How to sell on Walmart Marketplace: A Complete Guide

If you are an online seller and think of getting into multi-channel selling, Walmart is a great option for you. You can quickly become a Walmart Seller by filling this Walmart marketplace application form and following the steps mentioned below.

In this blog, you’ll find out everything you need to know about selling on Walmart. If you’re looking to expand your store, there’s no better platform, and here’s why!

When you become a Walmart Seller, you can display your product assortment to around 400 million+ monthly unique visitors. With Walmart, you can leverage the trust of an already established brand and attract relevant buyers towards your products. A feat that otherwise would have been challenging.

This blog post will help you understand Walmart’s complete onboarding process, the benefits of selling on Walmart, and various other aspects that you need to know to sell better on the marketplace.

Find out everything about selling on Walmart and the best practices associated with it:

• Benefits of selling on Walmart
• Requirements to become a Walmart Seller
• Steps to Sell on Walmart
• Mistakes to avoid for selling smoothly at Walmart
• How to Create Great Listings at Walmart?
• How can CedCommerce help ease your selling process at Walmart?

Benefits of selling on Walmart

Apart from an extended inlet of traffic and the opportunity to sell on one of the leading and ever-growing marketplaces in the US, here is what you get:

• No monthly fees: The most significant perk you get after becoming a Seller on Walmart is zero monthly fees. You can list your products for free at Walmart! You only need to pay a category-wise referral fee when a sale is made from your store.

  To learn more about referral fees for different product categories, click here.

• List unlimited Inventory: There is no threshold set for listing inventory at Walmart. So list as many SKUs as you want. Except for the short range of prohibited products, you can tap into pretty much any category from 35+ categories.
• Exposure: Millions of customers land at Walmart each month, and these numbers are increasing with each passing day. Selling at Walmart means expanding your reach and exposure to a broad audience base.
• Trust: Walmart is a trusted brand. Selling online at a trustworthy platform helps to bring in consumers quickly as customers trust the brand and leverage it.
• Quick Checkout: Customers don’t want to spend too much time in check-out. They want it fast and safe. Walmart provides a safe and quick checkout process to provide a seamless shopping experience to customers.
• Access Walmart analytics: With Walmart’s analytics, you can quickly look into your performance as a Walmart Seller. These analytics give you an insight into the areas where you need to work on.
• Customer support: While selling at Walmart, you don’t need to bother about investing in customer support. Walmart provides excellent support to all its customers. So you can contact Walmart marketplace anytime you feel the need.

Requirements to become a Walmart Seller

There are specific prerequisites that merchants need to fulfill to become a seller on Walmart.
If you are considering Walmart as your selling platform, fulfill the following criteria:

• You need to have a warehouse based in the US with a US Tax ID and a Business Bank Account.
• You should be able to ship orders and receive returns from a Warehouse located in the US.
• Walmart works with established online sellers, so it helps to have some business experience. In any case, you should at least have a year’s experience of excellent performance in the US Marketplace.
• You should also be able to provide the UPC or GTIN code for each SKU.
• Dedicated customer service, compelling product assortment, competitive pricing, and fast and reliable fulfillment are essential requirements. These need to be worked upon before you think of becoming a Walmart seller.

Steps to Sell on Walmart

Here are quick and short six steps to start selling on Walmart:

Step 1: Fill the Application Form

To start selling at Walmart, you need to first apply for approval/account creation.

For this, you’ll have to fill Walmart marketplace application form, provide the details, and then wait for an approval-email from Walmart with further information about your Account.

Step 2: Complete the Registration

The registration process consists of the following six steps:

• Account Creation: At this step, create your username and password for Walmart Seller Account. With these credentials, you will gain access to the Seller Center.
• Walmart Retailer Agreement: At this Step, you will have to sign the Walmart Marketplace Program Retailer Agreement. Check the box at the bottom of the agreement and then click Submit.
• Company Registration: Provide your company information, i.e., Display Name Corporate Address to create your Partner Account.
• Tax info: Provide your Tax information at this step. Then click Save and Continue.
• Payment Info: At this step, register with Payoneer or Hyperwallet to receive payments. After providing all the necessary details, click Continue to Next Step.
• Shipping Info: At this stage, configure your shipping price models for all your Walmart products. Select your pricing models on the following basis:

  Price of the total order: Choose this option if you want to charge shipping fees based on the order’s total price or if shipping is free.

  Item Weight or Number of Items per Order: Choose this option if you want to charge shipping fees based on the item’s weight or the number of items.

  Select Shipping Methods and Regions:

  After providing details for the shipping pricing model, select the default shipping methods and regions you support for all items you sell at Walmart. Default shipping methods include:

  • Value
  • Standard
  • Next Day
  • Expedited

  Within each shipping method, select the shipping regions you ship to by setting the toggle to either green or red.

