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Walmart Affiliate vs Amazon Affiliate Program: Which is Best?
Wondering who takes the cake home when you look at the Walmart affiliate vs Amazon Affiliate program?
Let’s be honest, these two sites pretty much sell the same things. They both focus on providing products to the masses for as cheap as their bottom line can handle. Both operated comprehensively online, and Walmart’s even started offering an Amazon-like service where vendors can sell their own goods on their website.
They’re very similar companies – both of which offer an affiliate program. So, which is better for your blog?
Let’s look up close at the Walmart vs Amazon affiliate programs and determine which, if any, is the best for you.
Walmart Affiliate Program Review
The Walmart Affiliate Program allows you to earn commissions by promoting the products on their site to your audience. You place their links and banners on your site, and when your audience clicks through to them and makes a qualifying purchase, you earn a commission.
It’s a win-win scenario. Your readers buy what they want (and need) and you make income.
What makes this a stellar program for bloggers of all kinds is that it’s from a brand that your audience can recognize, and they have inexpensive products (who doesn’t love a good deal?). Instead of simply linking to Walmart to help your audience, you can also earn money from that.
How to Join Walmart Affiliate Program
Walmart’s affiliate program is open to bloggers of all shapes and sizes (though there’s no guaranteed admittance). They run the program through Impact Radius, which is a large affiliate program that allows you to grab links, track sales, and manage commissions for programs that you’re accepted into.
You can head to the Walmart affiliate page or sign up for Impact Radius separately and then apply for the Walmart program inside.
Impact is a great affiliate network as it allows you to be paid out as soon as the money becomes available instead of waiting for a specific date and time – something that’s not true of all networks out there.
The Walmart Affiliate Program can also be accessed as part of a few other networks, including:
You may have the ability to earn higher commissions through these other programs. However, they have their own requirements which you may (or may not) qualify for. I use the Impact connection.
Walmart Requirements
The Walmart affiliate program is free to apply, but you do need to meet their requirements to be accepted. Namely, Walmart’s affiliate program requirements are that:
- You have a legitimate published website with meaningful, quality content on it
- And that your content is full of family friendly material, you can’t promote anything that violates their TOS, like sexually explicit material and illegal activities
Most applications are reviewed within 24 hours, though there is no guarantee for approval.
Make sure that it makes sense for your content to have Walmart links on it before applying – it’s not the right program for everyone and it’s OK if it’s not fit for you.
If your audience are all in the UK, where Walmart doesn’t operate, that doesn’t make sense. Or if your content is all rated R, that’s not gonna fit.
Walmart Affiliate Commissions
Walmart affiliates earn between 1% and 4%, depending on what’s purchased through their link. You earn income on qualifying sales that are made using your links.
They also sometimes hold sales contests and other opportunities throughout the year which can help you earn more.
If you are promoting Walmart links through another program like LTK or Sovern, you can earn between 1% and 8% on qualifying sales.
Cookie Duration
Walmart affiliate links have a 3-day cookie duration.
That means anyone who clicks on one of your links has 3 days to make a qualifying purchase for you to get credit for it.
If they make a purchase after that time period, even if you made the initial recommendation, you will not get credit for it (unless they go back through your link).
Payment Terms
Commissions for the Walmart affiliate program are paid based on your monthly net sales – these don’t include sales tax, shipping or returns. However, these net payments won’t be made for 60 days after the end of the month.
Essentially, you will see the money in your account 60+ days after the transaction is made and confirmed by Walmart.
Walmart’s Affiliate Tools
The affiliate program provides you with several tools that allow you to promote Walmart products and earn money. Their tool set includes:
- Banners
- Buttons
- Text links (including deep links)
- Dynamic rich media links
You don’t have to use all of these on your blog, just the ones that work best for you.
Pros and Cons of Walmart Affiliate Program
Walmart can be a great affiliate program for the right bloggers, but like everything else there are pros and cons to the program. In my experience, these include:
Pros
- Walmart has higher per-item commissions, especially among department-style affiliate programs (like Amazon)
- Recognizable brand that your audience likely already trusts, which means that you have a higher chance of conversion
- Lots of items to choose from, which makes it a great program for many bloggers to access – though it won’t work in all niches
Cons
- Compared to Amazon, Walmart has lower conversion rates which might not make the slightly higher commission rates worth it for some bloggers
- Longer payout times than some other affiliate programs – you need to wait until the month is finished for net commissions, then you’ll be paid out around 60 days after that
- Doesn’t work as well globally
Amazon Affiliate Program Review
Amazon has two affiliate programs that content creators (like bloggers) might be able to utilize – depending on how you promote your content.
