Ahead of the Christmas rush, Littlewoods used mobile affiliate tracking to boost sales from publishing sites linking to their mobile-optimised store. The results spoke for themselves, with a rise in mobile customers spending more than their desktop counterparts.
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Brand: Littlewoods | Sector: Retail | Country: UK | Objective: Build brand engagement, drive sales | Format: Affiliate marketing , display advertisign, mobile marketing, behavioral targeting | Agency/ Partner: Affiliate Window |
The mobile landscape
With mobile commerce experiencing considerable growth over the past couple of years, online department store Littlewoods was keen to ensure it made the most of this growth curve, working with Affiliate Window. There are significant benefits to be gained by providing visitors through mobile handsets with a fully optimised mobile experience. As well as being in a better position to convert visitors that have landed on the site through a mobile device, a user friendly mobile experience has also proven to increase the basket value of these customers.
Simply tracking mobile transactions has also been a challenge for many operators in the performance market, with many failing to add affiliate tracking to their mobile commerce site.
Solution
Littlewoods was aware that by adding affiliate tracking to its mobile optimised site would enable it to capitalise on the publisher opportunities available through the channel. With more consumers expected to turn to mobile commerce in the run up to Christmas, it was vital for Littlewoods to be in a position to convert the increased number of visitors through these devices.
The optimised site ensured there was a seamless user journey and by adding affiliate tracking, publishers were safe in the knowledge they would receive commissions for their marketing efforts.
Littlewoods provided visitors with an intuitive user experience allowing them to easily transact through mobile devices. With a simple menu that can be easily navigated it’s efficient for visitors to find the products they are looking for add them to their basket and ultimately check out through a mobile device.
Results
In the peak December period consumers were turning to their mobile devices in large volumes to transact. Littlewoods saw 5% of all sales from the affiliate channel being generated through mobile handsets. What’s more, those customers transacting through mobile devices were spending more than their counterparts who were purchasing through desktops. Visitors through a mobile handset are typically directed to the mobile optimised version of the site. Littlewoods saw a large increase in the average order values of customers that had purchased through the optimised site when compared to customers who opted to transact through the desktop version of the site through their handsets.
This was seen across a broad range of affiliate promotional types. A leading cashback site saw a considerable uplift (55%) in AOV when transacting through the mobile optimised version of the site, while a key content site saw the greatest improvement – with AOV a staggering 78% higher.
Additionally, the impact of a mobile optimised site on their conversion rate was clearly evident too. They converted at double the rate of an advertiser in the same sector that does not offer an optimised user journey through mobile handsets.
Littlewoods had already been extremely successful with the launch of its mobile site and adding affiliate tracking ensured they were able to capitalise on the growth in m-commerce through the affiliate channel. With a significant volume of traffic already being driven by mobile devices and this trend expected to grow with more publishers embracing mobile, Littlewoods is well placed to take full advantage of this.
