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# Alina Cuzmin (E-commerce Lead SCE, Rowenta): “Affiliate marketing is no longer a test channel, but an important pillar of our performance marketing mix”
- URL: https://blog.businessleague.com/alina-cuzmin-e-commerce-lead-sce-rowenta-affiliate-marketing-is-no-longer-a-test-channel-but-an-important-pillar-of-our-performance-marketing-mix/
- Published: 2026-10-26T06:28:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T06:28:43.000Z
- Description: Four years ago, right after the pandemic, a shopper would see a product online and buy it fairly quickly. Today, the journey is much more complex. At least in Rowenta’s case, as Alina Cuzmin tells us.
- Author: BusinessLeague
- Tags: en

*Rowenta is celebrating four years of its own online store in Romania. It launched in the middle of the pandemic, and since then the customer journey has fragmented: people go through reviews, social media videos and even AI platforms before they finally hit “Order.” For Rowenta, this meant turning its D2C store into the place where you get guaranteed authenticity, the right accessories and exclusive promotions.*

*So we sat down with Alina Cuzmin (E-commerce Lead SCE), one of the people behind the store’s success, both in BusinessLeague and beyond affiliate marketing.*

*By the way, Rowenta is a Top 25 player in the Companies ranking. Right now, the shop has 498 sales for the current month. In fact, Alina told us, affiliate marketing has grown along with the store, and the numbers show it: from January until today, Rowenta’s sales through the affiliate program are up 50.6% compared to the same period last year.*

### **The market, 4 years ago**

Opening our own D2C shop 4 years ago, in the middle of the pandemic, was a natural and absolutely necessary step.

The challenge wasn’t proving that e-commerce was useful, since that was already the norm, but clearly defining the role of an official brand store: why would someone buy directly from the manufacturer rather than from a platform where all their data is already saved?

What has changed in these 4 years?

The D2C role has matured: Customers come to the official website for guaranteed authenticity, access to accessories and consumables, and exclusive products and promotions.

The decision process is much more fragmented: 4 years ago, a shopper would see a product online and buy it fairly quickly. Today, the journey is much more complex: they go through reviews on websites, videos on social media, check AI platforms and run specific searches. The decision is more fragmented, made only after ticking off several trusted sources, and we constantly adapt our presence at every touchpoint.

### **Happy birthday!**

For us, the 4-year anniversary is a moment to take stock and say thank you. For the team, it confirms that the decision to invest heavily in our own D2C channel was a winning one.

The Rowenta campaign keeps a clean line, focused on real price and technology benefits, and is built on two levels:

- Products with substantial discounts (up to 50%)
- Special bundles (with free accessories) and a dedicated extra-discount code (ANIVERSARE20), on the products that really matter.

It’s an approach focused on efficiency and fast conversion, ideal for small-appliance shoppers who want to make an informed decision, not play a lottery.

**If you had to pick one product that best represents Rowenta online, which would it be and why?**

If I look at Google search volumes and top conversions, the answer is clear: the Rowenta X-Force Flex stick vacuums (especially the 14.60, 15.60 Aqua and the newly launched 16.60).

Why? Besides their powerful motor, the X-Force Flex vacuums solve real problems at a good price:

- The flexible tube lets you vacuum under furniture without bending down, so no back pain.
- Accessories for pet owners (the Animal Care mini electric brush).
- Wet cleaning accessories: the Aqua Head lets you vacuum and mop the floor.
- Removable battery: it comes out easily and can be charged separately (or swapped for a spare).

### **The role of affiliate marketing in the online sales strategy**

Affiliate marketing is no longer a “test” channel, like it was at the beginning. It’s an important pillar of our performance marketing mix.

The gamification and dynamism of BusinessLeague, together with constant monitoring, have helped us quickly identify top affiliates across categories (PPC, cashback) and build personalized relationships with them.

Next, we plan to refine our relationship with affiliates even further: in our direct communication with them, we want to offer personalized materials and special promotion terms more often.

### **What makes a successful partnership with affiliates? What are the ingredients?**

The recipe is fairly simple on paper, but hard to execute consistently:

1. Approval rate and validation speed: Affiliates invest their own money in ads or their time in content. If you’re slow to validate their commissions or reject them without reason, they’ll move to another brand.
2. Real prices and stock: You can’t have a good partnership if affiliates send traffic to products that frequently go out of stock.
3. Communicating in advance: Telling affiliates on Friday at 5 PM that a campaign starts on Saturday is a mistake. They need briefs, updated feeds and promotional materials a few days ahead.
4. A website that converts: Our job as a store is to make sure that once a user clicks the affiliate’s link, checkout works flawlessly.

### **Your growth in BusinessLeague**

There was no magic factor, just constant adjustments on several levels:

- Consolidating top categories: We focused our promotion efforts on the ranges with organic traction: the X-Force stick vacuums, personal care products (the Ultimate Experience range), and we introduced the Rowenta irons category.
- Consistent campaigns: We eliminated the “dead” periods of the year and kept a predictable pace of promotions and bundles.
- Conversion improvements: We simplified the checkout process, added flexible payment methods and optimized the mobile version.

### **How are you preparing for Black Friday?**

Black Friday is a milestone every year, and preparations start many months in advance.

For customers: We’re preparing a selection of hero products and making sure we have stock, at very good prices, along with special bundles (e.g. a vacuum with a spare battery at a great price; a wet-and-dry vacuum with detergent).

For affiliates: We share campaign information at least a week in advance and make sure our servers and product feed can handle traffic peaks without errors.

### **What targets have you set for the end of the year?**

We’re aiming for substantial growth over last year across the entire D2C channel. Let’s not forget the business can still be considered young, only 4 years since launch 😊. Beyond total revenue, we closely track three indicators: growth in average order value (through gifts, bundles and cross-selling), conversion rate and customer retention rate.

### **BusinessLeague in one sentence**

A performance marketing arena where performance is measured transparently, and results come when the store and the affiliates pull in the same direction.

### **A piece of advice for affiliates**

Beyond the price-catalog style of promotion, I’d recommend affiliates focus on showing how useful a product is:

- Create content based on real problems: How do you get pet hair off the couch? How do you dry and style your hair quickly without burning it?
- Short videos (Shorts/Reels/TikTok) and honest reviews with homemade photos or clips convert far better than a simple discount banner.

Today’s consumers don’t just buy technical specs (watts, pascals or volts). They buy time savings, comfort and visible results.

### **And for shops**

I’d give four straightforward pieces of advice:

1. Don’t put the program on autopilot: Reply quickly to affiliates’ messages, validate conversions on time and communicate promotions transparently.
2. Don’t be stingy at the start: Offer an attractive commission in the first months to get the attention of good affiliates.
3. Validate commissions often: Don’t leave conversions pending for weeks. Affiliates need cash flow to reinvest their promotion budgets.
4. Make sure your site converts: Before allocating budgets to affiliate marketing, test checkout on mobile, check your product feed and make sure tracking works perfectly. Affiliates bring the traffic, but the eShop has to close the sale!  
  
  
*(note: this article was translated from Romanian using AI)*