Masterclass: Growing a Shopping App Through Affiliate Marketing

It’s been "the year of mobile" for about a decade running, but for daily deals platform Wowcher, the shift away from desktop has become impossible to ignore.  

As more of its customers buy everything from garden furniture to city breaks through the Wowcher app, rather than its website, the affiliate channel has had to keep pace, or risk losing visibility on exactly where its growth is coming from. 

We sat down with Amy Denton, Senior Marketing Manager at Wowcher, and Joanna Cornish, Partner Success Director at mobile commerce optimization platform Button, to find out how closing app tracking gaps unlocked stronger affiliate performance, bigger budgets, and a more loyal customer base. 

You can listen to the full podcast episode to hear how Wowcher and Button turned a measurement problem into a growth engine. Or read the write-up below.

Tracking and acting on the shift to mobile 

Wowcher launched in 2009 as a desktop-only business. That has changed dramatically. 

Amy: "The shift certainly came from our customers themselves... So purely all of our decisions are guided by data, and it's guided by our customer. So where is our customer and where are they looking?" 

The numbers back that up. According to Joanna: "I was looking at initial performance metrics from when we first launched Wowcher to today... Initially, when we launched, we saw 29% of orders happening in the app… That's now shifted to 50% of orders." 

Sounds appealing, right? That kind of shift only happens if a brand can actually see and reward the marketing activity driving it, which is where the second step comes in. 

Closing the attribution gap MMPs can't fill alone 

Wowcher already worked with AppsFlyer, one of the biggest mobile measurement partners (MMPs) in the market. But a gap remained. 

Amy: "Prior to the relationship with Button, we did also work with MMPs. However, the data was in so many different platforms that it was really hard to aggregate, and it was really hard for us to make accurate business decisions of where we should put our budget." 

That vision is clouded by multiple factors, including Apple’s highly controversial App Tracking Transparency framework (ATT). Under that framework, since 2021, iOS and iPadOS device owners are asked for their explicit permission before any of their activity can be tracked across apps and websites.

Thankfully, Button had the solution for Wowcher.  

Amy: "I definitely think when ATT was first announced, there was a sense of panic. As we wouldn't be able to attribute our mobile performance correctly. So that's why it's great when we started working with Button because they were able to plug those gaps and really support us." 

ATT was one of the driving forces behind Awin’s Conversion Protection Initiative (CPI), which mandates app tracking for any retailer on our platform with a transactional app. In lieu of this being set up, we apply probabilistic tracking so publishers still get credited even if the brand hasn't acted. 

Joanna explains the scale of the underlying problem: "85 million user journeys are invisible to MMPs at the moment because of ATT and challenges in that space."  

Button's role is to plug that gap and feed clean data back into the wider measurement stack. 

Joanna: "We are built for conversion, whereas the MMPs are built for attribution and understanding what channels are bringing in."  

How does app tracking work? 

For a whistle-stop tour of the engine that powers app tracking, check our dedicated episode of The Performance Marketer’s Toolkit.  

The best way of summarizing Button's answer to hurdles like ATT was to stop relying on device-level identifiers altogether. 

Joanna: "We take every existing click, or every source of traffic in affiliate today, in mobile affiliate, and drive more revenue and sales from those clicks by sending it through our pipes essentially... We are privacy first, we are all about accurate tracking and attribution, and we do that all without requiring any personal data." 

Rather than tracking the user, Button tracks the session.  

Joanna: "We track session data, we don't track user data... we can identify customer clicks and track the actual downstream events in a privacy-compliant world."  

That process gave Wowcher's team confidence to keep investing through the ATT transition rather than retreating from mobile measurement altogether. 

The payoff for Wowcher was concrete, with Button demonstrating a 31% conversion rate lift across the Wowcher app. 

Treating tracking as an ongoing partnership, not a one-off integration 

Implementing a solution like Button is relatively quick and simple. Within just one month, Wowcher had a much clearer idea of which partners were assisting conversions on its app, making it easy to know where its budgets should be allocated.   

