Enhancing customer journeys through affiliate technology

As one of the world’s premier electronics brands, Samsung Electronics has been a pioneer for innovation ever since its inception back in 1969. The brand's approach has always been to develop technology that puts people, and the things they care about, first.

But, faced with the dilemma of optimising its own on-site customer experience in the UK, Samsung recognised the value of outsourcing this innovation to the technology partners that exist within the affiliate channel. In doing so, the retailer could experiment with new on-site marketing technologies that enhance customer experiences, drive additional revenue and be achievable on a risk-free, pay-on-performance model.

Thanks to the use of Awin's advertiser MasterTag, Samsung deployed this technology at the touch of a button, removing the need for any time-intensive in-house dev work that could naturally (for a business of its size) take many weeks or months to initiate.

As Adam Davison, Samsung UK’s Affiliate Marketing Manager, explained in our Awin Talks interview, “[The MasterTag] massively helps big corporations like ourselves. We’ve got huge dev timelines, lots of people wanting different development resource, and there’s only so many developers available to do it all.”  (Listen to Adam's full interview below.)

Establishing clear goals

From the outset, Samsung was clear in what it wanted to accomplish:

• How could it increase AOVs across their entire customer journeys?
• How could it use product bundling and in-cart recommendation tactics to grow revenues by a minimum of 15%?
• When items were out of stock, could it display relevant alternatives to customers?

Tailoring the approach

Having identified UpSellit as the right partner to answer these questions, the tech affiliate embarked on a two-week data-gathering exercise, analysing Samsung's product pages and using this information to build out their recommendation algorithms and train them to produce intelligent results.

Two distinct algorithms were initially developed by UpSellit to attempt to achieve these aims:

1. Bought Together (used for product bundling and in-cart recommendations): This algorithm focused on grouping cart items frequently purchased together. Biases were weighted based on several variables including conversion rates, profit margins, current sales prices and over-stocked availability.
2. Similar Products (used for out-of-stock recommendations): This algorithm considered scenarios where a customer has viewed a product page but the item is out of stock. Based on similar variables to those used in the first algorithm it could then make accurate recommendations of alternative products the customer was likely to buy.

Both algorithms continued to learn and develop after being deployed. By monitoring evolving buying trends from Samsung customers, as well as the most effective product associations, the algorithms could constantly ensure they were delivering the most relevant recommendations.

The results

Over an initial nine-month period, UpSellit’s algorithms delivered significant value to the Samsung's UK business, exceeding original targets:

Product bundling campaign

In-cart recommendations campaign

Out-of-stock alternatives campaign

A continually evolving partnership

Not content with leaving it there, the partnership between Samsung and UpSellit continued to progress. With UpSellit’s expertise in abandonment technology, the decision was taken to explore how effective this might be in further enhancing the customer journey on the Samsung UK site and converting more of those browsing customers.

Again, thanks to their intimate knowledge of Samsung's products and the customer’s on-site behaviour, tailored offers could be displayed when it seemed a user might be about to exit the site, with the campaign quickly proving its worth.

Exit-intent campaign

Taking the technology global

Testament to the success of these campaigns, what started off initially as a UK partnership, has led to Samsung Electronics subsequently activating UpSellit’s technology across several of its international markets, including Germany, the Netherlands and France. In doing so, the two businesses continue to highlight the value of outsourcing digital marketing innovation through the affiliate channel.

Want to take advantage of technology partners like UpSellit via Awin’s MasterTags? Get in touch.