The Amazon Associates Program is what most bloggers start using right away. This program has very little by way of requirements and is easy to use.
Since you don’t have to have any specific amounts of traffic, anyone can apply for the program and so long as your site meets their criteria and you can make three qualifying sales, you’re in.
On the other hand, the Influencers Program is perfect for those with large social audiences who are ready to earn. This program allows you to not only get links, but also build yourself a storefront and share content directly from it to make money.
Both Amazon affiliate programs can be great monetary assets to bloggers that learn to use them effectively. Make money with your blog, it’s easy to get started!
We’re going to focus on the Associates program since it’s the most similar to the Walmart program and what most bloggers use.
How to Join Amazon Affiliate Program
To sign up for the Amazon affiliate program, you need to go to Amazon Associates Central and sign up for an account. You’ll need to:
- Provide Amazon with the links for your website(s)
- Fill out your personal and business information
- Complete a tax form
- Choose a payment method and fill out your information
There are no traffic requirements to sign up for the Amazon Associates program, which is what makes it a great pick for beginner programs. So long as there are items that your audience can resonate with (and will buy), it’s the perfect place for you and your blog to start making income.
Once you’ve signed up for the program the clock starts to tick. You’ll have 180 days to make three qualifying sales. If you haven’t made those sales, you’ll need to sign up again and start from the beginning.
I did this 3 times – and once even had Amazon mail me a $0.26 cheque with postage that cost at least $2! You’ll just need to change out your old URLs, then you’re good to go.
The Amazon Associates program is easy to sign up for – you head to the website and create an account.
You can also access the Amazon affiliate program through LTK, however you have to take an additional step to qualify for it beyond just the basic network application.
The upside to this is that the LTK program has additional benefits such as being able to share links via email and social media – you are not able to do these things via the basic Associates program.
Skimlinks also has an Amazon connection, but it’ll pay out lower amounts.
I recommend going direct whenever possible.
Amazon Requirements
All Amazon affiliates go through their review process to ensure that your site (or mobile app) adds value to their customers. While it’s an easier approval process than many other programs, there’s no guarantee you’ll be approved once you make the qualifying sales.
Once you sign up, you have 180 days to make at least three qualifying sales (note that “qualifying” doesn’t include personal, friends or family orders). Once those have been made, the team will review your application to ensure that your site and content meets their expectations.
While there are no explicit requirements (besides the three sales), you’ll need recent blog posts – probably at least 10 (but more will make sales more likely). These posts musts ALL be publicly available, you cannot share your links via email, behind a paywall, or in a closed group.
Specifically, when it comes to websites, you will need to have recent content made within the last 60 days. You will also need to be the owner of your site.
Amazon Affiliate Commissions
Most blogging experts will tell you that Amazon has some of the lowest commissions in the industry, and they’d be right. While they range from 1% to 20%, most sales are under 10%.
As of the writing of this post, the commissions for the Amazon Associates program are as follows:
| Product Category | Commission Rates |
|---|---|
| Amazon Games | 20.00% |
| Premium Beauty | 12.00% |
| Luxury Stores Beauty | 10.00% |
| Kitchen & Dining | 9.00% |
| Clothing & Accessories | Sports & Fitness | 7.50% |
| Beauty & Grooming | 7.00% |
| Home | 6.50% |
| Camera, Photo & Video | Cell Phones & Accessories | Electronic Components & Home Audio | Jewelry | Luggage | Shoes, Handbags, Wallets, Sunglasses | 6.00% |
| CDs & Vinyl | Digital Music | Handmade | Power & Hand Tools | Toys & Games | Video On Demand: Rent or Buy | 5.00% |
| Automotive | Books & Textbooks | 4.50% |
| Amazon Fashion Private Brands | Blink Devices | Echo Devices | Echo Look | Fire TV Devices | Fire TV Edition Smart TVs | Fire Tablets | Kindle E-readers | Luxury Stores Fashion | Ring Accessories | Ring Devices | Watches | 4.00% |
| Fine Art | 4.00% |
| Amazon Coins | Baby & Nursery | Business & Industrial Supplies | Furniture | Headphones | Home Improvement | Musical Instruments | Outdoor Recreation | Patio, Lawn & Garden | Pet Food & Supplies | 3.00% |
| Blu-Ray & DVD | Computers, Tablets & Components | 2.50% |
| Home Entertainment: TV | Video Game Downloads | 2.00% |
| Amazon Fresh | Grocery & Gourmet Food | Health & Household | Video Games | 1.00% |
| Amazon Gift Cards | Appstore for Android | Kindle Unlimited Memberships | Other Gift Card Brands | Prime Memberships | Wine, Spirits & Beer | N/A |
| All Other Categories | 4.00% |
It’s worth noting that commissions for the Amazon affiliate programs do change, so your best bet is going to be visiting their official commissions page to see what the percentages currently are at.
