Walmart Suppliers Vs Walmart Marketplace Sellers
What is the Difference Between Walmart Suppliers and Walmart Marketplace Sellers?
Walmart Marketplace has been growing in popularity. With this growth sometimes shoppers and vendors can be confused by the specifics. The most basic distinction that sets apart Marketplace Sellers, is that Walmart Marketplace Sellers are not Walmart Vendors.
Walmart Marketplace is a program that allows sellers to use Walmart.com as a platform. Walmart asesses fees for the usage of their platform and sellers are able to use a full suite of selling tools provided by Walmart.
The following chart shows the difference between marketplace programs and Walmart Supplier Contracts:
Are there Advantages to Being a Walmart Seller Versus a Vendor?
Walmart Marketplace Sellers have the option to list any items that they would like (as long as the items are not listed as prohibited). Additionally, since there is no buyer involved, you can set your own retail price.
Walmart Marketplace also has many integrations with external platforms that can make shipping and order processing much easier (compared to Walmart supplier shipping processes). Walmart Marketplace’s FBW program is very similar to Amazon’s FBA program and Walmart’s Seller Center continues to evolve.
If your item is sucessful on Walmart Marketplace, this can be an effective point to communicate to Walmart buyers when pitching products as a potential vendor. Additionally, since your product pages will already exist on Walmart.com, if Walmart takes the items, your SEO on Walmart.com could be high upon launch!
Is Walmart Marketplace Walmart.com?
Walmart Marketplace items are sold on Walmart.com alongside Walmart-Owned items, but the retailer is not Walmart. Walmart allows Marketplace sellers to use Walmart.com as a platform to sell and market their items.
What are the Downsides of Walmart Marketplace?
The biggest challenge of Walmart Marketplace is pricing. Since Walmart asesses comission fees, and WFS fees (if the seller elects to use WFS), these expenditures must be figured into the final retail. Setting a competitive retail while staying profitable can be a challenge, but it is not impossible!
Additionally, it can take a while for items to gain traction. Certain categories perform much better online and this should be taken into consideration when venturing into the world of Walmart Marketplace.
What Fees Are Involved With Walmart Marketplace?
Walmart has a list of fees available at this link: https://marketplace.walmart.com/referral-fees/
If you are interested in Walmart Fulfilled Shipping, they have an easy-to-use rate calculator here: https://marketplace.walmart.com/walmart-fulfillment-services-pricing/
How Can OCM Help?
OCM has experience with Walmart Marketplace account setup and content optimization. This can be a lengthy process and OCM is here to help!