity to increase revenue.

waytogo · October 28th, 2003, 08:43 PM

With the halloween sales almost (if not already) over, I hope Kmart will not intentionally divert the homepage landingpage again for the christmas buying.

It doesn't look good.

Diverting the traffic (intended for the homepage) to somewhere else when the current marketing focus is the homepage can give the impression that you are stiffling affiliate sales.

Mike Abolafia · October 29th, 2003, 08:10 AM

Waytogo…..
Thank you for your compliment regarding the homepage Halloween creative. I also want to apologize that your visitors did not see this creative when they clicked on your banner.

However, if you were looking to promote Halloween products you would have been better off promoting the Halloween banner/link. This link takes visitors to the Halloween shop and has been our highest converting banner for the past few weeks. I am sure you are aware that conversion is increased when a visitor has to make fewer clicks to get to the product that they are looking for.

The Homepage link was changed to the “Hot Deals” section for this past week. This decision was made by me. The “Hot Deals” page offers the best values of the Kmart.com site while not loosing vital navigation. 99% of Kmart affiliate who use the Homepage banner are representing Kmart a whole and not specifically for one category of products. As a whole this change did not hurt affiliate conversions. Actually, it elevated them slightly.

My job as an Affiliate Manager is to help you “the affiliate” to be as productive as you can. I have talked to many affiliates from ABW and have helped them to earn larger checks each month. I would appreciate it if you do not talk down to me in a condescending way. I am on this board to help you and do not deserve to be talked to in the manner that you have gone about in your recent posts.

[This message was edited by MikeGSI on October 29, 2003 at 11:27 AM.]

waytogo · October 29th, 2003, 10:52 AM

Mike

I appreciate your efforts in affiliate marketing. You are one of the few merchant representatives that I trust, and your programs are good examples of what affiliate programs ought to be. For these reasons, I have supported GSI while you were in CJ, and have even gone through revising a whole mountain of links when you transferred to BeFree.

I can also understand the great efforts that go with managing an affiliate program and that is why I've been trying to help you whenever I see something out of the ordinary. You have heard from me before. When I find a link that goes to other pages than it's supposed to, I inform you (without complaints) so it can be corrected. I make mistakes too, so I am very forgiving about errors.

Intentional diversion of links however is a different matter. I put careful consideration and planning into where my links are placed at to get maximum results. We may differ in opinion as to what page can get the maximum result (homepage vs halloween page, for example) in marketing a certain product. But a link to homepage should go to homepage and not somewhere else.

Creating a website takes a lot of efforts, not to mention long hours of work. I hope you can understand therefore that when merchants juggle the links and the landing pages, It really gets into me.

I apologize for my earlier remarks. My only intent is constructive, and I agree with you that I may have said too much in my earlier posts and that you don't deserved to be talked to in that manner.

I'd like to thank you also for the fast response to my concern. I really appreciate that.

My best

[This message was edited by waytogo on October 29, 2003 at 02:05 PM.]

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October 28th, 2003, 10:55 AM	#1
waytogo ABW Ambassador Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 1,554	Kmart bfpage=homepage goes to Deal Zone instead. Please correct.

October 28th, 2003, 11:12 AM	#2
Mike Abolafia Full Member Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 295	The "Deal Zone" destination was set intentionally. However, the links is now set to go back to the homepage. Thank you, Michael Abolafia Affiliate Account Executive Affiliates@GSICommerce.com

October 28th, 2003, 02:06 PM	#3
waytogo ABW Ambassador Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 1,554	You have a nice halloween creative at the kmart front page, so I placed/copied the bfpage=homepage link at the top of my halloween section. To my surprise, the link was not converting. Visitors who came to expect a seasonal (halloween) sales pitch was greeted instead with a clearance sales pitch. Wrong match. You already have a bfpage=clearance, so I'm really wondering why you would divert the front page traffic in the middle of the halloween buying season. That really sounds odd, especially that it was done intentionally. Tell this to the people at Kmart marketing 101: You have to match your buyers with the products. (ie. the link that is supposed to go to the homepage should go to the homepage and not somewhere else.)

October 28th, 2003, 02:28 PM	#4
waytogo ABW Ambassador Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 1,554	This, from Julian Day, after Kmart was approved to exit Chapter 11; Day said the company will "aggressively pursue opportunities to increase revenues, reduce costs and increase asset productivity." Mismatching your sales pitch with the product demand is a missed opportunity to increase revenue.

October 28th, 2003, 08:43 PM	#5
waytogo ABW Ambassador Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 1,554	With the halloween sales almost (if not already) over, I hope Kmart will not intentionally divert the homepage landingpage again for the christmas buying. It doesn't look good. Diverting the traffic (intended for the homepage) to somewhere else when the current marketing focus is the homepage can give the impression that you are stiffling affiliate sales.

October 29th, 2003, 08:10 AM	#6
Mike Abolafia Full Member Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 295	Waytogo….. Thank you for your compliment regarding the homepage Halloween creative. I also want to apologize that your visitors did not see this creative when they clicked on your banner. However, if you were looking to promote Halloween products you would have been better off promoting the Halloween banner/link. This link takes visitors to the Halloween shop and has been our highest converting banner for the past few weeks. I am sure you are aware that conversion is increased when a visitor has to make fewer clicks to get to the product that they are looking for. The Homepage link was changed to the “Hot Deals” section for this past week. This decision was made by me. The “Hot Deals” page offers the best values of the Kmart.com site while not loosing vital navigation. 99% of Kmart affiliate who use the Homepage banner are representing Kmart a whole and not specifically for one category of products. As a whole this change did not hurt affiliate conversions. Actually, it elevated them slightly. My job as an Affiliate Manager is to help you “the affiliate” to be as productive as you can. I have talked to many affiliates from ABW and have helped them to earn larger checks each month. I would appreciate it if you do not talk down to me in a condescending way. I am on this board to help you and do not deserve to be talked to in the manner that you have gone about in your recent posts. [This message was edited by MikeGSI on October 29, 2003 at 11:27 AM.]

October 29th, 2003, 10:52 AM	#7
waytogo ABW Ambassador Join Date: January 18th, 2005 Posts: 1,554	Mike I appreciate your efforts in affiliate marketing. You are one of the few merchant representatives that I trust, and your programs are good examples of what affiliate programs ought to be. For these reasons, I have supported GSI while you were in CJ, and have even gone through revising a whole mountain of links when you transferred to BeFree. I can also understand the great efforts that go with managing an affiliate program and that is why I've been trying to help you whenever I see something out of the ordinary. You have heard from me before. When I find a link that goes to other pages than it's supposed to, I inform you (without complaints) so it can be corrected. I make mistakes too, so I am very forgiving about errors. Intentional diversion of links however is a different matter. I put careful consideration and planning into where my links are placed at to get maximum results. We may differ in opinion as to what page can get the maximum result (homepage vs halloween page, for example) in marketing a certain product. But a link to homepage should go to homepage and not somewhere else. Creating a website takes a lot of efforts, not to mention long hours of work. I hope you can understand therefore that when merchants juggle the links and the landing pages, It really gets into me. I apologize for my earlier remarks. My only intent is constructive, and I agree with you that I may have said too much in my earlier posts and that you don't deserved to be talked to in that manner. I'd like to thank you also for the fast response to my concern. I really appreciate that. My best [This message was edited by waytogo on October 29, 2003 at 02:05 PM.]