  For all supported shipping methods and region combinations, you need to set your transit time minimums and maximums (in terms of day) or the price you will be charging.

  After providing all the above details, click Submit.

  After this step, you will be logged in to the Walmart Seller Center automatically, and from there, you will need to finish your Launch Checklist.

Step 3: Complete your Partner Profile

Go to Settings in the Seller Center and complete your Partner Profile. Fill in the following details to complete the Partner Profile section:

1. 1. Company Info: The Company Info page allows you to update information about your company. You need to provide your Display Name, Logo, and Short Description of your company to help the customers learn more about you.
   2. Customer Service: In this section, you need to provide details about your Customer Service. Provide your customer service email address, hours of operation, and your customer service contact number; after entering all the details, Click Save.
   3. Manage Contacts: Here, you can add, modify, or delete contacts of people from your organization who look after Technical issues, Business Management, Customer Service, Content, Shipping, and Performance aspects.
   4. Shipping: In this section, provide the Shipping details like Shipping rates, Shipping schedule, and Shipping policy.
   5. Returns: On the Return Page, you will have to set up Return methods, Return rules, and fees associated with the returns. Before filling in all these details, ensure that you have read the marketplace Return Policy and all your Return entries are as per the Walmart marketplace Returns Policy.
   6. Privacy Policy: The Privacy Policy section allows you to describe how well you keep the customer data safe, and it’s a mandatory step.
   7. Tax Info: When a customer purchases any item from Walmart, they may have to pay tax. Provide all the information about the taxes like Nexus, Shipping Tax Codes, and write a brief Sales Tax Policy here.

After you complete Partner Profile, the Progress Bar in the top-right corner will reach 100%.

Step 4: Bank deposit verification

It is an integral part of your Walmart Marketplace Application. Walmart transfers 1 cent to your account to check and verify the account. The marketplace sellers should check their accounts after 24 hours of providing account details. The amount credited is $.01, and the Description is “WM Marketplace Penny Test.”

When you verify that the deposit is made, click on “Mark as Done” in the Launch Checklist.

Step 5: Item and Order Testing

This is one of the essential steps of onboarding Walmart. What you upload here will show up on Walmart.

You will have to upload your catalog to Walmart’s Seller Center. Remember that these items you upload will ‘go live’ with your account.

Ensure that the following two criteria are met :

Upload 10% or 1,000 (whichever is less) of the items you want to sell.

Walmart should pass at least 95% of your items.

For the last item on the list, you need to go through the following three steps:

1. Upload your Inventory on Walmart’s Seller Center: Item set up process has possible methods, and based on your inventory size and technical expertise, you can choose any of them:
   • API Integration method
   • Bulk Upload method
   • Single Item method
   • Solution Provider

   Item set up has the following steps:

   1. Choose the correct category and subcategory for your items you want to sell on Walmart.
   2. Keep your image URLs or files ready and as per the guidelines of Walmart.
   3. Create a detailed, precise, and relevant Item description and specifications for each product. Understand the process of writing a description of Refurbished items and apply them carefully. Focus on SEO.
   4. Upload the Item feed files
2. Test Item uploaded on Walmart’s Seller Center

   To test the items and see if they are uploaded correctly or not, you need to check out the Item Details page.

   You can see the status, price, units and take actions on this page, such as Publishing the items, Preview Item, See the Staged or Published Status, Item Page, etc.

   Ensure you check out the Item Preview Page to see how the product page will look once the item goes live.

   Everything on the product page will look exactly like it would with the live status, along with the Buy Box, which you will need to win once you start to sell on Walmart in real-time.

3. Test Order to understand the process

   This stage is where you will be required first to buy at least one and preferably two or more items that you have listed. You need to test three things:

   1. Cancellation of Orders: Learn how to cancel an order after acknowledging it.
   2. Shipping of Orders: Understand how to supply shipping and tracking information.
   3. Adjustment of Orders: Understand how to adjust refunds to the full amount or just a part of it.

   The onboarding process is not a difficult one, but it does demand details. It is advisable to get a detailed explanation and do some research before starting it. The Walmart onboarding process and finishing the Onboarding Checklist together completes the registration process, and after this, the account goes live in 48 hours.

Step 6: Ready to Launch

This is the final step to complete the onboarding process.

Once you have completed all of the Launch Checklist steps, click the Ready to Launch button.

When you click Confirm, a message is sent to Walmart, and everything that you have filled in is examined. If everything is correct and as per Walmart’s guidelines, you will get a message from Walmart that your launch request is accepted. After approximately two days, your catalog will go live.

