The team at JEBCommerce have been working diligently through the current challenges our economy is facing to make sure that our programs are remaining strong. Part of doing this is making sure we are keeping up to date on changes that could impact our brands or affiliate partners. Which brings me to the changes that Amazon recently made in regard to their commission structure. This change poses challenges for affiliates but provides increased opportunities for relationships with brands.
The Challenge
Affiliates are faced with a new challenge if they participate in the Amazon Affiliate program that has cut commissions – do they continue to participate with a program that will pay a smaller rate for products with the potential for a high conversion rate or switch to building relationships with brands directly and earn more per sale of each item?
By sticking with Amazon, affiliates may have the opportunity to still earn decent commissions due to product variety that can be included in a cart. However, affiliates remain at the mercy of a large organization making decisions that they really have no voice in. Amazon makes a change and affiliates have no leverage to change their own earnings. This leaves affiliates with sites that immediately drive less revenue from the same volume of traffic. Affiliates are still doing the same amount of work and are now being paid less for that work.
Also problematic is routing all of the affiliate traffic from a site to only one retailer is the definition of “putting all your eggs in one basket”. Affiliates are expecting the program in Amazon to pay off more with no guarantee or leveraging power. If affiliates diversify their links routing directly to brands’ sites they can make sure that during challenging economic times such as these, they can weather the storm a bit better with a varied revenue stream.
The Opportunity
The challenges may seem insignificant, but when looking at the value a site can drive, they can become extremely impactful. Joining other affiliate programs quickly changes the portfolio of revenue streams and each of these can be worked on individually to maximize growth.
While building relationships with individual brands may seem like a lot of extra work, in the long run, these relationships can really pay off. This is especially true if affiliates can see which brands are driving strong traffic from their site. Affiliates can then work on closer partnerships with brands that will make the most impact to their business.
Not to be overlooked, the cookie window in the Amazon program was limited due to how quickly shoppers tend to convert. This makes sense, but something that some affiliates may not take into account when considering other partnerships. In many of our programs cookie windows can range from a week to well over a month – meaning affiliates driving traffic directly to the e-commerce sites receive commissions on visits and purchases that take place over a much larger period of time increases the opportunity for more revenue.
Many brands are happy and excited to work directly with affiliates to curate opportunities that will be beneficial for both parties. There isn’t a better time than this to start to build those relationships. This is especially true with regard to the various verticals that are doing well during the economic challenges we are facing. In our own portfolio, we have seen Beauty, Home, Tech, Clothing, and Auto doing well. These are the verticals that would be worthwhile to begin looking at building relationships with specific brands.
Individually, some of our brands have their products on both their own sites along with mass retailers and are very aware of the current shift. We would welcome any opportunity to connect with affiliates in regard to the below brands that are currently selling on Amazon, but have programs that will let you earn more. If the below brands are of interest, simply click on their name and send us a quick email for a personal response from the managing team.
- Vanity Planet – 12% baseline commission, 7-day cookie
- Speck Products – 5%, 15-day cookie
- Johnston & Murphy – 7%, 30-day cookie
- Silver Jeans – 3%, 30-day cookie
- Dr. Fuhrman – 10%, 45-day cookie
- 5 Star Nutrition – 10% returning/20% new customer, 30-day cookie
These other brands are also welcoming relationships and looking to build relationships with affiliates.
- Bob’s Stores – 5%
- CityPASS – 6%
- Contiki – 5%
- Contiki AU/NZ – 5%
- Contiki UK/IE – 5%
- Dania Furniture – 3%
- Eastern Mountain Sports – 7%
- Enfamil – 7%
- Insight Vacations – 5%
- MyWit – 5%
- Parts Geek – 5%
- Plant Therapy – 7.5%
- Saatva – 3%
- Scandinavian Designs – 3%
- Trafalgar – 5%
- Trafalgar AU/NZ – 5%
- Trask – 7%
- U River Cruise – 5%
- Uniworld – 5%
As an agency, we are committed to finding the best solutions for our clients and affiliates. We continually work to make sure that both sides of the equation are being taken care of. Affiliates should be valued as partners, have their concerns addressed personally, and be treated as an individual partner, not simply another traffic source. As an agency, we believe in building strong relationships and look forward to working with affiliates and brands to overcome the challenges we are all facing.