Amy: "I have been able to justify my decisions in the business, firstly by showing forecasts. And proving the incrementality of each partner type. Each partner type is so different in terms of how much revenue, immediate revenue, they drive. And that's why it's really important to benchmark each partner type differently." 

Joanna sees this as the real unlock for getting affiliate marketing taken seriously at a leadership level. 

Joanna: "I think by having the reliable attribution, it means your channel is being rewarded for the money that's being invested. And ultimately, if ROI is positive and it's, you know, in your goals and you're reaching those, they're gonna invest more in that channel." 

That ongoing relationship also extends to protecting the Wowcher affiliate program that drives all those extra sales. 

Amy: "They also help us identify any fraud... and we have the evidence to be able to take them off the program to be able to protect ourselves, so as well as protecting the partners, Button also helps protect the program." 

App tracking: the key to diversifying your partner mix  

A healthy app strategy isn't just about better tracking. It's about what it enables, like the widening of your partner base. 

Understandably, for a mobile-first business, one key area of interest for Wowcher is content creators. 

Amy: "We define an affiliate creator as somebody who focuses on either a category or a theme... That means that the person is not the sole focus of their content." 

Joanna points to a wider industry shift behind that.  

Joanna: "We are also seeing a huge shift in traffic coming from social and creators, so partners like ShopMy and Mavely. But traffic is increasing to be as high as cashback and loyalty partners." 

Amy's advice to anyone managing a shopping app's affiliate program echoes this point directly.  

Amy: "You want to diversify your affiliate program, it's really important not to rely on one partner or one partner type." 

And Joanna's closing advice is blunt about the cost of waiting.  

Joanna: "I think it's fair to say by not investing now you are leaving money on the table, and the longer you leave it, the more revenue that's gonna fall away through your fingers." 

Launching Button on Awin: getting started 

For advertisers looking to grow their shopping app, you need the right tracking partner to enable a clear view of your data and the right partners to drive performance.   

Awin has both. Launch with Button and explore a global network of over one million partners, including content creators, cashback sites, price comparison hubs, and more.  

FAQ: Growing a shopping app through affiliate marketing 

What is app attribution in affiliate marketing?  

App attribution is the process of tracking which affiliate click led to an app install or in-app purchase, so the right partner can be credited and paid for the sale. 

Why does app tracking matter for shopping apps?  

Without reliable app attribution, a brand can't see this value or reward the partners driving it, which limits how confidently it can invest in growing app installs. 

What's the difference between an MMP and a dedicated app attribution partner?  

A mobile measurement partner (MMP) provides cross-channel attribution, helping brands understand performance across paid social, search, and other marketing channels. A dedicated affiliate app attribution partner focuses specifically on the affiliate channel, filling measurement gaps an MMP may miss and actively optimizing each click for conversion rather than just reporting on where it came from. 

How has Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) affected affiliate tracking?  

ATT limits the use of device-level identifiers for tracking users across apps, creating significant blind spots in traditional attribution. Privacy-first, session-based tracking methods have emerged as a way to attribute affiliate sales accurately without relying on personal identifiers. 

What is session-based tracking?  

Session-based tracking attributes a sale to the click that initiated it within a single browsing or app session, rather than relying on a persistent device or user identifier. This allows attribution to function even where ATT or similar privacy frameworks restrict identifier-based tracking. 

How can a shopping app diversify its affiliate partner mix?  

Beyond traditional cashback and voucher partners, shopping apps can work with content publishers, niche category specialists, and social creators on platforms publishing affiliate links, paying on a cost-per-acquisition basis rather than flat fees. 

What is Awin's Conversion Protection Initiative (CPI)?  

It's a measure introduced by Awin to apply probabilistic tracking methods for advertisers with a transactional app that haven't yet set up dedicated app attribution, helping ensure partners are still credited for sales while encouraging advertisers to move toward fully deterministic tracking. 

How long does it take to set up app attribution with a partner?  

Implementation timelines vary, but with a dedicated and resourced team on both sides, integrations can go live within roughly a month. 

What results can better app attribution deliver?  

Reported outcomes include double-digit lifts in conversion rates and stronger internal justification for scaling affiliate investment, since leadership can see a clear, attributable return.