CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE DRIVING GROWTH: BEYOND … · 2020. 2. 24. · including Flipkart and...

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Sunny.Sen@timesgroup.com I n 2013, the year Amazon launched its operations in India, a deal-seeking ecommerce buyer tweeted to ask Swati Bharga- va if her company CashKaro had partnered with the etailer. Bharga- va suggested he should try Flipkart or Snapdeal (both CashKaro clients), as she didn’t know anyone in Amazon then. Amazon saw the tweet, got in touch with Bhargava, and the part- nership began. CashKaro offers additional cashbacks and coupons over the discounts the ecommerce firms give, if a person goes to the ecommerce company via CashKaro. “India is a deal seeking country,” says Bhargava. “We have 2.5 mil- lion members (registered users) who want deals.” CashKaro, an affiliate marketing platform, charges 15-20 per cent commission for every sale it drives to an etailer. It has 1,500 ecom- merce companies as partners and pushes $100 million worth orders to them every year. Its average order value is $40, up from $30 a year ago, and on an average a con- sumer uses CashKaro 18 times in a year. Commissions, Bhargava says, have gone up by about 20 per cent. Affiliate marketing companies pass a portion of the commission to ecommerce buyers. According to a Nasscom and PwC report, the Indi- an ecommerce industry, which was $35 billion in 2018, is expected to touch $100 billion in 2022 — that’s a big opportunity for affiliates. Some ecommerce companies believe that affiliate marketing is the most cost-effective way to acquire new users and maintain better return on investments. There are more than three dozen affiliate marketing companies in India, including Flipkart and Amazon, who run their own affiliate market- ing programme. “We look at affiliate marketing as a means to reach end-users with offerings that are relevant and compelling to them, based on where they are in their shopping journey,” says Kishore Thota, Director-Customer Experience and Marketing, Amazon India. The program allows bloggers to refer traffic to products by provid- ing their reviews. “The (Amazon) associates are enthusiasts, blog- gers, experts… who can be experts and have an audience who trusts them,” he says. The Amazon Associates Pro- gram, Thota explains, helps pub- lishers and bloggers who are cre- ating high quality content to mone- tise it. The content creators help Amazon get involved in a cus- tomer’s purchase journey as they can research and make buying decisions. Another affiliate platform GoPaisa, too, relies on content. “If a person must buy a mutual fund or an insurance, they would like to read about it,” says Ankita Jain, Co-Founder of GoPaisa, a boot- strapped affiliate marketing firm, which provides cashbacks and deals. With summer vacations around the corner, travel companies want to promote international get- aways. Domestic flight tickets, Jain says, are becoming expen- sive, almost as much as taking a flight to Thailand or Singapore. GoPaisa created writeups to help people compare the domestic hol- iday and an international holiday. It counts companies like Make- MyTrip, GoIbibo and OYO as its clients. “We are working with all of them. We drafted a campaign to push international travel,” says Jain. Many believe that affiliate mar- keting is the most cost-effective way to get customers. “I have unlimited budget for affiliate mar- keting if it is cost per order,” says Sandeep Aggarwal, Co-Founder and CEO of Droom, a used-car sell- ing platform. “Registration, down- loads, page views and user engage- ment are theory.” Others, like online pharmacy MedLife, agree. “We witnessed a drop in users after it stopped an ongoing TV ad,” says Isha Patel, manager-affiliate mar- keting, MedLife. To stop the drop, in January, MedLife launched two differ- ent online offers: 30 per cent off for new users and 25 per cent for all users. For every order that MedLife got from an affiliate, it paid them 15 per cent for new users and 5 per cent for repeat users. “There was 20-25 per cent growth in new cus- tomers,” says Patel. Some say that affiliate marketing is better than spending money on Google and Facebook. “Cost per visit is lower compared to paid social or paid search. In Google or Face- book, it takes time to scale up a campaign,” says Sougata Sengup- ta, manager-performance and app marketing at Tata Cliq. As affiliates help in making direct sales, etailers make better mar- gins. Sengupta says that affiliate marketing contributes 20-30 per cent of Tata Cliq’s gross merchan- dise value. Then there is referral in affiliate marketing. “Referrals is a higher quality form of affiliate marketing,” says Manshu Agarwal, CEO of Ponder, a gamified referral app. “Affiliate marketing is through people that you don’t know personally, whereas referrals are from your friends. There is a greater degree of trust." Bhargava is heading in that direction with EarnKaro, which combines affiliate mar- keting with influencer market- ing. Much similar to CashKaro, which gets 1,00,000 new users because of influencer marketing, every time an influencer endorses a brand on EarnKaro and that translates into a purchase, EarnKaro gets a commission from the brand. A part of that commis- sion is passed on to the influencer. Celebrity makeup artist, Anjie Gogna-Dhawan, who did make up for Sabyasachi Mukherji and Ambi- ka Anand in the Band Baja Bride show says, “If I post something on Instagram, and someone asks what lipstick you are wearing, I send them the link from EarnKaro… You get `2,000 or `2,500 just by sharing a link.” DIGITAL MARKETING - INCLUDING AFFILIATE - IS A SIZEABLE CHUNK OF AD SPENDS Affiliate marketing sees a growing opportunity in India as it promises to drive real sales and not just grab eyeballs India is a deal seek- ing country. We have 2.5 million members (registered users) who want deals. SWATI BHARGAVA Co-Founder, CashKaro & EarnKaro Source: FICCI Frames *In ` billion Segment Total ad Digital's spent in the share in the segment* segment Video 38 19% Search 36 26% Display 34 21% Classified 7 6% Total 115 100% DRIVING GROWTH: BEYOND DISCOUNTS AND PROMOTIONS CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 11 TC) INVEST I N FL Ponder is a radically different way to make and find referrals - for jobs, business, and even dating. It uses game mechanics and financial rewards to motivate trusted friends and contacts to play matchmaker, helping you find that perfect job or that future spouse. Launched successfully for romantic referrals in the US, Ponder is now coming to India . Invest in this game -changing technology before the deadline of March 31st Introducing, Ponder. https://republic.co/ponder As seen on Meet the Drapers show on SONY JOE ABRAMS BILL DRAPER MANSHU AGARWAL Pon d er Co-founder of MySpace First Silicon Valley investor in India Founder , Ponder. "Ponder is going to be a game-changer "I would be willing to back this If done right , "In India, everything Is already based on referrals. The easiest way to for recruiting , businesses , and personal and he ( Manchu ] looks like he would do We ' re taking that natural order and turbo -charging 1 relationships. " It right " powered by I nnovative design and blockchaln technology. "

