Background and evolution

I am the founder of this online store, together with my wife, who comes from the industry. We have been running this business together for 19 years. Being a computer scientist, it was somewhat natural for me to take care of everything related to technology, as well as the operational side of the company.

In the past I had tried affiliate marketing before, but during that period I wasn't successful. Perhaps we weren't ready, or perhaps the affiliate marketing market wasn't yet at the stage it is now.

1,000 sales in the last round of BusinessLeague

Since April 2024, when we joined the platform, we have come a long way — starting from 100 sales per month until we reached this "almost 1,000 sales in a single round."

From my point of view, the progress has been continuous. Over time we managed to build a team of affiliates who understand us — how to advertise our products and generate conversions optimally. What I learned during this period is that affiliate marketing is not a sprint, it's a marathon. We need patience and a lot of work, and then this will be reflected in conversions.

Affiliate marketing vs. other sales channels

For us, affiliate marketing delivers better and better compared to other channels. Since we joined BusinessLeague in 2024, we wanted to grow this revenue source. And now it seems we are on the right track and we see that we can rely more and more on our affiliates.

How would you describe BusinessLeague in one sentence?

A fun competition where, at the end of the day, we can all feel like winners. Because we actually win.

What is your favorite Challenge and why?

Revenue Rally, because in this Challenge we are at our strongest, so to speak, consistently having this high EPC. This is due to the fact that the average cart value is generally high for us. Plus we have a few products like the Marathon electric nail file, which sells very well and is priced at 716 lei, contributing greatly to this high EPC.

Your campaign this month

It's already a tradition at Nailshop that on our anniversary we run a major discount campaign where we offer substantial reductions on all products in our range, similar to Black Friday.

This year the campaign runs from March 13–15, and for the anniversary campaign we are also preparing goodie bags for customers, plus 3 days of online courses held by Nailshop trainers.

As for the star products, they are quite varied — the top 10 being: Marathon electric nail file, L8 UV LED Lamp – 96W, GELlack 2M Hema Free Master Shine Top Semi Nail Polish, Acid Free Bond Primer 2M – 13ml, UV Gel 2M Hema Free - Smart Natural 50g, Nail Prep 2M - 13ml, Classic Staleks SC-11/1 Cuticle Scissors, Staleks Pro Expert Narrow SE-50/1 Cuticle Scissors, Staleks NFE-40-100/180 Half-Moon File - set of 25 pcs.

Nailshop's affiliates

Over the past year, we have had a very good collaboration with klikads.ro, especially on the Google Shopping Ads side. From my point of view, the key ingredients of a successful partnership are mutual respect, fast and honest communication, plus a commission that makes it worth the affiliate's time and money to invest in advertising.

Affiliate marketing in e-commerce

I am convinced that many online stores still don't know the concept of affiliate marketing, and if they have heard of it, they don't know exactly how it works — they don't understand that through affiliate marketing both parties win.

There are certainly many merchants who fear that through such a collaboration, affiliates will cannibalize the conversions the merchant already had — that they will "steal" the existing customer. On top of that, there are merchants who find the cost too high and don't see the benefits.

I personally trust affiliate marketing. I am convinced it is here to stay long-term, and with education and information, more merchants can be convinced to give it a try. And if a good community of affiliates can be maintained, I see no reason why it shouldn't continue to succeed.

AI will help affiliates optimize their workflow, allowing them to work with more merchants — which is a good thing for everyone. If influencer marketing can be integrated in a way that delivers conversions as strong as those of classic affiliates, the ecosystem will become even more powerful.