Members of Amazon’s partner program will get less money starting on April 21. The e-commerce company has told Amazon Associates — affiliates who connect to goods on their website in exchange for a percentage of revenue — who it is cutting commission rates across various categories, according to CNBC.
In some cases, the changes are very significant: for example, the decrease in the affiliate segment of furniture and home renovation drops from 8 percent to 3 percent, while the commission rate for grocery products is now down to 1 percent from 5 percent.
This will have a major effect, as you can see, on websites, including media outlets, which rely heavily on Amazon’s affiliate program to make money. CNBC spokesperson for the company talked to wouldn’t comment if the improvements were made in response to COVID-19. Yet as the paper states, Amazon’s activities have undergone quite a few shifts due to the pandemic.
Instead of the outbreak, the company had to concentrate on importing medical and cleaning supplies. It also had to recruit 100,000 warehouses and distribution staff to keep up with the demand now that people turn to online shopping while they’re stuck at home. More recently, it increased its shoppers’ return policy window and strengthened its protection measures after workers protested about the lack of sufficient disease-protective equipment.