Walmart Affiliate Program: Is it Better Than Amazon Associates & Others?
Chances are that you visited a Walmart within the last month. In fact, the odds are that you were one of the 230 million shoppers who went this week. If you love shopping the deals that are on Rollback at this giant retailer, then you might want to consider whether it is time to sign up for their Walmart affiliate program.
How can you benefit from the process of signing up for their affiliate program? We'll cover all of the details including:
- Why you should choose Walmart's affiliate program
- The downside of their affiliate program
- How much you can expect to earn
- And more!
Without further ado, let's dive right into what you can expect from the Walmart affiliate program.
Sign up for the Walmart affiliate program here!
Sign Up for Walmart Affiliate ProgramWalmart Affiliate Program
Summary
The Walmart affiliate program offers a long cookie duration, a broad selection of eligible products, brand recognition, and more. Sign up for their affiliate program here!
Pros
- Long cookie duration
- Brand recognition
- Great product selection
- Marketing materials
Cons
- Low commission
- Low conversion rates
- Outdated tools
Contents
Quick Walmart Facts
You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't shop at this mega-retailer regularly. It carries everything one could possibly need from groceries to home goods to toys. Some sources cite that it is the largest retailer in the world — and this just might be true.
According to the National Retail Federation, Walmart holds the top spot among the Top 50 Global Retailers. They had a massive total company revenue of $519.93 billion for 2021 with more than 10,000 stores and clubs across 46 countries.
Talk about impressive!
We don't need to spend too much time detailing what Walmart has to offer because most people are already familiar with this retail giant. However, here are some of the quick facts affiliate marketers will want to consider before signing up for the program:
- Founded by Sam Walton in 1962
- 100 million unique monthly visitors to Walmart.com
- Largest private employer in the world with 2.2 million associates
- 150 distribution centers
All of this bodes well for the Walmart affiliate program. It proves that the business is thriving, both in-store and as an online business. People are constantly looking for a great deal on much-needed goods and Walmart offers a solution. Why not cash in on their success by signing up as a Walmart affiliate?
Walmart Affiliate Program Review
The Walmart affiliate program presents a great opportunity for those who want to advertise a variety of product links on their own website URL or through a social networking site. For many bloggers, representing a huge brand like Walmart is a serious plus.
Before we dive deep into the pros and cons of the Walmart affiliate program and the projected commissions, here is a quick recap of the program overall:
Commission rate: 1% to 4%
Cookie duration: 3 days
Affiliate network: Impact Radius
Pros
Brand Recognition
Perhaps the biggest advantage of signing up for the Walmart affiliate program is the brand recognition they offer. This isn't the same as one of the niche websites that offer small-time deals. Walmart is known around the globe for its selection and reasonable prices.
People won't need much convincing that your affiliate link is legitimate when you are talking about buying a product on Walmart.com. This makes them more likely to click through, give the retail giant more website traffic, and maybe earn some passive income for you at the same time.
Product Selection
Whether you are in a competitive niche or not, you will find that it is easy to locate products to promote on the Walmart website. They carry everything from home goods and electronics to appliances and sporting goods.
If you write about fishing, you can link to fishing rods and tackle boxes (and aren't profiting from these fishing affiliate programs). If you write about home decor, you can link to their candles and curtains. Even if you write about cooking, you can link to the latest Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.
With millions of products available, there is simply no shortage of items you can refer people to as part of their Walmart affiliate program.
Marketing Materials
Once you make it through the approval process, you will find that you have access to all sorts of links and banners to make your marketing easier. The Walmart site provides you with sleek marketing items to make it more likely for you to sell their products through your niche sites.
Long Cookie Duration
One of the best aspects of the Walmart affiliate program is its cookie duration. It is much longer than other programs, including the Amazon Associates program.
At three days, it gives your readers plenty of opportunity to mull over their next purchase.
Cons
Low Commission
When compared to other affiliate programs, Walmart offers some of the lowest commission rates out there. With certain categories such as the high-ticket electronics category paying just 1 percent, you might make more with another electronics affiliate program.
However, it depends on what niche you are working in. Some categories pay up to 4 percent, which is pretty decent income considering that you won't have to do much to sell products through your affiliate links and banners.
Low Conversion Rates
While the Walmart affiliate program is fairly well-known, the prevalence of this brand results in lower conversion rates. Too many people have a local Walmart in their neighborhood or right down the street where they can go purchase their goods in person. This saves them on shipping and gives them instant gratification.
If you want to win people over with your banner ads and affiliate link, then you will need to select high-quality products that aren't available in local stores. When you do this, you will see higher conversion rates because Walmart is a trusted brand.
Outdated Walmart Affiliate Tools
Unfortunately, the Walmart affiliate program doesn't put much emphasis on the tools that would make the lives of their affiliate partners much easier. Their online tools are mostly outdated and glitchy, but we will touch on that in just a little bit.
How Much Does Walmart Affiliate Program Pay?
If you want to know what the Walmart affiliate program pays, you will first need to determine what category you plan to sell in. Different categories score different rates, and you may want to plan your links accordingly.
Some will have the lowest 1 percent commission rate, but you could earn up to 4 percent in certain categories which more closely compares with other affiliate programs such as the Target affiliate program.
Walmart's affiliate program awards 4 percent to users in the following categories:
- Baby
- Health and beauty category
- Clothing
- Gifts and registry
- Home
- Jewelry
- Patio and garden
- Sports and outdoors
While many of the items on this list are relatively low in price, you might earn substantial income from the Walmart affiliate program for these items.
