Almost everyone knows Walmart: the popular big box store with thousands of locations across the U.S. But not everyone knows that the products sold online, through Walmart’s marketplace, aren’t necessarily Walmart products or sold in brick-and-mortar stores. Like Amazon, Walmart operates a platform where third-party sellers can take advantage of their wide consumer base.
If you want to expand into this rapidly expanding platform, this guide will cover everything you need to know about how to sell on Walmart’s marketplace successfully.
Key takeaways
- The Walmart Marketplace can be a key part of an online sales strategy, expanding reach beyond more dominant platforms like Amazon.
- Learning how to sell on Walmart’s marketplace can maximize profit, and, for those selling on other platforms, leverage economies of scale.
- All steps in the setup and brand-building process for Walmart Marketplace should be taken seriously, from professional photos and quality product descriptions to an informed approach to PPC advertising.
What is Walmart Marketplace?
Selling on Walmart Marketplace is somewhat similar to selling on Amazon. Third-party sellers list their products across numerous categories site-wide, putting items in front of the eyes of anyone shopping on Walmart’s website. Rolled out in 2009, the platform has been growing rapidly in recent years, increasing reach for brands and drawing the attention of new buyers.
Benefits of selling on Walmart Marketplace
For companies hesitant about changing existing sales strategies, selling on Walmart Marketplace may seem like a big task. This is especially true for those who feel like they’re getting what they need out of their current approach. However, expansion can provide big advantages. Here are just a few of those benefits:
Expand your customer reach
The Walmart marketplace can be a great way to expand customer reach. Not everyone who shops on Walmart’s website shops regularly on sites like Amazon, meaning that by staying on one eCommerce site you might be missing out on thousands of potential buyers. By expanding where you’re selling, you’re also expanding the number of people you can reach.
Use a reputable platform
Walmart is a name that shoppers know and trust, from buying essentials in-store to shopping online. This means that unlike newer D2C stores or other marketplaces, customers have confidence in where they’re buying from. They feel comfortable spending money with Walmart in person, so they’re likely going to trust a brand on their website, even if products aren’t found in Walmart stores.
No upfront fees
Some marketplaces charge subscription fees on top of referrals as you list your products for sale. However, the Walmart marketplace isn’t like that. When selling on their website, you only have to pay for what you sell. There are no upfront fees applied, which means you can build a gradual strategy without a steep initial investment.
Less competition
Amazon is easily the biggest marketplace for third-party sellers and online shoppers. This drives its appeal, but also means that the competition is fierce. The Walmart marketplace is growing more progressively and has extensive reach, without the saturation of Amazon. While a smaller size means a smaller pool of shoppers— it’s actually an advantage. With reduced competition, your products have a better chance of standing out among the shoppers the platform does have.
Easy integration
As a comprehensive platform, Walmart’s tools are designed to integrate easily into the online store builders and marketing tools you already have in place; minimal legwork is needed to get your products listed and ready for purchase.
Access to innovative eCommerce solutions
The Walmart marketplace is designed to be a key resource for sellers. Those using the platform have access to a wide range of innovative eCommerce solutions, from top-of-the-line analytics dashboards to robust security to safeguard your information. Plus, the platform provides these solutions from the get-go, offering immediate benefits once you sign up.
New seller incentives
Because Walmart Marketplace is currently in a growth phase, it’s a boon for sellers at the moment. Walmart has offered a range of promos for brands willing to sign up. While these can shift over time, one of the most recent promos Walmart offered was a 25% reduction in commission rates for the first 90 days of selling.
Economies of scale
For sellers who are already using marketplace tools like warehousing and fulfillment resources, integrating into the Walmart ecosystem can be fast and easy. While costs might rise due to increased use, you’re effectively spreading your investment across more than one opportunity. This drives increased profit without a proportional increase in spending.
Omni-channel opportunities
By adding Walmart Marketplace to the mix of existing platforms you use, you’ll have the opportunity to take an omni-channel approach by spreading your products and services across Walmart’s online and physical stores. With different markets and sales strategies, the Walmart Marketplace gives you another audience to engage with.
Walmart seller requirements
Walmart’s marketplace demands a few initial details from sellers as requirements needed to meet their standards. These include:
- A business tax ID or a business license number; personal social security numbers are not accepted.
- Verification documents to prove business name and address.
- Evidence of prior success in marketplace selling or eCommerce.
