Here are 10 basic steps, and one golden rule, to optimize the conversion rates of your new territory traffic.

1. Use Currency symbols and local payment methods. Natives will feel much more at home with $, £ or € than USD, GBP or EUR and will instinctively have more trust in your site. Using all the major payment types in a country, for example iDEAL in the Netherlands, will have a big impact on your conversion rates.

2. Remove links to products and services not available to your overseas customers such as signing-up for a credit card. It looks unprofessional and will increase the number of customers abandoning your site.

3. Inventory that is against the law to sell to other countries shouldn’t be visible. If I can’t see it then I won’t be disappointed that I can’t buy it and I won’t head off elsewhere. This includes products such as ammunition.

4. Data-capture forms should always cater for the nuances of each market. A telephone field designed for the US 555-123-9876 will appear odd to a UK customer who needs an extra digit 020-7231-1122. Date-Month-Year or Month-Date-Year? Less frustration=More sales.

5. Buying a shoe in a UK 10 won’t fit that US 10 foot – display the sizes your customer understands, or at least provide a clearly visible convertor.

6. Localise/ize your language! ZIP/Postcode Catalog/Catalogue, Check/Cheque, color/colour. Drop your copy into MS Word and set to US/UK English and watch the wavy red lines appear. Better still, get a couple of natives to read through it for you, or hire the services of a professional. Speaking in their own dialect will make your customer feel at home.

7. It’s not Customer Service when you have to dial an expensive international phone number to receive it. Either pay for a local number that redirects to your call centre or offer an alternative method of contacting you that doesn’t cost the customer the earth.

8. Tax. In the US a customer will expect it to be added at the checkout. In the UK your buyer will expect it to have been included in the price displayed (unless you are primarily b2b but that’s another post entirely)

9. Change your terms and conditions to reflect the market you are selling in and be aware of the differences in laws. In Europe, there are national laws as well as the all encompassing EU Directives, and in the US there are State and Federal regulations governing transactions.

10. If shipping isn’t free to your new territory, make sure the banners and buttons shouting it on your homepage are removed and highlight clearly in advance what the fees are. Springing the additional charge at checkout is a sure-fire way to see customers abandon their basket.

GOLDEN RULE – If you cannot have local distribution, at least have a local returns address. Your customers may be willing to pay to ship those ‘bang-on trend, gorgeous must have heels’ in this season’s hottest hue, but they will not want to have to pay an international carriage to send them back if they are damaged or don’t quite fit their feet!

Finally, once all the improvements have been implemented, analyze your pre and post-change traffic. You should notice a much healthier conversion rate and be on your way to becoming a hit in your new territory.

Stefan Robinson Brand Sales Manager buy.at e: stefan.robinson@buy.at t: 443.863.7726

Global affiliate network, buy.at has seen a steady increase in the number of fashion retailers integrating affiliate campaigns into their online marketing strategies, with an aim to increase brand awareness, acquire new customers, and generate additional revenue. These include well-known global brands such as Accessorize, Lindsay Phillips, and T.M. Lewin. There are several factors that continue to drive double-digit growth for clothing retailers, including the emergence of new online shopping models such as flash sales and group-buying websites, both of which have displayed rapid growth and continue to drive consumer interest.

Popular British accessories retailer, Accessorize, recently expanded into the US market with much anticipation. Recognized by style icons and fashionistas worldwide, the trendy English brand is known as the accessories destination for the savvy and stylish consumer.

T.M Lewin is another British fashion brand that successfully launched in the US market. Established in 1898, T.M. Lewin offers a range of high-quality menswear. They have a highly successful track record for online sales, currently growing 60% year on year.*

Lindsay Phillips, the innovative and fashionable creator of SwitchFlops, has been a popular advertiser since their exclusive launch with buy.at in November 2009. Lindsay’s footwear concept evolved from a school art project of ceramic flip flops to become the patented shoe with ‘infinite possibilities.’ SwitchFlops are available online and in over 300 stores across the country.

Luxury fashion e-tailer STYLEBOP.com has grown to become one of the world’s largest luxury shopping internet sites. With nearly 2 million unique site visitors every month, there is a wealth of opportunities for publishers to drive traffic and generate sales.

Nick Cartwright, Head of Sales for buy.at US says: “As the online fashion retail sector continues to see exponential growth, and more retailers turn to performance marketing, it becomes increasingly important for advertisers to stay ahead of the curve through the implementation of strategic campaigns and future planning. Leveraging the experience and expertise of network partners will help propel their affiliate programs and drive their online business through 2012.”

