The Right Regimen: How Oars + Alps Achieved 309% Growth in 4 Months

CHALLENGE

Before partnering with Hamster Garage, Oars + Alps' affiliate program was operating with minimal management and represented a significant untapped opportunity. The program suffered from dangerous over-concentration, with a small fraction of partners generating roughly 80% of total revenue. This lack of diversification created substantial risk to sustainable growth and limited the program's scalability potential.

Despite having partners enrolled in the program, the majority remained inactive, while active partners operated without optimization or strategic guidance. The program lacked proper compliance monitoring, strategic recruitment processes, and activation workflows for dormant affiliates. Most critically, the concentrated partner base meant the brand was vulnerable to sudden revenue drops if key partners became inactive.

Recognizing the need for professional management to unlock the program's potential and reduce business risk, Oars + Alps chose Hamster Garage to transform their affiliate strategy. They needed expertise in three core areas: diversifying their partner portfolio through strategic recruitment, activating dormant affiliates, and implementing proper program management and optimization processes.

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STRATEGY

In this engagement, Oars + Alps turned to Hamster Garage to transform their underperforming affiliate program into a strategic growth channel. The team focused on three key areas to execute program maturity and sustainable scaling:

Recruitment & Diversification

• Conducted comprehensive program evaluation to identify gaps in partner portfolio diversity
• Researched and onboarded partners across multiple affiliate categories to reduce concentration risk
• Implemented strategic recruitment processes targeting high-value prospects aligned with brand positioning
• Established partnerships spanning traditional affiliates, content creators, and niche men's lifestyle sites

Optimization & Activation

• Reengaged dormant partners through personalized outreach and updated program materials
• Collaborated with internal team to restructure payout models, rewarding high-performers while optimizing underperformers
• Implemented efficiency-focused optimization strategies for existing active partners
• Established regular performance review processes to maintain partner engagement

Compliance & Program Management

• Instituted comprehensive compliance monitoring to ensure partners followed terms and conditions
• Identified and eliminated fraudulent partners using cookie stuffing techniques that were damaging attribution
• Implemented proper program management protocols previously absent from the low-touch approach
• Established processes for ongoing partner vetting and performance monitoring

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RESULTS

By the end of the first four months managing Oars + Alps' affiliate program, Hamster Garage delivered transformational results across revenue, partner growth, and program efficiency.

Revenue Impact:

• 309% increase in affiliate program sales
• 144% increase in conversions
• 220% increase in transaction volume
• 112% increase in average order value

Program Growth:

• 361% increase in total partner count
• Significantly reduced revenue concentration risk through partner diversification
• Successfully reactivated majority of previously dormant partners
• Exceeded client growth expectations by 47%

Additional Benefits:

• Achieved over 556% month-over-month program efficiency
• Eliminated fraudulent partners that were providing zero incremental value
• Established foundation for expansion into new partnership channels including email acquisition, influencers, and podcasts
• Created scalable program management processes for sustained growth

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GROWTH SUMMARY

The results of Oars + Alps' partnership with Hamster Garage transformed their affiliate strategy from a risky, neglected program into a diversified revenue channel driving consistent growth. In just four months, the program evolved from dangerous over-reliance on few partners to a robust network of engaged affiliates delivering exponential results.

The 309% revenue increase demonstrates that even emerging brands can achieve rapid affiliate program scaling when proper management, strategic recruitment, and optimization processes are implemented. Oars + Alps proved that with the right expertise, affiliate programs can simultaneously reduce business risk through diversification while delivering substantial revenue growth, positioning the brand for sustained success in the competitive men's skincare market.

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