Are you an established dropshipper with some experience under your belt? If so, you can expand your dropshipping business model to new online marketplaces.
As long as you have a proven track record as a dropshipper, Walmart Marketplace provides a massive opportunity to reach a new audience with your dropshipping products.
Dropshipping Walmart products is an excellent option for your eCommerce business if you want to boost your sales and make a good profit. In fact, over one-third of Walmart sellers have earned between 50,000 and one million dollars on the platform.
However, dropshipping on online marketplaces can be challenging. You have to choose the right platform, compete with other sellers, and ensure you have an effective and competitive pricing strategy.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide. We’ll help you decide if Walmart Marketplace is the right option for you, and we’ll provide some expert tips on how to stand out from the competition and make more sales.
What Is Walmart Dropshipping?
Walmart dropshipping is a business model where a seller lists products on Walmart Marketplace without keeping inventory.
Instead of stocking products, the seller purchases items from third-party suppliers—such as wholesalers, manufacturers, or retailers—only after a customer orders.
The supplier then ships the product directly to the customer on the seller’s behalf. You can do this as long as you meet Walmart’s supplier requirements, which we will discuss later in this article.
This method allows sellers to operate without the overhead costs of warehousing and fulfillment.
However, Walmart has strict policies regarding dropshipping, making it more challenging compared to platforms like Amazon or having a Shopify store.
Why Dropship on Walmart’s Marketplace?
Selling your products on an online marketplace platform might sound complex, but with the right selling tools, Walmart dropshipping is a great option. More dropshippers are selling on the Walmart Marketplace for the following reasons:
✅ There’s less competition from other sellers
Unlike Amazon or eBay, this platform is selective about who qualifies as a Walmart drop-ship vendor. The application process to become a Walmart Marketplace seller is more complex, but it also means you won’t have to compete with nearly as many sellers as you would on other online marketplaces.
✅ It integrates with nearly everything
Selling products manually can be challenging, which is why so many Walmart dropshipping companies use third-party tools like Spark Shipping to manage their eCommerce businesses.
Walmart is an excellent choice for dropshippers because it easily integrates with tools to streamline listings, orders, pricing, and store inventory.
✅ Plenty of people shop on Walmart.com
If you aren’t already selling your products on Walmart Marketplace, you’re missing out on a big opportunity, as it has more than 120 million monthly visitors looking for products like yours.
Additionally, Walmart now offers two-day shipping, so as long as you can meet the platform’s delivery and pricing rules, you’ll attract more shoppers eager for a good alternative to Amazon Prime.
✅ Online shoppers trust the platform
Over 90% of Walmart’s 120 million online shoppers make purchases monthly, highlighting their trust in this platform.
Shoppers are becoming more wary of platforms like Amazon and eBay. But, because Walmart is so careful about its vendor selections, shoppers tend to trust this platform more, which means they trust your dropshipping products, too.
✅ Walmart dropshipping has a simple fee structure
Unlike other dropshipping platforms, Walmart Marketplace’s fee structure is straightforward. You only pay a referral fee based on product categories—unless you pay for fulfillment, which we’ll cover later in this article.
The Challenges of Dropshipping on Walmart
As mentioned above, Walmart offers access to millions of customers. However, it comes with several challenges that make it more difficult than dropshipping on platforms like Amazon or Shopify. Below are some of the key challenges you may encounter and how you can handle them:
❌ Potentially lower profit margins
One of the biggest challenges with Walmart dropshipping is the high competition and potentially lower profit margins. Since Walmart is known for its low prices, sellers may struggle to compete while maintaining healthy margins.
How to overcome this challenge
Find high-margin items through product research tools like Helium 10 and Jungle Scout. You can also use bundle strategies—which means selling related products together—to increase perceived value.
❌ Strict seller rules
Walmart has zero tolerance for policy violations; even minor infractions can lead to account suspension or bands. Dropshippers must comply with Walmart’s strict performance standards, which we’ll outline later in this article.
How to overcome this challenge
Ensure you work with wholesale suppliers or private manufacturers instead of retailers. Additionally, use fulfillment tools like Spark Shipping to manage your orders efficiently.
