When a merchant decides to terminate a campaign with a network, either shutting the affiliate campaign or moving to another network, there are several key factors which must be adhered to.
- When initially signing up with a network, a notice period for termination will be agreed. This notice period must be adhered to by the merchant in order for the network to give affiliates sufficient opportunity to remove links and update their sites.
- If the merchant is transferring their affiliate program to a different network, they should agree a migration strategy in advance to cover off how the new network will ensure that there is no loss of sales during the migration period.
- Once the network has been made aware of the closure, they are duty bound to inform their affiliates who are active on the campaign. Affiliates should be given as much notice as possible about a program ending.
- The network should remind affiliates in the week preceding the termination that they are required to remove links if the campaign is ending, or switch links to the new network if applicable.
- The merchant should also adhere to any click cookie period on the campaign. So if a 30 day click cookie is in place, then the merchant must honour any sales originating from cookies dropped prior to the termination date for the following 30 days.
- Following the termination date, the network is responsible for ensuring all banners and links to the merchant are removed. Whether this is by chasing up the affiliates who have not removed links, or by breaking the links is a matter for the network to decide. Timeframe on this should be negotiated between the merchant and the network.