Do Merchants Out Number Affiliates?

In affiliate marketing circles it’s considered that there are a number of top affiliates - the ones who can generate income either through PPC or by volume or by SEO. If that number is say 200 then those 200 affiliates are probably wanted by many merchants - but it must stand to reason that not every merchant is going to be promoted by every merchant and that in some cases a merchant may find they cannot attract an affiliate from this upper tier.

This begs the question are there too many merchants chasing too few quality affiliates? There’s a wide range of merchants to promote across numerous networks, so the affiliate has plenty to pick from. Also are affiliates interested in promoting low value products when they can earn better money with the likes of loans, broadband, credit cards and high value goods? If the answer is yes, merchants with low value goods may find they struggle unless the site has a unique selling point.

On our price comparison system at UK Shops to Buy we may consider adding a number of merchants within a category - after all the one with the best price should convert.

However, on Mobiles & Phones we have been selective and work only with a handful of merchants (e.g. Dialaphone, The Link, T-Mobile) who we believe will convert. If a new merchant came along it’s unlikely we’d change positioning for an untried company.

I’m sure this feeling and policy must filter through other affiliate’s minds - therefore new sites embracing affiliate marketing may find that the promises made by networks become unfulfilled. Not because the merchant site is poor, but because as affiliates we’re continually trying to juggle between building useable sites, getting SEO working and generating sales for tried and tested merchants. Adding additional factors of a new untried merchant to the equation is always risky and therefore networks and new merchants need to come up with new ways to incentivise (e.g. CPC, higher CPA) or publish test figures (sales per day) to encourage affiliates to start new promotions.