❌ An extended application process
Unlike Shopify, where anyone can start a store instantly, Walmart Marketplace has a strict approval process. Sellers must apply and wait for approval, which can take a long time.
How to overcome this challenge
Ensure your business is legally registered before applying, and provide detailed information about your previous sales performance. We’ll go through the application process in detail shortly.
How Walmart Dropshipping Works
Walmart only wants to work with established dropshippers with a solid reputation, so you can only drop ship from Walmart if you've been dropshipping for some time.
If you’re accepted as a seller on Walmart’s platform, they will display your products alongside its products in relevant searches.
When shoppers purchase items from your Walmart dropshipping store, you route that order either through Walmart (if you’re using Walmart Fulfillment Services) or a third-party fulfillment company to handle the drop shipping.
In exchange for using the platform, Walmart will charge you a single fee. The referral fees cover all costs associated with the Walmart drop ship program, minus Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) fees if you use Walmart for fulfillment.
The fee is percentage-based per order, simplifying Walmart dropshipping fees.
However, these referral fees differ by product category and can be pricey. For example, jewelry has a 20% fee, while video games have a 15% fee.
Although these might seem more expensive than other platforms, Walmart doesn’t have hidden fees, which keeps things simple and straightforward for sellers.
Walmart will pay you every two weeks, although your first payment will take longer to clear as the platform vets you first.
They will continue monitoring your performance metrics through a Seller Scorecard, which assesses your quality in terms of reviews, returns, and other metrics.
If the platform notices a dip in your quality, it could revoke your selling privileges. If this does happen, the Walmart seller dashboard will tell you precisely what you need to do to fix the situation.
How To Become a Walmart Dropshipping Vendor
As mentioned above, one of the biggest hurdles to Walmart dropshipping is becoming an approved vendor. Remember, Walmart is highly selective about who sells on its platform, so not just any dropshipper can join.
There are three main steps you’d need to follow to become a Walmart Marketplace seller:
1. Verify your business
First, set up a Seller Profile and add your business details. You’ll manage your Partner Account within the Walmart Seller Center. Walmart will need a lot of information for this, so we recommend gathering all your details before applying as a seller.
To sell Walmart products, you’ll need:
- Your legal business name.
- A valid business address.
- A W-8 or W-9.
- Your business tax ID, also known as your Employer Identification Number (EIN).
- Valid contact information, like an email and phone number.
- Documented history of your eCommerce success.
- An existing product catalog (it can’t contain any prohibited items, which we’ll detail below).
After submitting this information, you’ll need to wait for Walmart to verify you. This process could take up to a week, especially during busy times of the year.
2. Add your bank details
Once Walmart verifies your business details, you will be asked to set up payment and shipping information. Walmart requires you to register with Payoneer to receive payments.
The good news is that Walmart will guide you through the registration process through your Seller Center account, which will take you over to Payoneer.
Registering through your Walmart Marketplace account is vital because it exempts you from Payoneer’s $1.50 withdrawal fee.
3. Set up your product catalog and shipping details
Once you’ve set up payments, it’s time to provide Walmart with your:
- Primary product categories: Walmart will ask you to submit your eCommerce product catalog for review.
- Shipping information: Choose between value, standard, next-day, and expedited shipping. You must also specify which regions you ship to, your shipping cost, and average transit times.
Walmart can take anywhere from three business days to three weeks to review your application.
It isn’t unusual to receive a rejection the first time around, usually for documentation issues. Don’t let this deter you—take Walmart’s feedback, rework your application, and apply again.
As long as you’re a valid business with a proven dropshipping track record, you stand a good chance of dropshipping on Walmart.
Dropshipping On Walmart Marketplace: 10 Tips for Growing Your Business
Selling on Walmart is a great way to boost dropshipping sales, but your online business will need constant optimization to succeed. Follow these best practices for competitive, profitable Walmart dropshipping:
1. Use Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)
WFS is Walmart’s version of Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA). If you don’t already have a dropshipping supplier, this is a great way to save hours every week managing your dropshipping business.
You’ll be paying WFS fees on every transaction, but this cost is worth the quality service and time savings.
