Overview

One of the biggest merchants in the world is Amazon. In fact, it accounts for approximately 40% of all internet sales in the United States alone. Anyone can get a portion of the retail giant’s revenues; all they need to do is join the Amazon affiliate programme and have a website or social media presence.

The Amazon Associates affiliate programme, often known as Amazon Associates, enables users to monetize their websites, blogs, and social networking accounts. Users who are Amazon affiliates merely embed links to Amazon products on their websites, and when a customer buys something after clicking one of those links, the user is paid a commission.

What is affiliate marketing for Amazon?

An online retailer like Amazon simply pays affiliate websites a commission to send them traffic and/or purchases through affiliate or associate marketing programmes like Amazon’s. Affiliate websites that link to the merchant website are compensated in accordance with the terms of the programme. For instance, the affiliate programme for Amazon compensates affiliate sites based on how many customers they refer to Amazon who then make purchases there within a 24-hour period.

Both the merchant and the participating affiliates can profit from affiliate marketing in a number of ways. For the retailer, it’s a chance to broaden reach and boost sales through cost-effective marketing. Participants in the affiliate programme are also driven to increase conversions because affiliate marketing is performance-based and affiliates are only paid when the desired action occurs.

Participating in an associate marketing programme enables affiliates to engage in e-commerce without setting up or maintaining their own store. Additionally, it offers the chance to make money by monetizing a website, blog, or social media account.

Three categories of Amazon affiliate marketing exist:

Pay-per-sale

When a customer is sent by an affiliate who then makes a purchase under this type of arrangement, the merchant compensates the affiliate. A portion of the sale is paid by certain merchants, like Amazon, while others pay a fixed sum per transaction to the affiliate.

Pay-per-click

In this arrangement, the affiliate is compensated based on how many visitors use the affiliate link to access the merchant’s website. Payment is made regardless of whether visitors make purchases.

Pay-per-lead

This kind of scheme rewards affiliates based on the number of site visitors that register as leads or provide the website with the needed information.

How does the affiliate programme for Amazon operate?

In essence, Amazon Associates is a referral network that rewards recommending websites with a commission. As a result, when a customer visits Amazon through a link on your website, you receive a share of whatever they spend money on during the following 24 hours.

However, your commission fluctuates according to the kind of product a customer orders. For information on Amazon’s fixed standard programme fee rates for different product categories, check the chart below.

Product category

Luxury Cosmetics and Amazon Coins – 10%

Home, Lawn & Garden, Pets Products, Furniture, Home Improvement, Pantry – 8%

Business & industrial supplies, cosmetics, musical instruments, and headphones – 6%

Tools and Outdoors – 5.5%

Digital videos, physical music, groceries, and made-by-hand music – 5%

Printed books, personal care products, sports, kitchenware, automobiles, and baby products – 4.5%

Amazon Fire TV Edition Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV Devices, Amazon Echo Devices, Ring Devices, Watches, Jewelry, Luggage, Shoes, and Handbags & Accessories, Amazon Fire Tablet Devices, Amazon Kindle Devices, Amazon Fashion Women’s, Men’s & Kids Private Label, Apparel, Amazon Cloud Cam Devices, and Amazon Fire TV Devices – 4%

Toys, Amazon Fresh – 3%

PCs, PC parts, DVDs, and Blu-ray – 2.5%

Televisions and electronic gaming – 2%

Gift Cards, Wireless Service Plans, Alcoholic Beverages, Subscription-Only Digital Kindle Products, Restaurant-Prepared and Delivered Food, Amazon Appstore, Prime Now, Play Places, or Prime Wardrobe Purchases are all examples of items that fall under this category – 0%

Video games on discs and video game consoles – 1%

Other category – 4%

It’s critical to remember that other factors, besides the proportion of the sale you receive, affect your commission. Your conversion rate is important since it shows how many visitors actually click an affiliate link and buy something after visiting your website.

The proportion of visitors to your website who actually complete a purchase through your affiliate link is known as your conversion rate. A conversion rate of 0.2 percent would be achieved, for instance, if during the month of August, your website received 5,000 visitors, and 10 of them made a purchase after clicking on your affiliate link.

