Target

Target Forked Its Creator Program Because Reach and Sales Won't Share a Brief

Target shut down its 2023 affiliate program in early May 2026 and replaced it with two separate creator programs on staggered launch dates. Club Target opened May 1 as a gamified, six-tier program for nano-creators with a 500-follower minimum, and Target Ambassadors followed May 6 as an invite-only LTK partnership

Collage of a Target storefront, a creator holding a phone with a social post, red gift cards on arcade tokens, and a newspaper clipping with Commission crossed out.

Target Pulled Creator Commissions and Replaced Them With a Game

Target told Ad Age on April 16, 2026 that it is ending cash commissions in its Creator Program. Gift cards and Target products, earned through gamified challenges, replace the old revenue share. The admission under the press release language: Target could not justify paying its full creator roster a cut