Merchant performance of the week goes to Waitrose Entertaining who today informed their affiliates that

We are writing to announce the temporary suspension of the WaitroseEntertaining affiliate programme. The programme has been incredibly successful over the course of this year and we have been delighted with the results. However, we need to suspend the service in favour of our in store Marketing activity as we move into the Christmas period.

We ask that you remove all of your links and banners to WaitroseEntertaining by COB Tuesday 24th October at the very latest. Sales from cookies dropped before that date will be honoured during the cookie duration of 60-days, but no new cookies or sales will be paid out.

We hope to resume the programme early in the new year and we would like to thank you for your continued support.

In other words – thanks guys for making us sales during the quiet period of the year, we’ll take it from here for the busy Christmas period, and then when it goes quiet again we’ll welcome you back with open arms!

I’ve never promoted this program, and never will, but as an affiliate it’s at this point you hope that the affiliate network stands up and says “Waitrose, our affiliates have been incredibly successful over the course of this year and what you are doing is wrong – please don’t expect us to relaunch your program in the New Year. We will now go out and find alternative merchants for our affiliates to promote so that they compete against you”.

Of course, it won’t happen… but it’d be nice if it did – at least it would send out a clear message to other merchants that affiliate marketing won’t entertain such shoddy disregard for affiliates.

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