Transcript of CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE DRIVING GROWTH: BEYOND … · 2020. 2. 24. · including Flipkart and...

Page 1: CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE DRIVING GROWTH: BEYOND … · 2020. 2. 24. · including Flipkart and Amazon, who run their own affiliate market-ing programme. “We look at affiliate

[email protected]

In 2013, the year Amazonlaunched its operations in India,a deal-seeking ecommerce

buyer tweeted to ask Swati Bharga-va if her company CashKaro hadpartnered with the etailer. Bharga-va suggested he should try Flipkartor Snapdeal (both CashKaroclients), as she didn’t know anyonein Amazon then.

Amazon saw the tweet, got intouch with Bhargava, and the part-nership began. CashKaro offersadditional cashbacks and couponsover the discounts the ecommercefirms give, if a person goes to the

ecommerce company via CashKaro.“India is a deal seeking country,”says Bhargava. “We have 2.5 mil-lion members (registered users)who want deals.”

CashKaro, an affiliate marketingplatform, charges 15-20 per centcommission for every sale it drivesto an etailer. It has 1,500 ecom-merce companies as partners andpushes $100 million worth ordersto them every year. Its averageorder value is $40, up from $30 ayear ago, and on an average a con-sumer uses CashKaro 18 times in ayear. Commissions, Bhargava says,have gone up by about 20 per cent.

Affiliate marketing companies

pass a portion of the commission toecommerce buyers. According to aNasscom and PwC report, the Indi-an ecommerce industry, which was$35 billion in 2018, is expected totouch $100 billion in 2022 — that’sa big opportunity for affiliates.

Some ecommerce companiesbelieve that affiliate marketing isthe most cost-effective way toacquire new users and maintainbetter return on investments. Thereare more than three dozen affiliatemarketing companies in India,including Flipkart and Amazon,who run their own affiliate market-ing programme.

“We look at affiliate marketing as

a means to reach end-users withofferings that are relevant andcompelling to them, based onwhere they are in their shoppingjourney,” says Kishore Thota,Director-Customer Experienceand Marketing, Amazon India.The program allows bloggers torefer traffic to products by provid-ing their reviews. “The (Amazon)associates are enthusiasts, blog-gers, experts… who can beexperts and have an audience whotrusts them,” he says.

The Amazon Associates Pro-gram, Thota explains, helps pub-lishers and bloggers who are cre-ating high quality content to mone-tise it. The content creators helpAmazon get involved in a cus-tomer’s purchase journey as theycan research and make buyingdecisions.

Another affiliate platformGoPaisa, too, relies on content. “Ifa person must buy a mutual fundor an insurance, they would like toread about it,” says Ankita Jain,Co-Founder of GoPaisa, a boot-strapped affiliate marketing firm,which provides cashbacks anddeals.