Mistakes to avoid for a smooth selling experience at Walmart

Selling at Walmart requires having a proper understanding of each product’s data and the Walmart guidelines to avoid any error that can occur on your part. Some possible mistakes that the sellers are likely to make while selling on Walmart are as follows:

• Missing SKUs: Missing SKUs is the most common mistake made by online sellers. If SKU is not already there for a product at your Store, the particular product won’t be available for selling.
• Invalid Product Title: To write the name or title of the product you wish to list on Walmart, write it following Walmart’s standards. Don’t include any special characters or words like Authentic, Best, Original, etc.
• Incorrect product Type: Another error that sellers can make is the lack of Product Type or Incorrect Product type. It is a must to select the correct Product type to list your products on Walmart.
• Incorrect Product category: It is necessary to select the correct category for the products you sell at Walmart as it helps in the proper placement of the products on Walmart. If the incorrect product category is selected, then the product will not come in the search filters, and it will be difficult for customers to find the product.
• Incorrect images: There are specific guidelines for the size, format, number of images, etc., for the products you list on Walmart. Also, you are not allowed to use watermarked images for your products. If you use watermarked images, the products may not be visible to the customers at Walmart.
• Duplicate/Missing/Invalid Product Identifier: Product Identifier is another critical aspect. It serves as a unique identity for each product. If it is missing, or invalid, or duplicated, the products will not go live on Walmart.com.
• Performance Standards Infringement: You must maintain the Seller Performance Standards as per the guidelines of Walmart. Not doing so can lead to suspension of the Walmart Seller account. Walmart also generates a Seller scorecard from where you can view your performance as a Walmart seller.
• Listing Prohibited products: Before listing the products for sale at Walmart, carefully go through the list of prohibited products at Walmart.

How to Create Great Listings at Walmart?

Becoming a seller on Walmart can be instrumental in your success, for it has a massive customer intake and is an enormously trusted brand.

The potential number of customers that Walmart can bring to you can quickly recover the dollars you plan to invest in your marketing campaigns.

However, getting accepted as a Walmart Marketplace seller is not the only thing; it’s just the beginning. If you want your products to perform great on Walmart, it’s essential to know how to list items on the Walmart marketplace effectively.

Work on the following aspects to create Great listings of your products:

• Correct Category and Subcategory: It is vital to list items such that Walmart can display them in the right spot to gain higher visibility. The categorization of items correctly helps Walmart in placing them in the correct search result. All the categories are created, taking into account the retailers’ and sellers’ general segmentation practices worldwide.
  Each category has a sub-category. And these categories and sub-categories correspond to a specific set of attributes. These are necessary to explain the features of a particular product best. Choosing the right category helps you list your products effectively.
• Product Title: Use a unique product title. Include keywords and any other specific attributes that convey accurate information about the product to the customers and make it easier to understand and search for the product.
• Images: A high quality, attractive, yet bright image is the difference between a successful sale and bounce-off. Image quality can prove to be a make-and-break decision for your potential customers. High image quality is a necessity. There are recommendations for standard formats, size, URL, and image resolutions, and complying with all these factors will enrich the quality of your content.
• Variant groups: Variant Products are a group of products that differ from their group only by a few attributes. Shirts of different sizes and colors are different variations of the same design. The details contain the Variant Group ID, Variant Attribute Name, Swatch Images, etc. It is of utmost importance to fill in your variant products’ details or not go live.
• Listing Refurbished items correctly: Since Walmart permits you to sell even the refurbished products on its platform, it expects you to be transparent with your offerings. Always include the word refurbished for selling such items on Walmart.
• 2 Day Shipping: Join Walmart 2-Day Shipping Program to boost your product visibility. It also increases the chances of winning the Walmart buy Box.

How can CedCommerce help ease your selling process at Walmart?

Although Walmart provides a Seller Center to help merchants upload their products and make them GO LIVE quickly, however, navigating it can often be a hassle. Especially for those sellers who need to showcase a big inventory, since it requires creating a considerable number of CSV files, a lot of manual effort becomes a part of the process.

On the other hand, you can take third-party integration services from Walmart’s official Channel integration partner CedCommerce and ease your selling process. Once you opt for CedCommerce’s integration solution, it will eliminate all hurdles and automate all manual tasks.

From- Item Set up, Inventory management, and Order management to Pricing, Promotional Pricing, and Repricing, you can do almost everything quickly with this integration solution by CedCommerce.

Dedicated Account Manager

With CedCommerce, you also get excellent support services. You even get a Dedicated Account Manager who will assist you 24/7 and will make you familiar with all the processes involved. He will guide you in installing and configuring the integration extension and training you about its usage.

This dedicated account manager will resolve any issue that may come in your way of selling at Walmart.

To Sum Up

Selling on Walmart requires undergoing a series of steps with utmost care. An error at any stage may lead to a delay in publishing or even unpublishing of products on Walmart.

If you want to increase product visibility and expand your reach without getting yourself indulged in the lengthy process of onboarding, contact CedCommerce. With CedCommerce, you can publish products quickly on Walmart. The integration solution solves your day-to-day online selling issues, automates the processes involved, and eradicates all the hassles.