The rise of affiliate marketing in India - CupoNation sees 3X revenue growth

Rocket Internet-backed coupon site CupoNation has announced that its revenue has tripled during the last quarter of the current financial year. The Gurgaon-based company has distributed over five million coupons enabling users to save $10 million.

According to the company, the couponing platform saw a million visits on a monthly basis on an average through 2013-14. CupoNation India offers online coupons and vouchers from more than 600 online retailers and enables customers to find discounts when shopping online.

“The current market conditions in India are perfect to grow our business as we can see from our results. Interestingly, already 17% of the traffic on our website in India comes from mobile devices which underlines the role of m-commerce in the future,” says Sharique Khan, MD, CupoNation India.

Couponing and cashback sites are having a ball in India as Indian consumers always look for cash saving options while shopping irrespective of the medium -- online or offline. Over the past two years, over 50 coupon aggregators have forayed to grab the burgeoning market share.

While online shopping has gathered momentum over the past two years, affiliate or performance marketing is also on the rise. According to an industry estimate, it is expected to grow 500% over the next couple of years. At present, we have different formats of affiliate marketing like coupon, price comparison and cashback platforms among others.

Startups like Coupondunia, 27coupons, CouponNation Pennyful and Cashkaro among others dominate the coupon distribution space. Recently we wrote about Cashkaro growth. The Gurgaon-based startup had driven sales of Rs. 25 crores for its partner retailers in the past six months.

According to a study by CupoNation, close to 85% of Indians used vouchers before online shopping. “This explains why the Indian market for online coupons already accounted for more than $2 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow by further 30% by 2017,” adds Sharique. The study reveals that over 70% women use CupoNation vouchers to buy fashion, jewellery and shoes while 67% of men are using travel and electronics coupons.

It’s interesting to see the slow but promising rise of affiliate marketing in India. What are your thoughts? Do comment.