I may be being very negative on the idea but I can see it turning into an opportunity for discounts rather than genuine recommendations (good and bad I think is useful).
I’m also unsure how it would work if multiple people give the same recommendation (is the code specific to the item? Of there is a reward for recommending, does everyone who suggested it get a reward? How can that be policed for genuine recommendations rather than jumping on the bandwagon? Like I have a couple of products from LH that I didn’t buy so how can it be proved I’m not just agreeing with a popular product to get a reward…but equally, why should I miss out because my partner brought the product rather than me on my account?
And will there be a criteria for having a code? To me just saying “I recommend product X” doesn’t help me so I wouldn’t want that person rewarded over someone who gives a reason why they recommend.
This, I think is a good idea. Giving trusted forum members discount codes to share with friends and family, essentially, making them brand ambassadors in the real world for LH is a great idea. A lot of my friends know I test for LH and are often keen for my recommendations because they know, I know, a lot about sex toys and have tried quite a variety. It would be nice to have a discount code to share with them… though I suspect it wouldn’t be any better than the regular email discount codes which I can already share with them.
On the forum, I don’t really see the point. If someone is asking for recommendations then I will recommend what I think would be the best choice for them without a desire for a reward (if I’m about). I agree with comments above that a kickback for recomendations would make me less likely to trust the recommendation.
As an avid reviewer, I would love to see it tied to reviews. If you are willing to recommend it on the forum writing a review shouldnt be too big a burden.
EDIT: OK, I see now that reviews are not going to be a factor. But Im not quitter!
How about if you activated the program with your first review and then were awarded some form of percentage after that? Like one code for your first 5 reviews, 2 codes for your next 5, etc.
It rewards customers and it rewards informing about products. The ratings a product received would not factor, just that a review was submitted.
Thinking about it more overnight, and in addition to my post above, I’m wondering specifically about the rewards / kickbacks.
I’m guessing there would be a few possible scenarios here.
Points accumulate that translate towards money off a shoppers basket : o.k. in my book
Points accumulate towards predetermined items that can be bought with points : also o.k. in my book.
Both of the above are normal loyalty program options
Points accumulate and are translated into an actual monetary payment (Dollars / UK Pounds etc). This would end up being a full affiliate program whereby (technically) the recipient may need to declare it as income depending on their local tax laws etc. and maybe some sort of reporting from LH.
People are going to want to be able to see how many points (and I’m using points here just as an example) they have on hand and when they might be able to claim / use them. At the very least, this would mean current available reward points should be displayed (privately) in the users profile page for example. It probably gets a lot more tricky and a full portal required if it’s more like a full affiliate program.
Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I see it detracting from open, honest communication on the forum. I get that LH as a business is probably looking for ways to drive more sales, but it would be a shame to see the reputation of the forum be decreased when so much work has gone into it.
On a side note; I believe the job you and the mini mods do is hard enough and often at times seems overwhelming - especially after 5pm, weekends or early hours (2am or 3am) that seems to be the prime time for spam, dating or inappropriate threads due to different timezones (UK).
I’m not sure how it would be managed, or how you stop it being abused and if the extra work for moderators is even really necessary.
An example which stands out for me is the sex toy category on average gets less than 10 replies per post. I would imagine, that triples and with many spamming codes.
If you do trial it, my only suggestion would be, looking at how many members frequently use links (if that’s possible) currently.
It definitely needs a lot of thought and careful consideration before deciding.
This is in addition to my previous comment and thoughts
I kind of like the idea of reviewers being able to say ‘I like this so much that I attach a discount code to it’.
I think that only works with some scarcity linked to it. I would but a limit on how many times a reviewer could do it and I think the discount should really only be linked to a product they reviewed really highly.
In my head I would see it as I rate a product really highly and assign one of ‘my’ discount codes to it.
It can be shared here but limit how many times it can be used (5 for example). I would also limit the number of products I can assign a code to as well.
This way you reduce the risk of abuse and also make sure members are being discerning on what get a discount code level recommendation.
I imagine that is trickier to implement but thought it worth throwing the idea out there.
To keep it short I can see this being quite a good idea and being able to share with who we want and where we want would be interesting. It could bring in revenue for LH on other platforms too. For example IG or tik tok.
I would be more concerned about them being used in more explicit sites… or would this be ok too? There are sites (obvs not as easy in the uk now) where demos could be shown and extra high recommendations made depending on … results . How would this be policed as LH is strictly anonymous?
I like the idea in principle of having a code that can be shared for something you really love, but can also see it being abused/people not necessarily being overly honest with reviews.
My main thought is that LH always has some sort of offer going on, it’s incredibly difficult to not get about 20% off something you want on any given day. What is really achieved with user recs giving codes over all those existing ones, unless they’re much bigger?
My issue with this is more that the forum would become just a new advertising space as people would potentially go harder than they need to. We already have a lot of member who have written good reviews and are happy to share those (which is great and very useful) but incentivising it may push every post into being “use my code for this”.
I do also think it’s worth noting that the codes surely couldn’t stack with other discounts, but given that there is always another promo code available (from the cards put in with deliveries or from new sign ups or just a sale that seems to be running every other week at least), I don’t know how useful these would actually be in practice
for example the user must of been a member of the site for minimum amount of time , or must of written so many honest reviews on lovehoney, or even a member has to apply to be part of a review team, just think it would be a shame if the site gets flooded with fake recommendations, would rather see codes from trusted member who deserve a little treat now and then.
I think the codes and discounts would be a great incentive to get others involved too!
My thoughts would be to have product specific codes rather than a blanket one. In my opinion it would restrict people abusing the use of it on other products rather than what was recommended.
. How would this be policed as LH is strictly anonymous?