It’s fair to say America’s largest retailer – Walmart – hasn’t always had a reputation for selling the most stylish apparel. But if you have stepped inside a store recently, or even just perused the billion-dollar brand’s website, it’s obvious they have upped their game when it comes to fashion and home goods – among other popular merchandise.
Through partnerships with other name brands and the addition of more in-house product lines, Walmart, or one of its influencers, has likely entered the algorithm on your news feeds, with cute, curated outfits showing up on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, and other platforms in the last 12 months.
One way the brand is reinventing its image and gaining more popularity and recognition with an expanded clientele is through the development of Walmart Creator, an affiliate program launched in 2022 and expanded in 2025 that allows influencers and content creators to earn money by sharing and recommending Walmart products through affiliate links on their social media accounts.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in, read on to learn more about what it takes to become a Walmart Creator and how much you can potentially earn all while working from the comfort of your home.
Who Can Be a Walmart Creator?
According to Walmart, anyone who creates content and shares it on social media platforms – no matter the experience or content niche – can apply to join the program, as long as they are at least 18 years old and live in the United States.
The retailer looks for what they describe as “authentic creators who love sharing products with their online communities.” Unfortunately, those who already work for Walmart are not eligible. Recent reporting suggests the program accepts creators with at least 1,000 followers across connected accounts, notes CreatorFlow, which detailed the program’s pros and cons in May 2026.
Besides residing in the U.S., another requirement to be a Walmart Creator is that the bank account you connect for payments must be based in the United States, according to their terms of use as reported by CreatorFlow. Those who don’t use a U.S. financial institution will lose their commissions.
What’s the Earning Potential?
It depends. While there is no commission cap, some who post publicly about being Walmart Creators say they earn up to an 18% commission on specific products purchased through their affiliate links, while some merchandise categories earn nothing. Sam’s Club products, gift cards, and pharmaceuticals are a few examples of those items.
The real draw, according to CreatorFlow, is a two-week window that Walmart offers creators. One click from a buyer on their link earns the individual creator a commission on everything a consumer purchases from Walmart for the next 14 days, not just the specific linked item.
How Money is Earned?
Approved Walmart creators use a link generator tool, mobile app, or browser extension to make any item sold at Walmart into a trackable affiliate link. Creators can also build a digital storefront, which includes a custom online shop with product collections.
To earn commissions and get paid a percentage of a sale, shoppers must buy a product through the creator’s unique link. As mentioned previously, rates vary by category, with lower percentages offered for groceries and higher amounts for fashion and home goods, according to information on the retailer’s website.
How to Apply
You can apply to join the program using the Walmart Creator online portal. There, you will need to create an account and provide information about yourself, your social media platforms, and content preferences. Then, that information is reviewed.
It’s unclear exactly how long the approval process takes. The site asks creators to be patient while they wait to hear whether they have been selected, so it seems like this could take a while.
Successfully Sharing Content
For the uninitiated, some of the most popular Walmart creators do things like post polished videos detailing their most recent shopping trips, share try-ons of new clothes and clothing lines they discovered, or show off home goods hauls they can’t wait to use to update their kitchens, bathrooms, front porches, and more.
At least a few of the most popular creators have more than 500,000 followers across platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, while others have more modest followings.
How to Stand Out
To increase your chances of acceptance into the program, it’s important for creators to follow what Walmart calls its golden rules. They offer several pages of community standards and guidelines that they want all creators to follow.
The tips include things like understanding and following Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules. At the top of the list is adhering to the FTC’s guidelines on endorsements, which require someone to “clearly and conspicuously disclose” the connection with Walmart in all content.
In other words, you must say you are receiving some type of benefit from the retailer when you make a post about its products or services.
The Influence of Influencers
One big reason that Walmart and other big-box chains continue to use social media influencers – and reward content creators – is because shoppers continue to respond to peer-driven recommendations more than to other conventional advertising formats, according to Spliced: “They deliver genuine perspectives through personal anecdotes, product reviews, and lived experience, all of which carry more weight with audiences than brand-produced content.”
Walmart Has Two Similar Programs
To clarify, Walmart Creator is for social media creators and is different from the Walmart Affiliate Program, which is geared toward website publishers. The two programs have different domains, terms, and follower rules, according to CreatorFlow.
Walmart Creator, Target Club, or Amazon Influencer: Which Has the Best Program?
For those who are already earning commissions through programs such as Amazon Influencer, Walmart Creator, or Target Club – a new program by the Minnesota-based retailer launched in 2026 – you may be wondering which is the best.
Creators with experience in both the Amazon Influencer and Walmart Creator programs generally say that Amazon generates more income, likely because creators can earn commissions from content displayed directly on Amazon product pages.
Walmart Creator relies more on individual creators driving traffic from their own social media accounts and other platforms. Some content creators choose to participate in both programs simultaneously, according to multiple posts on Facebook and Reddit, explaining that the programs are not exclusive and allow them to maintain multiple revenue streams.
Because Target Club is much newer, less has been reported so far about its benefits and drawbacks.
Walmart Creator Conclusion
If you have a passion for finding and sharing great deals at your local Walmart Super Center, or a knack for creating content your friends and family always engage with on social media, becoming a Walmart Creator could be a great fit for you.
Because Walmart wants its creators to succeed, it features a blog on its website with educational programming that offers tips and best practices for growing an audience and ultimately driving more sales for creators and the retailer.
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