FitFlop gives back with the affiliate channel
Overview
During the COVID-19 pandemic the FitFlop team wanted to continue driving performance through the affiliate channel, but accounting for tighter cost control and ongoing efficiencies.To do this, the team worked closely with their Rakuten Advertising account managers to employ strategic recommendations that would continue driving the business forward during a complex trading environment.
What was the role of digital in the media mix?
FitFlop especially wanted to recognise this period as a chance to give back to frontline workers, by offering an exclusive discount during the COVID-19 pandemic on their fantastic range of comfortable footwear.
FitFlop and Rakuten Advertising worked together to devise strategies that would assist FitFlop in achieving the goal of improving return on ad spend (ROAS) and providing benefits to UK frontline workers as a gesture of thanks for their work during the pandemic. FitFlop worked with a mix of publishers to promote their Easter Sale including cashback and loyalty, vouchers and content, aiming to secure as much exposure across newsletter and homepage placements as possible.
FitFlop also worked with a variety of content publishers - such as Sheerluxe, Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire - to showcase their diverse range, perfectly engineered to keep you comfortable while working from home or out on your daily walk. This helped to support the full-price sales mix and build excitement ahead of the sale.
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As a business FitFlop had set an objective for 2020 to continue to decrease the number of promotional codes available, which the team have been working well towards prior to COVID-19. However, this period identified an opportunity to give back to frontline workers, and therefore the team agreed to sign off an exclusive code for Health Service Discount and Blue Light Card, which was a great win for the affiliate channel.
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The Rakuten Advertising account team negotiated a bespoke exposure package with Health Service Discounts covering newsletters, the homepage, fashion hub and solus exposure. The teams worked cross-functionally to ensure the publisher had the best creative for these placements. In addition, FitFlop shared 20k unique codes with their strongest offer: 40% off on top of their mid-season sale.
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A key focus for FitFlop is new customer acquisition so, during negotiations, the Rakuten account management team made sure to include a competitive dynamic commission split to incentivise the campaign, providing commissions for full-price and sale items and a higher CPA for new customers.
Additionally, after experiencing a small dip in performance towards the mid-end of March as expected, the FitFlop and Rakuten Advertising team decided to launch the mid-season sale a week earlier to optimise the promotional activity for the entire month of May.
Key statistics
What results did you attain? What was the biggest achievement?
In April, Rakuten Advertising and FitFlop exceeded target by achieving +196% of their goal. This result is even more surprising considering the footwear vertical has been trending negatively in the UK during April. Additional performance results include:
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Easter promotion of 20% off selected full price lines delivered traffic +42%, orders +90% and revenue +82% week-on-week
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Health Service Discount promotion: 40% off to NHS workers delivered +503% in site traffic, +1806% in orders and +2113% in revenue year-on-year
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Blue Light Card: 40% off to frontline workers delivered growth of +100% in site traffic, +100% in orders and +100% in revenue, year-on-year
In a sentence…
FitFlop gives back with the affiliate channel
