Two of the biggest retail organization on planet earth are Walmart and Amazon. While both sell products online, Walmart has nearly 5000 retail stores that make up most of its sales, while Amazon conducts 100% of its sales online. Both retailers, however, have exceptional affiliate programs, with thousands of affiliate marketers earning millions of dollars each year. (Amazon has the distinction of being one of the very first affiliate programs.) The question many affiliate marketers have is this; which of the two mammoth retailers has the best affiliate program? In this article, we'll give you the data and numbers to answer that question yourself. Read on to discover all the details and differences between the Walmart vs. Amazon affiliate programs below.
Getting started with either the Amazon or Walmart affiliate program is very similar. You need to first go to their specific affiliate page and fill in the application form with all of the data they require, and sign their affiliate agreement. The affiliate application page for Walmart is located here and is run by a popular 3rd-party company, Impact Radius. To sign up as an Amazon affiliate, you need to go to this page, which Amazon itself runs. Below are a few similarities and differences you need to know when signing up for either of the two affiliate programs:
Walmart- To get started with Walmart is free, and it remains free throughout your time as their affiliate.
Amazon- To become an Amazon affiliate is also free.
Walmart- You must have an active website or blog to become an affiliate. Also, it must have a direct link to Walmart's website. Walmart does not allow you to use or link to social media to promote their products. Also, they don't allow you to use paid advertising, which is an essential point to remember.
Amazon- A website, blog, app, social media page, or YouTube channel is needed to start with Amazon. The social media networks they accept include Instagram, Facebook fan or group pages, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch TV, and Tik Tok. Also, it must be established and have 500+ "likes." Lastly, if you're using a website, the content must be less than 60-days old.
With both Amazon and Walmart, you need a constant flow of online content. That includes blog articles, reviews, YouTube videos, and "posts" on your app or social media page. This aspect is critical, as posting new content regularly is the best (and only) way to generate traffic to your website where visitors can click your affiliate link and make a purchase. Because the need for regular, new content is so important, many affiliate marketers use 3rd-party providers to create their content, including blog posts, online reviews, comparison articles, videos, and so forth.
Walmart and Amazon differ somewhat when it comes to getting approved. Both, however, have similar criteria when it comes to needing new, regular content. Below are the approval differences between the two programs:
With Amazon, you can sign up and start marketing as an affiliate right after you finish your application. However, to be officially approved, you must drive three (3) qualified sales to the Amazon website within the first 180 days after your initial approval. (Personal orders don't count!) It's worth noting that, on Amazon's "Getting Started" page, they write that "All Sites must have robust original content (even when advertising is removed) – a good rule of thumb is at least 10 posts."
After you apply to be a Walmart associate seller, they take between 1 and 2 days to approve your application. As with Amazon, Walmart looks for affiliates with a relevant website that has informative, well-written posts and posts new content regularly. They, as with any retailer, look for positive, family-friendly content, and they want to see that you post new content regularly.
There are several things that both Walmart and Amazon prohibit and will either prevent you from becoming an affiliate or get you kicked out of the program if you've already been accepted. They include:
• You have to tell visitors to your website, app, or social media page that you are part of the affiliate program and that you will earn a commission if they make a purchase.
• You can't make false or deceptive claims about their products in your blogs, posts, reviews, etc.
• You can't have any links or content that promotes sexually explicit material or illegal activities.
• You can't refer to prices as they change continuously. (There are a few exceptions to this rule but not many.)
