How do I succeed on Walmart Marketplace?
Selling on Walmart Marketplace and Amazon are similar but require a different standard operating process. Both allow third-party sellers to list and sell their products on their platforms. However, there are differences between the two marketplaces regarding the SOPs (Standard Operating Processes) needed to increase sales and win market shares. I will be talking about Walmart Marketplace and not DSV or Retail Link for this article.
Before we dive into Walmart's marketplace, let's look at Walmart's growth from its first store in 1962 to 2006. We must first understand that Walmart is a powerhouse, and most of its loyal customers are in the middle of America.
What are the Five SOP for Walmart 3P?
The standard operating processes (SOP) for Walmart Marketplace is a set of guidelines I recommend to sellers. The SOP covers everything from price to using Walmart services and partners.
Offer competitive prices. Walmart is known for its low prices, so it's important to offer competitive prices if you want to sell on its platform. As of this article today, there are not many high price items on Walmart.com, but this will change over time.
You can use tools like Jungle Scout or Keepa to track your competitors' prices and ensure you're offering the best possible price. Another way is to jump on your phone, open up the Walmart app, and start looking at products to determine if you have enough margins to offer a better price.
Run promotions and discounts. Promotions and discounts are a great way to attract new customers and encourage existing customers to buy more. Walmart market offers a variety of promotional types, from rollback to clearance. Running promotions consistently over time will increase your chance of landing on an email blast program which will Sky rocket your sales 🚀.
Use Walmart's marketing tools. Walmart offers a variety of marketing tools that can help you reach more customers and grow your sales. These tools include:
- Walmart Connect (advertising)
- Bazaarvoice (Customer Reviews)
- Fulfill by Walmart (3PL provided by Walmart)
Enhance your product listings. Your product listings are one of the most important factors in determining whether or not a customer will buy your product. You have to ensure your listings are accurate, complete, and persuasive. You should also use high-quality images and videos to showcase your products.
Walmart Marketplace provides a section called Growth Opportunities. This tool provides an optimization score over a period of time. You can get to 100% optimization.
Here is an example of the rating.
Content & Discoverability, Offer, Ratings & Reviews, and Post-Purchase are the main factors that can help you to rank better on search. If your product listing is above 90%, it's considered optimized. One of the downsizings to optimizing products on Walmart Marketplace is the wait time to get results after you make changes.
Be patient. It takes time to grow sales at Walmart. Don't expect to see results overnight. Be patient and work hard to improve your products, listings, and customer service. If you do, you'll eventually see your sales grow.
If you want to expand outside Shopify or Amazon, the Walmart marketplace is a great place to start.
Setting up the account will be less than 5 mins, and verifying the account takes another 10mins if you have the paperwork.
I have been working with Walmart for ten years at retail (Retail Link), DSV dropped shipped, and marketplace. Depending on the size of your company Walmart's marketplace might not be a great option. Feel free to DM me on LinkedIn if you have any questions regarding Walmart.
