LinkShare revenue boosted by strong online retail sector 

Friday, June 03 2011 by Steve Swallow

Marks and Spencer, Long Tall Sally and Helly Hansen have all helped to boost revenue at affiliate network LinkShare, which has outpaced overall ecommerce growth in the UK.

The company's first quarter for 2011 saw it achieve double digit growth, including 34 per cent year-on-year same store sales.

In total, 41 advertisers signed up to the network, which saw it extend into furniture and accessories retail.

This underlines the strength of the retail sector - but also confirms the pervasiveness of the affiliate marketing sector for internet consultants.

The Q1 performance also proves a useful indicator for pay per click services growth areas for the coming year.

Continued growth in the retail, travel and lifestyle sectors are key signs that these industries are not suffering as other industries are during the recovery.

The growth is also in line with findings from IMRG, which indicated that UK online sales have increased by 18 per cent during the first three months of the year.

Helping to drive this growth is vouchers and promotions, helping to enhance the online and offline shopping experience for customers.

Liane Dietrich, LinkShare managing director, explained: "Consumers are familiar with the mechanics of affiliate marketing with the use of vouchers and cash-back sites now a common part of the shopping experience.

"We believe affiliate marketing holds tremendous potential for brands looking to increase sales while having a measureable impact on consumer behaviour."

However, affiliate marketing has not proved the solution for every online retailer.

UK baby goods supplier Kiddicare recently announced that it has closed its affiliate operations with incumbent affiliate networks.

The company will concentrate on driving online website promotion solely through Affiliate Window.

Affiliate Window director of client services Anthony Clements explained: "We have developed a close working relationship with the brand and their digital marketing agency Draftfcb over the past two years, and this is a fantastic example of how the three entities can successfully work together to build a strong affiliate programme."

Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".

Source: http://econsultancy.com/us/press-releases/5635-affiliate-network-linkshare-springs-into-2011-with-double-digit-growth-in-q1-and-a-raft-of-new-customer-wins?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=press-releases