According to eMarketer Walmart accounts for 6.7% in retail ecommerce sales by 2020. It is second only to Amazon, and it leverages its brick-and mortar stores to stay ahead other ecommerce platforms such as eBay.
Walmart’s marketplace is a great place to dropship.
Dropshipping allows you to sell products without the seller having to store them or ship them. They use third-party suppliers to fulfill orders. Although it’s often quite competitive, Walmart is an exclusive platform that makes dropshipping possible.
Walmart.com will allow sellers to access a larger marketplace that is more competitive than Amazon. Dropshippers have the opportunity to reach far more customers than if they were to create an online store.
We will be discussing what Walmart dropshipping looks like and how to get started dropshipping through this channel.
What makes dropshipping different than other Walmart selling models.
Walmart dropshipping can be better understood if you first look at the different selling options for brands that sell on Walmart.com.
1P Selling Through Walmart Fulfillment Services
Walmart 1P is the first choice. Walmart 1P is your first option. Walmart is a first-party seller and can control everything about your product, including pricing, shipping and returns. This makes it easier for you and your team to sell your product and gives your product the Walmart brand credibility. These sellers are also called Warehouse Suppliers by Walmart.
Walmart 3P selling via self-fulfillment
Walmart 3P sellers sell their products through Walmart’s site. They also have full control over their inventory and listings on Walmart. While 3P models are more labor intensive, they give you much more control over your brand and listing.
3P vendors can sell on the Walmart Marketplace. This means that they are fully responsible for content optimization, marketing, customer service, and advertising. This is an ideal model for companies with a lot of resources who place great importance on the way their brand is presented and priced across different platforms. Walmart can be a valuable platform for brands to reach new customers, but it plays very little role in the fulfillment and promotion of the products.
Walmart Fulfillment Services – 3P Selling
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is available to help 3P vendors. These vendors can control their pricing and listings, but they are not responsible for fulfilling orders. Instead, these vendors ship their products directly to Walmart. Walmart stores the inventory and fulfills orders. These vendors retain the greater control of a 3P model but their products have a badge that says “Fulfilled By Walmart” on their listing, which immediately boosts their credibility. Sellers also benefit from Walmart 2-shipping across the country.
What is Walmart Dropshipping?
Dropshipping Walmart is possible in three ways
- Dropshipping Walmart products on other platforms such as Amazon and eBay
- Walmart’s Dropship Vendor program allows merchants to send products directly to customers.
- Dropshipping products to Walmart Marketplace
Dropshipping as a third-party seller will be our focus.
Third-party Selling means that you list your products on Walmart under the business name. While the seller is responsible for the entire process, he or she also benefits from Walmart’s vast customer base. Although it can be difficult to get approval for this type selling on Walmart, it is possible. As we will explain in this article.
Dropshipping at Walmart is a great option
Dropshipping can be a very lucrative business but it is difficult to stand out among so many other sellers. Walmart gives this seller the best of both worlds: a top ecommerce marketplace with more than 380 million visitors in September 2020, but not too crowded that it is difficult to stand out.
Pros
Walmart is a newer platform in ecommerce so it doesn’t have as many competitors as Amazon. The current number of sellers is just over 88,000, which is quite small compared to Amazon’s nearly 1.6 million.
Walmart offers dropshippers a more competitive marketplace.
- There are no fees or upfront costs. Walmart does not charge any fees to open a store, or to register to sell on the platform. Referral fees are only charged when you make a sale. You can find out more about referral fees .
- A large selection of products. Walmart has over 35 categories you can sell your products in. You can sell any item on Walmart as long as it isn’t on the Prohibited Product list.
- Because there is less competition for placement, sellers are better placed to win Buy Box on Walmart than Amazon.
Cons
Dropshipping on Walmart has its pros and cons. There are some downsides:
- The registration and application process is lengthy. You will need many details (like your tax ID and physical address) to be approved. This is because Walmart is strict about quality sellers. Before applying, you might want to try other platforms. It can take between two and four weeks for your application to be approved.
