Affiliate marketing advice

[AffiliateNoob]

Hi all.

Does anyone know of any UK based marketing / web development agencies who are clued up with affiliate marketing based websites / ecommerce businesses?

I wish to set up an online apparel website to "sell" affiliated products. In effect the customer will feel as though they are "buying" a product rather than just be sent to the companies website via an affiliate link? I know it's similar to drop shipping but I want to know if it is possible to do it this way?

If not, are there any UK based affiliate marketing agencies or mentors which can help me if I get in touch with them?

Thanks

 

[BenKirkwood]

I've pottered in the affiliate marketplace for years, tried and tested many strategies...

Assuming you don't want to handle the cash (drop shipping), you'd need to look at the capabilities of the affiliate system; I ran a site for a while as Amazon affiliate where the products were added to my store cart (WooCommerce on Wordpress), when the visitor went to check-out it took them to Amazon site with items pre-populated in their cart.

But that's Amazon, it's unlikely that other Affiliate systems are as progressive, Amazon has a good API that makes this possible. Also, the reason I don't run that site now is that it was a complete waste of time.

You also have to consider the user journey, if you're booting visitors off your site to check-out with another vendor, you risk confusing the process, you'll have a much higher drop-off rate than if you go down the drop shipping route in my experience.

 

[Change18]

I'm an affiliate marketer turned web developer. I've got quite a lot of contacts in the affiliate industry (although granted mostly in lead generation) and a lot of experience with eCommerce websites.

Yes, it's very possible to set up an affiliate eCommerce website where design, layout, features and experience is exactly the same as a normal eCommerce website.

Exactly how this works will depend on the deals you have with affiliate networks and the way they provide product data. For example, it could be possible to set it up so it's like you're dropshipping. Taking payment for example and taking your commission and sending the rest to the affiliate network.

However, this set up will likely be when you have a personal relationship with the company you are an affiliate of and can have a more unique and bespoke arrangement.

But you can still have an almost fully functional eCommerce website as a typical affiliate, using the networks and tools provided to us all if we sign up as affiliates. The only different is instead of taking money onsite, as some point, customers will need to leave your website via a referral link and purchase the product at the companies website. However, this could still be after browsing your professional eCommerce website, with search filtering, wishlists, add to basket, email subscriptions, etc. And most importantly, it's your brand and you can build the retail brand around affiliate marketing. And there's nothing stopping you, as you grow and develop, from selling a split of affiliate products, drop shipped products and products sold and fulfilled by your own company.

 

[mary2222]

You can check out Salehoo. They provide free information on business start-ups, specifically on e-commerce-based sites. The free information on their website alone can help you get started.

 

[ukbf0001]

Has anyone done anything with Amazon Stream Store ? - I found myself watching a video on it last week - and the concept looked good - but some of the responses werent.

Amazon Stream Store - is basically a plugin (wordpress I believe) that feeds your chosen products to various pages on your website - and then can purchase whilst still on your website - in reality they are purchasing from Amazon.

I was going to give it a go - does any one have any experience of or any other such plugins that do the same ?