River Island affiliate network targets overseas
By Retail Technology | Monday July 22 2013
Fashion retailer ramps up international commerce by bringing CPA network on board to drive online sales
River Island recently launched its affiliate marketing campaign with global cost per acquisition (CPA) network Rakuten LinkShare to reach online shoppers around the globe.
Having had a presence on the British High Street for over 60 years and with stores throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the fashion retailer is expanding its e-commerce business internationally with an affiliate marketing programme spanning the UK, US and Australia. This includes full integration with River Island’s multi-currency site.
River Island’s CPA programme will be managed by specialist e-commerce agency Biglight and focus on working with fashion bloggers and publishers such as FashionBeans, rewardStyle and ShopStyle to offer discovery shopping experiences as well as style editorial, web exclusives and limited edition products. The retailer is working with the CPA network to promote digital content, editorial and creative video, as well as offering bloggers access to exclusive events, gifting and review opportunities.
Targeted merchandising promotions
The CPA programme will support River Island’s kids range for boys and girls aged 3-12, as well as its current fashion lines, Rihanna and Chelsea Girl. Its growing menswear offering will also be promoted. New products will be added to the programme each week as fresh trends are completed by the retailers’ in-house design team.
Josie Roscop, marketing director at River Island, said: “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 shoppers to buy but also to make sure that the shopping experience they have is entertaining, personalised and exciting.”
River Island has also recently been busy procuring Oracle Retail Planning and Optimisation software to support its strategy for ‘commerce anywhere’ growth and international expansion. The planning investment will help to improve merchandise performance and inform profitable inventory investment.
