Best Buy Affiliate Program Review

According to a report published on Statista, by 2022, the spend on affiliate marketing is predicted to reach 8.2 billion U.S. dollars.

This marks a rise of $2.8 billion U.S. dollars since 2017.

Despite market trends taking a hit in 2020, these sums tell us why merchants use affiliate programs to bolster their passive income streams, but is the commission offered by every affiliate program, like the Best Buy Affiliate Program, worth it?

The Best Buy Affiliate Program is potentially worth less than the competition despite its market presence as an electronics retailer. Affiliates receive lower commission rates and only a one-day credit referral period. Best Buy Affiliate Program also pays just 0.5% on qualifying items.

Throughout this article, you’ll learn the following information about Best Buy’s affiliate program:

Pros and cons of joining the affiliate program
How you can get started and generate sales
Tips to gain clicks that lead to purchases
Rules and regulations of Best Buy

Related Post: Best Affiliate Programs For Beginners

Benefits of the Best Buy Affiliate Program

Best Buy’s affiliate program offers commission on sales that happen when a customer follows a link on an affiliate’s platform then makes a purchase.

Broadly speaking, an affiliate program is considered a low-risk, high-reward opportunity for both parties.

In terms of electronic goods retailers, Best Buy has strong national market recognition with stores and online shopping.

Whether your customers are looking for home cinemas or home fitness equipment, Best Buy has an extensive catalog of goods.

The Best Buy brand also has a presence in Canada and Mexico. For the purposes of the affiliate program review, we’ll be looking at the U.S. based affiliate program.

So what are the incentives for partnering with Best Buy’s affiliate program?

Here are the top five perks in favor of Best Buy’s affiliate program:

Best Buy supplies affiliates with a variety of resources. Affiliates receive promotional banners and links to individual products, a large catalog of goods, and APIs that affiliates can fit with their own campaigns. Whether you run a blog or use social media to drive up commissions, Best Buy’s program delivers tools to support your enterprise.
A unique user dashboard lets affiliates track real-time sales and commissions. Everybody wants to monitor the effectiveness of their campaigns as well as understand the commission they’re making. With access to your unique user dashboard, you can monitor what’s working and what’s not. Then you can make adjustments to maximize your opportunity.
Best Buy partners with marketing services company Impact. This service interface promises accurate tracking of sales and commissions. It delivers cross-device tracking plus cookies and non-cookies tracking. It applies unique digital fingerprinting to each customer. These capabilities ensure every purchase is rewarded.
Regular communication about promotions through a weekly newsletter. A weekly newsletter that notifies affiliates of promotions and offers. You can capitalize on this and direct readers to purchase products that are right for them, at a time when prices will be most appealing yet with a limited timeframe. Customers will feel the need to buy that day or risk losing out.
Best Buy has a robust product range and is committed to competitive pricing to appeal to its broad customer base. With something for everybody in its catalog, as long as you understand your market, you’ll have the information you need to effectively direct your campaign and make the most of Best Buy’s competitive pricing. You’ll have plenty of qualifying products to suit your platform, too.

As trusted and recognized brands go, Best Buy has a solid identity and customer base.

The company is invested in supporting its affiliates. Its API offers affiliates access to data and images of Best Buy’s catalog of 700,000+ products, so affiliates can apply these tools to maximize commission.

Another positive factor is that Best Buy’s revenue has increased consistently over the years, according to Forbes.

At the end of the financial year 2019, Best Buy’s Domestic Sector revenues were $39.3 billion.

That figure’s up some $3 billion from the financial year 2017. At the time of writing, Forbes predicted that in the financial year 2020 Best Buy Domestic Sector is expected to produce $39.9 billion in revenue.

Despite its positive market forecast, Best Buy faces steep competition from major brands, including Costco, Walmart, and Amazon, which offer affiliate programs.

To learn about the drawbacks of Best Buy’s affiliate program and what you need to think about when deciding whether the affiliate program is worth it, keep reading.

Drawbacks of the Best Buy Affiliate Program

Best Buy commands a solid share of the domestic market for electrical appliances. Its catalog covers a range of products and services. However, you must consider its low rate of commission compared to competitors’ rates.

