Masterclass: Gift with Purchase Promotions

Gift with purchase promotions have quietly become one of the most powerful customer acquisition tools in affiliate marketing.  

Aligned to the wider brand partnerships movement sweeping through the channel, they represent a triple win for advertisers, hosts, and customers.  

We sat down with Pippa Bryant, Affiliate and Brand Partnerships Manager at SimplyCook, and Millie Lavery, Retail Media Executive at THG Ingenuity, to understand how this type of promotion works. 

You can check out the full podcast episode to hear how recipe box brand SimplyCook and e-commerce giant THG Ingenuity turned a checkout freebie into a full-funnel growth engine. 

Or simply read the write-up below.  

What is a gift with purchase promotion? 

Nearly a hundred thousand new customers. A million dollars in affiliate commission. A partnership stretching back to 2019. When SimplyCook and THG Ingenuity sat down with us on the Awin-Win Marketing Podcast, the enormity of their full-funnel partnership became clear. 

But behind those figures is a strategy that's both simpler and smarter than most advertisers realize.  

Gift with purchase promotions, run through the affiliate channel, match brands to audiences they'd never otherwise reach. 

Gift with purchase is exactly what it sounds like:  

A free product or trial offered to a shopper at the point of purchase on another brand's site.  

But the mechanics behind it make it one of the most measurable, high-quality acquisition channels in the affiliate playbook. 

In practice, it looks like this: you're checking out on Myprotein (more on that later). Before you complete your order, you're shown a handful of offers from complementary brands. Not brands stocked on Myprotein's shelves, but brands that speak to the same type of customer.  

SimplyCook, for instance (again, more on that later), offers a free recipe box if you pay the postage. You opt in with a click, complete your Myprotein purchase, and receive a redemption email. 

That type of partnership can be activated with no complex integrations through Awin.  

As the “host” offering gifts from partner brands like SimplyCook to its audience, THG can tap into plenty of benefits itself. Through its "Ingenuity" retail media platform, it connects advertisers with customers shopping at THG brands like Myprotein, as Millie states.   

Millie: "The retail media team and I sit in THG Ingenuity, where we service the internal and external brands to fulfill their retail media offering. The gift with purchase channel allows us to promote non-endemic partners at the basket pages of both THG and Ingenuity sites, which drives hugely incremental value for both the host site and supports the customer journey." 

The terminology worth knowing here is "non-endemic" versus "endemic" retail media.

What’s the difference between endemic and non-endemic brands?

Endemic advertisers are brands stocked on a site, promoted through standard on-site ad formats. Non-endemic advertisers are third-party brands that aren't sold there, and gift with purchase is the primary mechanism for putting them in front of shoppers.

Why gift with purchase marketing can outperform other strategies  

Ask most affiliate marketers what they're optimizing for and the answer is usually cost per acquisition (CPA). Gift with purchase promotions can carry a higher CPA than traditional publishers, like cashback or voucher sites, but the brands running them will tell you that's entirely the point. 

Pippa: "We've just found that the quality of customers acquired through these types of campaigns just retain so much better than traditional affiliates. And obviously traditional affiliates play a role still. They tend to be lower CPA, whereas with brand partnerships, we're willing to pay higher CPA because we do see that the customer retains a lot longer. So it has changed our investment decisions over the years." 

At SimplyCook, customer quality is measured at the six-week activation mark, i.e., the percentage of newly acquired subscribers still active after six weeks. That early indicator predicts the likelihood of a long-term retention, pinpointed at 52 weeks or more, and partnerships consistently outperform other channels. 

The logic is that shoppers who discover SimplyCook in environments like the Myprotein checkout already carry strong signals. They're probably health-conscious, likely to cook at home, and ready to spend extra money on their wellbeing. They're grabbing a freebie, but they're also a natural fit.  

That self-selection makes all the difference to advertisers like SimplyCook, as well as hosts looking to offer a gift in exchange for a purchase. 

“We have seen positive impacts from the gift with purchase channel on retention, average order value, and conversion rate across the sites,” Millie confirms.  

How to choose the right brand partner 

The strength of gift with purchase marketing lives or dies with the match between brands. Get that wrong, and even a generous offer will flatline. Get it right, and the numbers speak for themselves. 

At SimplyCook, Pippa has seen plenty of value and alignment with the brands at THG. 

Pippa: "We definitely have a preference for brands like Myprotein and gyms. We partner with Ninja Kitchen [appliances retailer] as well. So where there's a natural brand affinity with wanting to cook more at home or eat slightly healthier, we found that where there is a health-conscious element to that brand profile, we really tend to gel well, and the uptake is reflected in the numbers." 

From the host site's perspective, partner selection is equally deliberate. THG Ingenuity assesses potential advertisers against a detailed set of criteria before any campaign goes live. 

