Masterclass: How to Sell More Individual Products

 

 

 

What defines an inventory-led business? 

While some retailers will create campaigns around categories and collections, others have their sights set on a much narrower target.  
 
That tends to be the case at SharkNinja, which Elliot describes as ‘trade, inventory, and forecast-led’.  
 
Elliot: “What that means is there'll be times in the week, in the month, where we need to move some inventory. What we found is that one of the most impactful and efficient ways to do it at speed is via the affiliate channel.” 
 
At any given time, affiliate and partnerships managers like Elliot can receive requests from the merchandising team to move a specific product, like a Shark vacuum cleaner or Ninja air fryer. It’s then up to both sides to negotiate an offer and find an affiliate partner to share it.  
 
SharkNinja’s internal structure and tight cross-department relations help to triage these ad-hoc requests, making it easier to execute on what’s being asked. However, the urgency factor makes it important to have a go-to strategy or partnership for moving the stock. 
 
Elliot: “Internally, we have a really close relationship with our merchandising team, who are really great at looking at the stock situation, at forecasting, identifying areas where it might be possible for us to give certain affiliate promotions or certain leeway in order for us to sell the unit. It's my job to take an offer and place it in the best possible position for the business to shift the volume at speed. And in order to do that, I must identify the value to place them [the items] at for maximum efficiency and volume.” 
 
Rob: “And you've got a huge amount of autonomy in being able to execute that as you see fit…” 
 
Elliot: “Exactly. It's my role to ensure that they [the offers] have a massive impact, which is great when it works, but also there's quite a lot of pressure involved, which is why it's great to have a partner like Blue Light [Blue Light Card], who are so reliable in what they do, to a point where a lot of the time our merchandising guys are like, ‘we've got this offer, will Blue Light take it?’” 
 
Let’s talk a bit more about SharkNinja’s partnership with Blue Light Card. 

Using an affiliate partnership to sell specific items

Blue Light Card is a UK discount card program that provides members of the emergency services, NHS (National Health Service), social care sector, and armed forces with exclusive offers and benefits at thousands of retailers, just like SharkNinja.  
 
As Blue Light Card’s Senior Partnerships Manager, it’s up to Holly Riley to take the baton from Elliott and find an audience for SharkNinja’s offers. As always, when selecting the right partner to move a specific item quickly, it’s important to cover all the bases.  
 
First, we have audience alignment. Retailers like SharkNinja need partners (e.g. a blog, an influencer, or an incentive site like Blue Light Card) that know their audience and their affinity toward certain brands and products. 
 
Holly: “The brand [SharkNinja] is really well received by our Blue Light audience. I think they almost associate Blue Light Card with Shark and Ninja at this point… I think also as a brand, you're [SharkNinja] really good at being innovative and introducing new products, which essentially means that our members want to come back and see what else you've got on the website.” 
 
Timing is key. SharkNinja will prepare offers for when Blue Light Card members are most likely to redeem them. 
 
Holly: “It [the offer] does tend to come in on a Friday, so it's right in time for the weekend… That's when our members are shopping the most.“ 
 
Responsiveness and agility are also essential to creating and managing a partnership with an inventory-led business. Blue Light Card can usually promote a SharkNinja offer on the same day it’s received, immediately solving an internal challenge. 
 
Holly: “We might not have everything we need to set the offer live, but we'll have the idea that something's coming. Normally, we'd say we turn it around within a couple of hours, which is great when you need to be reactive and get it live ASAP… A lot of the time they end at 9:00am on a Monday, so it is very time-sensitive.” 
 
Last but not least, we have exclusivity. From a retailer’s perspective, it’s always worth considering what you can do for the right partner, as exclusive offers can warrant free promotion in the premium spaces that usually require upfront payments. 
 
Elliot: “If we go to them [Blue Light Card] with a market-leading discount on an air fryer for the weekend, Holly will come back to me and say, ‘fantastic – we'll put this exclusive here, here, and here’. What I find with other areas within the [affiliate] channel is it might be: ‘thanks for the offer, but how much are you going to spend to put it here?’”  
 
The partners have found that with the exclusive offers, they make as much, if not more, than a highlighted offer on a tenancy package would. 
 
