From Gap and Groupon to Toys "R" Us and Ugg Australia, plenty of worldwide names have implemented affiliate tracking on their mobile site, allowing them to track any sales made through a mobile device.
According to Affiliate Window mobile devices (including tablets) accounted for nearly 10 percent of all sales in September, which is up slightly from the previous month. With the unprecedented growth of mobile in 2012, it's safe to assume this number will only increase in 2013. And, as more advertisers launch mobile optimized versions of their sites, the user journey will become a smoother process to transact, which makes tracking even more imperative.
"We also expect to see more advertisers adding affiliate tracking to their mobile sites," said Matt Swan client strategist for Affiliate Window. "A lack of affiliate tracking means advertisers will be missing out on a number of opportunities through their publisher base. Both of these aspects will see conversions increase. With mobile traffic/sales continuing to increase we will begin to see more affiliates develop their mobile presence."
With this in mind, Affiliate Window, which has monitored mobile performance internally for the past 18 months, now offers mobile reporting within its interface. This allows advertisers and affiliates to monitor the device that their sales are originating from and truly see the impact of mobile on campaigns.
Unfortunately, what tracking cannot account for is the impact mobile traffic has on driving foot traffic to brick-and-mortar locations or through other channels. Thus, it is important to keep in mind, as well as to understand the motivation of visitors on a mobile site. Users aren't always looking to transact through a mobile device. Locating information such as hours and nearest store locations could be the goal.
Additionally, mobile sales do fluctuate based on device. Affiliate Window's latest mobile and m-commerce figures show that the iPad dominates as the most popular handset for transactions - accounting for 58 percent of sales year to date, as opposed to 26 percent for iPhone, 12 percent for Android, 3 percent for Blackberry and 2 percent for "other".