A stronger affiliate program, expanded keyword buys, and more effective e-mail marketing have helped drive December sales to date up 40% over last year at PersonalCreations.com, president of e-commerce and new business development Geoff Smith tells Internet Retailer. The e-commerce arm of Personal Creations, accounting for about 47% of revenues at the catalog provider of consumer products that can be personalized with names or photos, is the company’s fastest-growing business segment.
Revenues from affiliate marketing alone in December are up about 60% over last year, driven in part by stronger incentives for affiliates who produce sales, including a bonus program offered to selected affiliates in its network by PersonalCreations.com’s affiliate network provider, LinkShare. “The promotion, ‘Earn more in Q4,’ offered bonus payments to LinkShare affiliates that hit certain sales hurdles, and it really helped us,” says Smith.
Smith also attributes the holiday sales lift to expanded and more strategic keyword buys, saying revenues from search in December to date are up 80% over last year. As it did last year for the holidays, PersonalCreations.com upped its e-mail frequency to once a week from its usual twice a week. Though he didn’t disclose numbers, Smith says the learnings of the past year have helped the company craft e-mail promotions that generate better response and higher sales per e-mail than last year.
Smith adds that the company has a better in-stock capacity this year than last year and with more efficient fulfillment, has been able to boost December sales by extending its shipment cut-off dates for Christmas delivery by about two days this year. “Our ground cut-off date was Dec. 12, while our expedited shipment cut-off date this year is Dec. 21. Last year it was Dec. 18. That's pretty good for a company that makes personalized products, because we can’t just grab a product and ship it; we have to make the item, too," he says.
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