Your Detailed Guide to Making Money on Walmart in 2023

In the year 2009, the brick-and-mortar retail giant stepped into eCommerce with Walmart.com. With the launch of the Walmart marketplace, the platform was opened up for third-party sellers. These third-party listings complement the existing offerings by the first-party businesses.

At present, there are thousands of sellers and the number is still increasing. There are over a dozen categories that include everything from electronics to fashion and much more. Walmart has become one of the best and most effective sales channels for sellers, both big and small, all across the United States.

With the growth in Walmart’s online platform (eCommerce growth equal to 79% since 2020), online shopping has become a norm for a vast majority of people. The demographics show that millions are now turning towards online shopping from online platforms such as Walmart. 

To learn how to make money at Walmart, businesses and Walmart virtual assistants first need to learn how to get started and sell on the Walmart marketplace. This article will provide a complete guide to help you understand better and start generating cashflows for your business. The following paragraphs will provide information about the complete registration process, insider tips, and suggestions to leverage integration partners to boost your Walmart business.

The two most common ways to make money on Walmart is Walmart Affiliate Marketing and Walmart Dropshipping:

Walmart Affiliate Marketing

With the Walmart Affiliate program, sellers can receive rewards when shoppers make a purchase from the Walmart website. Walmart affiliates can make money with banner advertising or text links on their website or blog and earn a commission when visitors click on the link and makes a qualified purchase. 

You can sign up for the affiliate program free of cost. Once you sign up with the Walmart affiliate program by filling out an application form, Walmart would review your profile. Make sure you have a website and the content of that website does not contain any explicit or unlawful operations.

You would also be required to sign a Terms of Agreement page. The application for the Walmart affiliate program is less stringent as compared to the Walmart seller account.

Each item on Walmart has a different commission rate. Walmart takes 60 days after each month-end to transfer payments which means you will not be paid until after 2 months. The usual commission rate ranges between 1% to 4%.

Dropshipping 

Many sellers ponder whether they can dropship on Walmart. The answer is yes, and there are 3 different ways:

• Applying for the DropShip Vendor Program (DSV)
• Selling Dropshipped products on Walmart
• Reselling Walmart products on other marketplaces

DropShip Vendor Program (DSV)

Sellers can apply for the DSV program and ship product directly to customers. To become a DSV, you first need to meet the supplier checklist and receive an invite from a Walmart Category Specialist.

Selling Dropshipped Products

This is a more conventional method in which you source products from a supplier and ship them directly to customers. 

Resell Walmart Products

Directly reselling products from Walmart is strictly prohibited. You can, however, get the products delivered to your address and then send them to customers. This is a non-traditional method and there are certain risks.

Advantages of Walmart Marketplace

• Expanded Reach – Walmart’s global reach and recognition along with its countless product categories make it a famous go-to shopping destination for millions of customers. Businesses and Walmart virtual assistants can leverage this significant consumer base by selling on Walmart.com and unlocking new revenue streams for their growth. 

• Pay only for What You Sell – Walmart’s low pricing is not only for its customers but also for its third-party sellers. Walmart has adopted a straightforward approach for its pricing structure and there are no additional charges for the platform/setup. There are no monthly fees and they only charge a small referral fee for each item sold. This fee varies by category, however, it amounts to 15% in general. Categories such as consumer electronics, etc., have a lower referral fee i.e., 8%.
• Embrace Innovation – Partnering with a retail giant like Walmart allows you access to some of the most innovative and unique eCommerce solutions such as advanced listing quality tools, expedited shipping programs, advertising options, etc., which can potentially boost your conversion rate up to 50%. These business tools and analytics can power your business decisions both in the present and in the future.

How to Sell on Walmart

Now that you have a brief overview of what is Walmart.com, there is a high chance that you would be interested in how to sell on it. Consider the following steps:

1. Filling out the Application Form

Requesting to sell on Walmart requires you to fill out an application form that only requires 10-15 minutes if the required documents and information are readily available. You will need the following documents:

• Business Tax ID (SSN is not acceptable)
• W8 or W9 form along with EIN Verification Letter from the US Treasury Department. This will verify that you have a US business address.
• The integration method (API, bulk, solution provider) you plan to use for your products.
• Catalog size, primary product categories, and any other related information such as the total number of SKUs you wish to list initially on Walmart along with the verified UPC information.
• Remember that you cannot list products that are prohibited at Walmart.
• History of your eCommerce success and marketplace experience.

It is important to provide as much information for your business as possible and remain transparent as this would help you in the future. Still, if there are gaps in the information provided and a back-and-forth correspondence is established with Walmart, it is better to be quick and provide all the missing information at the earliest.

2. Registration

Once your seller application has been approved, you will receive an email that will contain a link to register your business. The entire registration process includes the following steps:

• Account Creation – Create your username and password for managing your Walmart Marketplace seller account. The username will be auto-filled based on the provided information.

• Retailer Agreement – Here you will be required to review and sign the Walmart retailer agreement that contains all the terms and conditions that sellers must accept.

• Company Registration – In the next step, you will register the company by filling in the display name as well as the corporate address.

• Tax Forms – Here you fill out a W8 or W9 form for tax purposes. You will be required to include your name, address, and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).