People are more apt to spend money on a lower-priced product that requires little financial commitment than they are to buy a high-ticket item without thinking about it.
On the other hand, you may want to consider whether it is worth it to earn 1 percent on all of the following items, several of which are high-value:
- Wireless
- Toys
- Electronics (including movies, music, and video games)
- Photo
This means that on a $500 television, you would make a measly $5 in Walmart affiliate program commissions. To earn substantial passive income this way, you would need to sell a lot of TVs from your blog posts which may not be the most realistic unless you have a very large and dedicated following.
There are some categories that are excluded from affiliate earnings, including:
- Tires
- Food
- Video game hardware
- Baby consumables
How Does the Walmart Affiliate Program Work?
Are you ready to join the Walmart affiliate program? The good news is that there aren't many steps you need to take to be considered for approval for this program. All you need to do is fill out the application through Impact Radius, their affiliate service provider.
Make sure you set aside some time to fill this out as it is quite lengthy.
Walmart's affiliate program application also requires you to commit to certain things such as:
- Primary and secondary promotional methods
- Promoting countries
- Company information
- Personal information
- Banking account information
Walmart Affiliate Tools
The Walmart affiliate program website comes with a few tools that you can use to your advantage. Unfortunately, not all of the tools are the greatest option and may leave you open to security risks. Take a closer look at which tools you will want to use as a Walmart affiliate:
Walmart SDK
Walmart SDK is one of the few tools they offer that is actually a great option to increase conversion rates. This gadget allows you to place the telltale orange “Buy Now” button directly on your website, making it easier for readers to make a purchase. It will take them directly to the cart on Walmart.com.
Walmart WordPress Plugin
Walmart developed a WordPress plugin to help affiliates create banner ads and custom links to products. While this would be great in theory, you want to use caution with it. There hasn't been an update to the plugin in six years.
Walmart Deals Chrome Extension
Want to give your readers the best deals on the products you love most? Then you need to install the Walmart Deals Chrome extension before you start making your paid advertisements.
It does not create custom affiliate links for you, but it does show you which items are on rollback, have special deals going, or are the top sellers in a specific category. The Walmart official Chrome extension is mainly used for research purposes but is still valuable.
How to Make Money with the Walmart Affiliate Program
As with most affiliate programs, it is easy to make money with the Walmart affiliate program if you have a niche website. This will allow you to narrow down the sheer volume of items that are sold on Walmart.com to just one or two specific categories.
For example, an interior designer might list lamps on a budget.
On the other hand, a more general website could also come in handy when promoting this program. You will have plenty of items to draw on and could create content in many different verticals to appeal to a wider variety of readers.
You might write about hunting gear today, camping gear tomorrow, and the best winter clothes the next day. The possibilities are endless.
No matter what the topic is, you can provide content on your blog to help connect your readers with top products available on the Walmart website.
Here are a few creative ways you can implement Walmart links in your blog:
- Roundup of top products in a given category
- Reviews of products that you have personally purchased
- Product comparisons
Think about your reader's pain points and try to highlight products on the Walmart website that will solve their problems. This will give you the best opportunity to make a lot of sales and keep readers coming back for more.
Requirements
How can you qualify for their affiliate marketing program? Their criteria are relatively broad, allowing you to open an affiliate account if you meet all of the following:
- Wholesome, family-friendly content
- Traffic primarily from North America
- Have an active website
It really isn't difficult to get approved by Impact Radius to take part in the affiliate program offered by Walmart.
They are requiring just the bare minimum to approve people, but keep in mind that they reserve the right to remove or reject sites at any time and for any reason. This isn't much different than other affiliate programs though.
Walmart vs Amazon Associates Program
Walmart has some competition for the best affiliate program with the Amazon Associates program. How do website owners determine which one is the better fit? Let's take a look at how the two affiliate programs compare.
Commission
There isn't a clear winner when it comes to commission between Amazon Associates and Walmart. Affiliate marketers can earn up to 10 percent for Amazon purchases in certain categories, including luxury beauty and Amazon Explore.
You can even earn up to 5 percent on music, handmade goods, and digital videos.
Other categories tie with Walmart at 4 percent or less.
You could earn more with Amazon Associates if you advertise goods in one of their high-earning categories, but be sure to compare your niche to Walmart as well. You might find that there isn't a huge difference between the two retailers.
Cookie Duration
As an affiliate marketer, you want the longest cookie duration you can get. Amazon Associates may have plenty of products to advertise and better commission rates, but their cookie duration is substantially shorter. Compare Walmart's three-day cookie with a 24-hour cookie on Amazon Associates.
Winner: Walmart
Amazon can earn you more money as an affiliate marketer, but your audience has to be willing to make a purchase quickly. On the other hand, Walmart may have comparable commissions but the longer cookie duration gives your customers an opportunity to think through their purchase for a few days.
Is the Walmart Affiliate Program Right for Your Blog?
Whether this is your first affiliate website or you've been around for a while, you might want to consider whether the Walmart affiliate program is the right fit for you. Some of the features to consider include:
- Decent cookie duration
- Mid- to low-level commissions
- Free marketing materials like banners
- Broad selection of goods and brand name recognition
You may also be interested in these high-ticket affiliate programs, the Home Depot affiliate program, and the Costco affiliate program.
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