Millie: "Ultimately [with] brand approval, we want to make sure it aligns with their site vision, their channel vision. But into the more nitty-gritty, like the strength of the offer. SimplyCook is obviously one of the strongest offers that we work with. That free first-time box engages really well with the customers." 

Gift with purchase is one way for challenger brands to capture market share. Millie speaks of instances where big brands have offered 10% discounts and drove almost no redemptions. Meanwhile smaller, less famous brands with genuinely compelling, exclusive offers consistently outperform them.  

Millie: "Give people something that they feel like they've not seen elsewhere, not on UNiDAYS, not on Student Beans. It's exclusive. It feels like a real value add, a reward for the customer for shopping on site." 

Unexpected pairings can also work remarkably well. SimplyCook has run successful campaigns with DIY brand Screwfix. Not an obvious fit, but one that taps into an adjacent audience of people who are just getting to grips with cooking.  

Pippa: "For whatever reason, it [the campaign] just chimed in really well with our audience... Tapping into that same kind of demographic of people who are maybe looking to cook for the first time, they don't know where to start." 

Gift with purchase as a full-funnel strategy 

One of the most common misconceptions about gift with purchase promotions is that they're purely a performance channel. In reality, they can function across the entire funnel, if permitted.

Pippa: "These brands that we're partnering with, Myprotein, LOOKFANTASTIC [beauty retailer], GLOSSYBOX [beauty subscription box], they're brands in their own right. So we can tap into that as a business to grow our awareness to a completely new audience. So effectively it is part performance campaign, part brand awareness." 

The customer journey makes this clear. A shopper opts in at the checkout. They receive a co-branded redemption email. They land on a co-branded landing page. At each stage, SimplyCook is building familiarity, trust, and context. By the time the recipe box arrives, they already understand the brand, which is precisely why those customers retain so much better. 

The challenge is in bringing that message to the right people at your business. 

Pippa: "Unless there's that education piece, people aren't really going to understand what brand partnerships is... I've had to present to the business each step of the customer journey for them to see the different touch points because it's not just a one-and-done, above-the-line type campaign." 

For brands earlier in their growth journey, those without the budgets for TV or programmatic, this is particularly significant. A placement on Myprotein, LOOKFANTASTIC, or GLOSSYBOX provides the kind of audience and brand association that would otherwise be out of reach. It’s what makes the affiliate route even smarter. 

How the commercial model works 

Another attraction of running gift with purchase through the affiliate channel is the payment model.  

There are no upfront media fees, no lengthy contracts, and no risk of paying for traffic that doesn't convert, which is perfect for acquisition experts like Pippa. 

Pippa: "We're not paying for traffic. We're paying for actual conversions. And through Awin, we're able to validate those conversions as well, assessing if they’re a legitimate trialist or someone who cancelled immediately. And if they did, then we're able to decline that commission. So we are paying for pure performance and customers that we are bringing into the business." 

For the host, the commercial model can include commission payments on conversions on top of tenancy fees for high-visibility placements. The incentive structures are naturally aligned: THG Ingenuity wants offers that drive genuine redemptions, which means selecting advertisers with strong, exclusive offers and well-matched audiences. A high redemption rate benefits everyone. 

Millie: "It's a win-win, risk-free way to do it. You get a customer, you pay. We get a customer, we get paid." 

Over the lifetime of the SimplyCook and THG Ingenuity partnership, that model has generated around £1 million ($1.3 million) in commission to THG.  

When the match is right, the volumes can be substantial. 

Scaling across sites, geographies, and sectors 

When multiple brands are concerned, gift with purchase scales very quickly and effectively for both advertisers and hosts.  

THG Ingenuity now runs gift with purchase campaigns across more than 40 of its sites, including Myprotein, LOOKFANTASTIC, Cult Beauty, GLOSSYBOX, All Beauty, Fragrance Direct, and more, managing upwards of 150 campaigns per month across over 40 markets. 

Scaling across geographies does, however, require local intelligence. What works as an offer in one place doesn't necessarily translate directly elsewhere.  

UK consumers, for instance, have been exposed to gift with purchase promotions for several years and now expect deep, exclusive offers. In markets where brand partnerships are newer, even modest incentives can perform well. 

Millie: "We've found that in the Netherlands they require a much lower strength offer than the UK customer... In the UK we put a percentage off and it doesn't resonate with anybody. UK people want freebies." 

What's next: regulation, AI, and the future  

Two forces are reshaping how gift with purchase promotions will operate in the coming years: new consumer protection regulations and the rise of AI-driven discovery. 

On the regulatory side, new rulings bring new challenges for those running gift with purchase promotions. Recently, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) tweaked its guidance around price transparency in consumer marketing, requiring brands to clearly display the full price a customer will ultimately pay, including all ongoing charges and fees.  

