A new report by Affiliate Window strategist Owen Hewitson answers the question if Affiliate sales can ever be incremental. Basically some people have questioned if affiliate sales are often being sent to people who would have bought the product anyway, and that affiliates are doing nothing more than piggybacking other promotions and advertisements.
Hewitson points out in the study, found here, that when asking this question, merchants and advertisers need to be more aware of what people’s online shopping habits are like. That means that while people might be curious about an item, they will still do comparison-shopping and look at other options.
On top of that, they need to look at the number of new customers that came through an affiliate channel, plus look at the difference between affiliate customers and new customers through other channels.
He also examines how to monetize high traffic affiliates more, by providing them with special offers and the use of abandonment codes. According to the study, as much as 87% of online shoppers sometimes do not purchase a product while there are items in the basket. This could be used to give the affiliates a way to push those customers through other methods, discounts and behavioral targeting.