As large as Walmart might be, Amazon's sheer size means there are many more products you can promote as one of their affiliates. That being said, both have several categories that can be promoted as an affiliate and some that can't. (Well, you can promote them, but you won't make any commission if they sell.) Below are the products you can promote for commissions as an affiliate via the two affiliate programs:
• Cosmetics and Baby
• Films, Electronics, Music, and Books
• Home, Clothing, and Health
• Accessories, Jewelry, and Toys
• Lenses
• Photos and Video Games
• Electronics, computer products, consumer electronic products, and accessories
• Food & Groceries
• Personal Care
• Home Products
• Home Improvement & Tools
• Sports, Automotive, Lawns, & Gardens
• Video games, movies, music
• Large appliances
• Electronics & Communications
• Office & Industrial Products
• Pet Products & Toys
• Mobile Accessories & Musical Instruments
• Watches, shoes, and apparel
• Health, beauty, and personal care products and appliances
• Jewelry (Excluding Silver & Gold coins) & Gourmet
Amazon and Walmart have different commission rates for various products and categories. From our research, it looks like commissions for higher sales volume are not available for either of the two programs. Below is a (limited) list of the categories you can promote through both programs and the commission rates for those categories.
• Shoes, handbags, and accessories. 6%
• Office products. 6%
• Kitchenware and kitchen products. 5.5%
• Home products. 5%
• Home improvement. 5%
• Beauty. 5%
• Personal care. 2%
• Business and personal checks. 18%
• Contact lenses. 10%
• Baby products. 4%
• Health and beauty products. 4%
• Jewelry. 4%
• Patio and garden. 4%
• Sports equipment and accessories. 4%
• Books. 1%
• Movies, music, books, and video games. 1%
• Electronics. 1%
No matter which affiliate program you choose, Walmart or Amazon, you must sell lots of products to make $1000 per month. Frankly, with any affiliate marketing program, it's a numbers game. For example, let's say you're promoting via a website. That website must have a lot of traffic (which means a lot of consumers are visiting). The more traffic you have, the more people will see your content and click your link to purchase the products you're promoting. Below we will look at an example using a fictional $25 product and a 5% commission rate.
• Product ($25.00) x 5% Commission = $1.25 profit per sale.
• 800 Sales x $1.25 per sale = $1000.00
To generate 800 conversions in a month with a 1% conversion rate, you would need 80,000 visitors per month to your website or social channel.
• 80,000 visitors x 1% conversion rate = 800 sales x $1.25 commission per sale = $1000.00
If you sell a $300.00 product, you will make $1000 a month with far fewer sales.
• Product ($300.00) x 5% Commission = $15.00 profit per sale.
• 67 Sales x $15.00 per sale = $1005.00
What's the best method of driving a lot of traffic toward your website, blog, social media page, or YouTube channel? Lots of excellent, informational, and engaging content. Content is truly king when it comes to affiliate marketing. The more quality content you post, the more people will visit your platform and click on your affiliate link to make a purchase. It's truly that simple.
• Massive brand recognition
• Over 4 million products to promote.
• A wide variety of affiliate tools, including professional designs, banners, etc.
• Comprehensive affiliate newsletter to help you every month.
• Detailed insight into different products to help you choose the best ones to promote on your affiliate channel.
• Walmart uses a trusted affiliate platform to run its program.
• Low commission rates
• You must select products that aren't available in your local Walmart
• A 3-day cookie, which is relatively short.
• Massive brand recognition
• A massive selection of different products you can promote that's much bigger than Walmart's.
• Universal cookies. This pro is huge. When any visitor clicks on the link from your website, you get a commission for everything they purchase on Amazon, even if it's not the product in your link.
• A 24-hour cookie, which is even shorter than Amazon and much shorter than many affiliate programs.
• A high payment threshold to get paid.
• You must complete tax information before you can receive your first payment.
• No integration with PayPal, one of the most popular payment methods.
• eBay partner network
• Direct Affiliate Marketing
• CJ Affiliate
• Clickbank
• Rakuten Marketing
• AWIN
• FlexOffers
After a thorough review of both the Amazon affiliate program and the Walmart affiliate program, we believe that the Amazon affiliate program is a better choice. They have many more products to promote, pay higher commissions, and, most importantly, have a universal cookie. Also, when you factor in that you can't promote products that you can find at your local Walmart, and there are Walmarts practically everywhere in the United States, that can be a big drawback. Whichever affiliate program you choose, make sure that you have a plan in place to create new content on a very regular basis. Engaging, informative, and entertaining content is the key to making a good living as an affiliate marketer because it's the driving factor behind traffic to whatever online platform you're using.