Here are three negative points about Best Buy’s affiliate program:

Best Buy’s affiliate program has a low commission on qualifying products and purchases. At 0.5% on qualifying products, its rewards are lower than its competitors. This is its maximum amount of commission on any qualifying product or service. Compare this to Amazon’s commission structure, like its 2.5% commission for PCs, PC components, and DVD or Bluray.
Qualifying products that earn you commission exclude products such as laptops, tablets, video game hardware, and Apple products. Other exclusions from the commission include fitness wear and baby toys. It pays to consider whether your platforms fit with Best Buy’s commission model and qualifying products or services.
The window of action referral is short, set at only one day. From the time when a customer clicks through from your site, your lead remains active and open to receiving commission for just one day. Any purchases made after one day from a customer that followed a link from your site will not qualify for commission.

The takeaway from Best Buy’s commission structure is that it is not as generous as some of its competitors.

Returning Best Buy customer transactions qualify for 0% commission while new customer transactions receive 0.5%.

With common high-value products not qualifying for commission and the limited credit period, that’s a number of components you have to achieve to qualify for your 0.5% commission.

Before you make up your mind about whether the program is worth it, take some time to consider your needs and how you fit with the Best Buy brand.

Should You Enroll in the Best Buy Affiliate Program?

Earning a passive income and increasing your revenue by creating links to promotions clearly has its appeal.

As it’s free to sign up for the Best Buy Affiliate Program, which delivers promotional links, product information, and support to its affiliates, there are perks.

But you have to do the math before committing.

Here are some questions to help you decide whether Best Buy Affiliate Program is for you:

Do the Calculations. What Are Your Financial Goals?

If you have clear targets on the revenue you want to generate from your affiliate program, work out the maths and what it will take to reach those goals.

Then compare those calculations to what you stand to gain from a competitor’s program at the same time and with the same effort.

Is Your Platform a Good Fit for Best Buy?

It’s worth looking at what work you need to do to create links to products that will earn you the conversions you’re aiming for.

Best Buy makes it clear their APIs are available for affiliates to use as they see fit. It’s worth considering the value of this resource.

If it slides easily into your platform and doesn’t use up too much of your valuable time, Best Buy’s resources and program could prove a rewarding bonus to help increase your revenue streams.

Who Is Your Target Customer? What Are They Shopping For?

If your followers are looking for products that fall outside of the qualifying products, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

However, if your audience fits the criteria for products you link to, then you’re moving in the right direction.

The Best Buy Affiliate Program could fit with your target audience and your goals.

Do You Qualify for Affiliate Programs That Pay Higher Commissions?

When you stand to earn more commission by driving customers to other sources, like Walmart or Amazon, it makes sense to move towards those programs instead. These are trusted brands, just like Best Buy.

It’s advisable to run some further data research. Look at the qualifying products from all parties, examine the commission structure and your platform.

Remember, though, that these companies can vary their commission structure any time they want.

If you stand to gain more commission from an equally reputable company that has the same or comparable products, catalog, and prices, you might want to explore this opportunity before Best Buy’s affiliate program.

What Are the Barriers to Entering the Affiliate Program?

While we’re focusing on what you want to gain from the program, it’s worth thinking about what’s stopping you.

If you focus mostly on promoting laptops, Apple products, or video game hardware, Best Buy is not for you.

Second, the commission for Best Buy affiliates is available only to purchases within the US domestic market.

If you fall outside of the states, you will not earn a commission. The same rule applies to your customers.

If they live outside of the US, any purchase they make will not be eligible.

What’s Your Level of Experience?

A study by Viglink discovered that 9% of affiliate marketers made more than $50,000 from affiliate income in 2016.

Of those with the highest revenue, close to two-thirds of those merchants had been active in affiliate marketing for upwards of five years.

If you are just entering affiliate marketing, you’re not going to achieve such figures.

The advice is to consider the experience you bring to the program. Your level of experience and online presence can be proportional to the revenue you can expect to bring home.

Check out a list of my Favorite Affiliate Programs Here

How to Sign Up for the Best Buy Affiliate Program

Due to its marketing partner, Impact, and commitment to its affiliate program, the steps to becoming a Best Buy affiliate are simple.

