Vertical Commission Growth

It’s now been over a month since the world entered lockdown. People have adapted to becoming teachers and at-home fitness gurus, and to conducting business over zoom. With these new lifestyle demands come changes to how people consume media and shop.

This week, our resource centre Consumers, Commerce & COVID-19 features insight into how consumers are purchasing food and beverages online, where we’re seeing increased sales of alcohol. It’s interesting to note that March and April alcohol sales have reached near holiday levels in the U.S. and U.K., and are trending upwards in Brazil and APAC as well.

We also explored which verticals are seeing the highest commission growth month-over-month in each region to better understand which products and services are resonating with publishers’ audiences.

• U.S.: Computers, Flowers, Video Games, Toys and Jewellery are the verticals with the highest growing commissions in the U.S. in April.
• CA: Office Products, Toys, Consumer Electronics, Housewares/Small Appliances, Beauty & Personal Care have the highest growing commissions in Canada in April.
• BR: Flowers, Health & Wellness, Housewares/Small Appliances, Beauty & Personal Care, High-End/Luxury Stores have the highest growing commissions in Brazil in April.
• U.K.: PCs, Jewellery, Education, Toys, Consumer Goods & Services have the highest growing commissions in the U.K. in April.
• FR: Footwear, Housewares/Small Appliances, Apparel & Accessories, Beauty & Personal Care, Jewellery have the highest growing commissions in France in April.
• DE: High-End Luxury Stores, Housewares/Small Appliances, Apparel & Accessories, Beauty & Personal Care, Jewellery have the highest growing commissions in Germany in April.
• APAC: Sporting Goods, Audio & Video Downloads, Consumer Electronics, Home Improvements and Telecommunications have the highest growing commissions in APAC in April.

As advertiser verticals continue to deviate from normal performance, our experts provided guidance on how publishers and advertiser across the board can work together to drive consumer engagement.

For Publishers:
Now, more than ever, publishers can benefit from leveraging available data to inspire strategy and campaigns.

• Look at which verticals and products are performing well, both on your site and within the industry, to make decisions about promotional placements, content opportunity or campaign strategies.
• Collaborate with top-performing advertisers who are looking to boost sales to brainstorm mutually beneficial campaign strategies.
• Look globally. Even if your site isn’t global, look ahead to markets at different pandemic stages so you can anticipate the needs for your home market in the weeks to come.
• If your site is global, make sure to have localised strategies that cater to consumer and advertiser needs in each market.

For Advertisers:
Click and order growth has been less consistent in some of our global networks this week than in weeks past. We looked across our advertisers that have had continued growth during the pandemic so we can share some of the strategies that have influenced their success.

• Partner with publishers that can reach and provide exclusive discounts to front-line workers.
• Work with publishers that reach students to ensure relevant and strong targeting towards Gen Z consumers.
• Lead promotional activity with product lines that are performing well, such as fitness, home improvement or comfy at-home apparel.
• Use this period, when consumers are actively looking for deals and offers, as an opportunity to test bespoke promotional campaigns with new partners.

Rakuten Advertising will continue to keep you updated with strategies and insights from our network. For more strategic insight, specific to your company, please reach out to your Rakuten Advertising representative. For more insights and data related to COVID-19, visit https://rakutenadvertising.com/covid19/.