Deciphering CPA and CPO Part 1: JellyFish Programs

With increasing development in the comparison engine and marketplace arena, I wanted to shine a quick spotlight on what options exist for merchants who are looking for options outside of the typical CPC dominated comparison engine models. This will be a 3 part series detailing what at times can seem like confusing options. First up to bat…

JellyFish

JelllyFish offers unique opportunities that it takes most a few minutes to understand. Since their model is so different than others, I will spend more time than usual talking about the opportunities.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) aka Cost Per Order (CPO) Opportunity

JellyFish works on a different system than any other engine I have seen. There are 2 main components that make JellyFish unique, the first being their standard billing model.

JellyFish offers a CPA model by taking submitted products and displaying them as a usual engine would. What is different, is JellyFish integrates a special discount, and then only charges when a purchase is actually made. The way this works starts with the merchant, who offers a commission rate to JellyFish, for example, let us say 10%. JellyFish then takes this 10% discount, and passes that discount on to the consumer. The consumer will see the product discounted by a certain percentage and when clicked on, will be taken to the merchant site to purchase. When on the merchant’s site, the consumer will then pay full price, later to be reimbursed the discount by JellyFish directly.

The key is that JellyFish tracks the order through their own tracking code or custom order feed. The exchange of money happens approximately 30 days after the sale is complete. JellyFish then takes the 10% from the merchant account, and transfers the money to the consumer’s account. So the consumer actually buys the item at full price initially, and then sees the money essentially rebated through JellyFish.

Since JellyFish was purchased by Microsoft, they are not charging any fees. So, if a merchant offers 10% commission on a product, JellyFish then gives a 10% discount to the consumer and only serves a bridge with no tolls. Nice huh?

Smack Shopping

Here is the one that throws everyone for a loop. One of the most intriguing, and sticky features of JellyFish is Smack Shopping.

In a special section on JellyFish, an item is posted which JellyFish has received a high commission rate on. Through a variable, time based pricing system, JellyFish lowers the price of an item until a specified inventory sells out. JellyFish will keep lowering the price until this happens, so the consumer is forced to guess when the lowest price happens and attempt to buy at that time. If the price drops below the given commission amount from the merchant selling the product, JellyFish makes up the difference by putting in their own funds. So once again, not a bad deal for everyone involved and good exposure for the product.

Additional Features

JellyFish also features email campaigns and special display opportunities to highlight products, so many options are available. Currently most of these options run for free, so there are truly some unique opportunities here at this growing engine.

Luckily for the merchants already on JellyFish, most others don’t understand the system are haven’t yet found JellyFish to take advantage. As a merchant, if you are looking for a unique audience with growth potential and the ability to keep tight control on margins, this is your spot.

Coming next…SHOP.COM : CPC vs. OneCart

April 8th, 2008