Here are the steps you need to take to become a Best Buy affiliate:

Check out the Best Buy Affiliate Program information. Take time to read the Frequently Asked Questions and the terms and conditions. This information delivers detail on what’s required of a Best Buy affiliate.
Click on the Best Buy Affiliate Program link. This will redirect you to the Impact page, where you will complete a form with the following:
1. User information: This is information that relates directly to you as an individual.
2. Company information: You’ll be asked to supply your website, company address, and bank information.
3. Promotional methods: Here’s where you detail the methods you’ll use to link to Best Buy.
4. Media properties: You’ll describe whether you have a website or a mobile application. You’ll supply your website URL and a description.
Once you’ve read over the terms and conditions and you’re happy with the small print, press submit. Impact promises to notify you of enrolment or rejection in a timely manner.

To stand the best chance for enrolling with the affiliate program, provide an appealing proposal.

Your online presence needs to fall within the boundaries of what is acceptable and not violate any of the terms and conditions.

How Can You Maximize Income From the Best Buy Affiliate Program?

Affiliate marketing is an attractive way for publishers to earn revenue. To optimize sustainable revenue, there are actions you can take to gain the most value from your Best Buy Affiliate Program.

Consider Your Target Audience and What They Want

In sales, even though your goal is to earn income, you have to think about what your customers want.

To increase your chances of converting a click into a sale, add value and benefits to your customer’s understanding of a product.

And remember that the product needs to fit its intention. If you can blend these components multiple times, you are setting yourself up to win.

Maximize Your Platforms and Presence

Different customers prefer different routes to complete their purchase. Some find what they need through a visual medium like Instagram, while others prefer in-depth analysis in product reviews or case studies.

Alternatively, some shoppers buy based on trust and their user experience.

What does this mean for you?

To set yourself up for success, establish your expertise in your chosen field, connect your products to what your customers are searching for, and use the API provided to create innovative platforms readers want to engage with.

When you combine these facets with accurate information and highlight the benefits, you’re doing best sales practice. In turn, this should drive up conversions.

Any Rules About the Best Buy Affiliate Program?

Best Buy Affiliate Program sets out clear terms and conditions for its affiliates.

Here are the highlights you’ll need to fulfill to benefit from the affiliate program:

You must comply with Best Buy’s promotional schedule. Affiliates receive information about offers and promotions ahead of time. You are obliged to release this information through your platforms only on the date set by Best Buy. You are not permitted to publish information ahead of Best Buy’s schedule.
Your target market and conversions must fall within the US. The affiliate scheme is exclusively US-based. That is, you must be based within the US to qualify. Additionally, orders made outside of the US will not be eligible for commission. Therefore, if your target base falls outside of the US, Best Buy Affiliate Program will not benefit you.
Affiliates must have no immediate relation to Best Buy. Exemptions to those eligible for the affiliate program include employees of Impact, service providers, and agencies that have financial interests in Best Buy. This includes immediate family members. So, if you belong to an organization or have familial connections to agencies that will benefit from a share of revenue, you are not a viable affiliate.
Your platform must show affiliation with the Best Buy Program. Your platform must make it clear that you are a member of the affiliate program. The use of links and banners made available through Impact and Best Buy’s program must be displayed and cannot be altered. At the same time, nothing in your domain name, page titles, Meta Tags, or HTML tags can include Best Buy or variations of this name.

Other Information About the Best Buy Affiliate Program

You’re looking for an affiliate program that is going to reward you with a consistent, sustainable income.

By now, you know that Best Buy has the APIs and tools to develop your platform, while Impact will help you keep up-to-speed with real-time sales and commissions data.

Here are some additional, notable pointers to give you a clear assessment of Best Buy’s affiliate program:

Best Buy reserves the right to vary its commission structure. Since its start, Best Buy’s commission structure has decreased, and the company reserves the right to adjust its commission structure or program terms as it wishes. If affiliates do not agree with the revised terms, they may opt out of the affiliate program. Further details can be found on your user dashboard once you’ve officially enrolled in the program.
Best Buy extends its payment schedule each month. Your first payment will be 60-days after your first sale. Thereafter, monthly payment is issued by cheque and there is no minimum commission amount that must be achieved to qualify for payment.

Final Thoughts

Best Buy Affiliate Program presents barriers that make it unattractive for potential affiliates.

It has low commission rates and cuts out many items from qualifying for commission.

To make the affiliate program work for your platform, you’ll need to have a large base that’s interested and likely to buy high-value qualifying products. Customers should also not already be registered as Best Buy customers.

With many aspects set up to work against affiliates earning good rates of commission, Best Buy Affiliate Program is not as attractive as its competitors’ affiliate programs.

Best Buy Affiliate Program Review– Is It Worth It?