River Island has turned to affiliate marketing as it looks to increase the global reach of its ecommerce site.
The fashion retailer, which has been on the UK’s high streets for more than 60 years and has stores in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, now aims to boost international sales through an affiliate marketing campaign in the US and Australia, as well as in the UK market.
In particular the campaign, run through Rakuten Linkshare and coordinated by ecommerce agency Biglight, will support River Island’s children’s range, its Rihanna and Chelsea Girl fashion lines and its menswear range.
“The online channel is increasingly valuable to international consumers who want to buy from brands outside their home country. We want to not only enable those shopers to buy but also to make sure that the shopping experience they have is entertaining, personalised and exciting.”
The cost-per-acquisition (CPA) programme will focus on working with fashion bloggers and publishers to offer shopping experiences, events, review products as well as promoting digital content, editorial and creative video will be promoted.
Steve Borges, co-founder of ecommerce agency Biglight said: “We will be working with River Island to create exciting digital content to encourage consumers to click through and ultimately make a purchase. This will include exclusive videos of Rihanna, collections of the hottest items in each category and seasonal promotions. This digital content, partnered with Rakuten LinkShare’s network, will combine to create a compelling multi-channel offering.”
Alex Cornford, director of sales and client development at Rakuten LinkShare, said: “British brands are experiencing a boom in popularity abroad and retailers are looking to tap into this through the online channel. A CPA network provides the opportunity for huge reach online while still being cost-effective as retailers only pay for sales the programme drives. With the right partnerships, River Island can expand their online audience on a global scale.”
