How a UK sustainable fashion brand cut marketing costs by 48% and increased conversion rates by +241%.

The Challenge

A UK sustainable fashion brand faced rising marketing costs, inefficient affiliate partnerships, and challenges in acquiring new customers. Key concerns included:

• Overlapping marketing channels leading to wasted budget.
• High costs for retaining existing customers, limiting new acquisitions.
• Unclear performance of discount-driven partnerships in delivering long-term value.

To solve these issues, the brand restructured its affiliate marketing strategy to focus on cost efficiency, transparency, and customer acquisition.

The Gen3 Approach

Partnering with Gen3 Marketing, the brand conducted an in-depth affiliate programme audit and implemented a performance-driven strategy.

Full Funnel Audit & Transparency Review

• Upper-funnel shift: Focused on content and influencer partnerships.
• Lower-funnel efficiency: Retained select cashback/voucher partners but restructured commission based on contribution to new vs. existing customers.

Refined Affiliate Mix & Commission Structure

• Shifted focus to content creators & influencers to improve upper-funnel engagement.
• Restructured commission models, prioritising new customer acquisition over existing customer incentives.

Exclusive Voucher Strategy for Optimised Strategy

• Implemented unique voucher codes to maintain control over promotions.
• Conducted testing and learning with minimum spend thresholds and new customer-only offers to refine discount strategies.
• Adjusted discount structures to drive higher-value purchases while maintaining profitability.

Subnetwork & Tracking Optimization

• Assessed subnetworks, retaining only transparent and responsive partners.
• Fixed tracking inconsistencies between Google Analytics, Awin, and the brand’s internal analytics platform, ensuring accurate performance measurement.

The Results

The strategy overhaul delivered exceptional results:

• 48% Reduction in Commission Costs: Dropped average CPA from 6.3% to 3.3%.
• +241% Increase in Conversion Rate: Stricter subnetwork quality control improved lead quality.
• +34% Growth in Average Order Value (AOV): On affiliate-driven sales.
• Stronger New Customer Acquisition: New customer rate with key partners jumped to 44%, compared to a programme average of 34%.

With a refined affiliate programme, the brand continues to achieve sustainable growth, increased efficiency, and improved customer acquisition.

More case studies