How it Works

This will cover common terms, roles, and how the roles work together to make things happen in the Affiliate program. If you dig into the definition of affiliate marketing or navigate the sign-up process with Commission Junction or CJ, you will encounter terms for the roles individuals and companies play in this arrangement. You need a basic understanding of these terms and roles to understand how it all works. The terms for these roles are:

• Advertisers
• Publishers
• Consumers

For our purposes, here's how these roles look:

• Advertiser = Best Buy
• Publisher = Remix API developer (that's you)
• Consumer = Individuals who use the Remix API developer's application that drives them to the bestbuy.com website and results in them making a qualified purchase

Individuals in these roles perform actions and interact with each other to make the Affiliate program work. Here's how these actions and interactions look:

• You (as the Publisher) gain access to the CJ Account Manager Interface after applying and being accepted into the Affiliate program.
• Best Buy (as the Advertiser) makes their links available to you in the CJ Account Manager.
• You as the Publisher select and place Best Buy's (Advertiser's) links on your web site or in your application. You can use the API itself to pre-format the correct links, using the <cjAffiliateUrl> and <cjAffiliateAddToCartUrl> tags in the XML returned from an API query. You can also use these links in email campaigns or as part of search listings.
• When users of your application (Consumers) click on one of these links, a cookie is set on the visitor's browser that identifies Best Buy (the Advertiser), you (the Publisher) and the specific link.
• When the visitor (the Consumer) makes an actual purchase online at bestbuy.com, that transaction is tracked and recorded by Commission Junction.
• The commission is based on a percentage of the qualifying bestbuy.com shipped sale. Please refer to the Best Buy Operating Agreement for commission determination details. The Best Buy Operating Agreement is agreed upon during the affiliate program sign-up process. The Agreement can be viewed on the sign-up page or on the Best Buy advertiser page in the CJ Account Manager.
• Upon recording the transaction, Commission Junction handles all of the collection and processing required to ensure fair and timely commission payment for you and all of the administration and verification necessary to ensure quality sales for bestbuy.com.