Majority of Top Retailers Have Affiliate Programs

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Internet Retailer magazine has released their list of the Hot 100 Retail Web Sites, and 75% of those retailers had one or more affiliate programs in place.

I put together a chart of the affiliate networks that were mentioned two or more times in the results.

Note: when reviewing the profiles for each retailer, I noticed some quirky information in the “Affiliate marketing management” area. For instance, GAIAM is listed in the magazine as having PayPal and Bill Me Later as their “affiliate program management”.

However, last time I checked, GAIAM is on the LinkShare platform and it is managed by AMWSO. So, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the figures – I’ve tallied what was reported in the magazine.

In addition to the companies represented in the chart, the following were mentioned in one retailer profile: 360i, AMWSO, Bill Me Later, Clixgalore, LinkConnector, PayPal and “various”.

It seems there was some confusion about the semantics, as the company picking AMWSO as their “affiliate management company” was Organic Bouquet.

Organic Bouquet uses Commission Junction as the affiliate network for their program, but AMWSO is the company managing the program.

So GAIAM should have counted towards LinkShare, Organic Bouquet for Commission Junction, and perhaps others that were wrongly attributed to the in-house category or not having an affiliate program at all.

Even so, it’s an interesting indicator, and I’m curious to see of the needle moves in a positive direction in the coming year for the number of retailers with affiliate programs, as companies focus more on measurable ROI with the economy the way it is.