Cookie Duration
Not only are Amazon commissions a bit lower than competitors, but their cookie duration is small as well.
The Cookie Duration for Amazon affiliate links lasts 24 hours, so your readers will need to make purchases quick for sales to qualify.
Payment Terms
Commissions for the Amazon Associates program are made 60 days after the end of the month. Most commissions are paid out on or around the 28th to 30th of the month.
These payment terms are in line with the Walmart affiliate program.
Amazon Affiliate Tools
The Amazon Associates program gives you an easy way to promote Amazon’s products and earn money. The program is a bit more tailored to those that want a little bit of everything (links, ads and per-sign up income), which means there are a few tools you can utilize:
- Product links, accessible through Site Stripe: lets you link directly to the right items
- Banners: like display advertising, you can post banners on your site to earn money
- Native Shopping Ads: if you’re not already working with a display ads company AND you don’t know what you link to, Native Shopping Ads can help you earn money when you’re not sure what to link with
- Mobile Popovers: for those that work with mobile apps, these can help you earn money easier
- Link to Page: you can link beyond product pages to categories and stores
- Amazon Bounty Program: flat rate earnings for specific campaigns, these often include programs like Amazon Prime Video and Music
To use their images, you need to either get a plugin like Lasso or use their API.
It’s up to you how your utilize them to make something great (and pad your bank account).
Amazon Onelink
Amazon Associate’s Onelink allows you to monetize international traffic, which means you can earn more with your blog. Utilizing the Onelink program allows you to earn traffic in qualifying countries, even if your readers aren’t all in your country.
It’s important to note that Onelink doesn’t work in ALL countries that Amazon serves and you do have to set it up before you start earning with it (it doesn’t simply get set up when you open you account).
The global reporting dashboard inside your account allows you to track your earnings across different country stores.
Amazon Influencer Program
The Amazon Influencer Program and the Amazon Associates Program are not connected. While those in both have access to earn money from Amazon’s products, the Influencer program is a tad bit more exclusive and not for beginner bloggers.
The Influencer Program is built for content creators, particularly with those that have social audiences. Unlike the Associates program, Influencers typically have the ability to promote their links on other channels (make sure to double check the contract that you’ve signed).
The Influencer program gives you access to a storefront where you can put all of your favorite items that your readers can “shop.” Influencers can also publish content on their Amazon storefronts – like mini blog posts that promote your favorite products (and earn you cash).
While Amazon Influencers can have blogs, they’re really looking for people with large social audiences. They recruit influencers of all shapes and sizes, but you’ll need to have a YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok account.
During the approval process, they’ll consider how large your following is and their engagement rates prior to approval.
I only had 1400 Tiktok followers when I got accepted, but I’d had a video go viral within the last 60 days and I think that brought my engagement up enough for it.
The Amazon Influencers Program uses a similar commission scale to the Associates program, but it varies slightly – you can look into it here.
This is not going to be the best option for all bloggers out there. However, if you have a large social audience, it could be a good option for you.
I know many bloggers succeeding with the videos in the Influencer program. Check out Jared Bauman’s success with it here.
Pros and Cons of Amazon Affiliate Program
Most bloggers sign up for the Amazon Associates program sometime in their blogging career, and considering its low requirements it makes sense. However, like every other program out there, there are pros and cons of working with the program:
Pros
- The Amazon Associate program has a higher conversion rate (compared to other programs). Most people nowadays make purchases from Amazon, so it’s not surprising that you can make sales if you’re linking the right items for your audience.
- Very recognizable brand that instantly builds trust (and heightens conversion rates) with your audience
- The program doesn’t have a lot of requirements, which makes it great for beginners just starting out, similarly the program is easy to use
Cons
- Commissions for the Amazon Associates program are considerably lower than other affiliate programs out there, which means you might only get pennies for driving sales.
- You have to wait a bit to get paid out as commissions are paid once per month (at the end of the month) at least 60 days after the month is over.
- You need to make three qualifying sales to stay in the program, so if you apply too early and don’t make it you need to reapply AND change all your affiliate links.
