Founded in Georgia in 1978, Home Deport today is the biggest home-improvement retailer in North America. The brand consistently outperforms all other home-improvement stores, including Lowe's and Ace Hardware, and even outsells Walmart regarding tools. As strong as their presence in the industry, some say the Home Depot affiliate program is even stronger. (And, 100% transparency, some don't.) If you're a seasoned affiliate marketer looking to add to your portfolio or new to affiliate marketing and looking for a program that fits your needs, read on. Below are all the details you need to know about Home Depot's affiliate program. It's actionable, real-world info to determine if Home Depot has the tools you need to promote its many products successfully.
As with any affiliate marketing program, you need to start at the beginning, which means going to Home Depot's affiliate marketing page and filling out the application to be an affiliate. It's straightforward, but you will need several things to be set up online to give them everything they require. At a minimum, that would include a website with active traffic, a professional email address, and, if it's part of your affiliate plans, a social media page or YouTube channel. (They should also be established and already generating decent traffic.) Below is a quick list of what you'll need to apply for the Home Depot affiliate program:
• Name, address, phone number
• Username and Password
• Account Name (Your displayed name.)
• Country and Time Zone
• Basic Banking Information
• Professional email linked to your website
• Social media page or approved YouTube channel
• Questionnaire about your marketing tactics and methods (Promotional Methods)
• A website with a domain URL
• Sign and agree to Home Depot's Terms of Service (TOS)
Note: Like many affiliate programs, the one at Home Depot is run by Impact Radius, a 3rd-party affiliate network. You can directly access the Home Depot affiliate application on the Impact Radius website.
As with any affiliate program, Home Depot is looking for affiliate marketers who will represent their brand and products in a positive, family-friendly light at all times. They are also looking for affiliate marketers with an online presence that aligns with the Home Depot mission statement, goals, etc. You don't have to be the biggest or best affiliate marketer in the home-improvement space, not by any stretch of the imagination. It's essential, however, that you already have website traffic and post informative content on your website that is helping consumers. While Home Depot looks for websites and content related to home improvement, they do make exceptions for outstanding content linked to the home improvement sector. Below are a few more tips for getting accepted as a Home Depot affiliate:
As an affiliate, high-quality, interesting, engaging, and informative content is the only way to drive traffic to your website. This fact is even more critical in the home improvement sector, as most consumers purchasing home improvement products perform a lot of due diligence. Interested consumers need written content that will give them the data they need to make a purchase decision. It's critical your website provides this info in an engaging and informative way. If it doesn't, potential buyers will click away at lightning speed.
To be taken seriously as an affiliate marketer, you need a website and domain. If you have those, creating an email that's linked to your domain is the first task you need to accomplish. An email linked to Yahoo, Gmail, or some other 3rd-party email provider instantly shows Home Depot you're an amateur.
Home Depot might ask you about your plans to promote their products once you're an affiliate. If they do, having a basic 1-year marketing plan ready will prove you're a good fit for their program. Plus, even if they don't ask, having a 1-year plan ready to follow is a smart move.
This tip will help in several ways. First, a website that's easy to navigate allows your website visitors to find the information they need quickly. (Make sure your website has a search bar front and center.) Second, when your website is easy to navigate, potential buyers can easily become actual buyers by clicking your easy-to-find affiliate link, heading over to the Home Depot website, and making a purchase.
As you might imagine, from a big company, Home Depot has a huge variety of products in several categories that you can promote as one of their affiliate marketers. The Home Depot website is massive and complex, with 17 different departments. Many of the products on their website are eligible for free shipping, a point worth noting in your affiliate marketing content. Another point worth noting about Home Depot's affiliate program is their commissions are, unfortunately, some of the lowest in the affiliate marketing space. The only category where they offer a decent commission is home decor. That being said, below are some of the bigger product categories you can promote as a Home Depot affiliate:
• Decor and Furniture
• Appliances
• Kitchen and Kitchenware
• Outdoor living and Patio
• Storage and Organization
• Building Materials
• Smart Home
Note: One big plus about being a Home Depot affiliate is there are no limits to any of their categories. Any product they sell in their online store is eligible for a commission. That includes all 17 categories and includes approximately 200,000 products. Remember, though, that only a select few products pay high commissions while the rest don't.
Note: You cannot earn commission on several items as a home Depot affiliate, including Home Depot gift cards, in-store purchases, and custom-created products. The good news is that if someone purchases online using your link but pick up their purchase in the store, you still get your commission.
If you read the Home Depot affiliate program FAQ, you will note that it says they pay a 3% commission to affiliate marketers. However, that is an error as they only pay a 2% commission on most of their products. On a selected few home decor products, however, they pay a commission of 8%. Home Depot does not have higher commissions for volume sales and has a 24-hour cookie, which is very much on the low side.
Making $1000 per month as a Home Depot affiliate might not be the easiest task as most of their products pay a 2% commission. That means you would either need to sell a lot of products or concentrate on the products in their home decor category, which pay an 8% commission.
Below is a quick example of the numbers you would need to make $1000 per month as a Home Depot affiliate. We're using a $15.00 product paying a 2% commission.
• Product ($15.00) x 2% Commission = $0.30 profit per sale.
• 3,334 Sales x $0.30 per sale = $1000.20
To generate 334 customers to click your link in a single month, you would need 33,340 visitors with a 1% conversion rate.
• 333,400 visitors x 1% conversion rate = 3,334 sales x $0.30 commission per sale = $1000.20
You could make the same $1000.00 commission but with only 166,700 visitors to your website if you promote a $30.00 home decor item.
• 166,700 visitors x 1% conversion rate = 1,667 sales x $0.60 commission per sale = $1000.20
If you were selling a Home Depot home decor item that retails for $300.00 and pays 8% commission, you would make $1000 a month with far fewer sales. (This is why many HD affiliates promote home decor items.)
• Product ($300.00) x 8% Commission = $24.00 profit per sale.
• 42 Sales x $24.00 per sale = $1008.00
After concluding our research, we put together the following list of Pros and Cons of the Home Depot affiliate network:
• Well-known, #1 brand in the home improvement sector
• 8% commission on certain home decor products
• No limitations on what you can promote from Home Depot's online store.
• 200,000+ products to promote in a hugely popular sector
• Good customer support
• Plenty of marketing materials provided
• 1% commission on most products
• 24-hour cookie
• Limited to North America
• You must update links frequently
• Many home decor items are low-priced.
The best alternatives to the Home Depot affiliate program include:
• Lowes
• Walmart
• Amazon
• Wayfair
• Houzz