Should Finance Affiliates Be Losing Any Sleep This Month?
By Richard Wright, R.O.EYE Programme Executive
Following recent events and press reports about failing consumer confidence in the finance markets I began to wonder whether finance affiliates need to be worried?
For various reasons the banks are being reported as being “more particular” in how and to whom they lend money, which is leading to higher rejection rates for new customers wanting credit, making each new customer more and more expensive to acquire.
Businesses always look for ways to increase return on marketing investments, and the trend described above puts even more scrutiny on accountability of marketing budgets, which might explain why companies are investing more and more of their marketing budget in the affiliate channel - a trend we are seeing evidence of on several of the programmes that we deal with here at R.O.EYE.
So the merchants seem happy to spend their money with affiliates, but what about the customers?
Credit and debt is as much a certainty as death and taxes these days (sorry to be so morbid but it’s true!), so it is unlikely that demand for credit will abate as a result of recent events. It does however make credit more difficult to obtain from a customer perspective, and puts the industry more into the media spotlight.
With open comment and opinion being drawn from all corners of the media on the subject of finance, customers are becoming a lot ‘savvier’ and more aware of the options available to them. This makes the internet very appealing because internet users are effectively in control as they shop around and research for the product that best suits them, at the best price they can find.
In summary I think affiliates can sleep easy as the evidence we are seeing suggests finance merchants have faith in the industry, and the ever increasing professionalism with which affiliates are promoting the programmes will continue to appeal to the more finance-savvy customer.
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