Walmart and Amazon are two huge marketplaces and two of the biggest businesses in the world. So, it is natural to be two attractive options for affiliates that want to promote products from these marketplaces. As you expect, the comparison Walmart vs. Amazon affiliate program will be interesting, but it has a clear winner. Let’s start with the basics of these two programs.
What Is The Walmart Affiliate Program?
Walmart is one of the richest businesses in the world. It has stores in many countries and was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. Later, he became the richest man in the world. It is worth reading his autobiography that describes in detail how he built Walmart.
When it comes to the online world, Walmart has a website that we can use to buy products. It has many categories of products, a store finder, cashback opportunities, and more.
Many customers of Walmart use the website, so there is an opportunity for affiliate marketers. It is obvious that there are many chances to earn commissions when you send existing customers to the site because it is optimized for sales, and many people are familiar with this brand name. All these things increase your conversion rate, that is the chance to make a sale per customer.
If you want to get affiliate links for the website, you need to join the Walmart affiliate program. It is free to create an account and promote any products from the marketplace, but there is an approval process.
Types Of Products On Walmart
Both Walmart and Amazon are marketplaces of physical products. This information is important for an affiliate marketer because it means a lot for the conversion rates, commissions, and structure of the websites. They may have some digital products, but marketplaces and affiliate networks that focus on digital products are completely different in most parts.
When people visit Walmart, they have in mind the offers of Walmart and the variety of products they can find at good prices. If you visit the homepage, you can see categories for home, toys, sports equipment, personal care, outdoor gear, etc. Then, there are discounts on tech, fashion, clothes and more. They are proud of having so many products, and it is clear that they don’t focus on a specific niche.
However, if you have a website on a specific niche, the chances are that you will find products to promote. Of course, the same applies to Amazon, which is a big competitor in the online market.
The Amazon Affiliate Program
I have mentioned details about the Amazon affiliate program in this article, so I will make a shorter description.
Amazon is another top business that sells different physical products. However, it hasn’t physical stores, but it is focused on the internet. Both Amazon and Walmart are big brand names. For this reason, it’s worth comparing their affiliate programs. You will promote similar products from these marketplaces, and the difference will be on the commissions and other small details.
Walmart Vs. Amazon Affiliate Program
1. Approval Process
The approval process of the two programs is quite similar. You need a website with a few pages. The most important thing is to have unique content and follow the rules of the programs. If you don’t have a website, you can learn how to create one that has many chances to get approved on Wealthy Affiliate.
On both websites, you need to add your personal details. They are top businesses, so you must make sure that you fill in your details correctly because they will use them to pay you or just contact you.
When you add a website, you can write your link, promotional methods, and describe your site in a few words. They will check and approve your site manually if everything is as expected.
2. Commissions
Affiliate programs of physical products tend to have low commissions. The same you can expect from Walmart and Amazon.
So, the Walmart affiliate program has commissions from 1% to 4% per sale. If you make a sale of a product for 100 dollars, you will earn 4 dollars in the best-case scenario. Of course, this is a very low commission, even for a marketplace with good conversion rates like Walmart.
The Amazon affiliate program has commissions from 1% to 10%. Most of the affiliates average 6%-8% per sale, which is a significant improvement compared to Walmart.
3. Cookie Duration
One of the negatives of the Amazon affiliate program is that you get credit for your traffic only the first 24 hours. Affiliate marketing works with cookies from the affiliate programs that show the exact date of the visit. From these cookies, you get credit from your sales. The Walmart affiliate program has a three-day cookie duration that is a small improvement.
Both programs are not great in this part. Other alternatives offer you up to 60-day cookie duration like this affiliate program. However, some WordPress plugins and tools can improve the cookie duration of the Amazon affiliate program.
4. Tools
The Amazon affiliate program has more tools in the dashboard than the Walmart affiliate program. However, the main difference is the available tools created by third-party companies and individuals about Amazon.
These tools can help you with most tasks that are relevant to your affiliate links and promotion. You need some research before using them because you don’t want to mess your traffic or be against Amazon’s rules. However, there are plenty of options for all types of affiliates.
5. Ease To Use
The Amazon affiliate program is a clear winner in this category as well. While it’s simple to use most affiliate programs on the internet, you can find tons of tips and guides about Amazon. There are blogs, videos, podcasts, and paid resources like ebooks and courses to help you get started.
Which Is The Most Profitable Program?
Between these options, Amazon has the most profitable program because it offers better commissions. The only exception is when you choose a niche with very low commissions. However, most niches are more profitable with Amazon, even if you promote the same products.
Also, Amazon has more visitors and active online buyers that Walmart. The chances are that your visitors will want to visit Amazon after reading about a product on your website. If you have doubts, you can add links from both Amazon and Walmart, and let your visitors decide which one they prefer.
What Is The Best Option For Beginners?
In both cases, you need a website and get approved before you get your links. Also, the conversion rates are quite high on these two marketplaces because of their brand names. So, both options can work for a beginner when it comes to approval and sales.
However, there is a slight advantage of the Amazon affiliate program because you can use different tools to build your business. Most Amazon affiliates use plugins and tools sooner or later. The available tools for the Walmart affiliate program are very limited compared to other options.
Conclusion
You can earn money with both affiliate programs if you know the basics of affiliate marketing. But if I had to choose between these two options, the Amazon affiliate program would be an easy choice because of the better commissions and the available tools. A good idea could be to test both programs on your website and make a decision later.
If you want to share your experience with these programs or want to ask any questions, you can leave your comment below.