Successfully Selling On Walmart Marketplace: The Complete Guide

If you’re an eCommerce seller looking to expand your business and increase your sales, Walmart Marketplace is an excellent option.

With over 220 million customers visiting the website each month, selling on Walmart Marketplace gives you a huge opportunity to reach new shoppers. 

Additionally, most Walmart Marketplace buyers have medium to high incomes, making them the ideal customer base to sell to.

However, selling on Walmart Marketplace can be challenging, with a complex and stringent application process and the chance of having your account removed if you don’t meet your performance metrics.

In this guide, we’ll unpack how you can become a seller on Walmart and the steps you need to follow to set up your store. We’ll also share some top tips for selling successfully and list some mistakes to avoid so that your account is never revoked.

What Is Walmart Marketplace and How Does It Work?

This is an online marketplace operated by Walmart that allows third-party sellers to list their products alongside its own inventory on Walmart.com. 

Walmart Marketplace is available in a select few countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the U.K. However, third-party sellers from around the world can sell products on the platform.

The model gives sellers the opportunity to leverage Walmart’s existing customer base, trusted brand, and extensive distribution network to sell their products.

Walmart Marketplace has a stringent application process and fewer sellers than Amazon and eBay. This makes it an excellent platform for selling products, as there is low competition.

When you sell on Walmart Marketplace, you’ll get access to millions of customers. The brand also has a reputation for quality products and customer service, which you can leverage to your advantage.

Additionally, Walmart Marketplace provides sellers with marketing tools and support to enhance their product visibility, including Walmart Connect, which is an advertising service you can pay for to have your products promoted.

Finally, the platform provides you with detailed performance metrics and analytics to help you optimize sales strategies and pricing.

How to Become a Walmart Marketplace Seller

First, you need to meet Walmart’s strict requirements to apply as a Marketplace seller. Walmart wants more third-party sellers on the platform, but it’s still selective about who it works with.

There are certain criteria that you need to meet to apply. You must:

• Own a business based in the United States.
• Have a valid business name with a physical address, tax ID, and relevant licenses.
• Have at least one year of marketplace or eCommerce success, indicated by good product reviews and solid numbers. This could be on your own website or on sales channels like Amazon.

Walmart only works with companies with a proven track record, so if you’re new to eCommerce, it’s best to sell on other platforms first and return to this platform once you have more experience. 

If you meet all of the criteria, you can follow these steps to complete the online application and start selling on Walmart Marketplace:

Step 1: Submit an application

Start by submitting an application to be a third-party seller. The online registration process takes about 15 minutes, but you’ll need to provide a lot of information for business verification.

Have this information on hand to speed up the approval process:

• Your business tax ID.
• Your latest W-9, W-8, or employer identification number (EIN) from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Your business address.
• Information on the product categories you sell and the total number of SKUs with their unique product code (UPC) information. This can’t include any products on the prohibited items list.
• A plan for how you will integrate your product catalog with Walmart Marketplace.

Once you have this information, visit the Walmart Seller Center and complete the form to create an account.

Walmart can take up to a month to process your application. To avoid delays, be as thorough as possible while filling out your submission. 

Walmart will notify you once they make a decision on your application. If they don’t approve it, it’s likely due to a lack of experience or missing information. Walmart will tell you why they rejected your application, so use this information to make changes and apply again. 

Step 2: Register for a Walmart seller account

Once Walmart approves your application, you will be asked to set up a seller account. Click on the link in your approval email to start the onboarding process. 

Agree to the Walmart Retailer Agreement

Log into Seller Central and enter your company name and corporate address. Walmart will also ask you to sign the Walmart Retailer Agreement. 

This is a legally binding agreement, so read it carefully and ensure you agree with all of their terms. 

Submit your forms and payment information

Walmart will need your tax information before it can pay you, so submit a recent W-9 in the Seller Center portal. 

During account setup, you also need to choose how to accept payments from Walmart. It will charge referral fees to this payment method, although it usually deducts these fees from your sales totals. However, as a new seller, you might have to pay fees while waiting for your first payment to clear.

Walmart processes payments through Payoneer and Hyperwallet for third-party sellers in the U.S.  

It’s important to note that Walmart holds new seller payments for 14 days until you meet one of these criteria: 

• You received $7,500 in payments.
• You shipped your first order 90 days ago.

Walmart will suspend your payments for low performance. You might have payments suspended if you have:

• A high refund rate (it needs to be below 10% for 30 days).
• Missing tax documentation.
• Delivery delays. 

Ensure you follow Walmart’s performance standards to avoid any payment disruptions.

Add your shipping information

You have complete control over how you’ll ship goods to your customers. If you aren’t using Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), this is the time to specify: 

• Your shipping policies.
• Shipping charges.
• The regions you ship to.
• Shipping methods and carriers.

Step 3: List your products and do test orders

The final step is to set up items so you can begin selling on Walmart Marketplace. Walmart Marketplace doesn’t have a minimum or maximum SKU, so you’re free to list as many or as few products as you like. 

