Preparing for Black Friday: 5 key trends that could determine success

Last year the Black Friday juggernaut arrived in the UK and established itself as a new retail phenomenon. Whilst some companies’ websites creaked and fulfilment became a serious headache for others, not to mention the margin measuring impact of deep discounting, this pre-Christmas period has given the country’s retailers serious food for thought about how to ensure they strike the right chord in 2015.

As a channel with a strong heritage for driving conversions, the affiliate marketplace is well positioned to support advertisers’ efforts. With that in mind, what trends can we expect to see this year?

Smartphone traffic will play a crucial role

On Boxing Day 2014, Affiliate Window’s traffic via tablets and smartphones exceeded 50% for the first time. Drilling down into the affiliates and advertiser sectors that succeed on different devices provides an additional steer on how to optimise an affiliate campaign.

We know that consumers use smartphones to browse the Internet in ways they don’t on other platforms. Consumers are increasingly switching between devices. Having consistent messaging across all devices not to mention ensuring any dedicated mobile sites have affiliate tracking enabled should see a decent volume of both traffic and sales. However, as a more casual browsing device, don’t expect that traffic to convert as well. Consider offering additional non-CPA payments for those affiliates with a significant mobile reach.

Tracking conversions between devices will need to become the norm

With the significant growth in m-commerce, multi device consumption is common place. Google recently revealed their cross device conversion statistics, indicating that cross device activity can result in an increase of anywhere between 4-16% attributable sales. This matches the data we are currently seeing for our cross device product with some retailers experiencing around an 8 – 12% uplift in sales.

Without the ability to track cross device sales, affiliates are not being adequately or accurately rewarded for the full extent of the sales they are driving. Imagine telling your affiliates you were cutting their commissions by around 10% at the peak sales’ period of the year? Advertisers simply wouldn’t do it, but by not tracking sales across multiple platforms, this is what they are effectively doing.

The rise of the blogger

If there’s one topic that is guaranteed to cause affiliate marketers to scratch their heads in confusion, it’s how to engage the longtail affiliates on their programme. At this time of year many of the major affiliate sites, the large cashback and voucher code sites, have already agreed their marketing plans for Christmas with ratecards, promotional slots and commission rates agreed with many advertisers.

This is nothing new and has now become an established part of late summer. But trying to engage the many remains problematic. What’s even more frustrating is the affiliates who fall into this category are considered the most desirable by many and can help deliver the most ‘incremental’ sales.

With many bloggers primed and willing to feature content, products and services that are being heavily promoted by advertisers in the run up to Christmas, think creatively about how you work with them. Given the power of these affiliates to influence, consider blended payment models that offer top up payments for assisting sales in return for the fantastic brand exposure they can offer.

Time of day will be critical

Looking at our data from Black Friday 2014, we have been able to understand the peak periods for transactions throughout the day. The share of desktop sales peaks at 11:00 – 12:00 and then 13:00 – 14:00 with 7% of all desktop sales being driven between these hours. Desktop sales then drop off after 2pm.

In contrast we see smartphone activity peak in the morning with the greatest share of sales occurring during the morning commute – between 8am and 9am. This share then drops off before seeing another peak during the evening commuting hours – hitting 6% between 6pm and 7pm.

Consider how this will impact how affiliates might push you early in the day in order to maximise coverage of your products. Speak to affiliates about how they can support your efforts across different devices at different times of the day and also across the four day weekend.

Also consider… It’s not just Black Friday. Traditionally in the UK, Cyber Monday (the first Monday in December) has always been the largest trading day in the run up to Christmas. Taking advantage of ‘Cyber Weekend’ could really see advertisers benefit from this busy period. Generally we saw a bigger November for the very first time last year, so if 2015 follows suit, expect a longer Christmas lead in and a bump back to earth after the Black Friday steamroller.

Black Friday threw up other trends such as a hike in average order values and how telecoms clients offering compelling deals showed the day wasn’t just a retail focused one. Finally, for SMEs, consider the biggest sale Affiliate Window tracked across the day wasn’t for John Lewis, Marks & Spencer or Currys, but for Wex Photographic who made one affiliate very happy when they tracked a sale for £12,000.

There is a myriad of opportunities and considerations for any affiliate programme: the Black Friday phenomenon heightens the importance of getting it right. Now is the time to plan for every eventuality and engage with your affiliates at every level to understand what strategy is right for each and every one of them.

You can read more about each of the trends discussed in Affiliate Window’s whitepaper.

Preparing for Black Friday: 5 key trends that could determine success