Commission Junction - Advertiser case study.

AutoPartsWarehouse.com Case Study

AutoPartsWarehouse.com Achieves Significant Growth in Just Six Months with a Customized Commission Junction Solution

According to The State of Retailing Online 2006, a Shop.org survey conducted by Forrester Research, Inc., total online retail spending on automotive and automotive parts was $13.1 billion in 2005 and increased to $15.9 billion in 2006. Showing an average historical growth of 22% each year since 2005, online retail spending on automotive and automotive parts will total approximately $19 billion in 2007. Poised to meet this growing consumer need, AutoPartsWarehouse.com (Auto Parts Warehouse), a US Auto Parts web property, is committed to providing the highest quality automotive parts at affordable prices. Utilizing Commission Junction's expertise in affiliate marketing, and customizing the CJ Access™ solution with Commission Junction's Program Management value- added service, Auto Parts Warehouse has developed a strong affiliate program, achieving an average 30% growth month-over-month and significantly increasing publisher sales in just six months.


	"Program Management has grown our program to be one of the more successful programs in the automotive/parts and accessories category." Houman Akhavan Vice President, Marketing US Auto Parts

Auto Parts Warehouse has been a Commission Junction advertiser since 2001. Using the CJ Access solution the program achieved success, however in 2006 Houman Akhavan, Vice President, Marketing for US Auto Parts, realized that in order to enable the program to grow he would need to dedicate a resource. Enlisting the help of Commission Junction, Auto Parts Warehouse was able to customize their CJ Access solution with the Program Management value-added service. Program Management provided Auto Parts Warehouse with an expert resource, a dedicated online marketing manager, who could apply their industry knowledge and start managing the program immediately, performing the daily operations essential for the program's long-term growth.

Auto Parts Warehouse and Commission Junction worked together to create a program strategy. In order to get the program on the right track towards growth, the online marketing manager's first task revolved around organizing the program's huge pool of publishers. He started by grouping the publishers into specified groups, including CJ Performers™, high-performing publishers, low- performing publishers and non-performing publishers. The online marketing manager also used his experience within Commission Junction's network, the CJ Marketplace, and leveraged his existing relationships to bring new publishers into the program. Having publishers grouped methodically enabled the online marketing manager to reach out to them with a specific marketing message, whether it was optimization or recruitment, or newsletters notifying them of special offers. He also completed a competitive analysis of the program's promotions.

"We have been very pleased with the success we were able to achieve with the Program Management value-added service," said Akhavan. "Having a dedicated resource committed to growing our program has increased our sales by an average of 30% month-over-month. In addition, we have been able to grow from a two bar advertiser to a four bar advertiser and our EPC is at an all time high. Program Management has grown our program to be one of the more successful programs in the automotive/parts and accessories category."

Day-to-day management of an affiliate program is essential for its long-term growth but finding time to manage a program or finding time to hire and train a resource can be challenging. Auto Parts Warehouse found success in customizing their CJ Access solution with Commission Junction's Program Management value- added service. Having a dedicated expert resource to manage their program on a daily basis enabled them to realize substantial program growth and significantly increase their visibility within the CJ Marketplace.

Top

Case Study home page