The new iPhone launch is a key trading period every year for all mobile providers and Three set the objective of increasing the iPhone order volume by 100% upon the launch of the iPhone 12. Three’s ambition, in addition to the order volume increase, was to be the best loved provider by ensuring a seamless end to end customer experience for those joining Three. Both of these objectives were set to be achieved by the affiliate channel.
Case Study
Three
Listed on Uswitch
1st
Visible on affiliates
5 minutes
Sales increase YoY
+125%
Our history with Three
After working with Three for over 10 years, 2020 was a pivotal year for Summit and Three as we set out to achieve our best year yet. 2019 saw Three’s affiliate sales increase in volume by 157% compared to 2018. We continued this growth into 2020, seeing an overall sales increase of 25.6% YoY.
Objective
Know your customer
We focused first on Three’s historic customer behaviour to establish how and where they were likely to shop again. After establishing customer behaviour, we set up a rigorous testing process to determine the optimal price. This testing was based on various price and data points. The rigorous research and testing conducted ensured that Three was able lead the market regardless of competitor pricing as they had alternative feeds available in case of being undercut.
The right tech
As Apple embargoed the pricing and creatives for the iPhone 12 launch, it was important that we had everything in place ready for go live. Three are on Summit’s proprietary feed management platform, FeedManager, this meant that we were able to react as soon as the embargo was lifted and include the iPhone 12 in all feeds. We have several test accounts for Three, to make sure that in high stake scenarios we have tested various approaches which ensure a smooth rollout immediately.
Results
On the 13th Sept 2020 the iPhone 12 launch was live. This resulted in the following:
- Three were the 1st Telco network to be listed on Uswitch
- Three were visible on affiliate sites 5 minutes after the Apple embargo was lifted – much quicker than competitors
- +125% in sales YoY in the first 25 days
- This was one of the best iPhone launches ever for Three
The team at Summit were highly instrumental in the success of our iPhone launch, with the speed and efficiency of both the people and the product feeds allowing us to gain momentum and take hold of the #1 positions which are so important for sales on price comparison websites. The learnings from the iPhone launch also allowed us to replicate this success during the Samsung S21 launch – again being the first Telco listed on key partner sites. A big thank you to the team at Summit for their efforts!
lain Davidson – Affiliate Manager, Three UK