With growing numbers of fashion bloggers and style comparison sites looking for ways to monetize their sites, buy.at have ensured they provide all the necessary tools to enable these publishers to maximise their earnings. With award winning account manager Kim Salvino heading the Publisher Services team, a number of technologies designed to host effective linking methods, plus the recently introduced reduced payment thresholds, buy.at are in the perfect position to aid the continued growth of this sector.

Additional fashion retailers maximizing their online exposure through affiliate marketing programs with buy.at include Terraplana, Capulet London, Goddiva, Designers Guild (home fashion), The Hip Chick, and LN-CC.

###

Lisa Chaikin PR Manager – UK & US Affiliate Window & buy.at e: lisa.chaikin@digitalwindow.com t: 020 7553 0333

*http://www.ecommera.com/news/press-releases/tm-lewin-ties-ecommera-international-online-push

Affiliates, agencies, vendors, advertisers, and networks of all shapes and sizes were in attendance, hoping to forge new business relationships within the performance marketing channel. Several of our advertisers spent time at the buy.at booth –meeting and mingling with existing partners and potential prospects.

Here’s a list of the advertisers who joined us:

Samir El-Alami (Badoo)
Erica Barry (VA Mortgage)
Greg Hoffman (SubscriptionAgent.com)
John Lobrutto (TripAlertz)
Alicia Iveson, Ketan Thanki & Elizabeth Chung (British Airways)
Jen Ward (myOptumHealth Store)
Heather Blackburn (Girly Checks)
Jeannette Saliba (BargainStation.com)

We also hosted another fun and engaging ‘Twitter-a-Winner’ contest for all publishers, with a range of fantastic prizes from several brands including CafePress, Designers Guild, Ghirardelli, Girly Checks, Veer, Whittard of Chelsea, Goldstar, TripAlertz, Value Pet Supplies and the grand prize of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from BargainStation.com.

The definitive highlight of the show was on Tuesday the 10th when our very own Head of Publishers, Kim Salvino was awarded the prestigious Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Manager of the Year. After being nominated for three consecutive years, Kim finally took home the well-deserved trophy and we couldn’t be more excited and proud. We’ll be doing a detailed interview with Kim on the blog next week so make sure to check it out.

Thank you to everyone who made an effort to speak with us at the conference and to all of the buy.at team for another exceptional affiliate summit. Looking forward to ASE 2012 in New York.

Photos from ASW2012 can be seen here.

Lisa Chaikin
PR Manager – UK & US

Sunday, January 8th @ our Meet Market Table (#45)

12pm-1pm: Erica Barry (VA Mortgage)
2pm-4pm: Samir El-alami (Badoo)

Monday, January 9th @ our Booth (#404)

10am-11am: Erica Barry (VA Mortgage)
11am-12pm: Greg Hoffman (SubscriptionAgent.com)
12pm-1pm: John Lobrutto (TripAlertz)
1pm-2pm: Alicia Iveson, Ketan Thanki & Elizabeth Chung (BA)
2pm-3pm: Jen Ward (myOptumHealth Store)
2pm-4pm: Cresta Pillsbury (iNetVideo.com)
4pm-5pm: Heather Blackburn (Girly Checks)

Tuesday, January 10th @ our Booth (#404)

10am-11am: John Lobrutto (TripAlertz)
11am-12pm: Jeannette Saliba (BargainStation.com)
1pm-2pm: Alicia Iveson, Ketan Thanki & Elizabeth Chung (BA)
2pm-4pm: Heather Blackburn (Girly Checks)

Meet these Advertisers & Their Agencies/OPMs:

If you are an affiliate publisher with a valid URL and plan to attend the show, you’re eligible to win one of 21+ prizes throughout the weekend.

Prizes include:

• - Grand prize of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from BargainStation.com
• - Gift certificates to Goldstar, TripAlertz, Value Pet Supplies & more!
• - Gifts from Badoo, CafePress, Designers Guild, Ghirardelli, Girly Checks, Veer, Whittard of Chelsea & more!

In order to enter:

• - You must be an affiliate/publisher (buy.at membership not required!)
• - You must own a valid URL

Look for twitter posts from @buyatUS announcing winners during ASW 2012. Winners must pick up their prizes at the buy.at booth (#404) – and don’t delay!  Each winner has a limited amount of time to pick up their prize before it’s awarded to someone else.