- Specific pricing rules. Walmart wants customers to pay the lowest possible price for their products so there are strict pricing rules sellers have to follow.
- Lower profit margins. Although they might sell more due to lower prices, sellers may see lower profit margins selling on Walmart. Walmart’s pricing rules dictate that listings are removed if the product is sold on another market at a higher price.
These downsides shouldn’t discourage you from dropshipping at Walmart. You should also consider the negatives of platforms such as Amazon where there are many fees and huge competition. Shopify is another option, where you will need to start building your customer base.
Dropshippers often sell on Walmart cheaper than dropshippers due to their low overhead costs and large customer base.
How to Start Dropshipping with Walmart
Walmart Marketplace is a great place to sell, but it can be difficult to get approved as a seller. These steps will help you get started dropshipping at Walmart.
Step 1: Locate suppliers and products to start your dropshipping company
Doba, Wholesale Central, and SaleHoo are great platforms for finding wholesale suppliers. YouTuber Noah Mincis offers a guide to find suppliers that starts at 6:45 . Noah recommends that suppliers be found at trade shows, as well as on other marketplaces such Amazon and eBay.
You need to be aware of certain details when researching suppliers.
- Their technology quality. Assess the quality of their technology and how current their website is.
- Their location. Dropshipping on Walmart is best when you have local suppliers. They are often able ship products quicker. This is because Walmart rewards speedy shipping by giving you more exposure. As a new seller, this is something you will want to take advantage.
- They are organized and efficient. This is evident in their ability to quickly respond to your queries and how prompt they are in responding. You should also pay attention to how knowledgeable they are about the products they sell.
To make the interview process easier, you can include these details along with any other criteria. This article provides a detailed guide to choosing dropshipping suppliers.
Research is key to deciding the product you want to sell. Also, you will need to verify your products against Walmart’s Prohibited Product policy.
For product research, you can use Facebook Audience Insights or Google Trends. These tools allow you to analyze consumer sentiments towards the products you are interested in by running search terms.
You can compare the prices of similar sellers to determine your product pricing. Consider whether your product prices are affordable to be competitive.
Step 2: Apply for a listing on the Walmart Marketplace
No matter how you sell products at Walmart, approval is required. Walmart requires sellers to complete a rigorous application process and be approved for onboarding to ensure they provide great customer service.
Complete the fields. If you have all of the required information, it should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. This information is required to submit your application.
Onboarding can take three to four weeks and approval to sell on Walmart Marketplace may take up to two weeks.
Step 3: Complete the Walmart Marketplace Seller Onboarding
After being approved, you will need to complete the onboarding process in order to Sell on Walmart. The registration link will be sent to you via email. The entire Onboarding Process is made up of 10 steps.
A registration email will be sent to the approved seller. This will instruct the seller to complete registration. Sellers will have the ability to:
- Register for an account. You will need the following information for your seller account: your business address, bank account details and information about your business to complete tax forms
- Accept the Walmart Retailer Agreement
- Complete tax forms
- Complete the payment and shipping details. To receive payments, you have two options: Hyperwallet or Payoneer
The seller will then complete Walmart’s Partner Profil. This information will be visible to buyers and will include details such as your company name, description and company policies.
After your store is up and running, you can start listing your products. You can test the ordering process by listing two to three products and placing your orders. In the Seller Center, you will need to test the following scenarios: order acknowledgement, order cancellations, order shipping and order refund.
You can go live once everything has been tested. Walmart will then review your account and allow you to go live.
Your items will be published to Walmart Marketplace once your store has been made live. Your products will be available for purchase within 24 hours.
Step 4: Begin fulfilling orders
Shipping and fulfillment speed are crucial for your store’s success after it goes live.
Walmart’s TwoDay Shipping Program is available to all sellers. TwoDay shipping is a great way for you to attract more customers and increase your sales. Walmart rewards customers who place orders in the Buy Box and rank high in search results.
But, remember that while the TwoDay shipping program can help you rank high in Walmart’s search results for your products, it is not suitable for all sellers. TwoDay tags allow you to offer free shipping nationwide to your customers. This is a cost for your business. Regular shipping is the best option if your company cannot afford it. Do not over-promise and then under-deliver.
