Everyone loves a good deal, but what’s the ultimate score? Free goodies. And there’s a group of Walmart shoppers who receive freebies in the mail as often as several times a month. These are the people in the Walmart Spark Review Program who write reviews in exchange for free products.
It’s nice work if you can get it – and not many do. So how can you get into this exclusive, invite-only program? Here are some tips, as well as some details about what its participants experience.
What Is Walmart’s Spark Review Program?
Walmart’s Spark Review Program is an initiative to collect honest reviews from regular customers on a range of products throughout the store. Brands and manufacturers benefit from candid consumer opinions, and the reviews are also a resource for other shoppers on the site.
If you’re a reviewer:
- Walmart emails you when product samples are available.
- You choose which products you’d like to try, and Walmart ships them to you.
- You typically have two to four weeks to give your feedback, and you don’t have to return the merchandise.
- The more prompt and detailed your review, the more opportunities you’ll have to receive and review other products.
You’ll also get special, member-exclusive discounts and access to upcoming product releases before they’re available to the public.
How to Get Invited: Walmart’s Spark Review Program
Walmart selects potential Spark Reviewers from among the people who are already reviewing products on a regular basis on its site. One participant, Mina Dior, explained how she got selected in a TikTok post.
“In my spare time…every time I would purchase something, if I liked it, I would give it a review,” Dior said. She explained that it could be something as small as a bath bomb, a candle or a throw. “[Walmart] actually contacted me and asked me, ‘Did I want to become a Walmart Spark reviewer?’” It was only a little bit of work on her part, and she said it “really paid off.”
How to Boost Your Chances at Nabbing an Invite
Create an account at walmart.com and fill in your email, phone number and address. Then, as you buy products in the store or online, write a review of your purchases. If you really want Walmart to notice you, offer your honest evaluation of every product you buy. There are a few ways to do this:
- Go to the product details page at walmart.com and scroll down to “Customer ratings & reviews.” Click on “Write a review.”
- Go to your account page, then “purchase history,” and then “order details.” When the item you bought appears, click on the “write a review” button that’s under the item name and photo.
- Go to your computer browser and type in the survey link from your in-store receipt.
Writing Review Dos and Don’ts
While the quantity of your reviews is important (as many as possible!), the quality is what really counts. Follow the product review guidelines to a T. Write upbeat, detailed, concise and fair evaluations of your purchases.
Negative reviews won’t disqualify you, but use your common sense when writing one.
- Don’t say: “The designers of this coffee machine obviously weren’t using their brains when they came up with this model.”
- Do say: “This coffee machine took over five minutes to warm up, which is too long in my opinion.”
Offer tips that might benefit other customers.
- If writing about a cleaning product, briefly explain how easy it was to use, how it smelled and how effective it was.
- If writing about shoes or clothes, tell whether they fit true to size or if customers should order a size up or down. How does its style and comfort compare to a similar product by another brand?
- When writing about any product, limit complaints about shipping issues to one or two lines. Focus on your opinion of the item itself.
What Walmart’s Spark Reviewers Got for Free
If you receive an invitation to join the program, Walmart will include a questionnaire about your shopping preferences. Fill it out and email it back. Your information will be added to a database, and you’ll receive notifications when products that fit your preferences are available.
“If I see something that I like, I’ll request it, and they just send it to me,” Dior said in her TikTok video. “I just leave a little paragraph. I take a picture, and that’s it.”
The free samples come from a wide range of departments, from toys to furniture to everything in between. “I’ve been [a Spark Reviewer] for 3 years,” a TikTok user named Karrie commented on Dior’s post. “I’ve got sofas, [a] computer, vacuums. I love it!”
Here are two products that Spark Reviewers have posted about on social media:
Wondertreats Gift Basket
“This Wondertreats basket is perfect for a little car lover for Easter!” wrote a Spark Reviewer known as thecheapsubscriber. “The basket becomes a playmat that can be used with the cars. There’s not much candy, but I don’t see that as a problem since I don’t want my kids ending up with too much candy anyway.” The Wondertreats Gift Basket would have cost $20 if she bought it in the store.
P’kolino Bunk Bed
“My kids love their P’kolino Curva Rattan Loft/Bunk Bed,” wrote Spark Reviewer Kelly Butler of mamabearseviews. “This bed was fairly easy to build, me and my 12-year-old daughter assembled it ourselves. It can be used as a bunk bed or a loft bed. It’s low profile, so it will fit in rooms with low ceilings, where other bunk and loft beds won’t work. It’s sturdy and made of solid wood. It has bed rails and a built-in ladder for safety.” This bunk bed’s retail price is about $350.
Drawbacks of Being a Walmart Spark Reviewer
Receiving merchandise at no cost is a fantastic benefit, but Walmart is counting on its reviewers to hold up their end of the bargain. According to Commerce Canal, participants are expected to provide a minimum of four high-quality reviews each month to maintain their status.
And you must respond quickly to emails with review opportunities. If you don’t, others will grab them first. “I don’t check my emails as often as I should, so I miss out on a lot of great stuff,” Dior said in her TikTok post. “They send me emails at least two to three times a month to review things, but they come out early in the morning. I try to get up and check my emails [because] as long as you keep up with doing it, it will pay off for you.”
And this is one club that’s worth keeping up your membership. After all, simply writing a paragraph or two about your free merchandise is a pretty good deal!
The post How to Get Invited to Walmart’s Spark Review Program appeared first on The Real Deal by RetailMeNot.