Interview with Jonathan Boudault – Head of E-commerce at Petit Bateau

Hello Jonathan, thank you for accepting this interview, we are delighted to welcome you.

As you know, Petit Bateau is a brand that we are proud to have been able to regain the trust of on a subject as transversal as affiliate marketing.

That’s why, through this interview, we want to highlight, for our users, why Petit Bateau, which had abandoned the affiliate marketing channel for 2 years, has decided to reinvest in it and to see what the results were?

I therefore propose to start directly on the issues that we wanted to explore with you on your affiliate marketing program.

Jonathan, I would like to know a little more about you, your background, your missions and the challenges you face at Petit Bateau

Well, my name is Jonathan, I’m 33 years old, and I have 10 years of digital experience, more precisely in e-Commerce. I’ve worked in structures with very different dimensions and challenges.

At Petit Bateau, I’m Head of E-commerce, which means I’m in charge of traffic and acquisition for our six major European markets (France, Germany, UK, Italy, Benelux and Spain). My missions are focused on generating targeted and qualified traffic but also on generating new customers. Depending on the country, e-Commerce represents between 15% and 35% of turnover.

My role therefore consists of optimising the partnerships that operate as a common thread and regularly testing new levers and new campaigns, both push and pull. I have a vision that focuses on ROI; I am focused on the profitability of each campaign, relying on the attribution of the purchase path and forgetting the last-click vision.

What were Petit Bateau’s primary motivations to relaunch an affiliate marketing program that had been stopped for several years?

First of all, the desire was to create a partnership program and a community of influencers around the brand, but also the desire to reward the commitment of our partners and finally, to give weight to the referral lever.

Petit Bateau has almost always established affiliate marketing partnerships. These partnerships were historically based on two main programs: cash-back and promotional codes. With a last-click vision, these two programs generated a very high ROAS, and we should have been profitable.

However, the reality was different.  When we set up Mazeberry, we realised that the added value of the affiliate channel, how it was managed at the time, was almost neutral, in fact most of the sales would have been generated even without the affiliate marketing lever.

So we put the program on hold to focus on new levers. After two years without affiliate marketing tools, we decided to give it another try.

We are convinced that affiliate marketing is far from disappearing, and that it is constantly evolving. It is moving towards a model based more on affinity and influence, which for me, is the real affiliate marketing.

Why did you opt for the Affilae platform rather than the historical Petit Bateau affiliate marketing platform?

What made us decide to try the Affilae adventure was first of all the ease of implementation. Then, the action of focusing primarily on affinity partners and on the influencer community.

Finally, the neutrality and objectivity that Affilae shows when putting partners forward.

What is the brand’s internal view of the benefit generated? Is it a great way to animate and motivate its network?

Many affiliates are registered on most of the major affiliate marketing platforms. We were able to rework and strengthen our collaboration with the few affiliates, which generated real added value.

Thanks to their support and expertise, Affilae then allowed us to work with other partners, who were not present on other platforms but exclusively on Affilae.

Influence at Petit Bateau is a channel in its own right, we are gradually integrating affiliate marketing in order to develop visibility and sales but also globally optimise tracking.

How do the Affilae teams assist you in this project, what are their strengths?

Affilae’s teams support us in recruiting new affiliates, developing new programs and launching test campaigns.

Affilae’s neutrality and objectivity in the choice of programs and campaigns are important advantages, and we work hand in hand to grow the business.

How would you rate the Affilae teams?  Do you recommend their collaboration?

The teams are competent, responsive and available. They have adapted to our tracking requirements and are constantly suggesting new tests. It is a real pleasure to work with them, I highly recommend them.

___

Jonathan, thank you very much for your trust in us and for giving us this time.

I really wish you all the best and that together we can make this beautiful collaboration grow even more.

Want to know more about it ?
Discover the results generated for our client Petit bateau:

Click to open.