How to Become a Walmart Marketplace Seller

With more than 33,000 marketplace sellers, $17 billion GMV in 2018, and more than 2 million 2-day delivery eligible products, Walmart Marketplace is attractive for online shoppers and sellers alike.

It’s why the platform is one of the most recommended marketplaces for online sellers, and why ecommerce sellers are looking to expand and diversify by becoming Walmart Marketplace sellers.

However, part of Walmart’s phenomenal marketplace success is its stringent application process – ensuring that only the best of the best make it through. If you think your eCommerce business is up for the challenge, here’s how to become a Walmart Marketplace seller.

Increase your chances of success on Walmart.com

As already mentioned, Walmart has some pretty strict entry requirements for its online marketplace. But, given that the platform brings in nearly 14% of the sales that Amazon does, with only 1% – 2% of the competition, meeting these requirements is more than worthwhile. It’s also more than possible when you know how. Let’s take a look.

1. Get a registered business and warehouse in the US

Registering your eCommerce business is essential for protecting your personal and business assets. It’s also mandatory in many states. To find out the registration and license requirements in your state, visit the SBA and complete the walkthrough guide.

In addition to registering your business in the US, it’s also a Walmart requirement that you have a warehouse in the country. This is because it makes shipping faster and returns easier for customers.

If you’re not ready to run or fund your own warehouse, you can send your stock to an outsourced fulfillment partner and benefit from multiple warehouse locations across the country. When you partner with Deliverr, you also get pre-qualified for Walmart TwoDay Delivery, Walmart’s fast shipping program.

2. Offer a unique product assortment

Walmart wants sellers to offer a variety of different products to help expand the marketplace’s diversity. However, you don’t want to offer something so unique that it’s difficult to sell, so sellers should conduct thorough product sourcing research before deciding what to sell on the platform.

Specifically, you should:

• Research different sourcing options such as wholesale, white-label, and arbitrage
• Calculate current consumer demand, using resources such as Amazon Best Sellers, Trending on eBay, and Trending on Walmart.com
• Predict future demand, using tools such as Google Trends
• Analyze competition on Walmart and other online marketplaces
• Predict profit margins by calculating your item, selling, and fulfillment costs

Tip: If you want to expand your catalog, you can finance through Payability to get paid sooner for your Walmart marketplace sales or get an advance based on future Walmart sales. Since Payability only evaluates account health and performance, if you have an existing store you could get approval in as little as 24 hours with no credit checks.

3. Have a history of eCommerce success

Walmart loves seeing evidence of existing eCommerce success when assessing applications to sell on the marketplace. We recommend you invest in a multi-channel eCommerce strategy that includes other sales channels such as Amazon, eBay, or Shopify to keep your business healthy and increase chances of approval on Walmart.com.

Tip: Use multi-channel management software, automation apps, and inventory tools to avoid growing pains as you scale and expand.

4. Provide competitive pricing

Although Walmart doesn’t necessarily value price over quality or 2-day delivery, you should have pricing that’s in line with similar products and items on other marketplaces. For example, if you list the same SKU on Walmart.com and Amazon, and offer a lower price on Amazon, your risk getting delisted on Walmart for charging a higher price for the same item.

Use an eCommerce pricing strategy that offers both value for your customers and profits for your business.

Offering competitive pricing while funding new products and additional marketplace fees can be challenging for your cashflow. This is why researching the different financing options available for marketplace sellers is good practice. Even if you don’t require additional financing now, it’s good to know what’s available should you require it in the future.

5. Offer fast and reliable fulfillment

Finally, Amazon isn’t the only marketplace offering 2-day and next-day deliveries. Walmart 2-Day delivery is a big deal for both customers and Walmart, so offering 2-day delivery is good for your conversions, customer satisfaction, and to position Walmart Marketplace as a convenient place to shop.

There are 2 main ways you can qualify for Walmart TwoDay (the official name of Walmart’s 2-day delivery program).

1. Ship Yourself

In order to qualify for seller-fulfilled 2-day delivery tags, you need to be eligible with 30-day performance showing:

• Sold on Walmart Marketplace seller for at least 90 days or fulfilled 100+ orders
• On-time shipping & delivery rate: >95%
• Valid tracking rate: >95%
• Cancellation rate: <1.5%
• Offer a generous returns policy

If you qualify, request access to participate:

1. Sign into Seller Center, navigate to your Shipping settings page, and click Request Access.
2. Your performance will be reviewed, as explained above, and your status in the program will be reflected on the site within 48 hours.
3. Once approved, follow setup instructions.

2. Ship Third-Party

Walmart sellers can also partner with Deliverr, an outsourced fulfillment partner, to becoming pre-approved for 2-day delivery tags.

If you’d like to work with Deliverr for pre-approved access:

1.  Sign up for fulfillment by Deliverr
2. Connect your Seller Center account to preview the cost for each item in your catalog and follow the prompts to confirm your participation.
3. You’ll automatically be approved for the free TwoDay delivery program for Deliverr customers.

Tip: find out which fulfillment option is best for your business’ finances by using this fulfillment cost calculator to compare your fulfillment and storage costs.

Applying to become a Walmart seller

Once you’ve met the eligibility requirements, then it’s time to apply to sell on the platform. This involves four stages.

1. Applying

Apply online to start selling on Walmart by completing the application form and submitting the necessary details and evidence.

2. Registering

Once your application has been successful, completing the registration steps. This includes confirming your business information, creating a seller profile, setting up your shipping methods and regions, and providing information on taxes.

3. Uploading items and testing orders

Next, you must upload your unique product selection to the platform and conduct test orders to check that everything is performing as it should.

4. Launching

Finally, you’re ready to launch your Walmart store and begin accepting orders and shipping items. Once you get into the flow of selling on Walmart, you can start looking into advertising on the platform, competing for the buy box, and qualifying for Walmart Free 2-Day delivery. But more on that another time.

And that’s how to become a Walmart Marketplace seller – a little bit more work up front, but the competition, sales, and customers make it more than worthwhile.

Tip: Deliverr’s FBA-like multi-channel fulfillment comes with clear pricing, easy on-boarding and a hassle free experience so you can focus on growing your eCommerce business.