Introduction
This document provides a comprehensive overview of the cashback tracking process, highlighting the key stages and factors that contribute to the time it takes from a user’s purchase at a partner merchant to the sending of a cashback tracking email notification.
1. Customer Purchases at Cashback Partner Merchants
- The journey begins when a customer completes a purchase through one of the cashback partner merchants.
2. Affiliate Network Processing
- The affiliate network, a crucial link between the a partner merchants and the cashback system, processes the transaction.
- Transaction processing time can vary, ranging from a few minutes to up to 72 hours, based on the specific integration with the cashback partner merchant.
- If the merchant is integrated with S2S postback, it may be faster
- If it’s via scheduled API calls, it may take a couple of hours
- And if it’s via offline tracking, it may take even 72 hours
- This is between merchant and affiliate tracking platform, so it’s not in any one’s control.
3. Scheduled Cron Jobs for Data Import in the Cashback System
- The cashback system employs cron jobs to import data from the affiliate network’s API server.
- These cron jobs are set to operate at various intervals – hourly, daily, and weekly. This scheduling can result in a delay between the availability of a transaction on the API server and its importation into the cashback system.
4. Sending User Notifications
- After the cashback system successfully imports and logs a transaction, another series of cron jobs is tasked with sending email notifications to users.
- To manage server efficiency and load, these notifications are grouped and dispatched several times a day.
5. Factors Contributing to Delay
- The delay in the cashback tracking process can be attributed to several factors:
- Processing speed of the affiliate network.
- Time lag in synchronization between the affiliate network’s servers.
- The timing and frequency of cron jobs in the cashback system.
- The batch processing of email notifications, especially during high transaction volumes.
6. Instances of Rapid Processing
- There are occasions when the cashback tracking and notification process is expedited, typically when the affiliate network quickly processes transactions and the timing of cron jobs in the cashback system is optimally aligned.
Conclusion
- The cashback tracking process involves several dependent stages, and while efforts are consistently made to minimize delays, certain aspects like affiliate network processing times and system synchronizations can cause lags.
- The cashback system is constantly being refined to enhance efficiency and user experience, ensuring that delays are kept to a minimum.