The typical affiliate conversion rate is from 5% to 10%. Some affiliates do, however, consistently have conversion rates that are significantly higher.

There is also the opportunity to generate extra income from goods that you don’t particularly promote because you receive a portion of everything a consumer purchases from Amazon within 24 hours of visiting Amazon.com through an affiliate link. For instance, if you run a beauty site and include affiliate links to high-end cosmetics with a 10% fee rate, you might collect 10% of the price of a high-end moisturizer and, if the consumer also buys biscuits, 8% of the price of a box of dog treats.

However, a buyer must make a purchase from Amazon within 24 hours after using your affiliate link to access Amazon.com in order for you to receive a commission. You won’t receive any commissions from subsequent purchases after that 24-hour window closes or if the buyer returns to Amazon through the link of another affiliate. However, a new 24-hour window opens if the consumer visits Amazon again through one of your affiliate links, and you’ll once more be qualified to receive payments based on the customer’s order.

You may still be eligible to receive a share of sales even if a customer uses one of your affiliate links to access Amazon, adds an item to their shopping cart, and then abandons Amazon before placing their order. If the order is placed before the shopping cart expires, which is normally 90 days, and the item was put to the customer’s cart within that 24-hour timeframe, you’ll receive the referral money.

How to start the Amazon affiliate programme ?

It’s easy to sign up for the Amazon Associates programme. Visit affiliate-program.amazon.com and select “Join Now for Free” to get started.

You must first enter your account details, which should include your name, address, and phone number. The websites and mobile app URLs where you intend to show banners, advertisements, or affiliate links will then be requested. You may enter a total of 50 URLs for websites and mobile applications.

You’ll choose a shop ID and submit details about your websites or mobile apps as well as the kinds of products you want to promote in the section that follows.

Additionally, you can select from a drop-down menu the categories that best characterize your websites or mobile apps, such as fashion, books, games, or movies.

Next, you must explain how you attract visitors to your websites, how you make money from them and from your apps, how you generally establish links, and how many total unique visitors you receive each month.

Once this portion is finished, all you need to do is input your phone number, click “Call Me Now,” and then answer when Amazon calls. Your account will then be created when you provide a four-digit PIN as directed.

You may then proceed to your dashboard to start establishing Amazon affiliate links after selecting whether to provide your payment and tax information now or later.

How can I make affiliate links for Amazon?

You will be directed to your Amazon Associates dashboard after creating your account, where you may check various data, including earnings revenue, and create affiliate links. There are two ways to build Amazon affiliate links: either utilizing SiteStripe or the Product Link Tool.

Utilizing the Product Link Tool on Amazon to create affiliate links

The most popular method for making an affiliate link is through the Product Link Tool. Simply pick “Product Links” under “Product Linking” at the top of the Amazon Associates dashboard to access it.

You will then be directed to a screen where you can do a product search. You can either search for a particular brand, model, or item, or you can input a rather general search word like “yoga mat.” You can search for “tennis shoes” or a more particular version of the item you’re reviewing, such as “New Balance Men’s 990v4”, for example, if you’re making an affiliate link for a review of tennis shoes.

After entering your search term, the search results will show up below, where you can choose the item you want to make an affiliate link for. Simply select “Get link” next to the item you want to promote to obtain this link.

Your affiliate link will appear in a box, and you can copy the HTML code for your website as-is or modify it first. Your advertisement may consist of simply text, just a picture, or both. The ad’s appearance can also be changed. You could, for instance, alter the title or price color to better fit your website’s branding.

Copy the code, then just paste it into the website’s code.

Affiliate program for Amazon: receiving payment

The affiliate program of Amazon pays affiliate commissions roughly 60 days after the end of each month.

Payments may be made via cheque, Amazon gift card, or direct transfer. Because Amazon has a minimum payment amount for each type, the payment option you choose affects how often you’ll get paid.

Three different ways to pay

Direct payment

You must give Amazon your banking information, which includes the name of the bank, the account number, and other identifying information, if you decide to receive payments via direct deposit. Amazon will defer payment until you reach the $10 payment threshold.