Product listings are crucial to succeeding as a Walmart Marketplace seller. Take time to optimize your listings as much as possible, and make sure you select the correct primary product categories for each listing. 

This is the best way to boost your ranking in the Walmart algorithm and give your shoppers the best possible experience. 

Once you load your listings into your account, Walmart will request a test order. This step ensures that you meet Walmart’s standards and is also helpful to you as a seller since it double-checks that everything works properly. 

If you sell products in multiple categories, test a few options in each category. Don’t worry—you don’t need to actually ship them. Follow Walmart’s guide to finalize your order testing.

Once you validate the ordering process, Walmart will approve your listings to go live. This process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two days.

At this point, you’ve completed the Seller Launch Checklist. Use the “Go Live” button in your Seller Center dashboard to start selling on Walmart.

7 Tips for Walmart Marketplace Sellers to See Success

If you want to boost your sales on Walmart Marketplace, follow these tips to sell more products successfully: 

1. Monitor your pricing

Walmart cares a lot about offering its customers the lowest prices. Competitive pricing is crucial, but you don’t want poor pricing to affect your profit margin.

Use pricing automation tools like Spark Shipping to offer low prices without impacting your margins—or jeopardizing your performance on Walmart.

Remember to account for referral and fulfillment fees in your pricing. Offering the cheapest price might increase your sales, but if you’re spending more than you earn, your business won’t survive.

2. Check the Unpublished Items Dashboard regularly

Walmart has stringent performance standards and if your listings don’t meet these, the platform might unpublish certain products. Walmart will unpublish products if they don’t meet certain benchmarks, have missing images, or use incorrect dates. 

Go to the Unpublished Items Dashboard in Seller Center to see why Walmart unpublished your listings. The good news is that you don’t have to do any digging to figure out why—this information is all available in the dashboard. 

Walmart will provide a code for each unpublished item and share instructions on how to republish it. When you solve the issue, you can start selling the product again.

3. Boost your product listings with the Listing Quality Dashboard

The quality of your listings has a big impact on sales. Walmart provides the Listing Quality Dashboard to tell you how effective your listings actually are. 

It analyzes each listing and assigns it a Listing Quality Score on a scale of zero to 99. Walmart determines this score based on your listing content, the offering itself, your reviews, and the quality of the post-purchase experience (like customer returns). 

The dashboard will also offer advice on how to improve your Quality Score. Again, this is great because you don’t have to guess what Walmart wants. 

Based on what you learn, you might need to change your pricing, add more product images, write a better product description, or offer fast shipping to boost your Quality Score. 

4. Sign Up for Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)

Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) works similarly to Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA). If you sign up for WFS, it will store inventory and pick, pack, and ship orders for you. Simply ship your products to one of the Walmart warehouses, and it will handle everything from there. 

Of course, this fulfillment option isn’t free. There are a lot of fees associated with fulfillment services, so you need to proceed carefully to make sure you can recoup these costs.

Check out the WFS portal to estimate your fulfillment fees before signing up.

5. Invest in Walmart search engine optimization (SEO)

Walmart Marketplace operates like a search engine, and the better you optimize for the algorithm, the better your products will rank when customers search for them. 

If you want to win the coveted Buy Box—which goes to the seller with the best pricing and shipping options—you need to optimize your listings.

Here’s how you can do this:

✅ Optimize your listing content

Shoppers use certain search queries or keywords to find your products on Walmart Marketplace. Try to add these keywords to your listings to have them show up in more searches. 

Add these keywords to your product titles and descriptions, but keep them within 50 to 75 characters for readability. 

Use bullet points to highlight your product benefits, listing at least three to five reasons your product is the best. It’s a good idea to include keywords here too.

✅ Use quality images

Grainy or low-quality images can reduce your sales. If your manufacturer has provided low-quality images, hire a professional photographer to take new ones. 

Instead of uploading just one image for each product, upload multiple shots of the product from different angles. Use a mix of photos showing the product on a plain white background and of the product in use. 

It’s tempting to create these visuals using Photoshop, but shoppers can see right through a bad Photoshop job, so it’s best to take real photos. 

✅ Add videos

If possible, upload short videos showing the product in use and explain its features. This isn’t mandatory, but it adds more context to your listings and tells shoppers that you’re a high-quality, professional seller. 

✅ Encourage customer reviews

It’s hard to gather customer reviews, but this is an important ranking factor for Walmart SEO. 

You want to gather as many highly-rated reviews as possible. Ask people to leave a review on the product page or enroll in Walmart’s Review Accelerator Program. 

With this program, Walmart encourages shoppers to leave authentic reviews. You’ll pay $10 per review (for a maximum of five reviews per item), so this can get expensive. However, if you have the budget, it’s worthwhile to improve your rankings in search results.

If you deliver a good customer experience, people are more likely to leave a positive review. The more five-star reviews you have from verified buyers, the more likely your products are to rank highly.

6. Advertise your products

For increased visibility, consider signing up for Walmart Connect. This cost-per-click (CPC) advertising service boosts your products in the search results, so you potentially make more sales. 

Paid Walmart Marketplace ads promote your products at the top of the product search page. If you get your campaign settings just right, shoppers will see your products at the top of the page—even if your organic rank isn't on the front page.

