Lowe’s is one of the biggest home improvement retail stores in the United States. They have been a mainstay in the home improvement industry for years due to their superior quality of product and service delivery.
You might have a website/blog in the home improvement niche, and maybe you’re just looking for a suitable affiliate program.
Today, we’re going to be looking at every inch of the Lowe’s affiliate program, so you can decide if you want to join.
Lowe’s products: What will you be promoting?
Lowe’s doesn’t have a lot of restrictions on their products. Lowe’s sells thousands of products, and all of them can earn you a commission. However, you won’t make a commission on gift cards.
Here are the categories of products available at Lowe’s:
- Appliances
- Bathroom
- Building Supplies
- Storage & Organization
- Cleaning Supplies
- Doors & Windows
- Electrical
- Flooring
- Outdoor Living
- Hardware
- Heating & Cooling
- Home Décor & Furniture
- Kitchen
- Lawn & Garden
- Smart Home & Security
- Lighting & Ceiling Fans
- Molding & Millwork
- Paint
- Plumbing
- Tools
- NFL Fan Shop
- Home Services
- Gift Cards.
Lowe’s has thousands of products, but most of them aren’t that much different from those sold at Home Depot or Menards.
However, they do have some exclusive relationships with a few brands. These relationships could be an excellent way to promote Lowe’s because you won’t see such goods available in just any hardware store.
Here are the private brands affiliated with Lowe’s:
- Harbor Breeze
- Allen+
- Roth
- Reliabilt
- EverTrue
- Portfolio
- Master Forge
- Blue Hawk
- Sta-Green
- Lowe’s Garden Club Select Gatehouse
- Kobalt
- Project Source
- Garden Treasures
- Holiday Living
- Aquasource
- Style Selections
- Top Choice
- Master Forge
- Idylis
- Task Force
How to Sign up for Lowe’s Affiliate Program
Like many other retailers, Lowe’s affiliate program is run by Commission Junction. To apply for the program you need to have a Commission Junction account, so you can quickly make one here.
If you already have a Commission Junction account, you can just log in. After you’ve created your CJ account and logged in, all you have to do is search up Lowe’s affiliate program and then enter your details.
Lowe’s affiliate program doesn’t just accept anyone. Each application is carefully checked to ensure that you have what’s needed to promote Lowe.
To be accepted as a member of Lowe’s affiliate program and start making money with them, you’ll need to have these four things:
- A US-based audience. Lowe’s affiliate program is meant for people with an audience comprised mostly of people living in the United States. This is because Lowe only operates in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and only delivers goods bought from their online store within the US.
- You have to have a website.
- Your website has to be related to home improvement. This will make it easier to promote Lowe’s. You might even be able to promote them within every post.
- You must have some promotional content methods on ground like loyalty shopping.
The last criterion isn’t particularly necessary, but it will be an advantage if you can meet the requirements.
Now that you know how to apply for the Lowe’s affiliate program and what criteria the approval team looks out for, let’s check out what Lowe promises to pay their affiliate members.
Lowe’s Affiliate Program Commission
Lowe’s offers a 2% commission on all products except gift cards. As you sell more, the rate is set to increase, but Lowe has not been forthcoming with what these increments will be. This commission is comparable to Home Depot’s affiliate program.
If you’re not in the home improvement niche and are just looking for an affiliate program to join for some extra cash, Lowe’s commission rates might be a bit discouraging.
Since they only offer a 2% commission and most goods aren’t all that expensive, most of your earnings will be quite low.
Add that to the fact that their cookie only lasts one day, and it doesn’t look great. However, with Lowe’s partnership with Commission Junction, you get promotional materials like links, banners, widgets, etc., to help you promote their goods more efficiently.
You can also use Lowe’s API to get detailed product information like titles, prices, and images.
How Can You Promote Products on Lowe’s Affiliate Program
1. Writing great content
Excellent content is a sure-fire way to drive traffic to your website. And if you have a bigger audience, you’ll also have more commissions. Pick topics that highlight one niche or product at a time.