Check

You only need to give Amazon your mailing address if you want to pay with a check. Until you pay the required minimum of $100 plus a $15 check processing fee, Amazon will hold your money.

Gift card for Amazon

Amazon will deliver gift cards in the amount you have earned using this payment option to the main email address associated with your account. Fees will be held until the $10 minimum payment is received.

Advantages and disadvantages of Amazon affiliate programmes

Although it may seem obvious to make money by simply linking to Amazon products, there are a few factors to take into account before signing up as an Amazon affiliate. Let’s examine some of the advantages and disadvantages of Amazon Associates.

Advantages

• Getting started as an Amazon affiliate is simple. In only a few minutes, you can register and begin disseminating affiliate links, as explained in the next section.

• Amazon is a leader in online shopping. Since the retail behemoth is a reputable, well-known brand, affiliates don’t need to persuade customers to buy from the website.

• There are numerous products to market. There are more than 3 billion things available for purchase, in addition to services like Prime Video, so there is no lack of goods to advertise through affiliate links.

• Other than the products they link to, participants make money from other products. When you direct users to Amazon through an affiliate link and they make purchases, you receive a cut of everything they spend within a 24-hour period. Additionally, it’s quite probable that a consumer will add numerous goods to their cart because Amazon excels at conversion and upselling.

Disadvantages

• In other sectors, Amazon’s commissions are incredibly minimal. While the commission rate for some products in the Amazon Associates programme, like high-end cosmetics, can reach 10%, the rate for other products, like video gaming consoles, can only reach 1%.

• The Operating Agreement for the Amazon Associates Program can be confusing to understand and is constantly modified, so members who don’t stay up to date risk being found to be in violation.

• It can take a lot of time, work, and maintenance to create a website with product reviews or other relevant material that might be a good fit for affiliate links if you don’t already have one.

Who ought to join the ranks of Amazon affiliates, given the advantages and difficulties?

You should still become an Amazon affiliate even if you don’t have a personal blog or website with product reviews. You can start a website with affiliate links to goods you support and gradually add more content and links. Even if your website might not be successful right away, doing this is a fantastic method to generate a consistent flow of extra cash in the long run.

You can even incorporate affiliate links in YouTube videos if you already have a channel there or want to start one. By delivering more value to viewers, affiliate links can improve videos’ professionalism and user experience.

Anyone who uses social media regularly will find the Amazon affiliate programme to be an excellent option because affiliate links may be posted on sites like Facebook and Twitter. You can use such links even if you don’t have a sizable following. Promoting goods you know and love is effective word-of-mouth advertising, and since you’re a trustworthy source, your friends and family might be more receptive to your recommendations.

FAQs

Is there a fee to join as an Affiliate?

There is no fee to apply, and there is no quota or minimum number of referrals you must meet to start receiving referral money from our programme. You immediately begin to make money. For more details, please see the Associates Operating Agreement.

I maintain multiple websites. Can I create links from each site to Amazon?

Yes, you can sign up for the Associates Program on several websites. Contact Associates Customer Service to request the number of distinct monitoring IDs you need to monitor the performance of each Web site separately. Each tracking ID can then be used to evaluate the success of a different website, marketing plan, or design.

Can a nonprofit sign up for the Amazon Associates Program?

Yes, a nonprofit organization may participate in the programme.

How can I track orders that come from my website on Amazon?

You receive an Associates ID when you register using our online form. Amazon links from Associates websites utilize a unique format that incorporates this code. This specific URL instructs Amazon which page to display as well as which Associate refers the customer to the site each time a customer clicks on one of those links. Even if a customer leaves and then returns to our website later in the day, Amazon will continue to record their Associates ID.

What advantages come with joining the Associates Program?

An affiliation with Amazon.com, the ability to promote a wide range of pertinent products from Amazon’s enormous selection, simple tools for building and customizing the best links, in-depth reports to help you better understand your visitors’ preferences and link performance, and the opportunity to interact with a large community of other website owners are just a few of the advantages that the Associates Program offers to website owners.