Visit http://bit.ly/ASW12Contest to enter and good luck!

No rest for the wicked. It’s “the holidays” but in this industry, you’re lucky to get any real holiday at this time of year at all. Christmas is over for another year but in the blink of an eye is mega sale time! If you’re stuck working between Christmas and New Year to make the most of the sales peak, we have a competition just for you. Send us a screen shot of your post-Christmas sales promotions and we will enter you into a prize draw to win a £100/$150 bonus for working so hard over the festive season. Email an image of your site featuring any post-Christmas or sales promotions to competitions@digitalwindow.com to be in with a chance of some extra cash! Don’t forget to confirm you affiliate ID or handle in your email.

Terms and Conditions

• Entrants must send an image of an affiliate site they own/maintain featuring post-Christmas/sales content to competitions@digitalwindow.com between 09:00 23/12/11 and 23:59 02/01/12 to be counted
• There will be one publisher account drawn as the winner
• The winner must be aged 16 or over
• There is no alternative prize
• The competition is not open to any employees of Digital Window
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
• Digital Window accepts no responsibility for any technical factors that may affect the receiving of entries via email or twitter. Only answers that successfully reach our mail server by the cut off time will be counted
• The £100/$150 prize will be credited to the affiliate account quoted in the competition entry
• All US, federal, state and local and Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations apply

Not only are there last minute delivery options available (click here for a UK list), but some merchants offer products that don’t require any delivery at all! We’ve made a list of life-saving brands like this, so you know exactly who to target for promotions right up to the last minute.

Even better news is that promoting some of the advertisers below is all you have to do to gain entry into this week’s prize drawing! Make sure you’re promoting at least five of the brands on our “last minute list” (between buy.at & Affiliate Window) before Christmas and we will put your affiliate account into our festive prize draw for the last week before the big day. The prize? £250/$375 in experience vouchers, of course, so that our lucky winner can treat themselves to some pamper-time to recover from the Christmas rush, or even kick off a new hobby in the New Year.

Terms and Conditions

• Promotion of the advertisers on our list will be judge to be “generation at least 10 valid clicks for any given program”
• To gain prize draw entry, publishers must generate at least 10 hard clicks for at least five different programs on our list above, OR on the list of Affiliate Window advertisers found here, between 17:00 19/12/11 and 23:59 24/12/11
• There will be one affiliate account drawn as the winner
• The winner must be aged 16 or over
• There is no alternative prize
• One prize will be awarded across Affiliate and buy.at
• The competition is not open to any employees of Digital Window
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
• Prize is subject to availability and is non transferable
• Purchase of prize will be arranged after the winner has been contacted and confirmed their address
• All US, federal, state and local and Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations apply

• - Engaging New Customers Following Black Friday (including Amy & Kim)
• - New Advancements for Tracking Your Campaigns (including Jeannine)

Highlights are outlined below – happy listening!

Engaging New Customers Following Black Friday

Merchant ABCs hosts Deborah Carney and Vinny O’Hare joined Kim Salvino and Amy Ely of buy.at to discuss ideas on engaging new customers gained from Black Friday sales.

Topics include:

• - Promotion ideas to recapture the attention and dollars of Black Friday / Cyber Monday customers
• - Helpful data, creative and resources for affiliates so they can generate additional holiday sales

Key takeaways:

• - Consider time-sensitive promotions that encourage customers to keep returning to the site, such as daily deals or a “Countdown to Christmas” – great examples include eBay and Amazon’s daily and weekly deals
• - As the remaining shopping days dwindle, alter promotions to feature gift cards and/or free overnight shipping
• - Promote complementary products or add-ons for gifts they’ve already purchased, such as Kindle Edition books if the original purchase was a Kindle Fire
• - Use Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales data to give affiliates top seller data and popular categories, then let them know if and when you will highlight or offer a sale on these products again
• - Supply affiliates with shipping deadline dates and when gift card sales are strongest so they can plan and promote accordingly
• - Recognize that holiday promotions don’t have to stop at Black Friday and Cyber Monday, give affiliates offers that run through the rest of December and into post-holiday shopping promotions – for example, encourage gift card spending after the holidays

Helpful statistics:

From Shawn Collins’s Affiliate Tip Blog and citing stats from comScore:

• - Online shopping for Black Friday 2011 was a 26% increase versus Black Friday 2010
• - Thanksgiving Day (November 24) was also strong with an 18% increase over Thanksgiving 2010 with $479 million in online sales.
• - There was $1.25 billion in online spending on Cyber Monday 2011, which is up 22% from 2010
• - Cyber Monday 2011 was the heaviest online spending day in history and only the second day ever to surpass the billion-dollar threshold

Click here to listen to the podcast.

