The Target affiliate program lets you represent one of the largest US retailers (# 2 after Walmart) to your online audience.

In fact Target’s affiliate program is very similar to the Walmart affiliate program. Both pay a bit more than you would get with Amazon Associates and both will likely not convert as well.

We have an in-depth Walmart affiliate program review that you can aslo take a look at.

One of the key benefits of the Target affiliate program is the trust that people have with Target. Everyone knows them and has shopped there.

Target has products for almost any niche so most affiliates will have items to promote to their audience. With the recent Amazon commission rate cuts the Target program pays better on most items than Amazon does.

Let’s take a look …

Target Affiliate Program

Types of products: Broad range of physical products.

Where to join: http://affiliate.target.com/

Commission structure: Categories with volume gates

Cookie length: 7 days

Payment Methods: Paypal

How does the Target Affiliate Program Work?

So, let’s start with a basic overview of the Target affiliate program and see how it compares to Amazon’s.

  • Products — Target has many, many products but it is still a subset of Amazon’s inventory. So if you are in an obscure niche, Amazon will be a better fit. On the other hand, everyday items in many departments are available at Target. From baby apparel, kitchen appliances, and electronics, you can find them at Target.
  • Commissions — The commission rates at Target are based on a performance sliding scale. Amazon used to do this. The more you sell the better your commission. For high-volume affiliates, you may earn more per transaction at Target.
  • Tools and Support — Deep linking is the main tool I must have and both programs allow for this. I find links in-context in a review or other articles are the best performers. I rarely use a widget, banner, etc. Amazon, however, does have a huge third-party vendor community for affiliates who can get API access.
  • Rigidness — Target isn’t as rigid as Amazon you rarely hear of people being deauthorized. You can use your website, funnel software to direct users to your recommended products. For email marketing, it is best to refer your customers back to a page on your website.

Applying for the Target Affiliate Program

Target is very inclusive with their affiliate program. Most people are accepted to the program. You should have a niche website and some quality content.

As long as you are not in forbidden industries like gambling or have offensive material of some kind, a family friendly website, you should be fine.

Target has an affiliate information page or you can go directly to the Target affiliate program registration page.

Join Target Affiliate

Target Products

Target sells a broad line of food, pet supplies, clothing, electronics, home decor, and more. They sell both national brands and exclusive products.

Most of these products have a target affiliate payout. In total there are over a million products. Certainly any niche marketer will find products for their audience at Target. Just be sure to focus on the better paying products.

Target affiliate products are broken down into categories. Some of the better-selling products include the following categories …

  • School supplies
  • Beauty category
  • Baby gear furniture
  • Small appliances
  • Toys
  • Outdoor living
  • Pet Supplies
  • Electronics
  • Sports
  • Luggage

There are excluded product categories that generally include the grocery and other similar products. These include …

  • Household sundries
  • Cafe at Target
  • Baby Care items
  • Digital products including music
  • Books and magazines.
  • Snacks and candy

Target Bull’s Eye View

Target now has their Bull’s Eye view. A place where you can find all behind the scenes stories and Target’s business affairs.

They also will integrate all of their social media channel communications here. As well as having special product announcements.

It is an integration of the former corporate.target.com and abullseyeview.com.

target bullseye view

Go to our affiliate programs page for more program reviews.

Target Affiliate Program Commission Rates and Rules

Target’s Affiliate Program pays affiliate marketers much better than Amazon’s.

First, they reward successful affiliates with a commission schedule that increases as your sales do. The more you sell the higher the commission rate This type of volume bonus was discontinued by Amazon.

Also, the cookie length is 7 days vs. Amazons 24-hour cookie. And finally, you earn commission on any product purchased during the days period.

If a customer comes to target via your link you get paid on the initial purchase AND if they return within the 7 days cookie window, even if not again via your link, you will get paid. Nice.

Currently, 4 categories that allow you to promote products are:

  • 1) Accessories and Apparels,
  • 2) Home and Kitchen Appliances,
  • 3) Health and Beauty.
  • 4) Baby Gear and Furniture.

Target Affiliate Program Commission Rates

You can earn a commission of 1% to 8% depending upon the kind of product you are promoting and how many times have you generated sales in a specific month.

The Target commission structure is category based. Apparel and accessories plus Home and Outdoor Living are the categories with the highest commission rates of 5% to 8% once your sales exceed  $10,001. in sales.

Baby gear and Furniture rates can go as high as 5%. Last but not least, the beauty and health category will land you a commission rate of only 1%.

  • Apparel — 5% – 8%
  • Home & Outdoor — 5% – 8%
  • Baby and Furntiture — 5%
  • Health Beauty  — 1%

The Target affiliate program also provides accelerators and bonus payments for its high-volume affiliates. Like other affiliate programs, you are paid on monthly net orders. Here is the complete commission rate chart …

Target Affiliate Commission Rate Chart

CPA

CPAs are payments when a visitor of your performs an action (vs. making a purchase). These include …

  • REDcard Signup
  • Wedding Registry
  • Baby Registry
  • College Registry

Excluded Products

It is important to note that the Target affiliate program has some excluded products.

