Lammo.net: Affiliate Marketing Blog

The Early Learning Centre Affiliate program found at Affiliate Window (www.affiliatewindow.com) certainly ticks the box if you are looking for an online retailer in the U.K for children’s toys, or indeed an affiliate opportunity in the build up to Christmas. The commission and conversion rates fare well in comparison to competitors offering similar products, and so the Early Learning Centre seems a viable and sensible option for this product niche.

The Early Learning Centre Affiliate Program (offering a flat 4% commission on all sales through their website www.elc.co.uk) seems to offer the opportunity to cash-in on the inevitable increased sales and conversion rates that the “spirit of Christmas” brings.

As one of the UK’s leading retailers for children’s toys and games, the Early Learning Centre is an established and trusted brand with an extensive product range. The company has been running for over 30 years and has grown in that time to own over 215 stores across Europe. In addition to this, they boast an online catalogue (to be found at www.elc.o.uk) of more than 2000 items, with 80% of these being either their own brand, or exclusive to the Early Learning Centre stores and online catalogue. There are also more than 500 extra items that are available only on the website, for instance, their popular Thomas and Friends line including a range of Thomas the Tank Engine toys along with other branded products, such as books and model train sets.

Other popular items include the Wall-E themed toys, following the release of the animated movie in the UK. Again, there are a range of products on offer within the line, consisting of varying toy models, bags and even (my personal favourite) a Wall-E umbrella.

The vast majority of products on show are designed for children aged 0-6, with items such as doll’s houses and children’s costumes being offered in a vast array of different forms. The company also evidently places a great deal of emphasis on children “learning whilst playing”, which is a theme that many of the toys on offer for this age range revolve around.

In addition to the product ranges for the younger children, the ELC have recently launched a new range of products for children aged 5-10 under their new “Fired Up Kids” brand. All these products are to be found on the site and are included in the affiliate package.

Average prices for most items are around £20-£30; however there are many items that are well in excess of this (for instance, more luxury products such as all-in-one play areas often cost more than £60) and far less (for instance, there are many products available that cost £10 or less).

As previously stated, the commission is 4% flat on all sales through the website, and the program offers a 30 day cookie. However, there are some specific requirements on Pay Per Click Campaigns. Use of the Early Learning Centre brand name (or indeed any misspelt brand name or alternative such as ELC etc) is disallowed in any PPC campaign associated with the affiliate program. They request in the Terms and Conditions that if you are using the brand name in your PPC campaigns, to set it as negative keywords so that they won’t appear when the brand name is searched for. Furthermore, they cannot work with any affiliate with a similar domain name to theirs.

Aside from the restrictions, they offer a good range of banners and other pieces of advertising material in a variety of sizes (66 different banners in total). They appear to be of good quality, which of course you would expect from a company of this stature. Many are product specific; advertising offers on their new autumn and winter ranges. The advertisements would certainly not look out of place on any site with either children or parents as a target audience.

The Early Learning Centre affiliate program seems to fare well when compared to its competitors. The 4% flat commission certainly appears to be a better deal than the offerings of “Toys R Us” who provide a 3% commission on most of their lines. Their “Baby R Us” products also offer just a 3% commission in comparison with the Early Learning Centre’s 4%. The Early Learning Centre also has a higher conversation rate of 6.23%, as opposed to “Toys R Us” with 2.73%. However, “thetoyshop.com” does offer a higher commission rate than the ELC, with 7% on most lines (excluding sales from their Nintendo products). However, their conversation rate is again lower than that of the ELC, standing at 2.44%.

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