Amazon vs. Walmart:Affiliate Marketing Lessons

to Learn

Geno Prussakov

CEO, AM Navigator (affiliate management agency)

www.amnavigator.com

Founder, Affiliate Management Days (conference)

www.amdays.com

888-588-8866 | Washington, DC geno@amnavigator.com | @ePrussakov

.

and

Comparing the Giants

(or Mind-Blowing Facts)

MONTHLY VISITORS:

80 MILLION PEOPLE

×24

Mall of America

×60

Disneyland

MONTHLY VISITORS:

80 MILLION PEOPLE

could fill:24 Malls of Americaand60 Disneylands

Source: PCMag, “Infographic: Just How Big Is Amazon.com?”

WAREHOUSES:

70 MILLION SQ FEET

Madison Sq Garden×700

×10,000

WAREHOUSES:

70 MILLION SQ FEET

that’s more than:700 Madison Square Gardensandcould hold more water than 10,000 Olympic Pools

Source: Business Insider, “10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Amazon.com”

PROJECTED 2015 REVENUE:

$100 BILLION

that's$190,132 per minuteand$15,844 every 5 sec

Source: Morgan Stanley’s Scott Devitt as quoted at ZDNet

49 MIN OUTAGE (JAN 2013):

$3.2 mln+ LOST

AFFILIATE PROGRAM

Source: NAJobBank.com, 2008 job posting

AFFILIATE PROGRAM

AFFILIATE PROGRAM

Amazon.com Associates: The web's most popular and successful Affiliate Program

Page Title Says It All:

Source: Deloitte.com

×20,000

Out of all retailers, Wal-Mart has the greatest capacity to compete with Amazon online.

Geno’s opinion

Annual web sales in billion U.S. dollars. Source: Statista. Copyright © 2015

Top 10 U.S. e-Retailers in 2014

Interesting Facts (2014)

o Amazon owns every fourth dollar spent online in the U.S. (and every third in Q4);

o For the first time in a decade, Wal-Mart's web sales grew faster than Amazon's (30% vs 20%);

o Yet, in 2015 Amazon is on track for $100 billion in revenue, predicted to eclipse Wal-Mart.

How Do They Run Their Affiliate

Programs?…and what we can

learn from it

1. Program Support Websites

Source: AffiliateBenchmarks 2013 Global Advertiser Research Report

Top Recruitment Methods (adv)

Source: AffStat 2014 Report by Affiliate Summit

Top Recruitment Methods (aff)

1. Program Support Websites

1. Program Support Websites

2. Performance Incentives

It Does Pile Up…

Source: Darren Rowse, The Ultimate Guide to Making Money with the Amazon Affiliate Program, ProBlogger.net, 4/24/2013

3. Low Payment Threshold

If you select payment by direct deposit, we will directly deposit the advertising fees you earn into the bank account you designate, but may accrue and withhold advertising fees until the total amount due to you is at least $10.

Amazon.com Associates Program Operating Agreement

4. Variety of Links

Text links Banners Product links (feed)

Advanced creatives widgets

flex links

Video

Thousands of linking options Convenient categorization

(by product lines and types of promotions) Intuitive interface

Deep-Linking Capability

Site S

tripe

Deep-Linking Capability

5. Ease of Integration

© 2015 Universal Studios

Both Amazon & Walmart.com make activation easy!

Key Elements:

o Resources(to educate)

o Incentives(to motivate)

o Tools(to equip)

o Support

5. Ease of Integration

6. Communication Channel

6. Communication Channel

Affiliate Manager’s Responsibilities

6. Communication Channel

6. Communication Channel

Source: 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report

Affiliate-Preferred Newsletter Frequency

6. Communication Channel

Most Desired Affiliate Types per AffiliateBenchmarks 2013 Global Advertiser Research Report

7. Empowering Bloggers

Source: Technorati Media 2013 Digital Influence Report

7. Empowering Bloggers

7. Empowering Bloggers

Application Programming Interface – a set of functions and procedures that allow the creation of applications which access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service.

Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

8. Equipping Developers

via APIs

8. Equipping Developers

9. Attracting Mobile Appand Game Developers

9. Attracting Mobile Appand Game Developers

9. Attracting Mobile Appand Game Developers

As a mobile app developer, I’m very interested in Amazon’s In-app-purchasing (IAP) and Mobile Associate (MAP) program.

Most affiliate programs seem to focus on desktop experiences... On mobile, most browsing time is spent inside apps, and most users will try to avoid clicking on something that will interrupt the in-app experience by opening up a window in the mobile browser since it ‘breaks the flow’ of navigation (even if it’s a web-view within the app).

An API such as Amazon’s IAP/MAP allows a purchase to happen within the same context where it was originated and allows mobile developers to create purchasing experiences that are more pleasant for people using apps to get ideas on what to buy.

Loyalty Affiliateso Amazon.com: 17.6%o Walmart.com: 13.5%

Affiliates Using Diverse Methods:o Amazon.com: Q1 – 5.6%, Q2 – 4.1%,

Q3 – 6.09%, Q4 – 10.85%o Walmart.com: consistent 2.3-2.9%

range throughout all quarters

Source: AM Navigator 2009 Affiliate Survey

10. Heavy Focus on CRO

11. Fairness to “Closers”

If the customer clicks an add-to-cart link built with the Enhanced Product Links tool, the Amazon cookie is now set to 90 days (instead of 24 hrs for most other inbound links). And unless the customer removes the product from their cart, affiliate commission is secure for 90 days.

Sometimes, a customer needs an extra day to checkout. So not using direct the add-to-cart links (vs. a more broad landing page) can hurt the affiliate.

12. Exclusive Contracts

Amazon is the exclusive advertiser on my sites.

Moreover, they convert better

You may NOT:• employ, use or place any web browser

add-ons, toolbars or pop-ups on your website;

• employ the use of any type of software download or technology which attempts to intercept or redirect traffic or Referral Fees to or from any website;

• install spyware on another person’s computer; cause spyware to be installed on another person’s computer, or use a context based triggering mechanism to display an advertisement that partially or wholly covers or obscures paid advertising other content on a website in a way that interferes with a person’s ability to view that website;

13. Stance on Affiliate Adware

Source: https://affiliates.walmart.com/#!/terms

14. Policies on TM-Centric URLs

Unsuitable sites include those that:

(g) include any trademark of Amazon or its affiliates, or a variant or misspelling of a trademark of Amazon or its affiliates, in any domain name, subdomain name, or in any username, group name, or other identifier on any social networking site

Amazon.com Associates Program Operating Agreement

You may NOT:• use the Trademarks, or any variation or misspelling

thereof, in metatags, hidden text or source code, in your domain name or any other part of your URL

Walmart.com Operating Agreement for Affiliate Network

Source: Darren Rowse, The Ultimate Guide to Making Money with the Amazon Affiliate Program, ProBlogger.net, 4/24/2013

15. Holiday Marketing

15. Holiday Marketing

15. Holiday Marketing

15. Holiday Marketing

15. Holiday Marketing

To Recap…

Lessons to Learn1. Maintain program support website2. Motivate with performance incentives3. Set low/reachable payment thresholds4. Provide a wide variety of linking options5. Make integration/activation easy6. Support constant & consistent communication7. Empower bloggers & content producers8. Equip web developers and savvy affiliates9. Attract mobile app and game developers10. Focus on conversion rate optimization11. Fairly compensate the real "closers"12. Encourage exclusive relationships13. Disallow affiliate adware14. Prohibit TM-centric domains15. Leverage holiday marketing

In Conclusion…

Thank you! Questions?