With WFS, you ship all of your inventory to the Walmart warehouse. When shoppers order your products, Walmart picks, packs, and ships the order for you. It also offers benefits like:
- Two-day shipping.
- Higher search rankings and Buy Box features, which are when your products are featured on Walmart Marketplace in a special box with a “Buy Now” button.
- Daily seller support options.
- Free shipping for shoppers.
WFS pricing depends on your product dimensions and pricing. You can use the WFS fee calculator to get a rough idea of your WFS fees. They generally range from $3.45 to $17.55, although items retailing for over $10 and oversized items have higher fees.
2. Offer fast shipping
Over 40% of global shoppers expect to receive their orders within 24 hours, which means standard shipping isn’t good enough.
To build a following of loyal shoppers, you need to offer affordable, speedy shipping. Signing up for WFS is the best way to do this, but the fees don’t always make sense, especially if your drop shipping business is still small.
Fortunately, you can sign up to offer two-day or three-day shipping through Walmart. Sellers who qualify for these shipping options see as much as a 50% boost in conversions, so it’s worth considering.
You need to meet these rules to qualify for expedited shipping:
- You must be on the platform for 90 days as a seller or have at least 100 fulfilled orders.
- You need a 95% on-time shipping and delivery rate or higher.
- You must have a 95% valid tracking rate or higher.
- You must have a 1.5% cancellation rate or lower.
- You should offer free returns.
3. Use an inventory tracking system
Walmart encourages dropshippers to invest in some kind of inventory management and automation solution. Solutions like Spark Shipping can:
- Give you an accurate view of all inventory levels across Walmart Marketplace, as well as your other selling platforms.
- Bulk-import product catalog details to Walmart Marketplace.
- Forecast Walmart dropshipping demand.
- Sync inventory in real-time.
- Automatically send tracking details to your customers.
Instead of spending hours every day updating inventory figures and tracking numbers—and wondering if the information is correct—automate everything with Spark Shipping. It’s the best way to save time and scale your Walmart dropshipping business with little manual effort.
4. Try the retail arbitrage method
Most sellers source products through manufacturers or dropshipping suppliers. But if you want to get more value out of your margins, consider the retail arbitrage method.
With retail arbitrage, you buy products from another seller or location at the lowest price and then resell them to buyers on platforms like Walmart Marketplace.
This can be challenging as Walmart wants to work with high-volume, reliable suppliers. If you’re doing arbitrage, you need a way to source hundreds of low-cost products at once. You won’t find these deals on Facebook Marketplace, and you’ll likely need to import products from overseas.
For example, maybe you realize sneakers are way cheaper in Malaysia than they are in the United States. It might require a bit of a process, but if you can find a way to import plenty of lower-cost sneakers, you can sell them for a good profit on Walmart Marketplace.
5. Offer excellent customer service
Walmart cares about quality, so it’s no surprise that it places a lot of emphasis on the customer experience. If you want to retain your good standing as a seller, you have to provide your customers with excellent service at every point of the selling process.
Additionally, customer service is also a factor in your Seller Scorecard, so this can have a big impact on your ability to drop ship from Walmart.
Follow these basics to offer high-quality customer experiences at scale:
- Set up customer service information in Seller Central. You should provide an email, phone number, escalation email (for Walmart use only), and a 4,000-character customer service policy.
- Communicate clearly and professionally with your customers.
- Respond to shopper questions and negative customer reviews quickly.
- Do whatever you can to stay in stock. Solutions like Spark Shipping help you source inventory from multiple suppliers at the best prices, so you never need to worry about stocking out.
6. Keep an eye on your performance standards
It’s crucial that you maintain high performance standards on Walmart Marketplace if you want to continue to be a seller on the platform. This is how Walmart ensures only the best suppliers sell on its Marketplace.
There are five performance metrics that Walmart Marketplace will score you on, so it’s essential to monitor these in the Performance section in the Seller Center:
- Cancellation rate: This is the percentage of customer orders that get canceled. This should be less than 2%.
- On-time delivery rate: 95% or more of your orders must meet the estimated delivery time provided to customers.
- Refund rate: This is the rate at which orders are refunded for reasons the seller is responsible for. This amount should be less than 6%.
