I have been making atleast one sale per 100-200 hits, which was how many I had in a day. For the past 4 days I have not made any sales, but have had same hit ratio. Does it have to do with something in the month of February? It seems like once january ended I lost all sales. Something just doesnt seem right... but I dont know
My sales have tanked since Feb 1st as well. I have sites using other affiliate programs and they have also been pretty bad so I assuming this is just an slow period.
It depends on when your selling, but sales in general drop after Christmas. People are all shopped out!
I looked for sales in February, and I found this link, I dont know about bad weather.. but it was somewhat interesting. I tried to post link but im not aloud , heres the article below As Expected, Retailers Post Slow February Sales By JEANNE B. PINDER Published: March 5, 1993 The nation's retail chains reported yesterday that sales sagged in February compared with the same month last year. Analysts attributed the dip mostly to bad weather, which kept shoppers home, and to consumers' concerns over the economy. Sales had been expected to drop after a very good Christmas season and a surprisingly strong January. Retailers usually spend February stocking spring merchandise and eliminating winter goods, so the month is often a lackluster one. Suggests a Slowing Recovery Still, the latest figures disappointed some analysts and offered further evidence that the recovery has slowed since the start of the year. The Salomon Brothers retail index, which follows monthly sales of 22 big retailers, showed that sales in stores open at least one year fell 1 percent in February. That compared with a 5.4 percent increase in January over January 1992. In December, retailers reported the strongest increase for a holiday season since 1988. Other recent surveys have shown a drop in consumer confidence in the economy. Economists have noted that shoppers' pay increases have lagged behind their increased spending. Jeffrey M. Feiner, an analyst at Salomon Brothers, attributed February's sales showing to bad weather as well as heavy promotions a year earlier that improved those sales figures. He also cited President Clinton's announcement last month of his economic plan, which includes tax increases to help cut the deficit. Clinton's Effect Debated The plan "caused some uncertainty among consumers wondering whether it would have a really negative impact on the economy, on their own pocketbook, and so on," Mr. Feiner said. But he sounded a note of optimism. "While this month was disappointing, that is due to what we believe to be nonrecurring or abnormal factors," Mr. Feiner said. "With more normal weather in March, we expect to see a pickup in sales. It is our opinion that underlying consumer demand still remains relatively favorable." Edward Johnson, director of Johnson Redbook Service, a publication of the brokerage firm Lynch, Jones & Ryan that monitors retail performance, was less certain about the effects of the Clinton plan. "The stores are saying that they think that the Clinton tax measures have hurt the consumer, but they can't be sure because of the weather," he said. "They don't know how much was the weather and how much was Clinton." Leap Day's Impact Another factor in the disappointing numbers was the fact that the month this year lacked the extra selling day enjoyed last February in a leap year. The effect can be significant: for example, if results for Feb. 29, 1992, were excluded from last year's figure, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. would have shown a 6 percent increase in same-store sales for February this year instead of the flat sales it reported. Mr. Barnard said the strongest sectors were furniture, home furnishings, appliances and electronics. He said chains with strong sales included Bed, Bath and Beyond, which was up 6 percent, and Heilig-Meyers, a Southern furnishings chain, which was up 8 percent. Among the weakest sectors was apparel. Filene's Basement reported a 10 percent decline, and the Limited Inc. sales fell by 6 percent. Sears, Roebuck & Company, on the other hand, posted same-store sales gains of 2.2 percent. Retailers' Sales Detailed By The Associated Press Here are the domestic February sales reported yesterday by some of the nation's largest retailers: Dayton Hudson Corp. Four weeks ended Feb. 27: Same-store sales rose 2.2 percent. Overall sales totaled $1.11 billion, up 8.9 percent from $1.02 billion. Federated Department Stores Inc. Four weeks ended Feb. 27: Same-store sales rose 1.4 percent. Overall sales totaled $467.8 million, up 0.6 percent from $465.1 million. Gap Inc. Four weeks ended Feb. 27: Same-store sales rose 2 percent. Overall sales totaled $165 million, up 13 percent from $146 million. Kmart Corp. Four weeks ended Feb. 24: Same-store sales rose 1.1 percent. Overall sales totaled $2.54 billion, up 9.5 percent from $2.32 billion.
eroker - interesting article! My understanding is that inclement weather has opposite affects on off-line and online business. While snow storms and other "stay at home" weather adversely impacts sales at physical retail stores, online sales usually go up during bad weather because when people stay at home, they're much more likely to be shopping online.
Yeah. I just dont get it. I was making atleast a sale a day, now its been like 5 days! I was expecting atleast one sale in 5 days, since I was getting atleast 1 sale a day before feb 1st. Its so wierd. I hope there is nothing wrong with my account. I guess I am just going to have to wait and see what happens.
eroker - do you know where your sales were coming from? If they were ppc sales, it's possible someone put up a new ad that people are clicking on more so you're getting less traffic. Are you getting fewer clicks, or worse conversions (or both?) ?
I haven't made a sale since 1st Feb either! I made $500 in January (about 20 sales) and now nothing. I have been getting less clicks too. I have added a few hundred more keywords to the campaign to try and help get more impressions. I hope Feb improves. I am going to try and focus on getting more organic traffic in the meantime.
looks like we are in the same boat, and I too made around 500 dollars. I have not noticed any problems with my traffic, in fact it actually has increased a little bit. I hope it just being slow.
My sells & promotion work really good in Feb Maybe you should read some MORE and MORE about it? Time is changing and perfect solutions too
Sorry, my english is poor I want say that market is evolving and we must evolving too Read more, learn more, try new techniques
OK, I know what you mean now. No offence meant. My problem is that the impressions are low and therefore so are sales. Need to keep an eye on average placement. You are quite right, don't sit back thinking it will just keep rolling in - refine, adjust, test and review! Wishing everyone a better week ahead!
Considering the amount of sales per month you have got, the probability is that new affiliates have entered the scene and are getting the commission instead of you. Its very common that things like this happen and believe it or not, all it takes is a smart competitor that target the keywords that mostly result in sales, leaving you with more or less same amount of traffic but on keywords that does not convert. And then you wonder if thers something wrong.
I too experience a low sale in this month? Is this due to a tracking problem or changed buying behaviour?
That also depends on the product you promote. Some products just get annoyingly competitive on PPC. ClickBank seems fine. Make sure your sites are working and that your PPC campaigns still send good traffic. Study your competition. You might find amazing things there... nadavs
I thikn that the SuperBowl and Super Tuesday have affected stuff, not to mention nice weather around parts of the US (It was 60-some degrees here in DC today!) People aren't at their computers as much right now
Adding new keywords may get you more impressions and also more clicks but that can be a bad thing if they dont convert. Pay attention to the keywords that were getting clicks in jan. Where was your avg. ad placement for days you got sales vs. days you did not. Do google search on those terms and see how many ads are in front of you for the same product. At this point you need to do one or all of the following * pay more per click and get a higher rating * Have a more attention grabbing ad and make position less of a factor * create a quality landing page to raise conversion rates. Hope this helps. G.