Awin Partner Top 10s – Black Friday’s Best Performers

Across 10 different metrics and business goals, we’ve identified standout partners ranging from best growth to highest single cashback payment. You’ll also find our analysis into the factors behind these performances as well as our predictions for this year. Will the same partners take the crown again or will new affiliates emerge victorious? 

If you’re a current Awin advertiser, click on the affiliate’s ID to access their profile page on the Awin platform. Or click the affiliate’s name to reach their website. 

Best sales performance – TopCashback (57697) 

Cashback partner TopCashback was the top affiliate, both in sales volume and revenue, over 2023’s Black Friday period. Electronics as well as health and beauty products were largely responsible for this performance, significantly outpacing the second-place partner on both metrics.  

We predict another strong showing from TopCashback this year: cashback has always been an appealing choice for consumers, especially for higher value items that are often purchased over Black Friday. And with consumer confidence expected to be higher this year due to interest rate cuts and greater economic optimism, expect to see TopCashback crowned as best performer again. 

Best sales growth – Redbrain (176013) 

Earlier this year, we wrote on the increasing popularity of CSS partners. Looking back to the start of 2022, this publisher type has consistently increased its share of total sales on the network each quarter into this year as well. Their ability to acquire new customers and increase brand awareness has cemented them as core parts of retail brands’ programmes. 

This trend is perfectly demonstrated by CSS partner Redbrain, who topped growth figures for both sales and revenue. Over last year’s Black Friday weekend, Redbrain tracked the greatest increase in actual sales and revenue compared to 2022. With no slowdown in sight, we predict Redbrain (or perhaps another CSS partner) to outgrow other publisher types this year too. 

Best traffic driver – LTK (136348) 

Founded in 2011, LTK has built an ecosystem of brands and creators, who can discover and forge partnerships with each other through the platform. 40m consumers shop using LTK’s platform and their community of creators are highly influential, more so than generic ads or celebrity endorsements. This trust drives strong engagement for brands who can tap into a discerning audience through these creator partnerships. 

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that LTK and its community were responsible for driving some of the highest traffic numbers on the network last year. The combination of tailored video and image content, shown in-app to engaged customers drove 2.6m of clicks in the space of four days. Health and beauty products alongside sportswear were particularly popular for LTK’s fashion-forward audience over Black Friday.  

Best traffic growth – Brandreward (313605) 

Brandreward is a global platform specialising in content commerce, pairing brands with blogs, editorial sites and other content publishers. With its focus on driving high-quality traffic from these partners to brands across the world, Brandreward achieved 321% growth in clicks over Black Friday weekend year-on-year. 

Publishers are carefully selected on an individual brand basis, using Brandreward’s filtering technology. It can segment partnership opportunities into specific regions amongst many other criteria, ensuring better brand fit and engagement. This approach has clearly been successful for Brandreward’s advertisers who have benefited from heightened traffic volume over the key shopping period. 

Best converter - @40plusnotgivingupyet (522273) 

Helen Brookes, who runs @40plusnotgivingupyet on Instagram was responsible for a remarkable conversion rate over Black Friday 2023. Helen has amassed a following of over 132k through her shopping content and try-on videos, sharing the trials and tribulations of high street shopping.  

Helen’s content clearly resonates with her audience and her followers fully trust the honest opinions and recommendations she provides on her feed. This was evident across Black Friday weekend last year – 75% of those who clicked through on Helen’s content ended up completing a purchase. Health and beauty was the winner again with most of the transactions tracking for brands in this vertical. 

Best basket value – Skyscanner (108829) 

With the cost of flights, accommodation and even whole package holidays, publishers in the travel sector are well placed to convert high basket value sales. Skyscanner, a well-established travel comparison site, drove an AOV of $650 over 2023’s Black Friday weekend. In comparison, the AOV across the whole network was $103 for the same period. 

Despite some uncertainty from experts, we predicted a major bounce back for the travel sector after the pandemic, to levels even greater than pre-COVID. Consumer demand for getaways has soared since with travel bookings growing rapidly throughout 2023 on the network.  

Likely due to pent-up demand, travellers appeared to be spending more on average for each holiday or booking, driving sky-high AOVs from the likes of Skyscanner. And with this demand continuing well into 2024, it’s very likely that a travel publisher will once again take the top AOV spot this year too. 

Best return on investment – Increasingly (317439) 

Tech partners are offering smarter and more advanced solutions each year. Now with AI-powered technology added to the mix, strategies like upselling and bundling are the most efficient and targeted they’ve ever been. With solutions that aim to boost order values for brands, operating on a CPA model with low or no initial costs, these partners can provide high return on investment for brands. 

Increasingly is one such example. Its solution delivered the highest ROI over the Black Friday weekend for its brands with a 233:1 return across the four days. Given their name and expertise in growing basket values, it’s no surprise to see they also recorded an AOV of $202 as well.  

Highest share of smartphone sales – The Sole Supplier (125701) 

Smartphones have become the dominant device for online shopping over the past few years. With the majority of Awin’s transactions already occurring on mobile since 2022, both publishers and brands need to take a mobile-first approach to their users and customers. This is especially the case within retail and fashion sectors, where in-app shopping experiences and social media platforms play a key role in influencing customers and their purchase behaviours. 

A publisher like sneaker website The Sole Supplier is perfectly placed to capitalise on this trend of mobile commerce. Its app lets users shop for sneakers from 50+ retailers, set up custom alerts for new releases and offers deals, all in a single app. Providing a smooth shopping experience and useful features increases the chances of customers converting through the app and retaining them as consistent users. 

It’s no wonder then that The Sole Supplier tracked the highest percentage of mobile sales over Black Friday weekend with more than 90% of total transactions happening on a smartphone. And it’s difficult to see another publisher taking The Sole Supplier’s spot as the mobile king. 

Fashion already over-indexes on smartphone sales compared to other verticals. But with sneakers especially, anticipated releases often sell out in seconds. Using your phone is often the quickest and most flexible way to try and secure a purchase. This alongside The Sole Supplier’s highly rated app experience and userbase will ensure it keeps driving high rates of mobile sales.  

Biggest single sale driver – Quidco (54760) 

Quidco had the honour of tracking the single highest value transaction over the Black Friday weekend in 2023. With a sale amount of $26,103.71 for luxury Caribbean resorts operator Sandals, this user received over $1,000 in cashback from their holiday. 

Within this bounce back of demand for travel we discussed earlier, there’s likely greater demand for longer haul holidays, many of which were cancelled or off-limits during the pandemic’s travel bans. The potential savings from a couple years of restricted travel may have also tempted consumers to splurge on higher class flights and more comprehensive packages which can rapidly boost those sale amounts. 

Biggest single cashback payment – iGraal (268651) 

Despite the once-in-a-lifetime holiday that tracked with Quidco, that sale didn’t produce the largest cashback payout from the weekend. French publisher iGraal, part of Atolls, paid out a huge $1,834.28 in cashback from a single sale for Samsung’s French programme. 

On average, cashback rates on electronics items like smart devices or high-end white goods tend to be lower due to higher basket values. In this instance, the user likely took advantage of a flash rate. Advertisers can offer highly boosted cashback rates, often for 24 hours or even less, to spike demand and get customers to convert quickly. 

This can be a powerful option for advertisers during a promotional period. A brand might choose to start with a flash rate to attract customers and create awareness, as it’s often paired with a prominent piece of exposure. Or it could also be used as a sales lever to activate later in the sale or on a specific date, like Black Friday or Cyber Monday. 

Looking for more Black Friday insights? Check out our 2024 predictions article.