New Advancements for Tracking Your Campaigns

This discussion includes a review of basic tools (cookie tracking, deep linking and data feeds) as well as a few of buy.at’s unique tools (OfferCentral and ContentEngine Contextual) and more.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

This year there are lots of presents under our tree that we’ll be giving away across the next ten weeks; from hampers to gadgets, entertainment goodies to this year’s hottest toys. Each week we’ll set you a new task to complete for entry into our prize draw.

We’ll also be running fun little games for ad hoc gifts, so make sure you are following our activities on Twitter and TheHub.

Week Seven – Secret Santa

At Affiliate Window and buy.at we’re all generous souls, but there’s one person who’s really getting into the spirit this year…our very own secret Santa! Guess who has been at the milk and cookies and you could win a whole haul of gifts!

We’ve narrowed it down to five unusual suspects and we’re sure that one of them has been taking on St Nick at his own game. To be in with a chance on winning the contents of our secret Santa’s sack, all you need to do is guess who is the behind the fluffy white beard.

Our secret Santa caught on camera:

The suspects
~ Click on the person you think is our Santa to enter this week’s draw! ~

Name: Louise Read
Job Title: Events Coordinator
Years in the industry: 2
Favourite reindeer: Prancer
Top of your Christmas wish list: Pandora charm bracelet

Name: Owen Hewiston
Job Title: Client Strategist
Years in the industry: 5
Favourite reindeer: Vixen, obviously
Top of your Christmas wish list: Peace on earth and goodwill to all!

Name: Morgan Foland
Job Title: Account Executive, buy.at US
Years in the industry: 1
Favourite reindeer: Rudolph
Top of your Christmas wish list: Clothes!

Name: Matt Swan
Job Title: Client Strategist
Years in the industry: 5
Favourite reindeer: Cupid
Top of your Christmas wish list: Maximum points for Tottenham over the Christmas period.

Name: Colleen Bulfin
Job Title: Fashion Specialist
Years in the industry: 2
Favourite reindeer: Dancer
Top of your Christmas wish list: These Alaia beauties.

More about the prize

Inside Santa’s sack is:
Fijit Friends
Sesame Street Ltes Rock Elmo
Star Wars Ultimate Force Tech Lightsaber
Zumba Fitness Workout
Remote Control Gyro Helicopter with Camera

Terms and Conditions
• You must click on the image of the correct Affiliate Window and buy.at employee to access the competition entry page
• All affiliate account numbers and handles submitted through our competition page before 23:59 Sunday 18th December gain one entry into the prize draw
• There will be one affiliate account drawn as the winner
• The winner must be aged 16 or over
• There is no alternative prize
• The competition is not open to any employees of Digital Window
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
• Prize is subject to availability and is non transferable
• Delivery of prize will be arranged after the winner has been contacted and confirmed their address
• All US, federal, state and local and Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations apply

We’ve hidden the first line of the lyrics of the carol in the first words of each paragraph in the Publisher News editorial in this weeks’ newsletter. There’ll be an image clue to look out for in there as well. Once you know the carol, simply email promotions@digitalwindow.com or tweet @AWinXmas with the name of the song and your ID/handle to be entered into the prize draw.

Terms and Conditions

• Entrants must send the name of the Christmas carol indicated by the first words of the paragraphs of the editorial of the publisher newsletter sent on 6/12/11 in an email to promotions@digitalwindow.com or message to @AWinXmas by 09:00 12/12/11
• There will be one publisher account drawn as the winner
• The winner must be aged 16 or over
• There is no alternative prize
• The competition is not open to any employees of Digital Window
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
• Digital Window accepts no responsibility for any technical factors that may effect the receiving of entries via email or twitter. Only answers that successful reach our mail server or twitter account by the cut off time will be counted
• Prize is subject to availability and is non transferable
• Delivery of prize will be arranged after the winner has been contacted and confirmed their address
• All US, federal, state and local and Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations apply