Pippa: "We do expect it will impact uptake and conversion. However, we are expecting the quality of the customer to improve further. Because they understand the product more from the get-go." 

Such rule changes may reduce headline redemption numbers but raise the long-term value of every customer acquired, which makes the CPA model even more defensible. Host sites like THG Ingenuity may also see an opportunity to renegotiate commission structures to reflect that improved customer quality. 

On AI, the picture is actually encouraging for brand partnerships. As consumers increasingly discover brands through AI tools rather than search engines or editorial media, gift with purchase sits at the point of transaction, which insulates it from those changes. 

Not only will the onset of AI cause budgets to move closer to the checkout, it might also force a rethink on how strategies like gift with purchase can be used. 

Pippa: "Whether you are searching for a product and you are directed via ChatGPT or Gemini or whatever, ultimately you do land on the retailer's website. You have to transact on the retailer's website. So brands will need to think more about how they can do brand storytelling through brand partnerships." 

Gift with purchase on Awin: getting started 

For advertisers looking to run gift with purchase promotions via Awin, the process is straightforward.  

Awin's network includes a range of host sites, from major retail brands to niche publishers with loyalty programs and reward platforms, that offer placement opportunities for advertisers with the right offer. Banks, mobile networks, gyms, and retailers can all participate, giving those hosts a wide choice of partner profiles. 

For brands that can't offer a fully free product, there are still options. Reward programs, exclusive discounts, and bundled promotions can all function within a gift with purchase framework, provided the offer is compelling enough to stand out. 

FAQ: Gift with purchase promotions 

 

What is a gift with purchase promotion?  

A gift with purchase promotion is an offer, typically a free product, trial, or exclusive discount, presented to a shopper at or near the point of purchase on another brand's website.  

The shopper opts in, completes their original purchase, and receives a redemption email to claim the gift from the offering brand. 

 

How does gift with purchase work in affiliate marketing?  

In the affiliate channel, gift with purchase is structured as a performance partnership. The brand offering the gift (the advertiser) pays a commission to the host site (the publisher) only when a customer successfully redeems the offer.  

Tracking and payment are managed through an affiliate platform like Awin. 

 

What kinds of brands can run gift with purchase promotions?  

Any brand with a compelling, exclusive offer can participate. Subscription services are particularly well-suited. A free trial box or introductory period makes for a high-perceived-value gift with minimal complexity.  

Product-based brands can offer free samples or starter kits. The key is that the offer feels genuinely exclusive and valuable, not something the customer could find elsewhere. 

 

What are the 5 types of gifts? 

The five main types of gifts used in gift with purchase promotions are: 

• Subscriptions  

• Discounts 

• Cashback 

• Free trials 

• Loyalty points 

 

How do I choose the right partner for a gift with purchase promotion?  

Brand affinity is the most important factor. Look for host sites whose customers naturally overlap with your target audience.  

A health-focused recipe brand will find stronger match rates on a fitness retailer or gym platform than on a fashion site. Historical campaign data, if available, is the most reliable guide. 

 

What does gift with purchase cost?  

Costs typically include a commission paid per validated conversion, plus in some cases a tenancy fee for the placement itself.  

Because payment is tied to performance, you pay only for customers who actually convert. CPA for gift with purchase partnerships tends to be higher than traditional affiliate activity but is typically offset by significantly better customer retention. 

 

How does gift with purchase differ from regular affiliate marketing?  

Traditional affiliate marketing usually involves publishers (e.g. content sites, deal aggregators, cashback platforms) who drive traffic to an advertiser's site. Gift with purchase places the advertiser's offer directly within another brand's checkout experience, reaching customers at the highest-intent moment of their shopping journey. The result is typically a higher-quality customer who already has a degree of brand affinity before they've even received their product. 

 

What are the key metrics to track for gift with purchase campaigns?  

Redemption rate (the percentage of customers who complete the offer) is the primary measure.  

Beyond that, the conversion rate from a redemption email, long-term customer retention (at six weeks and 52 weeks for subscription businesses), and impact on average order value for the host site, all provide a rounded picture of campaign performance. 

 

Can smaller or less well-known brands run gift with purchase promotions?  

Yes, and they can outperform major brands. Offer strength and audience alignment matter far more than brand recognition. Brands with genuinely compelling free or discounted offers consistently outperform big-name brands with weak incentives, regardless of how recognizable those brands are. 

 

Where can I find host sites and partners for gift with purchase promotions on Awin?  

Awin's advertiser directory and partnership development team can match advertisers with appropriate host sites across sectors. Brands can also reach out directly to partners like THG Ingenuity via the Awin platform to explore gift with purchase placement opportunities.