Holly: “We value that exclusive offer so much because it means we can give a little bit more back to our members… That does probably drive ROI… And the reason you're [SharkNinja] able to give us exclusive offers at that level is because we're not asking for any investment in tenancy alongside it.” 

How to manage an inventory-led relationship

SharkNinja and Blue Light Card’s partnership might appear simple and transactional, but their success is a reflection of the considerable time spent learning about their respective products. 
 
Holly: “I think it's that we've got such an open and honest relationship, which means that we can work really strategically together. Elliot's very much taking the time to learn about Blue Light Card and what our goals are. I think it's helpful that we're both, what's the word? Helpful that we're both…” 
 
Elliot: “Great people. Great people.” 
 
All jokes aside, when it comes to needing a reliable partner to act quickly on different requests, that mutual respect cannot be understated. 
 
Elliott: “What I also really enjoy about working with Holly and her team is that it doesn't feel transactional to them. Their enthusiasm and advocacy for our brands really shine through. You [Holly] own some of our products. I know some of your team owns some of our products. That massively helps when the account manager you have really pushes and believes in your brand.” 

What’s an example of a great inventory-led campaign? 

Last year, Blue Light Card partnered with 12 brands, including SharkNinja, to offer exclusive deals to its members in the week leading up to Black Friday. 
 
Despite initial uncertainty about demand (particularly for a BBQ in November), the results were extraordinary. In one day, the campaign generated:  

• 30% of year-to-date sales for the Ninja BBQ 

• 80% of year-to-date sales for the Shark spot cleaner  

By leveraging its strong brand relationships with retailers and focusing on exclusive discounts, Blue Light Card delivered exceptional value to members while driving significant sales growth for the partners involved. 
 
Elliot: “It was a crazy period, and you guys [Blue Light Card] absolutely smashed it out of the park. A BBQ in November... It's not the most seasonal. The places you put it, and the push you gave it, and the response were fantastic. We were really pleased with the results.”  
 
Such is its relationship with Blue Light Card, SharkNinja is also amenable to the odd request itself. 
 
Elliott: “If Blue Light Card come to us and say, ‘can you do us an offer on this product… It's super seasonal.’ If we're selling loads of them, we don't necessarily need to discount them. But we value the relationship to an extent that we'll be happy to try and find a solution and often can accommodate it based on the strength of the relationship that we've built.” 

What’s next for the partnership?

Looking ahead, SharkNinja is focused on making Blue Light Card an even more natural extension of its marketing and merchandising process. 
 
Elliot: “What's really key is to ensure that all Blue Light customers are aware of the new products that we bring out on a regular basis across a variety of categories. We've got tons of new products in the pipeline, and it's going to be a really, really exciting year for us.” 
 
Holly: “We want them [Blue Light Card members] to know what new products are coming in... It gives them a reason to come back and purchase a different product. They might not be able to do a deeper discount on a new product, but you [Elliot] will always try and do something for our members, whether it be a free apron or something small. We still want to shout about it.” 

Why is affiliate marketing the best place to sell more products? 

There are so many other channels that can support an inventory-led business. So, why does Elliot favor affiliate marketing? 
 
Elliot: “I absolutely vouch for the [affiliate] channel if you're looking to reach really relevant and engaged audiences to showcase your product on a performance-based level. There are so many different verticals to go down, from content to influencers, to closed user, to lower-funnel cashback and coupon sites. What's so great is that it's such a supportive industry… There's a real community feel about it.”  
 
For retailers planning to recruit affiliate partners to sell more individual products, there are a couple of considerations to bear in mind.   
 
Elliot: “If you're thinking about doing it, do it and know that there will be a support network around you to help you learn the ins and outs and the intricacies of the channel.” 
 
Holly: “I think taking the time to understand the publisher would be really important. You'll understand quite quickly how your thematic plan can fit in with our thematic plan and some of the things that we're developing from a product perspective that you might be able to get involved in.” 
 
For masterclasses on measurable influencer marketing, reducing cart abandonment, generating cost-effective PR, and more, check out the full list of episodes from Awin-Win Marketing Podcast.