With summer vacations aroundthe corner, travel companieswant to promote international get-aways. Domestic flight tickets,Jain says, are becoming expen-sive, almost as much as taking aflight to Thailand or Singapore.GoPaisa created writeups to helppeople compare the domestic hol-iday and an international holiday. Itcounts companies like Make-MyTrip, GoIbibo and OYO as itsclients. “We are working with all ofthem. We drafted a campaign topush international travel,” saysJain.

Many believe that affiliate mar-keting is the most cost-effectiveway to get customers. “I haveunlimited budget for affiliate mar-

keting if it is cost per order,” saysSandeep Aggarwal, Co-Founderand CEO of Droom, a used-car sell-ing platform. “Registration, down-loads, page views and user engage-ment are theory.”

Others, like online pharmacyMedLife, agree. “We witnessed adrop in users after it stopped anongoing TV ad,” says IshaPatel, manager-affiliate mar-keting, MedLife. To stop thedrop, in January, MedLife

launched two differ-ent online offers: 30 per cent off fornew users and 25 per cent for allusers. For every order that MedLifegot from an affiliate, it paid them15 per cent for new users and 5 percent for repeat users. “There was20-25 per cent growth in new cus-tomers,” says Patel.

Some say that affiliate marketingis better than spending money onGoogle and Facebook. “Cost pervisit is lower compared to paidsocial or

paid search. In Google or Face-book, it takes time to scale up acampaign,” says Sougata Sengup-ta, manager-performance and appmarketing at Tata Cliq.

As affiliates help in making directsales, etailers make better mar-gins. Sengupta says that affiliatemarketing contributes 20-30 percent of Tata Cliq’s gross merchan-dise value.

Then there is referral in affiliatemarketing. “Referrals is a higher

quality form of affiliatemarketing,” says

Manshu Agarwal,CEO of Ponder, agamified referralapp. “Affiliatemarketing isthrough people

that you don’tknow personally,

whereas referrals arefrom your friends. There

is a greater degree of trust."Bhargava is heading in

that direction with EarnKaro,which combines affiliate mar-keting with influencer market-ing. Much similar to CashKaro,

which gets 1,00,000 new usersbecause of influencer marketing,every time an influencer endorsesa brand on EarnKaro and thattranslates into a purchase,EarnKaro gets a commission fromthe brand. A part of that commis-sion is passed on to the influencer.

Celebrity makeup artist, AnjieGogna-Dhawan, who did make upfor Sabyasachi Mukherji and Ambi-ka Anand in the Band Baja Brideshow says, “If I post something on

Instagram, and someone asks whatlipstick you are wearing, I sendthem the link from EarnKaro… Youget `2,000 or `2,500 just by sharinga link.”

DIGITAL MARKETING - INCLUDING AFFILIATE - ISA SIZEABLE CHUNK OF AD SPENDS

Affiliate marketing sees a growing opportunity in India as it promises todrive real sales and not just grab eyeballs

India is a deal seek-ing country. We have2.5 million members(registered users) whowant deals.

SWATI BHARGAVACo-Founder,

CashKaro & EarnKaro

Source: FICCI Frames *In ` billion

Segment Total ad Digital's spent in the share in thesegment* segment

Video 38 19%Search 36 26%Display 34 21%Classified 7 6%Total 115 100%

DRIVING GROWTH: BEYONDDISCOUNTS AND PROMOTIONS

CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE

THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 11

CCI NG 3.7 Product: TOIMumbaiBS PubDate: 29-03-2019 Zone: MumbaiCity Edition: 1 Page: TOIMOPED User: nilesh.kocharekar Time: 03-28-2019 20:52 Color: CMYK

TC) INVEST I NFL

Ponder is a radically different way to make and find referrals - for jobs, business, and even dating. It uses game mechanics and financial rewardsto motivate trusted friends and contacts to play matchmaker, helping you find that perfect job or that future spouse. Launched successfully forromantic referrals in the US, Ponder is now coming to India . Invest in this game-changing technology before the deadline of March 31st

Introducing, Ponder. https://republic.co/ponder

As seen on Meetthe Drapers show on

SONYJOE ABRAMS BILL DRAPER MANSHU AGARWAL PonderCo-founder of MySpace First Silicon Valley investor in India Founder, Ponder.

"Ponder is going to be a game-changer "I would be willing to back this If done right , "In India, everything Is already based on referrals. The easiest way tofo r recruiting, businesses, and personal and he (Manchu] looks like he would do We're taking that natural order and turbo-charging 1relationships." It right" powered by Innovative design and blockchaln

technology."