Admitad and G2A.COM case study

The strategic use of Admitad’s affiliate network yielded impressive results for G2A.COM. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program’s GMV increased fourfold, highlighting a significant response to changing consumer behaviors and securing G2A.COM’s position as a dominant force in the digital marketplace.

Millions of people peruse G2A Marketplace for amazing deals on all things digital, gaming and non-gaming alike. But what makes this platform so popular? Who are its users? Today we’ll take a detailed look at what makes G2A.COM tick. 

Digital marketplaces are gaining more and more momentum with each passing month. Today, they’re a real alternative to traditional gaming stores, such as Steam. With large catalogs and great prices, they make gamers flock to those in search of good deals. And G2A.COM is the biggest of such platforms.  

Let’s dive right into what makes this marketplace so popular among users and how this company manages to draw such large crowds. Read on! 

Who’s the typical user of G2A.COM? 

First things first, no surprises here: they’re avid gamers, playing all sorts of video games regularly and buying them pretty often. At the moment most of them are in their 20s and 30s. Since people in this age group usually have jobs and pretty stable financial situations, they’re willing to buy more frequently, but not without snatching some really good deals on video games and other digital items. People aged 24 and below usually get to spend around twice as much time on their favorite pastime than users above 24. 

Naturally, G2A.COM caters to everyone, regardless of their age, marital status, gender, career, and so on. Any user can find something for themselves on the marketplace, all in line with the company’s mission to give everyone easy access to digital entertainment. 

New vs. returning buyers: who’s the focus? 

The answer is both. 

G2A.COM draws new users to the marketplace with all sorts of promos. They’re not always aimed at gamers, either. For example, sports partnerships help the company gain attention from other social groups: families, younger and older people, casual gamers, digital entertainment fans in general, etc. 

Returning users get a lot of benefits, such as special promos and discounts, as well as loyalty-based programs.  

What makes G2A.COM’s offer so attractive? 

G2A.COM is the biggest marketplace with digital entertainment where over 30 million users from 180 countries have bought more than 100 million digital items. Buyers can choose from 75,000+ digital offers, which include not just games, DLCs, and in-game items, but also gift cards, subscriptions, software, e-learning courses, and more. 

G2A Marketplace’s security is also one of its biggest assets. It’s one of the biggest priorities in the company. G2A.COM’s internal cyber-security team constantly upgrades existing measures, further bolstered by AI-powered solutions, among other things, and external partners provide tools to protect the buyers during the entire purchase process. Sellers are thoroughly vetted during a comprehensive business verification procedure, so that only legitimate businesses can offer their stock on G2A.COM. This complex approach to online security has reduced transaction issues to a level much below the industry standard. 

And then there’s a wide variety of payment methods supported, ranging from those popular around the world, such as payment cards, PayPal, Google/Apple Pay, to numerous local options, such as Venmo, BLIK, Ideal, Pix or Sofort. This is important, as according to PayPal 76% users are likely to abandon their shopping cart if they find out they can’t use their preferred payment method.  

All these factors contribute to a safe and user-friendly shopping environment on G2A.COM. 

What’s more important: gaming or non-gaming? 

Both areas are equally important for G2A.COM. Naturally, the company began as an online store with video games, but the transformation into a digital marketplace back in 2014 paved the way for further expansion of the offer with gift cards, subscriptions, software, and online courses. 

This has to do with new consumer groups that rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The entire world went online, with people who weren’t hardcore gamers becoming aficionados of digital entertainment. According to a 2020 study conducted by Nielsen, during the COVID lockdowns, 82% of global online users played some kind of video game. 

And so G2A.COM expanded its business strategy to widen the range of offers and to focus on a broader, more mainstream audience. The company established a cutting-edge brand positioning and purpose, which is to open Gate 2 Adventure into the digital world and democratize digital entertainment. In addition, new brand initiatives and campaigns were launched – the Gate Ready campaign, Diversity in Gaming campaign, and sports partnerships, including football star Robert Lewandowski as a global brand ambassador. All this serves as a way to strengthen brand awareness and reach the audience outside the gaming world.  

Just as the world is dynamically changing as we speak, G2A.COM is flexible, observant of trends, and constantly on the lookout for new solutions. This is how it was at the beginning, when box versions of games were dominant on the market. In 2010, when G2A.COM was a retail store, almost 70% of the market was physical. G2A.COM, however, saw the transition to digital: in 2014, when the store became a marketplace, this dropped to only 39%. In 2018 it was only 17%. Most recently, in 2023, it was just 5%. This is how it was following the pandemic, with the rise of new consumers looking for an offer for themselves.  

G2A.COM gives them what they want and need. 

What role do SEM and affiliation play in reaching G2A.COM’s users? 

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) lets G2A.COM target the entire world, adjust your communication to every single region or market, and reach users at every stage of the purchase process.  

