Wirecutter Debuts New Sections to Capitalize on Ecommerce

The ecommerce boom heralded by the stay-at-home orders of 2020 has encouraged publishers to lean more intently into affiliate programs, including The New York Times’ Wirecutter. The reviews site has been working on two new sections, Style and Trends, which will sit alongside its other verticals —Home & Garden, Electronics, Sleep, Kitchen and Appliances—and bolster the revenue it generates through its affiliate program. Wirecutter quietly rolled out Styles in November, and the team aims to unveil Trends in the second half of the year, as managers continue to hire out its initial team of four. Affiliate programs are growing in popularity Across the industry, affiliate marketing spending in the U.S. is expected to reach $8.2 billion by 2022, according to Statista. A Forrester report commissioned by Rakuten found that 81% of advertisers and 84% of publishers use it as a revenue generator. In particular, retail and fashion ecommerce ballooned in 2020, and its healthy margins make it a fitting candidate for affiliate programs, said Lauren Newman, the senior vice president of revenue at Skimlinks. “In the fashion category, commission rates could be 15% to 20% for a pair of jeans, whereas on a washing machine, it might be 2%,” Newman said. Wirecutter saw its traffic double from 2019 to 2020, and it hopes to translate this surging popularity into rising affiliate revenue. In its quarterly earnings reports, the publisher groups the 160-person Wirecutter into a category it calls “other revenues,” which includes television series, live events and commercial printing. Combined, these sources netted $54 million in 2020, a 12% decline year-over-year. Wirecutter declined to share its specific revenue with Adweek. Styles expands Wirecutter's retail presence The Style section will employ eight staff and will publish at the standard Wirecutter cadence: Roughly six guides per quarter. Early coverage has included reviews of white t-shirts, white sneakers, cashmere sweaters, bras, and workout leggings, among others. The section will focus on evergreen basics and will make use of the rigor that Wirecutter uses in its other reviews, a testing process that can take between four to 10 weeks, said deputy editor Jason Chen. Wirecutter has dabbled in apparel before, publishing guides to fanny packs, tote bags and rain jackets in the last few years, but the surge in pandemic traffic confirmed that a viable audience existed for a clothing section. Like other Wirecutter verticals, it will rely on SEO optimization and article maintenance to outrank opponents and attract customers via search. Wirecutter saw a market opportunity for a clothing reviews site that gauged the value of clothes beyond just their aesthetics. “We’re approaching the process in the spirit of: You want to wear something that will last, that will wash well, that will be well made, but also look great,” Chen said. “There are not many sites that take all those factors into consideration when evaluating clothing.” Trends will offer more reviews Trends, on the other hand, represents a departure from Wirecutter’s standard practice. As its name implies, the four-person team will publish more often, ideally several times a week, with the aim of reproducing the Wirecutter rigor on an expedited timeline. To accomplish that, the team will focus on one item, rather than produce a guide, and it will interview Wirecutter staff to draw on their product experience, rather than extensive empirical trials. It will be led by deputy editor Annemarie Conte, who also runs the Deals section of Wirecutter, the only other section that publishes so routinely. The two sections will serve as the “news engines” of Wirecutter, Conte said, producing multiple articles a week. The section has already seen signs of a warm reception. A recent article reviewing Lego-like bricks for raised gardens became the No. 1 performing piece of content for Wirecutter in March. Another review, about the Instafamous Always pan, received 35% of its traffic from social media and was also one of the highest-performing pieces of content in the month. These early successes give some indication that the hypothesis underlying Trends holds water: If produced in a timely enough manner, a review of a fad product can drive traffic and generate revenue. Although Style and Trends both represent new ventures for The Times, they are both rooted in reader's brand familiarity and consumer trust, said Henry Prevette, the director of channel partnership development at Impact. “They’ve taken into consideration what is working for their audience and meeting consumers where they are on their shopping journey,” Prevette said. “Ultimately, it allows consumers to actually get what they came to the internet for: Information.” ‘This is About Thought Leadership:’ How Washington Post Live Found Staying Power

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Wirecutter Debuts New Sections, Styles and Trends, to Capitalize on Ecommerce Boom

The Trends vertical represents a departure from Wirecutter’s standard methodology

Affiliate programs are growing in popularity

Mark Stenberg

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