Think product reviews, how-tos, and top ten’s. Use various media. You can write articles promoting Lowe’s products and do YouTube videos, as well.
2. Optimize your keywords
Lowe’s had over 921 million transactions last year. And that’s without your promotions. Many people have something they want to buy already fixed in their minds before they start searching for it on Google.
The keywords typed into Google can help you find which products you should focus on within your content.
If your content is one of the first search results on Google SERPs, there’s a good chance that people will use your link to buy from Lowe’s, thereby boosting your commission.
3. Email Listing
To do this, you should have a mailing list for your audience. Next, sign up for Lowe’s newsletter if you haven’t already. It may not be fascinating reading material, but it is chock-full of information about Lowe’s next moves.
Look for information about deals, sales, and new products and take note of them. You can then send off this information to your mailing list, with your link stretched, of course.
And that’s about everything you need to know about Lowe’s affiliate program. Now, let’s take a look at how it performs next to other affiliate programs.
Lowe’s Affiliate Program: The Alternatives
1. Lowe’s affiliate program VS. Amazon affiliate program
The #1 alternative for all affiliate programs is Amazon. The Amazon affiliate program has dominated the stage for years, but recently, Amazon affiliates took a hit when a reduction in commissions was announced.
Before April 21st, 2020, Amazon associates got as much as 8% in commissions. After the slash, Amazon’s commission rates now range from 1% to 3% for most items. However, some goods can earn you a 4% to 10% commission, but they are not in the vast majority.
Even though the rates aren’t extremely high, Amazon’s rates are still much higher than Lowe’s, and the conversion rate is several times larger.
2. Lowe’s affiliate program VS. Target affiliate program
Lowe’s affiliate program also lags behind the Target affiliate program.
Though Target’s commission rates are dependent on what you sell, you can make up to 7% in commissions with a cookie duration of 3 days.
This comes with promotional materials and a team dedicated to making sure that affiliate members have everything they need.
3. Lowe’s affiliate program VS. Ace Hardware affiliate program
The Ace Hardware affiliate program is even better. Though the commission rates aren’t as high as Target’s, 5% is a pretty good cut as well.
It’s even better when you know that you get a commission on almost every product that you sell. You also get a cookie duration of fourteen days and promotional materials to make sure your website advertises as much as possible.
4. Lowe’s affiliate program VS. Walmart affiliate program
Lowe’s affiliate program is still much better than a few others. The Walmart affiliate program, for instance, is tough to get into and has poor commissions to boot.
There’s also nowhere to go if you have a question, and their banners and other promotional materials haven’t been updated for a long time. It’s basically an abandoned project.
5. Lowe’s affiliate program VS. Costco affiliate program
The Costco affiliate program isn’t much better. This affiliate program does have an affiliate marketing team around to answer questions and make sure the members aren’t having problems with any promotional materials.
However, the commissions are bad.
Costco doesn’t give commissions on products sold. Instead, they give CPAs for memberships.
Affiliates earn $3 for regular memberships, and $6 for higher memberships, which is nearly laughable because memberships aren’t in demand at all.
There are no marketing materials, and cookie duration is “session-based.” We’re not sure what that means, but it doesn’t sound like something good for affiliate members.
At the very least, Lowe’s has a much clearer affiliate program.
Pros VS. Cons
Pros
- Commissions are offered on most products.
- Marketing materials are provided.
- Customer support is provided.
- It has an excellent reputation in the US.
Cons
- Low commission rates.
- Short cookie duration.
Should You Join Lowe’s Affiliate Program?
Lowe’s is an okay alternative to the Home Depot affiliate program.
If you have a home improvement website/blog and can drive tons of traffic to Lowe’s, it might just be right for you. By consequence, the program is better suited to more experienced affiliate marketers.
However, if you’re a beginner in affiliate marketing, the time it takes to build up traffic and make some reasonable money off of Lowe’s might be better spent on an alternative affiliate program.
