Walmart Marketplace is the fastest-growing eCommerce marketplace in the U.S., boasting nearly 120 million unique monthly visitors. 

With their rich retail legacy and strategic digital moves, Walmart is poised to shake up the balance of power in eCommerce. As the holiday season approaches, Walmart Marketplace offers a lucrative opportunity for sellers to reach new customers and grow their businesses.

If you need further convincing, keep reading for seven exciting benefits of selling on Walmart Marketplace.

Walmart Marketplace snapshot

Walmart has a long history of market leadership. In recent years, the company has successfully translated that success to the digital realm, with Walmart.com becoming a major player in the eCommerce market.

Walmart’s latest holiday season strategy reveals an aggressive push to position themselves as a top competitor against Amazon. A key element of this strategy is Walmart’s third-party marketplace, which allows third-party sellers to list and sell their products on Walmart.com.

Walmart is leveraging their third-party marketplace to drum up early business for the holiday season. For example, the company is offering sellers a variety of incentives, such as reduced referral fees and free shipping on select items. They’ve also invested heavily in marketing and advertising to promote their third-party marketplace to shoppers.

Walmart Marketplace has enjoyed positive trends as well, especially during high-traffic sales events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday: In 2022, Walmart outperformed Amazon by earning the most online searches for Black Friday discounts, up 386% from 2021. 

The advantage of selling on Walmart Marketplace

The above stats prove the lucrative potential of selling on the platform, but there are other enticing benefits that steadily draw in businesses.

1) Lower competition

One of the biggest advantages of selling on Walmart Marketplace is the lower competition compared to Amazon. While Amazon has over 6.3 million third-party sellers, Walmart Marketplace only has a little over 150,000 sellers. This means your products stand a better chance of attracting the attention of Walmart’s 120 million monthly visitors and securing a purchase.

In addition, Walmart Marketplace is still a relatively new platform, so there’s less product saturation in certain categories. That allows you to establish yourself as a leader in your niche and build a strong consumer base before the competition becomes too fierce.

Here are some tips for taking advantage of the lower competition on Walmart Marketplace:

• Optimize your product listings: Make sure your product listings are complete, accurate, and include high-quality photos and detailed descriptions. This both helps your items rank higher in search results and makes them more appealing to shoppers.
• Use competitive pricing: Walmart shoppers have a reputation for being price-conscious, so it’s important to offer competitive prices on your products. Use the platform’s repricing tools to adjust yours to match your competitors’ automatically.
• Provide excellent customer service: Walmart Marketplace buyers expect excellent customer service, so be sure to respond to inquiries promptly and resolve any issues quickly and efficiently.

2) Stringent approval process

Walmart Marketplace has a stringent approval process for sellers, so not everyone can sell on the platform. To be approved, sellers must meet certain criteria, such as having a good business reputation and a track record of excellent customer service.

The other minimum qualifications for joining the Walmart Marketplace are:

• Business tax ID(s) (SSN not accepted) or business license number: This is required both to prove your business is legitimate and to comply with tax laws.
• Supporting documents that verify your business name and address: These could include a copy of your business registration certificate, utility bill, or bank statement.
• History of marketplace or eCommerce success: Walmart wants to ensure you have the experience and expertise to be successful on their platform. You can demonstrate this by providing information about your previous sales performance on other marketplaces or eCommerce platforms.
• Products that have GTIN/UPC GS1 Company Prefix numbers: This global system of unique product identifiers helps Walmart track inventory and ensure product authenticity.
• A catalog that complies with Walmart’s Prohibited Products Policy: Walmart prohibits the sale of certain products on their platform, including hazardous materials, alcohol, and tobacco. Make sure your catalog is free of these and the policy’s other prohibited products.
• Fulfillment through Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) or another BTC U.S. warehouse with returns capability: Walmart requires sellers to fulfill orders within two business days. You can do this through Walmart’s fulfillment service or through your own warehouse, as long as it’s located in the U.S. and offers reverse logistics.

In addition to the above requirements, Walmart also recommends that sellers possess the following:

• A strong customer service reputation
• A commitment to ensuring a positive shopping experience for shoppers
• Competitive product selection and pricing
• A well-designed and informative website

If you meet all of the minimum qualifications and have the recommended characteristics, you’re well on your way to becoming a successful Walmart Marketplace seller.

Although Walmart’s approval process makes it more difficult to become a seller, it also brings a number of benefits: First, it ensures Walmart Marketplace is a high-quality platform with sellers who are committed to providing a good shopping experience for customers; second, it gives the marketplace a competitive advantage over others, such as Amazon, which have more lenient seller approval requirements.

These perks have secured Walmart Marketplace a dedicated consumer base that surpasses those of other marketplaces. Shoppers know they can trust the sellers on the platform to offer high-quality products and services, which, in turn, encourages more sales.

3) Access to a broad and loyal customer base

Walmart customers are known for being loyal to the brand, so sellers on Walmart Marketplace have a ready-to-purchase audience that’s already familiar with and trusts the name.

In addition, Walmart’s consumer base is widely diverse. Shoppers come from all walks of life and have a range of needs and interests. This gives sellers on Walmart Marketplace the opportunity to reach a broad audience and grow their following.

