CJ Affiliate Solves the Correction File Crisis

One of our primary goals at CJ Affiliate is to make your affiliate marketing journey as smooth as possible. Often times, affiliate managers find that dealing with correction files before transactions lock to be a challenging aspect of their program. At CJ Affiliate, we have heard your concerns and are here to help you effectively manage the corrections process!

Imagine it's the 10th of the month, you log in to your advertiser account and jackpot—the sales are pouring in! Being the proactive affiliate manager you are, you review the orders and notice a considerable amount of the orders can't be fulfilled. Sound familiar?

When publishers drive transactions for items that are later returned, were not available in the first place, have an invalid credit card number, or other possible scenarios, with CJ Affiliate you are able to correct those orders and only pay publishers commissions on valid transactions. As you may have experienced, when you reach out to our Client Support team, within 72 hours or less we will send you instructions to build a correction file using a comprehensive, 32-page technical guide.

For those of you looking for the abridged version, read on as I summarize the important aspects of the technical guide, and explain how to quickly and easily manage the corrections process.

Correction files are only as complex as you make them. All you need to know are the following:

• Transport Type

• Data Set Type

• Understanding Your Locking Cycle

• Correction Reason for Each Order

Transport Type

CJ offers the following options for data transfer:

• FTP: This can be CJ's or your own. Using the appropriate FTP client, access the FTP location and drop the file into the root folder to process. We'll pick it up once it's there.

• Client HTTP: You provide a specific URL for our team to access and pick up your file.

• Email: This is best used for small files and not recommended for large files. The current email can be found in our Correction Data Transfer Guide in the Support Center.

You can find information regarding your transport method in the Account Manager, under the Account tab, then Subscriptions sub tab. Contact our Client Support team at 1-800-761-1072 from 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST for information regarding your specific setup.

Data Set Type

CJ offers a few different ways to setup your correction files: CSV, TAB, or PIPE delimited formats. We also offer the ability to create a file in XML format. Just be sure to set up your file according to your subscription settings.

Understanding Your Locking Cycle

This information is found within your program terms. As an affiliate manager you have two choices:

• Standard Locking Cycle: Transactions that have posted in the previous month will lock on the 10th of the current month.

• Custom Locking Cycle: Choose the number of days for a commission to lock from the day it posted. The minimum amount of time is 7 days, while the maximum is 60 days.

Correction Reason for Each Order

The reason that you are correcting the transaction is imperative. You can find the reason codes in the Correction Data Transfer Guide referenced earlier. As publishers might be concerned as to why the transaction wasn't fulfilled and the commission was reversed, it is best to provide a reason that is easy for you to reference internally.

The Correction Data Transfer Guide is there to make your life easier, and we hope the crash course above makes it even easier. Remember, there is some information that won't be relevant to your format, so when building a file in CSV format, for example, you do not need to review the XML format information in the guide. Once you gather all of the relevant data, review the guide for examples on how to build the appropriate file and submit. It's that simple!

And don't wait until the last minute! We always recommend that you get your corrections in as early as possible, attach your files to support tickets for troubleshooting, and make friends with the technical guides located in the Support Center. And remember, if the road gets too bumpy, we are here to help. Our Client Support team is here to answer your questions, Monday through Friday from 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST.