With an average order value of $48.00, a live product feed with over 200,000 products, and nationwide shipping available to anywhere in the US, the Sears PartsDirect program provides affiliates with a wealth of opportunities to maximize exposure, drive targeted traffic and increase revenues. buy.at provides unrivalled tools and technology, a robust reporting suite to measure performance and ROI, coupled with an award winning team including 2012 Pinnacle award winner, Kim Salvino.

Chris Kauffman, Manager, Search Marketing for Sears PartsDirect says: “We’re excited to work with buy.at and have been impressed with the levels of service and ease of set-up. We are confident the program is in good hands and expect it to be a successful addition to our overall online marketing strategy.”

“Through a professionally managed program and our dedicated Publisher Services team, our aim is to recruit new top-tier partners to the program, expanding reach and awareness for the brand,” adds Nick Cartwright, Head of Sales for buy.at US. “We’re confident that the new partnership with buy.at will deliver true incremental value to Sears PartsDirect’s performance marketing strategy.”

Lisa Chaikin Head of PR Affiliate Window & buy.at e: lisa.chaikin@digitalwindow.com t: 020 7553 0333

For almost 40 years Lonely Planet has been the world’s leading travel publisher, renowned for its first-hand approach and commitment to providing the best information for travelers. In addition to around 500 trustworthy and inspiring books, Lonely Planet produces an award-winning website and a range of innovative digital products.

Now Lonely Planet has chosen buy.at as their exclusive network in the US!

Benefits for Affiliates
• 15% commission on print and digital books
• 30 day cookie
• Range of creative with custom creative available upon request
• Datafeed will be announced in Spring, 2012
• Regular offers (3-for-2, % discounts, BOGO)
• Free delivery for orders over $40

Loyalty, coupon and email affiliates are welcome (sorry, no PPC).

Special Launch Bonus – Double commission on 1st sale AND 20% commission on all sales through April 30, 2012.

Join the Lonely Planet affiliate program today, and start cashing in on one of the hottest travel affiliate programs ever!

Check it out here:

Global performance marketing network, buy.at has experienced a healthy increase in the number of advertisers within the health and beauty sector incorporating performance marketing into their overall online strategies. These retailers are leveraging the strengths of the affiliate channel to increase brand recognition, acquire and retain new and loyal customers, establish new business relationships with online publishers, and to generate additional revenue.

VIVOBAREFOOT, pioneers of the hugely popular barefoot movement, launched barefoot footwear with patented, ultra-thin, puncture-resistant soles in 2003. In 2012, Harvard research showed that heel-striking is 2x more injurious than forefoot striking which is a characteristic of a skilled barefoot runner. As the science continues to show the benefits of the barefoot movement and the media aims to share the knowledge, VIVOBAREFOOT continues to grow. The affiliate program is exclusively managed through buy.at with a number of proactive and engaged affiliate partners.

The oldest apothecary in America, C.O. Bigelow was established in 1838 and is renowned for its unique personal care remedies, and hard to find products from all over the world. The brand has been working in the affiliate channel with buy.at since September 2011 alongside leading performance marketing agency, AffiliateTraction.

Fitbug is your online personal health and well-being coach designed to help individuals achieve their goals by encouraging small changes and achieving great results. The unique concept uses a compact gadget, affectionately known as the ‘Bug’ that tracks calories burned and number of steps achieved. Regularly send your step data to fitbug.com and receive weekly targets and encouragement on incorporating healthy living within your day-to-day routine. The Fitbug affiliate program is exclusively managed through the buy.at network.

“The Fitbug affiliate program has become an invaluable platform in the health and well-being spheres. We have seen remarkable growth in the consumer, B2B and corporate markets. Fitbug’s success just shows how encouraging small changes to your lifestyle can really make a massive difference,” says Paul Landau, Chief Executive for Fitbug Limited.

NutraLuxe, the research and development skincare company recognized for creating scientifically advanced and clinically proven anti-aging skin therapies, joined the buy.at network in July 2011. The brand offers a variety of therapeutic products using 100% natural ingredients for skin, hair and body combined with revolutionary SONIC technology which has seen growing popularity across the country.

Award-winning, national e-retailer Active Forever is a veteran in the performance channel with a successful affiliate program through the buy.at network since February 2010. Offering best-in-class medical supplies, occupational health equipment, physical conditioning tools and healing devices, Active Forever is the one stop shop for individuals looking to maintain healthy lifestyles as well as for those seeking relief from injuries, pain and challenges resulting from disabilities.

“We are excited to work with a growing number of health and beauty brands due to the noticeable surge in affiliate interest in promoting this sector, coupled with the increase in consumer demand since Q4 2011,” says Alex Forsch, Head of Account Management for buy.at US. “Through our award-winning tools and technology and dedicated account management teams, we look forward to seeing these programs grow and anticipate welcoming several new retailers to the network through the remainder of 2012.”

Last week, buy.at secured the exclusive contract to launch the Slendertone program within the next few weeks.

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

With over a decade of industry experience and through long-term relationships directly with top internet retailers, many of which fall within the Internet Retailer Top 500, Affiliate Traction and buy.at provide online publishers with a range of opportunities through the performance channel. buy.at’s global reach and proprietary tools coupled with Affiliate Traction’s all-inclusive affiliate management services will focus on delivering results, building long-term strategic partnerships with key publishers, and introducing new, relevant niche sites within specific verticals for advertisers to engage with.

Kim Salvino, Head of Publishers for buy.at says: “We are thrilled to be establishing a solid relationship with Affiliate Traction, an admired and reputable key player within the performance channel. At buy.at, we believe our reputation for proactive service focused around growing affiliate programs in line with advertisers’ goals, will prove invaluable. We look forward to working closely with Affiliate Traction’s team to build on existing foundations to drive our affiliate programs to even greater heights.”

Greg Shepard, CEO of AffiliateTraction says: “Digital Window has established itself as a leader in the global affiliate space, and we are excited about the opportunity to continue growing our relationship to better benefit everyone involved – Clients, Publishers, Network and Agency – all will both benefit from our close working relationship. buy.at offers American merchants access to UK and EU publishers selling American products to Americans. With intuitive and integrated systems, fantastic local and global publishers, and robust support, this relationship is a win-win for everyone involved to grow domestically and internationally.”

As the relationship grows in 2012, buy.at anticipates expanding the partnership into the UK and European markets through the global affiliation with sister networks, Affiliate Window and zanox.

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

Key Steps Include:

Review the affiliate list – check your program’s placement on the site, understand how they’re promoting your program (and make sure they’re compliant with your PPC policy), ask industry contacts about their reputation, consult your network or OPM, review forums and search online for any positive or negative feedback about the affiliate

Evaluate the program terms – make sure you have program-specific terms in addition to network terms, ensure they’re clear and consistent, outline search policies on using brand name in the display URL, misspellings, brand + term bidding, and consider including terms for coupon affiliates to set expectations

Assess the creative – include a wide variety of fresh text link and banner creative in IAB standard sizes, create deep text links (deep linking should be a requirement!!), offer a well categorized, regularly updated data feed and provide content for affiliates to use on their site

Understand the competitive landscape – is your commission structure, cookie length, conversion rate and creative suite competitive?

Develop a communication plan – send out an introductory newsletter to affiliates and an announcement post in forums and social media, consider including a survey to ask what they need, determine when you’ll send newsletters and if you’ll echo communications through social media, provide your full contact details and be approachable, genuine, and responsive to affiliates

Walk through the affiliate’s shoes – sign up to the program an affiliate, identify how long it takes for network approval, understand the process for pulling creative, viewing reports, and more so you can identify pain points that may deter affiliates and consumers

Test, test, test – test your shopping cart in all major browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome), complete a test purchase to ensure tracking and reporting are working as expected, confirm that affiliate transactions across different networks track properly

Download the full podcast here or click here to simply open the podcast in a new window.

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.

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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