- A catalog of products that comply with the Prohibited Products Policy.
- Fulfillment capabilities either through Walmart Fulfillment Services or a warehouse that can process returns.
How to sell on Walmart Marketplace
When you want to succeed on Walmart’s marketplace, organizing the essential info needed to open your storefront before applying is to your benefit. Here’s what you need to know about getting accepted to start selling:
1. Submit your application
The first step to selling on Walmart’s marketplace is submitting an application. Simply provide the basic information on the account creation page, and your profile will be created. Once your initial application has been submitted, you can move forward with the registration process, which includes verification for selling purposes.
As outlined above, there are numerous elements you will need to provide when completing the registration. Once your account is created, click the “Get Verified” button on the top right. Fill out the information requested, and click the “Submit for Review” button.
It’s important to be as thorough as possible, even if you think you’re going overboard; more information is always better than not enough. In some cases, Walmart’s support team will reach out to request further information or ask questions. If this is the case, be prompt with communications. Ideally, your application will be approved within two to four weeks.
As soon as your account has been approved, you’ll be invited to log in and finish the enrollment process, including filling out the necessary program information.
2. Register
After your application has been approved, a few different steps are required, but thoughtful completion will be key to setting yourself up for success. The registration process is as follows:
Create your account
To do this, you will need to set a username and password. You’ll then use this information to sign into Seller Center, the proprietary platform for Walmart sellers.
Sign the Retailer Agreement
To sell on Walmart’s website, all brands need to complete a retailer agreement. This informs sellers of the terms and conditions that come with selling on the marketplace. Sellers should carefully read this contract; violating it can result in expulsion from the marketplace.
Register your company
Company registration is a way to establish your brand and create a public-facing space, or what buyers will see when they view your products.
Registering will involve a display name that customers will see, as well as a corporate address. This address will only be used internally.
Complete tax forms
Every penny you earn selling on Walmart will need to be reported to the IRS, which will require the completion of a W-9 form. As a contractor, the income you are earning will not have any taxes withheld. Thus it will be the responsibility of your business to include these earnings on your tax returns and pay the applicable amount. Keep these estimates in mind when calculating net profit and determining how the Walmart marketplace will benefit your business.
Input payment information
Walmart has several partners for processing payments, including Payoneer, Hyperwallet, and PingPong. If you have not used these platforms before, you will need to register for an account. These sites make signing up simple, but it may take a few days to establish an account or link to your bank. For sellers new to these platforms, signing up while waiting for Walmart to verify your account can save you time in getting established.
It is also important to note that sellers outside the U.S. must file a W-8ECI form, and Payoneer is required as Hyperwallet only supports U.S. transactions.
Set up shipping requirements
With payment and tax obligations out of the way, your last step in registration is providing the applicable shipping information to coordinate how products will make it from your hands to customers’ doors. You’ll need to provide your chosen shipping methods, approved carriers, shipping prices, and regions to which you’re willing to ship.
Sellers can arrange their own fulfillment by working with qualifying warehouses, managing their own storage, and packing boxes based on Walmart’s specified package guidelines.
For those who don’t want to do this heavy lifting, Walmart offers their own fulfillment for marketplace sellers. Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) allows customers to store inventory in Walmart warehouses, and when orders are placed, the WFS team will pick, pack, and ship items on your behalf.
Setting up shipping requirements also means agreeing to Walmart’s Returns Shipping Service, which is the default for any product returned to a Walmart store.
3. Setup your account
Once you have completed the registration process, it’s time to prepare your account for selling products. This means establishing things like two-factor authentication, verifying an email address, setting up notification preferences, and configuring any analytics dashboards. This can also involve partnering with an expert AI-managed eCommerce partner to help you perfect your strategy from start to finish.
4. List your products
Listing your products is one of the most important parts of establishing your seller account. This information—long and short product descriptions, photos and videos of products, bullet points on key features, product stats, and more—will be pivotal to ensuring customers have a full understanding of what you’re selling. Listings can be set up prior to the completion of the verification process, but nothing will go live until your account has been approved.
There are a few different ways to upload your products to the marketplace. These include:
- Bulk uploads: This method is ideal for those experienced in using spreadsheets for item uploads—templates can be provided for sellers to download, or you can use your own—and those who have a large inventory.