To fulfill your orders quickly with Walmart, you can use Delivery. To ensure fast shipping and increase item visibility, this platform can be integrated directly with Walmart’s TwoDay program. Walmart’s official partner for Deliverr’s TwoDay fulfillment.
Deliverer can collect your items from your supplier, and store them near your buyers. This allows you to offer quick shipping at a reasonable rate. A fixed fulfillment fee is charged.
You are not required to use any fulfillment service. However, Walmart offers recommendations and shipping guidelines that might be useful for sellers.
Here are 3 tips to help you dropship at Walmart
Although selling on Walmart may offer you more customers and lower competition than other platforms such as Amazon, success is not guaranteed. These tips will make your Walmart dropshipping experience easier.
Be aware of your metrics
It’s difficult to determine if your dropshipping is working on Walmart without reporting. Track metrics to gauge your performance and determine what is working. Walmart’s reporting allows sellers to evaluate their performance.
- Seller ranking. Walmart gives sellers a number of analytics reports that show which sellers are ranked. A Seller Scorecard is also available to help track performance.
- Placement of Buy Box. You will undoubtedly be competing with other sellers selling similar or identical products. The BuyBox is somethingto aim for as it goes to the seller with the best qualification metrics. Walmart will not accept your selling history.
- Ratings and reviews. You can leave ratings and reviews for sellers. You should be careful about what you review and how it affects seller performance. According to Walmart’s website, reviews do not reflect the product itself, but the service provided by the retailer and the experience of the customer with shipping and delivery.
Walmart customer service expectations
Walmart uses certain indicators to measure seller performance on its platform. These are measures of quality service:
- No Order Defect Rate for 90 Days Less Than 2%
- Higher than 99% On-Time Shipment Rate
- More than 99 % Valid Tracking Rate
provides a detailed guide on performance requirements for sellers.
These measures include responding promptly to customer inquiries and fulfilling orders on time. This includes ensuring that returns and cancellations are managed efficiently and minimized. Manage your performance as a Walmart Seller:
- Make sure you have clear and detailed returns policies. Walmart offers a section on return policies in its Partner Profile. It can hold up to 4,000 characters. This section allows you to detail what information customers need about returns. This will help you to defend yourself in case of dispute.
- Send shipping information to customers. Sellers may also include this information in their Partner Profile. Get shipping information from your supplier.
- Check that your order fulfillment process is consistent with the delivery times you provide customers. Don’t tell customers that you can’t ship products within two days if your supplier is unable to deliver the product.
- Install an inventory tracking system. Sellbrite provides Walmart-specific software to help sellers track inventory.
Walmart depublishes sellers for a variety of reasons including violating rules or unhappy customers. Even if the issues are resolved, returns, cancellations and complaints can have an adverse effect on your seller performance. To minimize customer dissatisfaction, communicate with your supplier frequently to avoid any potential problems.
Optimize product listings
If you position your product listings correctly, they can be a great help. Your listings can be strategically designed to help more customers find your company, which will result in more sales.
- Make sure to use concise listing titles. Customers will be able to find your product easily by reading the listing titles.
- List features to make your product titles stand out. Sony Bluetooth headphones is an example. A simple title could be enough. A title such as “Sony Bluetooth Headphones noise cancelling” will attract customers who might have to go through many descriptions to find the information.
- In the description, list product benefits. You can convince buyers to buy your product by listing the benefits and features.
- Make sure to use high-quality images of the product. You can also add multiple images of your product in use and as an image alone.
Multichannel sales to reach more customers
Dropshippers have many benefits from Walmart, but it’s not perfect. You have a lot of control on the marketplace, so if you violate this rule, your products may be removed. You can also sell on other channels to help you grow your business.
You can diversify your selling by listing products on other ecommerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay. Or, you can create an online shop with WooCommerce or Shopify. These platforms can’t have too many price differences for your products. Walmart will deactivate accounts if this happens.