• Payment Information – Walmart has collaborated with Hyperwallet and Payoneer for processing the partner payments. You must also register with either of the two to receive your Walmart payments. 
• Shipping Information – Here you will select the shipping method, the pricing model, and the regions you can ship to. After initial setup, you can further enhance your shipping strategy by using Walmart Marketplace’s Customizable Shipping Templates.

3. Listing Your Catalog

The final step of the onboarding process involves listing your catalog and prior testing to ensure orders will be processed easily. Doing so would increase customer utility and ensure a smooth user experience. 

It is best to list your top-selling items first and remember that the listings go live as soon as the testing is complete. So, you should use real items with all the necessary information and no indication, whatsoever, that this is a “test”.

All the listed items would move to “Stage” which means that they would not appear on Walmart until you go live. Now, test a few orders by publishing some items and placing test orders. Check for; order acknowledgment, cancellations, shipping, and order refund.

Once you have tested everything, you are ready to go live. Walmart will perform a final review of your account and then it will be live. Once there, your items would be published and will be searchable within 48 hours.

Explore Innovative Solutions

Over time, Walmart has launched different innovative tools and programs to help sellers and Walmart virtual assistants succeed in their business. Once the products are live, you can keep on optimizing your performance and product catalog to grow your sales. It is recommended that you:

• Continuously check the health of your product listings with the Unpublished Items Dashboard
• Optimize the listing quality using the Listing Quality Dashboard
• Use Expedited Shipping Services and Programs to win more customers
• Use Enhanced Returns 
• Earn the Pro Seller Badge and outsmart competition
• Use sponsored ads to market your products

7 Best Practices for Becoming a Successful Walmart Marketplace Seller

When you become a Walmart seller, you get access to numerous benefits. Firstly, you have lesser competition on Walmart as compared to other platforms. Secondly, you can also reach over 100 million unique shoppers per month. This can lead to increased conversion and a higher sales volume. 

If you wish to maximize the benefits, you would need to follow these steps:

1. Test Some Products Before Launch

As mentioned earlier, it is best to test some of your products before going live. You must at least check for 2-3 products and check if everything works properly. Pay close attention to order shipments, cancellations, or adjustments. Preview every step to ensure that the user experience is optimized. If you have more than one shipping methods, it is also good to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

2. Buy Box

Walmart uses Buy Box for each individual product listing. You should aim to win the Buy Box to boost your sales revenue. You can check the Buy Box status from the Buy Box Report. 

3. Using Deliverr for Order Fulfillment

Deliverr is similar to Amazon’s FBA where Walmart offers free 2-day shipping to its customers. Deliverr does not require a subscription which is an added plus for sellers. Stats show that businesses have doubled their sales with Deliverr.

The 2-day delivery option is a plus that engages customers and tempts them to make a purchase. Some additional benefits of Deliverr are:

• Increased search ranking
• Improved chances of winning Buy Box
• Expedited delivery
• Decreased shipping and fulfillment charges

4. Using Product Bundles

Product bundles are an effective way to grow your business. Using product bundles allows sellers to create value for their shoppers and also aids slow-moving products. Identify your best-selling product and think about related products that can be sold in a bundle. You can create the product bundle by making a new listing in the Seller Center.

Add a promotional price to your products with Walmart Seller Center. Keep in mind that you can only have five promotions for each item. Be sure to double-check the promotional price and remember that price updates can take up to 4-5 hours.

5. 24/7 Customer Support

Walmart wishes to provide the best service to its customers. For this reason, Walmart advises all third-party sellers to provide 24/7 customer support. As per Walmart regulation, customer inquiries should be responded to within 24 hours. Remember that automated responses do not count as a response on your part.

Your business should provide immediate customer support otherwise it can lead to order refunds, selling suspensions, or restrictions. 

6. Walmart Performance Ads

Walmart Sponsored Products or Walmart Performance Ads (WPAs) can be used if you use Deliverr. Businesses that do not use Deliverr can also use Walmart Performance Ads, however, they would need to submit an application to the Walmart Marketplace team.

The Walmart Performance Ads operate on a PPC model and you can advertise your products to customers across Walmart.com. In the PPC model, you only have to pay when a customer clicks on your ad which makes it a more cost-beneficial advertising option.

Walmart uses an internal relevancy engine that it uses to optimize WPA performance. The internal relevance engine helps Walmart decide the best location for displaying your advertisements. It also helps to research and identify the best keywords for further boosting your ad. It also reduces your cost-per-click (CPC) i.e., the cost borne when your ad is clicked.

7. Listing Optimization

Listing or Search Engine Optimization is a must on Walmart. SEO helps businesses to refine their searches and filter results. Thus, it is crucial for your team to optimize product listings for customer search intent.

You can discover how users describe their products by searching on Walmart.com and checking autocomplete suggestions. It is important not to stuff keywords rather keywords should be incorporated seamlessly.

Conclusion

Walmart.com, the eCommerce arm of the Walmart marketplace, is rapidly growing. It is an excellent way to expand your business and offer products to millions of customers across the globe. Selling on Walmart is very easy given you follow the requirements and market products effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact XpertVA for professional Walmart account management services to improve your listing ranking, enabling you to improve the quality of your listing to maximize sales. Book a consultation with our skilled professionals and grow your business.

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