We kicked off Affiliate Summit APAC in Singapore with a bang, announcing Awin’s recent financial stake in Commission Factory and officially joining the family.
The Commission Factory and Awin team attended their first major event at Affiliate Summit APAC after the two companies formally announced they were joining forces. On September 30th, both companies announced that Awin had taken a recent financial stake in the company as the next evolution of their successful strategic alliance.
Representatives from the Commercial, Client Services, and Executive team flew from Sydney with the aim to establish new connections, meet existing partners and represent Commission Factory and Awin united!
Commission Factory had a productive two days at the event, with many caffeine-fuelled conversations thanks to the incredible baristas at our coffee lounge. During the event Commission Factory CEO, Zane McIntyre and Awin Global’s Business Development Direct, Sophie Metcalfe gave a presentation on the affiliate, e-commerce and digital landscape in Australia and how the adoption of technology is changing the behaviours of consumers. This theme of change and evolution was further carried through to our 3 course VIP lunch hosted by our CEO.
Meeting with publishers and advertisers, the team shared their knowledge with new and existing contacts, as well as further expanding their knowledge around the major differences and some of the changes in the next few months, that could impact the affiliate channel in the APAC region.
Each year Affiliate Summit Singapore brings together such a wide variety of delegates and attendees from across the world and from all walks of life that have insight to share with the affiliate community.
Our takeaways that we learned over the course of two days is:
Affiliate Summit APAC Key Takeaways:
- The Southeast Asian (SEA) region is incredibly fragmented, and most of our affiliate partners have different local contacts for each country.
- It is an expectation that brands are localised (not just shipping to the region, but also localised currencies, domains, and languages).
- Singapore will be introducing a new online shopping tax, effective from January 2020. It is a Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on imported digital services such as movie and music streaming services and mobile apps come 2020. (Source: Gartner - Singapore Will Start e-Tax on Digital Services in 2020)
- Indonesia and Thailand are the biggest markets for many publishers. Consumers in these regions generally prefer local brands as opposed to large global brands, with a requirement they offer websites and creatives in local languages.
- Vietnam has a strong focus on fin-tech.
- Singapore and Malaysia are more welcoming of global brands with an international offering; however, a large portion of transactions are still completed instore.
- The market is mobile-first when it comes to consumer purchasing online.
With so many local nuances, it is vital to stay on top of your game in the market you are operating or launching in; whether through the network or your designated agency.
“It’s fantastic to get some face time with our overseas partners. We had so many quality conversations and learned a lot from our publishers based in various countries within SEA! I’m really looking forward to coming back next year and seeing how the affiliate space continues to evolve in APAC.”
Amanda Calkins, Publisher Development Team Lead, Commission Factory
“It was great to again share and absorb lots of learnings from our colleagues, friends, publishers, and advertisers at ASAPAC19. It's always fascinating to understand other markets and understand the cultural, social and economic factors that contribute to their make up.”
Sophie Metcalfe, Business Development Director, Awin Global
We look forward to seeing what will happen in the next twelve months in the APAC region, as well as how the Commission Factory and Awin partnership will go from strength to strength.
See you at Affiliate Summit APAC 2020!
