Shoe e-retailer gets a kick in sales with affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing has proved an effective way to boost online exposure at pure-play Internet shoe retailer Zappos.com. An affiliate program with Commission Junction generated a click-through rate of 7.2%, or 4.8 million impressions for the site, in its first eight months, says Brook Shaaf, affiliate program manager at Zappos.com, which carries 150 brands of shoes and offers online access to 30 million pairs. Nearly 5,000 affiliates from Commission Junction’s network of more than 350,000 content sites elected to post the shoe site’s banner on their pages. Sales growth over the program’s eight months was 1,925%, according to Shaaf. Zappos.com pays Commission Junction a 15% commission per sale. “Our affiliate program has proven to be cost effective and definitely worth the upkeep of the program,” Shaff adds.