Target Affiliate Program (2023)
The Target affiliate program is not as well-known as Amazon Associates or the Walmart Affiliate program, even though it’s a great alternative to both retailers.
In this review, you will learn about the pros and cons of the program so you can decide whether you should become a Target affiliate.
Target Affiliate Program Overview
Commission: 1-8%
Cookie Duration: 7 days
Where to Join: Impact
Payment Options: PayPal, Bank Transfer
There is no need to introduce Target. Even though it’s way smaller in size than Amazon and around 20 times smaller than Walmart, Target still belongs to the top 10 biggest retailers in the USA.
It’s a big and trusted brand in the USA with hundreds of thousands of different products.
Target Affiliate Program
The Target affiliate program is hosted via Impact Radius.
You can join the program here if you want to become a Target affiliate.
To be accepted to the program, you need a website with traffic mainly from the USA.
Target accepts affiliates from all around the world, but your audience should be mostly US based.
Unlike Amazon, Target does not ship internationally, so promoting Target would not make sense for you anyway if you don't have US traffic.
The Target affiliate program has a 7-day referral period, so you get credit for any order placed within 7 days of the original click placed by your visitor.
Once you get accepted to the program, you can access over 150 banners in various sizes. You are even provided with banners for sales and special promotions, which is great.
Target Affiliate Program Products
Even though Target has around 30 different categories, Target affiliates are very limited in what they can promote.
You can only promote the following categories:
- Apparel & Accessories
- Home & Outdoor Living
- Baby Gear & Furniture
- Health & Beauty
So, for instance, you cannot promote electronics, video games, music, books, etc.
If you want to promote such products, the Target affiliate program is not for you.
Target Affiliate Program Commission
The program commission varies based on categories and your monthly net orders.
Below you can see Target’s chart with the commission for each category.
As you can see, the commission ranges from 1% to 8%. Except for Health & Beauty, your commission gets bigger with more sales.
Let’s now look at how Target’s commission stands compared to Amazon and Walmart.
Amazon:
- Apparel & Accessories - 4%
- Home & Outdoor Living - 3%
- Baby Gear & Furniture – 3%
- Health & Beauty - 3%
Walmart:
- Apparel & Accessories – 4%
- Home & Outdoor Living - 3%
- Baby Gear & Furniture - 3%
- Health & Beauty - 3%
Except for the Health & Beauty category, Target has a bigger commission than its main competitors.
The Target affiliate program is hosted on Impact, so you can get paid through PayPal or bank transfer.
Can You Make $1000 a Month as a Target Affiliate?
How can you make $1.000 with the Target affiliate program if the commission is so low?
Well, you need to have a website with a lot of traffic, as you will have to generate a lot of referrals.
How much traffic do you specifically need to earn $1000 a month?
That depends on many factors: the price of the product you promote, the commission rate, and your conversation rate.
Let’s calculate it for this random Target product: ‘’SWISSGEAR 16" Laptop Backpack.’’
This product falls into the Apparel & Accessories category, so the commission rate is 5% to 8% depending on monthly net orders (in this example, we will assume 7% commission).
The product costs $42, so your commission would be $2.9.
To make $1000 a month, you would need around 345 people to buy this product each month.
For this example, let’s say assume you have a decent conversion rate of 2%.
With a 2% conversion rate, you need 17,500 visitors each month to generate 345 sales.
Of course, you would need fewer visitors if you selected a product for which you would earn a higher commission than just $2.9. But remember that the more expensive the product is, the lower the conversion rate. If you promoted a more expensive product and your commission was $5, you would probably have a lower conversion.
If you had a $5 commission and a 1% conversion rate, then you would need to generate "just" 200 sales to make $1000 a month. However, you would need to have 20,000 visitors.
So, as you can see, earning a higher commission does not necessarily mean you will make $1000 a month any faster.
This is, of course, just an example. In reality, you would not make $1000 from a single product but from multiple ones. Also, your conversion rate may be higher if you have a very targeted audience and quality reviews. Or it can be lot lower if your traffic is less targeted.
However, this should give you a general idea of how hard it is to make $1000 a month with the program.
How to Make Money with the Target Affiliate Program
Target limits you quite a lot in what you can promote, so if you decide to promote solely Target products (which I don’t recommend), it would make sense to create a niche affiliate website rather than a general affiliate website.
If you are confused about the difference, read my review of the Walmart affiliate program, where I explain it in depth.
If you join the Target affiliate program, focusing on just one category is best.
To demonstrate using an example, you could create an affiliate website around women's apparel & accessories.
This category has many subcategories like tops, dresses, handbags, jewelry, scarves, etc.
You would choose just one at first. In our case, it would be handbags.
Then you would publish content around handbags. You would write handbag reviews, comparisons, and related informational content that you would optimize for keywords.
Once you started seeing results in your chosen category and felt there was no room for growth, you would expand to promoting products from other subcategories.
Remember to register a general domain if you decide to follow this path. If your domain name includes handbags, your website will look less trustworthy when you start promoting dresses.
What Target Alternative is the Best?
If you don’t intend to promote the Health & Beauty category, the Target affiliate program has the best commission.
Additionally, it has a 7-day cookie duration, which is significantly longer than the 24-hour cookie offered by Amazon Associates and the 3-day cookie provided by Walmart.
Many people don’t buy immediately and take time to compare products and their prices. This is especially true for more expensive products.
Amazon extends the short 24-hour cookie to 90 days, but only if your visitor adds the product to their shopping carts. This will not happen in most cases, though.
If you plan to promote categories supported by the Target affiliate program, Target is the best choice regarding commission and cookie duration.
Nevertheless, this does not necessarily mean Target has the biggest earning potential.
Amazon is the most trusted brand with the biggest product selection. In general, Amazon affiliates have above-average conversion rates.
Also, if you don’t have most of your traffic from the USA, then Amazon Associates is your best choice, as neither Target nor Walmart offers international shipping.
Should You Join the Target Affiliate Program?
The Target affiliate program is decent and worth joining if you have a lot of traffic from the USA and want to promote products from categories that the program supports.
It has a higher commission and longer cookie duration than Walmart and Amazon.
Nevertheless, I would recommend experimenting with both Target and Amazon. Walmart affiliate program is the worst of these three.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Target affiliate commission ranges from 1-8%, depending on the product category. The commission also varies based on how many referrals you generate each month.
For example, the highest commission is for Apparel & Accessories and Home & Outdoor Living (5-8%)
If you generate 0-10 referrals a month, you have a 5% commission.
If you generate 11-50 referrals a month, you have a 6% commission.
If you generate 51-300 referrals a month, you have a 6.50% commission.
If you generate 301-1.000 referrals a month, you have a 7% commission.
If you generate 1.001-2.000 referrals a month, you have a 7.25% commission.
If you generate 2.001-4.000 referrals a month, you have a 7.50% commission.
If you generate 4.001-10.000 referrals a month, you have a 7.75% commission.
If you generate 10.000+ referrals a month, you have an 8% commission.
You can promote any products that fall under one of these categories:
Apparel & Accessories
Home & Outdoor Living
Baby Gear & Furniture
Health & Beauty
I like your blog very well.
Always get to learn something new
from each of your posts. Thanks a
lot for sharing such great info.pls keep it on.
Hi,
glad that you find my content useful. I will keep publishing new content 🙂
Martin
This is very good opportunity
How to register
Hi,
you can apply to the Target affiliate program through Impact Radius. The link is in the article.
Martin
I was hoping to find an affiliate program for Target in Australia or other companies. Do you have any information for people down under? Thanks for a great article.
Hi,
You can join the Amazon Associates if you are located in Australia.