- Add inventory individually: If you’re not used to doing bulk uploads or you only have a few products to list, it’s possible to post each item you have for sale one by one. To do this, you will input all product information, submit it into the product database, and then add the newly created item to your catalog. From here, you can add all relevant details, like SKU data, price, and fulfillment information. You can also use this method to add existing products on the marketplace to your storefront.
- Import data from other marketplaces: If you sell on Amazon or select other marketplaces, like Target and Wayfair, you can import storefront data directly from these platforms. This can be an easy way to duplicate data, ensuring consistency across markets. However, you will still need to do some customization, like updating SKUs and list prices, but the hard part will be managed for you.
Once listed, products will be available for purchase within a few hours and will appear in search results in a day or two. Ensure your product pages provide as much information to buyers and search engines as possible; quality content can make a big difference, including drawing in shoppers and prompting buyers to leave reviews.
5. Advertise your products
It would be nice if your products could sell on their own without advertising; but this generally isn’t the case. As a result, you’ll want to take advantage of PPC campaigns to bolster your listings. Luckily, Walmart offers an in-house comprehensive platform to manage ad spend budgets and advertising campaigns called Sponsored Products.
As with ad managers, campaigns have manual and automatic bidding strategies.
- Manual campaigns allow sellers to manage the process of setting bids and selecting keywords themselves.
- Automatic campaigns, on the other hand, allow Walmart’s AI to control the process. This involves choosing keywords as well as placing bids.
Keyword research, including broad match, phrase match, and exact match, can all play a role in optimizing campaigns. Doing the work to determine the right combinations for each product can take time and know-how unless optimization tools are in place. But, owning this process can help maximize budgets and minimize wasted ad spend.
Expert tips for selling on Walmart Marketplace
Many brands have their reasons for using this platform and can establish themselves on Walmart’s marketplace, but not all experiences will be made equal. Some sellers will perform better than others, so, if you want to be the best of the best and become a name shoppers come to know and trust, keep these expert tips in mind.
Win the Buy Box
Buy Box products are the first and largest result on search pages; all other products are listed below. The Walmart algorithm uses a few key metrics to weigh who will win: the most affordable pricing, including shipping costs, inventory levels, and accurate information about product quality.
If your pricing is competitive, your products are in stock, and your listings are accurate, you’re far more likely to win this position.
Have competitive pricing
As compelling as it might be to keep your prices high for maximum profit, this isn’t the best marketing strategy. Instead, you need to keep pricing in line with customer expectations. This often means finding the right balance between remaining competitive while still doing as much as possible to turn a profit.
Managing this successfully may require price testing, in which pricing is adjusted and evaluated against sales. This, alongside inventory availability and competitor behavior, can help you come to a price that will win the Buy Box.
Understand your audience
Some brands assume the buyers on Walmart will be the same as those on platforms like Amazon and Target, but this isn’t necessarily the case. The demographics can be different, particularly concerning younger shoppers who might shop in person at Walmart, but online at Amazon. By understanding who is shopping on Walmart’s website for products like yours, you can tweak product descriptions, optimize keyword use, and place bids strategically to capture the most effective customers for your brand.
Use automation
Doing everything yourself, from curating product information to customer research to analyzing the competition, is theoretically possible, but can eat up a significant amount of time with minimal evidence that you’re getting anywhere. Through the use of Walmart advertising software, you can let automation take over the hard parts. Streamline workflows, access thorough yet user-friendly analytics, and create campaigns that target all areas of the sales funnel.
Automation can also help with placing bids on keywords for PPC ad campaigns. Platforms like ours leverage your objectives, to run tests by changing bids, and establishing optimal settings. Automation on larger product catalogs can be a good way to get ahead without a significant time investment.
Keyword harvesting
It’s hard to succeed in PPC advertising if you’re not using the right keyword approach. Rather than trying to keep up with clicks, conversions, and impressions for everything you have listed for sale, automating this process can help you harvest the best possible keywords for your products. With the right AI-guided tools, you can manage your campaigns while letting advertising software shoulder the burden of bidding and data analysis.
In summary
Selling on Walmart Marketplace can seem daunting at first, after all, adding another eCommerce platform to the mix requires considerable time investment, but getting started, particularly if you already have a presence on sites like Amazon, can be easier than you think.
And, if you’re already using or are considering employing an eCommerce tool designed to automate and streamline pricing, keyword use, bidding, and audience analysis, creating a robust and profitable storefront can be a great opportunity to turn a profit. Contact Trellis today to see what our expertise and AI solutions can do to move your business forward.