. That means these sales will pay no commission. These include …

Groceries, household commodities, electronics, toys, baby care items, sporting goods, movies, pets, video games and consoles, Pharmacy, Photo, Optical, Café, gift cards, music, books, SweetJOJO, contract mobile

Affiliate Tools and Support

Target’s program is managed by Impact (Previously Impact Radius). There you will find lots of banners and swipes that you can use.

The Target affiliate program also weekly affiliate newsletters with special promotions, coupon codes and other timely information for your audience.

Creating Target Affiliate Links 

Impact also lets you create deep links. This means you can create a custom link to any page at Target. 

These deep links are often the best converting. Typically they are used as text links within the body of a review or as a Call to Action button/link for a specific product.

Target Affiliate Program Support

Target affiliates have access to in-house account managers as well as those at Impact. You can reach them at affiliates@target.com. The customer support is extremely reliable and they will answer your mail within a day or two.

How to Use Target Affiliate Program

There are different ways to promote Target Products online. Like most retail products the margins are very slim. This means the potential commission per item is limited — they can’t pay you more than they make!

So you will need to send a fair amount of traffic to Target to get a good return  — the same as the Amazon Associates program.

Paid ads on Google or Facebook are not going to have a positive ROI. So unless they are for branding you will be better served with content and social media marketing — not advertising.

If you have a general affiliate website be sure to focus on US traffic for the Target affiliate marketing program. Target does not ship internationally so more traffic will not always mean more sales if not from the US.

Content Marketing

This is the backbone of SEO affiliate marketing. You do your keyword research, find searches that are under-served and create quality content. Create articles on your relevant niche affiliate website. This organic traffic comes from search engines recommending this content.

When it comes to keyword research for these more general products you want to be very specific.

Many affiliate marketers, particularly those using the Amazon Associates program, will make a general general websites. Even multiple websites, all with lots of products. This works because sending cold traffic to Amazon will often result in impulse buying sales.

But even though Target is a big and trusted brand people tend to go there for specific products. It is better to have a single niche affiliate website that focuses on a single topic.

You want to target long-tail keywords (pun intended). Something like pet supplies you will never rank for “best dog food”, there already is a lot of content from larger websites available. But “best wet kitten food” is something you may be able to compete for.

Remember if aren’t on page 1 (top 10) in the search results you will get no traffic.

Another consideration always in SEO affiliate marketing is the intent of the keyword. When someone searches for “best wet kitten food” they are likely looking to buy some cat food. Other keyword searches are more informational. …

buying-intent-keywords-for-affiliates

Target Social Media

When promoting the Target affiliate program it is a good idea to keep an eye on what they are promoting. That way you can be in sync with their ad budget and outreach. The easiest way to do that is to follow their social media channels.

Target on FaceBook

Target has an active Facebook presence with over 24 million followers. They post about specials, internal promotions, community outreach and more.

Target on Twitter

Target Twitter account with its 1.9 million followers has much of the same content as the FaceBook account. If you follow either FaceBook or Twitter you should get all the important updates.

Go to our affiliate tips page -- learn how to promote products.

Should You Join the Target Affiliate Program?

Let’s sum up our Target affiliate program review.

Target has great brand recognition. They have a lot of trust in the marketplace as the number 2 US retailer.

They are a good alternative or supplement to Amazon if your niche falls into one of the four product categories supported by Target.

Should you join the Target affiliate program — yes.

They have both a dedicated in-house team and Radius so you can expect a prompt response to any issues.

They have lots of marketing support both in-house and at Radius including banners, special promotions and a weekly newsletter.

Will they replace Amazon Associates for you – no. Amazon is still going to convert better and has a wider variety of products. Many affiliate marketers will join both.

The EPC is around $13, so not super but traffic does convert. It is not the best place for low traffic volume sites but many can add to their monthly income.

The 7-day cookie duration and commissions that increase with your sales volume makes it a financially strong choice as well.

Go for it!

Pros and Cons —
Target Affiliate Program

ADVANTAGES

Provides average commission rates

Full-fledged affiliate marketing support team

Different products to promote

Trusted brand

Commissions on multiple purchases

DISADVANTAGES

Health and Beauty categories have a low commission rate

Conversion rate is lower than Amazon

US audience must be targeted

FAQ

How much does Target pay its affiliates?

Affiliates receive a 1%-8% commission based on the department of the purchased product.

How long do you have to make a sale from someone who uses your affiliate link?

target has a 7-day last touch cookie. As long as the customer purchases within 7 days of arriving via your affiliate link you will receive the commission.

What products are eligible for affiliate sales?

Almost all products at Target.com are eligible for commissions. The exceptions for affiliate marketing are candy, cafe, groceries, etc.

Does Target run its own affiliate program?

Yes, Target has an in-house affiliate program. They provide a dedicated affiliate management team and many banners and other marketing materials.