- Valid tracking rate: 99% or more of your orders should have valid tracking information supplied to the customer.
- Seller response rate: This is where good customer service comes in. You must respond to at least 95% of customer inquiries within 48 hours of receiving them.
7. Create high-quality product listings
Up to 80% of customers do online research before buying a product. For this reason, your product listings need to be excellent if you want to make more sales.
Here are some essentials for creating good product listings on Walmart Marketplace:
- Good visuals: Use high-resolution photographs and visuals to display your product.
- Variation: Display your product from various angles so that customers can understand the complete product.
- Detailed product descriptions: Include as much information as possible in your product descriptions, including all the specifications, sizes, and other details.
- Compelling copy: Focus the copy of your product listing on the benefits and features of the product. Speak to what customers will get from the product and what problems it’ll solve for them.
8. Use Walmart Connect
Instead of running paid adverts on Facebook and Instagram to sell your dropshipping products, you can run ads on Walmart Marketplace. This is done through a feature called Walmart Connect.
Walmart Connect lets you advertise your products in places on their website that will attract customers’ attention. This can increase your sales and boost visibility for your Walmart store.
The feature allows you to choose a schedule, budget, and keywords. These ads are sold on a cost-per-click basis, meaning you only pay for ads that a customer clicks on and nothing else.
9. Optimize for Walmart search engine optimization (SEO)
Like Google and Amazon, Walmart uses an algorithm to suggest products based on shoppers’ search queries. It won’t happen overnight, but making a few changes to your seller account and product listings could help you stand out from the competition in Walmart search.
Follow these quick tips to master Walmart SEO:
- Sign up for two-day or three-day shipping or WFS. This can significantly increase your chances of winning the featured Buy Box.
- Upload at least four images for all of your products. The more, the better!
- Create a follow-up email campaign asking customers to submit feedback and reviews.
- Collect as many five-star reviews as possible to see your rankings improve over time.
- Write highly descriptive, helpful product listings. Use lots of bullet points to break up the text and make it easy to read.
Remember, SEO doesn’t get results immediately. You’ll need to work on it regularly to improve your rankings steadily.
10. Do your product research
Successful dropshipping on Walmart isn’t just about listing random products and hoping for sales. To build a profitable business, you must identify high-demand, low-competition products with good profit margins.This is where Walmart product research comes in. You can make informed decisions that drive sales growth by analyzing market trends, pricing strategies, and customer demand.
Below are some tips for your product research:
✔️ Find winning products: Not all products sell well on Walmart's Marketplace. Using research tools like Helium 10’s Walmart Xray and data analysis, you can identify trending items, seasonal bestsellers, and evergreen products that customers are actively searching for.
✔️ Stay competitive with pricing strategies: Walmart’s algorithm prioritizes competitive pricing, meaning sellers with the best price often win the sale. By researching competitor pricing, you can adjust your pricing strategy to attract customers without sacrificing profit margins.
✔️ Avoid high-saturation products: Selling a product with too many competitors makes it difficult to stand out. You can spot under-served product categories through product research where demand is high, but competition is lower.
✔️ Analyze customer demand: Looking at customer reviews, ratings, and sales history can give you insights into what shoppers love—or dislike—about certain products. This allows you to source better alternatives or create optimized product descriptions that highlight key selling points.
Without research, you risk choosing products that don’t sell, leading to wasted time and potential losses. By evaluating product costs, supplier fees, and Walmart’s commission structure, you can ensure you’re selecting profitable items with strong demand.
What are Walmart’s Restricted and Prohibited Items for Dropshipping?
Walmart Marketplace has strict guidelines on what sellers can sell, especially for dropshipping businesses. Violating these policies can lead to account suspension or permanent bans.
Below is a breakdown of restricted and prohibited items Walmart doesn’t allow dropshippers to sell:
🚫 Prohibited items
These products can’t be sold at all, whether you’re dropshipping or holding inventory:
- Counterfeit or replica products: Fake luxury brands, knockoff electronics and accessories, and any product that violates intellectual property rights.
- Hazardous and regulated materials: Flammable, explosive, or toxic chemicals. This also includes fireworks, explosives, gasoline, and pesticides or insecticides.
