Amazon Services is inducing brand owners to route ever more traffic toward it in the increasingly competitive e-commerce space with the launch of a Brand Referral Bonus Program.
Designed to reward brand owners who drive traffic to their Amazon listings through non-Amazon marketing campaigns, members may draw upon a support package that includes an average 10% bonus for all product sales won through non-Amazon marketing – with rewards directly linked to traffic volumes.
- Ostensibly intended to help boost brand growth, reduce costs and improve the efficiency of non-Amazon marketing, the mutually-beneficial initiative will see participants earn credit to be redeemed against referral fees, currently hovering at around 15%.
- Specific bonuses vary dependent on the product category, with a maximum of 30% on offer for Amazon device accessories (which carry a referral fee of 45.9%), dropping to 5% for consumer electronics (which have a referral fee of 7.14%).
- Amazon claims the initiative will also improve advertising efficiency by paying out the same bonus for customer purchases of additional products from participating brands up to 14 days after an ad has been clicked.
- However, it is also likely to further reinforce Amazon’s outsize dominance of the e-commerce sector, with no guarantee that the program will be as generous in future. In the meantime, the bonus could further undermine Amazon’s rivals if brands focus their efforts on routing customers directly to it.
Earlier this month Amazon mounted a charm offensive to win over advertisers with a dedicated partner network, pooling a range of agencies and tool providers to assist advertisers in hitting their sales targets.
Comments