If you’re new to pay-per-click (PPC) ads, go with the Automatic campaign setting. If you’re familiar with PPC, sign up for a Manual campaign to choose which search queries to bid on.

Keep in mind that the quality of your listings still matters even if you’re using Walmart Connect to promote your products. 

The platform determines which products earn the sponsored slot based partially on Walmart Marketplace reviews, pricing, and quality customer service. 

If you’re paying for ads and aren’t seeing results, improve other aspects of your Walmart shop first and then try to run Walmart Marketplace ads again.

7. Leverage expedited shipping programs and services

Fast shipping and competitive charges are some of the best ways to boost your eCommerce business. Walmart Marketplace has a portfolio of expedited shipping options that are easy for you to manage, and you should leverage this to your advantage.

When you configure your shipping settings, you are presented with various options from which you can choose the best one for your business.

Walmart’s TwoDay program is ideal for your business and your customers. Items in your catalog that ship within two days get a “Free 2-day delivery” tag on the marketplace, which can appeal to more customers.

Another option is the ThreeDay program, which is better if you can’t afford to include two-day shipping on all your products. 

Mistakes to Avoid as a Walmart Marketplace Seller

Selling on Walmart Marketplace can be challenging, especially seeing as your performance is constantly monitored. Here are some mistakes to avoid as a Walmart Marketplace seller:

❌ Ignoring Walmart’s listing guidelines

Ensure that all your product listings are complete with accurate descriptions, high-quality images, and detailed specifications. Inaccurate listings can lead to negative customer reviews and returns.

Each product category on Walmart has specific guidelines, and not complying with these can result in your listings being removed from the platform.

❌ Poor inventory management

Running out of stock can negatively impact your seller ratings, lead to lost sales, and result in unhappy customers. 

You should implement inventory management systems like Spark Shipping to keep track of stock levels and reorder timely.

On the other hand, overstocking can tie up your capital and incur additional storage costs, especially if you’re using Walmart Fulfilment Services.

❌ Inadequate pricing strategy

Walmart Marketplace is price-sensitive, with strict pricing policies in place. You need to regularly monitor your competitor’s pricing and adjust yours accordingly to remain competitive without losing out on profit.

Additionally, Walmart requires that the price of products listed on their platform should not be higher than those listed on others—even on your website. You need to ensure your prices are the same or lower than those you have listed on other platforms.

❌ Poor customer service

Customers expect quick responses to their inquiries and issues. In fact, 46% of customers expect brands to respond within four hours. 

Delayed responses can lead to negative feedback and lower seller ratings, which could impact your performance scores. 

Negative reviews should be addressed promptly and professionally. Use them as an opportunity to improve your products and customer service.

❌ Non-compliance with Walmart’s policies

If you want to avoid having your seller account restricted or removed, avoid listing prohibited or restricted products. Familiarize yourself with Walmart’s policies on restricted items before you create any product listings.

You should also adhere to Walmart’s rules regarding fulfillment, returns, and other operational guidelines to avoid penalties.

❌ Poor fulfilment

You need to avoid late shipping if you want to build a loyal customer base and maintain a high performance score on Walmart Marketplace. Ensure timely shipping to avoid negative customer feedback and keep your performance scores high.

If in-house logistics are challenging, consider using Walmart Fulfillment Services.

❌ Poor packaging

When shipping items to customers, you need to ensure they’re packaged properly. This will help you avoid product damage during transit. Poor packaging can lead to returns and negative customer reviews.

❌ Ignoring your analytics

One of the benefits of selling on Walmart Marketplace is that the platform provides useful analytics in your Seller Center. You should use these tools to monitor your performance metrics and identify areas for improvement.

You should be ready to adapt your strategies based on market trends, customer feedback, and your sales data.

Let’s say you’re selling shoes on Walmart Marketplace and see that larger sizes are in demand, but you don’t stock them. This data tells you that you need to stock shoes in larger sizes if you want to make more sales and beat the competition.

❌ Lack of clear return and refund policies

With Walmart Marketplace, you don’t have to follow the platform’s return policies, but you do have to adhere to their terms of service.

Ensure that your return and refund processes are simple and customer-friendly. Complicated procedures can deter customers and lead to negative reviews.

You should also regularly monitor the reasons why your products are being returned so that you can address any recurring issues, improve customer satisfaction, and increase sales.

Reach More Customers With Spark Shipping

Walmart Marketplace has stringent application standards, but it’s the perfect opportunity for you to expand your audience and earning potential. Selling on Walmart Marketplace offers more visibility that can take your online business to the next level. 

If you’re selling on multiple platforms and online marketplaces, the time you spend on manual tasks can quickly add up. This takes you away from more strategic tasks like optimizing for the Walmart algorithm. 

Automate your dropshipping or eCommerce store with a solution like Spark Shipping. We help online store owners streamline:

• Inventory management.
• Price automation.
• Order fulfillment.
• Tracking updates.

Get a quick Spark Shipping demo now to see how eCommerce automation can streamline your business and increase your sales.