4) Walmart’s trust and brand value

Shoppers know Walmart stands for quality, value, and convenience. When you sell on Walmart Marketplace, you capitalize on Walmart’s established trust and brand value, including:

• Increased sales: Customers are more likely to purchase products from sellers on Walmart Marketplace than from those on less well-known platforms because they know to expect a good shopping experience.
• Higher conversion rates: Walmart shoppers are more likely to convert into paying customers than browsers on other platforms due to the company’s reputation and positive perception.
• Reduced customer acquisition costs: It costs less to acquire new customers (and keep old ones) from an existing consumer base than to attract new buyers from scratch. By selling on Walmart Marketplace, you tap into Walmart’s massive following and thus reduce your customer acquisition costs.
• Expanded market reach: Walmart’s global reach can help you expand your market reach and sell your products to customers all over the world.

5) Robust infrastructure with WFS 

WFS provides a logistical advantage in the form of an all-inclusive solution for storage, packaging, shipping, and even customer service. That infrastructure enhances your operational efficiency, in turn freeing your time to focus on scaling your business. 

With WFS, you enjoy:

• Speed and efficiency: Leverage Walmart’s sophisticated supply chain to ensure your products are shipped and delivered promptly.
• Reliability: Walmart’s extensive network of fulfillment centers provides dependable delivery services.
• Hassle-free returns: Take advantage of Walmart’s customer-friendly return policy, which the marketplace handles, and reduce your post-sales operations.

On the occasions when you need an extra layer of flexibility or have specific prep requirements that WFS doesn’t cover, this is where a service like MyFBAPrep is an asset. 

MyFBAPrep seamlessly complements WFS by handling any additional prep or direct fulfillment needs to ready your products for the marketplace or shipping them out without a hitch. It’s an additional resource that can scale with your business and provides a more tailored approach to meet your specific needs on Walmart Marketplace.

6) Flexible pricing and fewer fees

Sifting through complex and expensive marketplace fees can be a significant challenge for sellers. However, Walmart Marketplace stands out with its transparent and competitive fee structure, which can be a boon for your business’s financial health. 

This benefit is multi-faceted:

• Straightforward commission rates: Walmart’s commission rates are category specific and clear cut so you know exactly what to expect for each item sold. This clarity helps you plan your pricing strategy more effectively.
• No monthly fees: Unlike some marketplaces that charge a monthly subscription fee just to list your products, Walmart Marketplace doesn’t impose monthly fees on sellers. This means you only pay for what you sell.
• Competitive pricing opportunities: The lean fee structure lets you price your items more aggressively. You can offer customers better deals without sacrificing your margins to secure a competitive edge.
• Higher potential profit: With fewer and lower fees, your potential profit margin from each sale increases. This can make a substantial difference when you operate on an eCommerce platform where every percentage point counts.
• No hidden fees: Walmart prides themselves on transparency, which extends to their fee structure — you won’t find unexpected charges on your account statements.
• Free listings: You can list an unlimited number of items on Walmart Marketplace for free. That enables you to expand your product offerings without worrying about additional costs.
• Attract cost-conscious shoppers: Walmart excels at attracting consumers looking for value, which is reflected in the Marketplace’s fee structure. By setting competitive prices, you tap into Walmart’s broad customer base that’s eager for quality items at great prices.

This combination of lower fees and price adjustment provides you with more control over your pricing strategy and also aligns with Walmart’s reputation for value. It positions your business to take full advantage of a marketplace that caters to budget-aware shoppers without diminishing your bottom line.

7) Enhanced seller support and tools

Walmart Marketplace provides a comprehensive suite of tools and resources tailored to help sellers expand their business presence. Since Walmart continuously rolls out new features to stay competitive with Amazon, they demonstrate a staunch commitment to enriching the seller experience. From detailed analytics to local delivery solutions, their arsenal of seller resources is specifically designed to refine and optimize your business’s operational efficiency.

Walmart’s strategic enhancements to their eCommerce platform have been significant: 

• A revamped app and website, along with advanced automation in fulfillment processes, facilitate quick and efficient deliveries, including those at late hours.
• Summer 2023 marked the introduction of a slew of new features designed to provide an edge over Amazon. These include expanded fulfillment options that cater to oversized or complex items that require multi-box shipments. 
• Walmart has also released tools that support various facets of seller operations, such as local delivery logistics for items like cakes or software to manage curbside pickups.

The Marketplace’s infrastructure received a boost as well: Walmart has transformed their extensive network of over 4,600 stores nationwide into mini-warehouses. This strategic move means more than half of online orders are fulfilled directly from stores, which increases the speed and efficiency of deliveries. Thanks to a geographic reach that places a Walmart store within 10 miles of where most Americans live, the company can often deliver packages quicker than Amazon.

Walmart Marketplace developed a supportive framework that stands at the forefront of innovation to meet the evolving needs of sellers and customers alike.

Wrapping up — Start selling with Walmart Marketplace

Walmart Marketplace is a great option for sellers who want to reach a large pool of potential buyers and benefit from Walmart’s trusted reputation and value. With its low competition, stringent approval process, broad and loyal customer base, and access to Walmart’s fulfillment services, Walmart Marketplace is an enticing option for sellers to grow their brands.

If you’re considering selling on this platform, be sure you meet the minimum qualifications. Once approved, you can start offering a wide range of competitively priced products and excellent customer service. You can also take advantage of Walmart’s branding materials and fulfillment services to help you expand your business.

By following these tips, you’ll increase your chances of success on Walmart Marketplace and reap its many benefits.