There is a dominating player in several fields of technology. We are all aware of Microsoft's hegemony over almost every area of personal computer technology. Smaller businesses are market leaders in certain application areas, such as Adobe for PDF files and Photoshop for image processing. And when it comes to the internet and online marketplaces, there is no question that Clickbank is the dominating force. However, it's beneficial to be aware of available alternatives for comparative reasons. And perhaps the most serious challenge to Clickbank's supremacy is a website named PayDotCom.
Each of these excellent options has certain advantages and disadvantages. However, it is important to understand what to look for to make an informed choice. There is no doubt that Clickbank is the market leader for a reason. Clickbank is by far the world's biggest affiliate marketplace. Therefore, you risk having it picked up by over 150,000 affiliates if they see you by submitting your product to Clickbank. That is quite a sales force to profit from.
An additional advantage of using Clickbank over PayDotCom is that you can use this army of affiliates to sell your goods far and wide without paying them a cent. That is managed via the commission system, which means that you will only see money go to those that are successful, and it is an integral component of the site's financial structure. That is an excellent approach to structure their service, and it has worked out wonderfully for Clickbank and the rest of us.
A couple of Clickbank's policy choices are less than great, putting them on the negative side of the assessment. The policy that benefits Clickbank consumers but creates a great deal of confusion is its ironclad return policy. This is an excellent customer relationship strategy since it communicates that Clickbank stands behind the goods they purchase via the site. However, in a world like Clickbank's, where the whole transaction and all goods are digital, this effectively leaves the door open to thieves and shoplifters who download things and then request a refund without explanation.
The commission's problem may be one of the reasons for their sluggish development. PayDotCom is a competitor to Clickbank that has been unable to acquire the same amount of market share. Because Clickbank compensates affiliates and absolves merchants who enter the marketplace of this responsibility, transactions are transparent and more merchants feel free to engage in Clickbank. And then, since Clickbank has established itself as the leading marketplace for digital goods, more affiliates want to participate, which adds to the site's momentum to dominate this industry.
From the merchant's perspective, when a merchant wants to list a product in a marketplace and then go through the support steps of linking to it from a website and adding keyword-optimized articles to drive traffic to the product, the merchant wants to know that the largest affiliate network is available to take it from there and really get the product into broad distribution and sales. There is just no other way to do this except via Clickbank.
In other ways, Clickbank flourishes as a result of its own success. And, even if PayDotCom is a viable option, it will have significant challenges in capturing enough market share to entice merchants and affiliates to transfer. And, unless Clickbank makes a big error, which they very certainly will not, that scenario is unlikely to alter.
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