Walmart Marketplace has become a reliable online storefront for more than 100 million monthly visitors.
Walmart Marketplace has a stricter vetting process than popular marketplaces like Amazon or eBay, which may be part of the attraction for shoppers. They know that when they buy something on Walmart.com, they’re getting a high-quality product from a dependable seller.
Do you want to join the growing list of trusted Walmart Marketplace sellers? Today, we’ll show you how to get started.
First, let’s look at what Walmart customers have to say about why they shop on the online marketplace.
Use these links to navigate:
- PickFu research insight: Why customers shop on Walmart Marketplace
- What is Walmart Marketplace?
- Who can sell products on Walmart Marketplace?
- How much does it cost to sell on Walmart Marketplace?
- How to start selling on Walmart Marketplace
- Create your Walmart Marketplace account and get verified
- Upload your products to your Walmart Marketplace storefront
- Optimize your Walmart listings
- Start selling products on Walmart Marketplace today
PickFu research insight: Why customers shop on Walmart Marketplace
If you want to become a Walmart Marketplace seller, you have to understand your audience and identify your customer needs.
So what motivates people to shop on Walmart Marketplace instead of other big e-commerce sites such as Amazon and eBay?
We asked 100 Walmart.com shoppers that question. Then, we sorted and analyzed their open-ended responses.
Their reasons for shopping on Walmart.com fall into these five buckets:
- Lower membership fee
- Faster shipping
- Bigger selection of reputable products
- In-store returns for items fulfilled by Walmart
- Low-cost selling
One respondent said Walmart.com returns are easier than Amazon returns.
“It’s convenient, often the products are a good bit cheaper on Walmart instead of Amazon, also a lot of items I need have free 1-day shipping and sometimes I even get it the same day,” wrote the respondent, a 35-to-44-year-old female who also shops on Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.
She added, “And for some household items the quantity is more reasonable because I can just buy a mini size or a quantity of 1 whereas on Amazon I might only have the option of a 3 pack.”
Walmart.com also offers more payment options than Amazon, including PayPal and Affirm. That’s a big plus for several of the shoppers we polled.
“I like that Walmart accepts PayPal as payment, where Amazon does not. Also, because Walmart is close to where I live, I often receive my ordered items, faster from Walmart, than I do from Amazon.”
Female, 55-64, $31-60K annual income
As an Alaska resident, I can attest to Walmart’s faster-than-Amazon shipping. My Walmart.com orders arrive within days compared with weeks on Amazon, even with Prime shipping.
Of course, Amazon has its place. And it’s still the most popular e-commerce storefront around.
But this also means it’s super competitive. Walmart offers a fresh set of buyers for your e-commerce business.
Now that you know what Walmart shoppers like about the marketplace, let’s dig into the whats and hows of selling on Walmart Marketplace.
What is Walmart Marketplace?
Walmart Marketplace is an e-commerce platform for third-party vendors.
Sellers list their products on Walmart.com, putting them in front of the retail giant’s enormous customer base.
Once you’re approved as a seller, your products will appear right next to Walmart.com’s in-house products in the search results.
High-quality items and product listings are key to success on Walmart.com. The application process for third-party sellers reflects this.
Here’s what you need to know about applying for and qualifying to sell on Walmart Marketplace.
Who can sell products on Walmart Marketplace?
Before you start the application process, take a good look at the requirements to sell on Walmart Marketplace.
Third-party sellers must have the following:
- A U.S. business tax ID or business license number.
- Documents that prove your business address and name are legitimate.
- A history of success selling on other e-commerce platforms such as eBay, Etsy, Shopify, or Amazon.
- Products with GTIN/UPC GS1 Company Prefix Numbers. They’re like fingerprints for your products.
- Items that fall within Walmart’s extensive product policy. Ink, toner, and offensive material aren’t allowed. Some items need pre-approval before you can list them.
- Fulfillment with either Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) or a U.S.-based warehouse that can handle returns.
- If you’re an international seller, you’ll need proof of incorporation in one of the approved countries — Canada, the U.K., China, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Germany, South Korea, Singapore, or Taiwan.
If your business and product catalog follow these requirements, congratulations! You’re eligible to apply to be a seller on Walmart Marketplace.