Affiliation means working with publishers from across the globe, advertisements in local or regional websites and portals, as well as adjusting communication to the local user. 

Acquiring users from many different markets lets G2A.COM reach a wide audience and scale profits as a result. However, this requires an item catalog and marketing tailored to each market, supporting popular local payment methods, using tools for reaching users across the globe, and so on. Better results stem from adjusting the offer and communication to the needs of a particular market, which entails getting to know the consumer, their needs and culture really well. 

Where do influencers fit in G2A.COM’s marketing strategy? 

They’re one of its key elements. Working with well-known names in the gaming world – authorities on the topic – builds credibility and trust. By earning their audience’s trust, they automatically make their fans trust the companies and offerings they promote. And G2A.COM has pioneered influence marketing, setting trends and achieving successes in this domain way before it was a thing. 

G2A.COM has been working with over 1,000 influencers and brand ambassadors from all over the world. While many of them come from the realm of gaming – such as PewDiePie in the past and now SmittyStone and more – there’s a whole bunch of surprising names, such as Aleksandra Mirosław, an Olympic champion in women’s speed climbing, and drift racers: Dani Clos, Ruben Bolanos, and Piotr Więcek. This is in line with the company’s strategy to reach out not just to gamers, but a much wider audience, even the most unlikely of buyers. 

Proper choices of influencers for either a particular campaign or a long-term collaboration lets G2A.COM reach the target audience with ease. Take Hogwarts Legacy’s release, for example. The company cooperated with not just Harry Potter-themed channels, but those covering related topics – books, TV series, movies – as well, including, as usual, gaming ones, too. 

In general, working with influencers can boost engagement during the campaigns they lead. And since they’re up to date with what’s going on in the gaming world, this helps G2A.COM quickly react to current trends. Plus, their audiences are often huge, which means reaching so many prospective users in a very short time. 

How does affiliate marketing blend in?

Influencers however are not the only publishers which G2A.COM utilizes to reach their desired audience. The gaming industry is competitive, so the company needed more innovative approaches to open up new acquisition channels. Recognizing this, G2A.COM teamed up with a global affiliate network Admitad, setting up its own partner program to reach new audiences delivered by diverse affiliate publishers under the scalable, performance-driven approach. The program was created in 2017 and since then it has scaled to serve all the markets worldwide (excluding Russia and Belarus). 

Main affiliate partners in Admitad program are coupon websites, cashback providers and subnetworks. G2A.COM helps them to generate new sales for the company with regularly updated promotional materials, which keep their campaigns fresh and engaging. During key sales events such as Black Week or Cyber Monday, performance bonuses further improve affiliates’ earnings, motivating them even stronger to deliver new users. G2A.COM also ensures timely and reliable commission payouts through a streamlined transaction validation process, solidifying its reputation as a dependable partner.

The diversity of publishers in the program has been a key factor of its strong performance. Initially led by coupon websites, cashback platforms later took the top spot, aligning with G2A.COM’s focus on value-driven shopping – users who look for bargains in G2A.COM will be more than happy to get some of their money back! More recently, affiliate stores and subnetworks aggregating diverse publishers have emerged as significant contributors, further expanding G2A.COM’s reach.

G2A.COM partner program history and future

Since its launch in 2017, G2A.COM affiliate program has consistently delivered results. After a strong debut, the program hit its first major peak in March 2018, followed by sustained performance. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented growth, with GMV quadrupling and average cart values reaching record levels in spring 2020. That surge reflected changing consumer behavior during lockdowns, as people who had to stay at home had more time and disposable income to spend on video entertainment. Notably, the program has achieved its top performance in the past two years, as nine out of ten months with historically highest GMV were recorded right at that time.

Interestingly, November and December—typically peak e-commerce months with Black Week and Christmas shopping frenzies —show strong but not record-breaking performance. This highlights the program’s year-round stability, but also reveals untapped potential during high-demand periods. The historical peak in June 2024, outside any major sales event, demonstrates the program’s untapped potential even after years of steady success.

Looking ahead, G2A.COM and Admitad plan to scale the program by identifying new high-potential publisher categories that can replicate the success of cashback platforms and affiliate stores. To enhance affiliate engagement, the program will introduce more sophisticated compensation models that go beyond traditional commission structures. 

So what makes G2A.COM marketplace a hit?

In business, knowledge is life. Without acquiring precise information about its target audience and ways how to reach it, G2A.COM could not succeed. The platform is where its users are – whether they follow a gaming influencer, check a coupon website for promo codes or register at a cashback service to redeem some of their money, they have some G2A.COM offer right before their eyes. By knowing its users and finding the right marketing channels to connect with them, the platform secured its position as the biggest digital marketplace on the competitive and crowded market. And it plans to stay on the top in years to come.