Affiliate programmes are going global, says William Hamer-Jones, VP of Partnerships at PartnerBoost.
Speaking to Hello Partner following the company’s recent EVOLVE Summit in Shenzhen, China, Hamer-Jones said that, although historically the industry has been siloed, global affiliate programmes are “becoming a hot topic.”
APAC affiliate is gaining momentum
According to the VP, APAC has been challenging due to a “lack of resource” in the region, from a network and agency perspective.
However, as the market matures, countries like China, Japan and South Korea are gaining momentum, with agencies and networks setting up offices in the market to cater to local needs, he said, adding: “You need to have boots on the ground. You need to be able to speak the language. You need to have local contacts and partners.”
He forecast further growth here, too: “China is going to be one of the next phases of growth for affiliate marketing.”
China zeroes in on the creator economy
The event itself, he said, was framed through an educational lens, providing insight into how Chinese brands can work with partners across the West and secure visibility within the new AI landscape.
Here, he added that while China is a big market for e-commerce, it’s still “in its infancy” when it comes to affiliate marketing.
“Chinese brands are maturing. They’re hungry, they’ve got a budget, they realise the importance of Western consumers,” said Hamer-Jones.
He also noted that while the creator economy is “completely different” in China, operating on different platforms and through different mediums — live streams being highly popular — influencers are a big part of the conversion path, with Chinese brands exploring ways to work more with influencers in the West.
Chinese brands pivot to Europe
At the same time, Hamer-Jones shared that China’s regional targeting is shifting.
“I’d say that Chinese brands are being very cautious right now because of the macroeconomics and geopolitical things going on. You wake up every day, and you’ve got Donald Trump changing the rules.”
Here, he noted that as a result, Chinese brands are looking at plans B and C, with a pivot to the European market.
“They are looking at other ways to expand their partnership base, moving away from the dependencies on the US consumer.”
Against this backdrop, Hamer-Jones said that one focus area of the Summit was the German market, which, he said, from an e-commerce perspective, is “huge” — with one of the largest e-commerce markets in Europe.
With this strategic shift, it looks like the global deck is being shuffled. How this plays out across different ecosystems remains to be seen, but it looks like a new player has entered the game.