- Weapons and firearms: Including ammunition, stun guns, pepper spray, and self-defense weapons.
- Smoking-related items: Tobacco, alcohol, and vape products.
- Medication: Prescription medications and supplements with health claims.
- Sexually explicit adult products: Pornographic content, adult magazines, and products with explicit imagery or descriptions.
- Events tickets and services: Concert, sports, or travel tickets. This includes digital services or subscriptions that don’t involve physical goods.
- Recalled products and used items: Products recalled for safety concerns or unused or refurbished items (unless approved by Walmart).
🚫 Restricted items
Some items require additional approval before you can sell them on Walmart, including:
- Grocery and perishable items: Products must follow FDA guidelines and proper food handling practices.
- Over-the-counter medications: These require proper labeling, approvals, and documentation. Additionally, these products must not make unverified medical claims.
- Certain electronics and batteries: Lithium-ion batteries have shipping restrictions, and some electronics may require FCC compliance documentation.
- Luxury goods: High-value products, such as high-end watches, designer handbags, and jewelry. These require proof of authenticity and brand approval.
- Personal care and cosmetics: These must comply with FDA and consumer safety regulations and can’t contain banned or harmful ingredients.
Understanding Walmart’s Shipping and Return Policies
Dropshipping on Walmart comes with strict shipping and return policies. As mentioned earlier, Walmart prioritizes fast delivery, customer satisfaction, and hassle-free returns.
This makes it essential for dropshippers to comply with these policies. Below is a breakdown of what you need to know:
➡️ Shipping policies
Walmart expects sellers to provide fast and reliable shipping, as delayed deliveries can impact performance metrics.The standard shipping time is two to five business days, while sellers offering free two-day shipping tend to gain better visibility in search results.
Expedited shipping—which is one to two business days—is optional, but it can help boost your conversions.
As a dropshipper, you’re responsible for ensuring that orders are shipping on time and tracking information is uploaded within 24 hours of order confirmation.
➡️ Return policies
Walmart requires sellers to accept returns for at least 30 days from the delivery date, except for specific categories like perishables or personal care items.
If the return is due to a seller error—such as shipping the wrong item or sending a damaged product—the seller must cover the return shipping costs.
However, if a customer returns an item because they’ve changed their mind, the seller can charge a restocking fee, provided it’s clearly stated in the return policy.
Customers initiate return requests through Walmart, and the seller must provide a return label and instructions. The returned item is then shipped back to the seller or supplier, and a refund is processed once it’s received.
Can I Dropship from Walmart to Other Platforms?
Dropshipping from Walmart to other platforms like eBay, Amazon, or Shopify is a business model where sellers purchase products from Walmart at a low price and resell them at a higher price on another marketplace.
This approach may seem like an easy way to profit from Walmart’s vast inventory, but it does come with risks and challenges that you should consider.
For example, most major platforms prohibit retail dropshipping, which is buying from one retailer and selling on another. Amazon and eBay in particular, don’t allow orders to be fulfilled from Walmart or other retailers if the package arrives with Walmart-branded packaging, receipts, or invoices.
Violating this policy can lead to account suspension or permanent bans. Additionally, if Walmart suspects you’re buying products from its marketplace to sell them to a third party, it has the right to terminate your seller account.
Run a Better Online Store With Spark Shipping
Selling on Walmart Marketplace is challenging. Getting into Walmart’s third-party seller program is the first big hurdle, but remaining a seller is just as hard.
The tips in this guide will boost your reputation on Walmart Marketplace, but this is just the start. You need help executing all these big ideas, and that’s where Spark Shipping comes in. We help Walmart dropshippers:
- Integrate vendor inventory information.
- Automatically manage inventory.
- Conduct product management.
- Automate pricing.
- Map products to multiple vendors.
- Port over fitment data.
- Fulfill orders.
- Send tracking updates to shoppers.
Spend your time where it matters most by automating manual tasks to Spark Shipping while focusing on serving customers and growing your Walmart dropshipping business.
Schedule your Spark Shipping demo now to learn how our platform can help you take your Walmart Marketplace dropshipping store to the next level.