In this article, we will discuss the complete guide to get started on selling on Walmart and establish yourself as a perfect seller on Walmart.
Now, these days, there are so many sellers are selling their products gradually on one of the biggest marketplaces of eCommerce business, Walmart. It is not that difficult to get started to sell on Walmart. We will discuss the complete process of selling on Walmart. Walmart has built a vast and varied marketplace to rival Amazon and has been accepting third-party eCommerce sellers since 2016. This guide walks you through selling on Walmart each step of the way, from application to set up to launch.
Step 1: Apply to Sell on Walmart
Sellers have to apply to start selling on the Walmart marketplace. The application isn’t lengthy, but the wait is. After providing your basic business information and an overview of what and how you currently sell, be prepared to wait 2-3 weeks for a response. If approved to sell on Walmart, you’ll receive an email invite to set up a Walmart seller account. But, not everyone is approved, so let’s see what type of online seller the Walmart marketplace is looking for.
The Walmart marketplace only works with established online sellers. This is a major difference between Walmart and other major marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. If you’re just getting started in online sales, Walmart isn’t likely to approve your application. You’ll first need to establish online sales history on your own website, plus have a proven brand or product collection. Walmart is pretty transparent in that they want to build a marketplace filled with a variety of items that span all categories at moderate prices.
Step 2: Set Up Your Walmart Seller Account
After receiving your approval to sell on Walmart, their online partner portal walks you through each step in your account setup: from signup, through registration, to final launch of your products on the Walmart marketplace. The entire process is tracked on a Launch Checklist, which guides you through each step. The first thing you’ll see when you click on your email invite link is a registration Signup Wizard. Simply follow this wizard to enter your key business information. Be ready to provide these 3 pieces of information:
– Your business’s physical address
– Your bank account information to receive payments from Walmart
– A digital W-9 form. If you don’t have this, the Signup Wizard includes a link to this form to download and fill out.
After completing the registration, you’ll see it’s marked off your Launch Checklist. This checklist guides you through every step of the setup process and triggers your account to Go Live when all steps are completed.
Next, you’re ready to move on to the Partner/Seller Profile. For this, you’ll need to provide the following.
- Company & About Us information that buyers will see
- Customer service details including a contact phone number, email and hours
- Shipping options so customers know your shipping fees
- Return policy and return procedures
- Privacy policy to explain how you use customer information
- Tax info to set up your sales tax requirements
Step 3: Set Up Walmart Products
You can manually enter products into your Walmart product catalog, but if you have accepted to sell on Walmart, you likely sell in some volume. Manual entry isn’t realistic for most Walmart sellers. So, you’ll probably need to upload products to Walmart via bulk upload or a product feed. Once approved, Walmart makes fairly easy for seller how to sell on Walmart to upload products. While not optimal, they allow you to enter products through manual input, but the most efficient way is to make use of their CSV templates to import products from your database. Walmart doesn’t directly have integration with major eCommerce platforms yet, but third-party partners like ChannelAdvisor can facilitate the integration process with various e-commerce platforms. Here’s a quick look at your 3 options, which we examine in detail below.
Step 4: Understand Walmart Product Attributes
Once you’ve decided how to upload products, you need to build your product feed. If you’re an experienced seller, you’ll recognize most of Walmart’s product attribute fields, such as item name, SKU, Brand, and Descriptions. But some attributes are exclusive to Walmart, like Shelf Description. Here are the attributes you’ll need to know when setting up your Walmart marketplace product feed.
– Product Name
– Product ID Type — This field is where you indicate which identifier you are using: GTIN, UPC, EAN, ISBN, or ISSN. For example, if you are using UPCs, put ‘UPC’ in this field.
– Product ID — This is where you put the value for the product identifier you selected above. For example 234567891012
– SKU
– Brand
– Manufacturer, Manufacturer Part Number, and Model Number
– Description Attributes
- Long Description
- Short Description
- Shelf Description
– Image Attributes (some required)
- Main Image URL
– Tax Attribute (required)
- Product Tax Code
– Price Attributes (required)
- Price Currency
- Price Amount
– Shipping Attributes (most are required)
- Shipping Weight-Value
- Shipping Weight-Unit
- Is Shipping Allowed
- Ship Method
- Ship Region
- Ship Price
– Variant Group-Related Attributes (optional)
If you have products with variations like color and/or size, you set up variations within the feed
– Category-Specific Attributes
Walmart has 24 universal categories outlined in its Categorization Guide. Items listed in certain categories and subcategories can list additional attributes that are specific to certain products
Step 5: Test Your Product Feed
Walmart has you send a test feed for review and approval of your feed setup. After that’s uploaded to your account, you’ll need to set up and test your order management connection and features. This is the last series of setup steps before you can launch. If you have a small product collection, say under 1000 unique SKUs, you can send your entire product feed as the test. But, if you have a large product catalog, it’s best to send just a portion, say just one brand or category.
Step 6: Set Up Order Management Method
While your product feed is being reviewed and approved, you need to set up your order management method. As a Walmart marketplace seller, you need to take care of all order processing, shipping, exchanges, returns, and customer service. You have 3 options for retrieving Walmart marketplace orders and updating shipping status back to the orders you receive via Walmart. These are:
1. Manually Via the Seller Central Dashboard
2. Using Excel for Bulk Order Download and Shipping Status Upload.
3. Using an Order Integration Partner
If all of the above functions are done smoothly, you can check this step off in your Launch Checklist and proceed to the final step.
Step 7: Request Launch & Start Selling
After you check off Complete Item & Order Testing in your Seller Setup Checklist, a pop-up will appear asking if you’re ready to launch. Click Yes. The Walmart Integration team will make a full review of your account setup, products, and settings, then make your listings live.
Hope this article was helpful for you to understand the selling process start-up on Walmart. If you have any questions regarding this article, please feel free to contact us. We would be glad to give answers to your questions. Please keep reading our blogs. Soon we will come back with another article.
