Partnerize Business Development Director for EMEA, Ashley Wild has had an article published in Internet Retailer, outlining the ways retailers can flex their muscles and appear larger than life. If you’re interested in learning ways to expand online sales through strategic partnerships with affiliate sites, publishers and even complementary retailers and brands, here is an excerpt from Ashley’s article:

Many retail bankruptcies have been laid at the doorstep of Amazon, and that’s not terribly surprising. When your influence is so tremendous as to have an entire effect named after you—as in, the infamous Amazon Effect—casualties in the wake of your disruption are to be expected.

But the very changes in consumer expectations sparked by Amazon present as many opportunities as they do challenges. The key is to focus resources where they’re likely to have the greatest impact, and to partner smartly to expand your own capabilities. Let’s take a look at five ways that today’s retailers can align with—rather than fight against—the Amazon Effect.

Get Big

We all know there’s no competing with Amazon on scale. But that doesn’t mean that retailers can’t expand their merchandising footprints and greatly increase their chances of being in the places where consumers are most likely to be looking for their products. The key to getting bigger—without actually getting bigger—is to partner strategically. Such partnerships might include traditional affiliate relationships, and more novel partner relationships with publishers, influencers and even complementary brands.
Look for channels and entities whose audiences are a strong fit for your brands and products, but that offer an expansion, rather than overlap, of your existing audiences.

Get Mobile

If there’s one thing Amazon has perfected, it’s the mobile shopping experience. The impact of that great experience can be seen in rising user experience expectations—expectations that all retailers need to benchmark and deliver on today. A big part of that is streamlining mobile checkout, but it is also about examining literally every element of the mobile experience and eliminating unnecessary friction.
Many brands start by examining where users spend time and where they abandon the experience. From there the brand can prioritize their next optimization opportunities. Mobile partner publishers can also help you establish a stronger user base and deliver messages to users when they are most likely to transact in mobile. This actually reduces pre-store friction in your favor.

Read the rest of the article in Internet Retailer.