Is Amazon Affiliate Still Worth It?
The Amazon affiliate programs (both Associates and Influencers) can be worth it for A LOT of bloggers. Most bloggers default to it because there’s almost always something on there for everyone.
However, it is worth it to point out that it’s not the right option for every blogger out there.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether the program is right for your blog and your audience. The low commission isn’t the best incentive, but the higher conversions could result in a larger payout.
The affiliate program is a great option for bloggers of all skill levels working in the home, lifestyle and family niches – essentially any niche that would see a regular audience that would purchase from their site.
That said, some niches like travel and business might have a harder time making the Amazon Associates (or Influencer) program work for them.
For the right kind of blogger, the Amazon Affiliate program can be very worth it and lucrative. It’s up to you to decide whether it’s the right fit for your blog, and how you promote it to earn that income.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where you promote products or services on behalf of brands (preferably that you love).
Affiliates earn commissions on qualifying sales, leads, or actions (depending on your agreement) generated via your efforts, tracked by links.
This money earning system is win-win, you get a chance to monetize your property and the brand you promote makes money.
It’s one of the most popular ways that bloggers earn money, and there are a TON of brand programs out there (anything you can think of), including both Walmart and Amazon!
You can check out my full guide to the best affiliates for travel bloggers here.
How Much Can You Earn With Affiliate Marketing?
The potential affiliate marketing earnings can vary based on several factors such as the:
- Program you’ve signed up with
- Niche you’re operating in
- Level of engagement from your audience
- Quality of your marketing efforts
While some affiliates earn a modest supplementary income, others can achieve some significant success (guilty!).
If you want to monetize your blog, this is likely one of the methods you’ll use to turn it into a full-time, lucrative business.
To maximize earnings, select affiliate programs with competitive commission rates, promote products or services that resonate with your audience, and employ effective marketing strategies such as creating compelling content, utilizing social media, and optimizing your website for conversions.
While there is no guarantee of income in affiliate marketing, those who invest time, effort, and creativity into their marketing campaigns have the potential to generate a steady stream of passive income.
I teach bloggers how to find profitable buyer intent keywords, write converting posts, and how to monetize informational posts with affiliates in my Profitable Part-Time Blogger program:
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FAQs Walmart Affiliate vs Amazon Affiliate Program
How much does Walmart affiliate program pay?
The Walmart Affiliate Program earns you anywhere between 1% to 8%, depending on where you’ve signed up for the program and what you’re selling. But it’s not just about the commission, you don’t make any money if you’re not promoting the right items – and how much your blog makes will depend on you and your readers.
What pays most on Amazon affiliate?
Based on percentages, the following categories earn the most money:
Amazon Games
Premium Beauty
Video Game Downloads
Luxury Beauty
These categories all earn 10% or more in commissions, which is higher than the rest of the programs. That said, these will not pay you the most if they’re not right for your audience.
Do Amazon affiliates make a lot of money?
Amazon Affiliates can make a lot of money if they’re promoting the right products to the right audience. Doing good affiliate marketing doesn’t always come natural to everyone, luckily there are some great resources out there for you – I recommend checking out Mastering Affiliate Marketing (for Beginners). Aisha is a six-figure blogger that can help you step up your game.
Walmart vs Amazon Affiliate Program Salary
To be fair, neither the Walmart nor Amazon Affiliate program offer a salary to affiliates. It’s up to you to ensure that you’re creating quality content with relevant links that consistently pays out. If you were converting the same amount with both programs, you’d likely make more with Walmart – but it depends on what your readers are buying.
Conclusion: Which is Better Walmart vs Amazon Affiliate Program
Whether the Walmart affiliate program or Amazon Associates is better for you depends on your audience. Each programs have their advantages and disadvantages, and it’s up to you to decide what works best for you.
While Amazon Associates tends to have a higher conversion rate, Walmart tends to provide you (as the affiliate) a bigger payout. But making more money per sale might not be as large of a payout if you don’t make quite as many sales.
Because both stores have similar products for sale, it might be in your best interest to test out both. If you provide two links for each product for your audience, then let them decide you’ll get a considerably more accurate answer.
Consider working with a program like Affilimate that can help you track your income more accurately and decide where you get the highest payout. That’s the software I use to track and test my affiliates.
I 3x my income with them in just 2 months!
Lots of bloggers use both programs on their blog and let their audience decide who to buy from – ultimately, this is the best way for you to maximize your profits and let your audience decide for themselves.
Read More About Monetizing Your Blog
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