We recommend gathering all the documentation listed above so you can quickly set up your seller center and get selling.
How much does it cost to sell on Walmart Marketplace?
There are no monthly fees to pay when you sell with Walmart Marketplace.
Instead, the platform takes a referral fee — in other words, a cut of your sales.
The referral fee varies based on your SKUs/product categories and prices. It’s anywhere between 6% and 15% of each completed sale.
You’ll also need to think about order fulfillment. Will you use Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) or a different U.S.-based warehouse to store, pack, and ship your products?
WFS comes with notable benefits:
- Guaranteed 2-day shipping in the contiguous U.S. (excluding peak season, which is September through January)
- Access to WFS dashboards and APIs to manage your Seller Center data
- Customer support for buyers and sellers
- Higher chance of winning the buy box thanks to your Fulfilled by Walmart and two-day shipping tags
- Discounted shipping rates
- Seamless, 90-day returns policy; customers can even return items to a Walmart store!
- Inventory management at Walmart fulfillment centers, including inventory preparation for a small fee
You’ll also get to offer free shipping for Walmart+ members, which is a big plus in our book.
Of course, Walmart charges fees for the services it provides through WFS. The pricing is competitive compared with what you pay in the Amazon FBA program.
Walmart.com provides a fee calculator to help you plan for this expense.
One caveat to WFS is that international sellers must be able to ship their products to Walmart fulfillment centers in the contiguous United States.
Products must also meet certain weight, length, and girth requirements for WFS approval.
How to start selling on Walmart Marketplace
1. Create your Walmart Marketplace account and get verified ✅
If you meet the requirements, the next step is to go to the Walmart Seller Center and fill out the onboarding form.
There’s a link to the retailer agreement for Walmart Marketplace, Walmart Fulfillment Services, and Walmart Ad Center. Be sure to read every word of it before you submit your form.
Walmart lets you download a copy for your records. Do that too. The last thing you want is to be kicked off Walmart Marketplace because you unknowingly violated the terms.
Once you’ve created an account, Walmart will verify your seller account. It can take anywhere from 24 hours to four weeks for Walmart Marketplace to complete this step.
You’ll also need to set up your payment and information about your shipping methods.
2. Upload your products to your Walmart Marketplace storefront 🛍️
Once you’re approved, Walmart Marketplace will want you to upload and start selling products right away.
You’ll want to make sure your inventory is ready to go with replenishment options handy in case you get backed up on orders.
Your product descriptions and images should be SEO-optimized, too.
If you know they still need work, fear not.
Use our guide on how to drive traffic to your Walmart listings, written by veteran Walmart seller Michal Chapnick, to help you make sure your product listings are ready for customers.
Here are three tips from Michal to ensure top-notch listing quality:
- Use advanced attributes to boost your products’ search visibility
- Take advantage of promotional badges for your products
- Create a product title that’s unique from your Amazon product title (if you sell on Amazon) — and keep it under 75 characters!
Not sure if your product title is compelling enough?
What about your product photography? Will it make shoppers want to click and go to checkout?
That’s where PickFu comes in.
3. Optimize your Walmart listings ✨
An online polling platform, PickFu allows you to test your product photos, titles, descriptions, and more to see what resonates with consumers.
You can poll a general audience or target a specific one using more than 90 demographic and behavioral audience traits.
You can even target Walmart.com shoppers like we did for our poll at the beginning of this article.
Run competitive tests on PickFu to compare your Walmart product listing, or your product itself, to the leaders in your category.
Testing will help you find weak spots in your (or your competitors’) listings and photos.
Respondents give written feedback with every poll so you know exactly what you need to change to boost conversions.
Use the insights to improve your packaging, set competitive pricing, and optimize your Walmart Sponsored Products ads.
Start selling products on Walmart Marketplace today
Walmart is always working to make its online marketplace better for buyers and sellers.
Keep an eye out for changes and promotions that could benefit you, including discounts on referral fees for new Walmart sellers.
Expanding your sales channels by adding a Walmart Marketplace storefront can be a huge boon to your e-commerce business.
Now that you know how to get started, it’s time to gather what you need for the application. Happy selling!
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