In the competitive landscape of e-commerce, it's crucial for businesses to explore and leverage multiple platforms to maximize their reach and revenue potential. Having a strong presence on different marketplaces is essential to thrive and stay ahead of the curve. While Amazon has long been the go-to marketplace for online sellers, there is another player rapidly gaining momentum – Walmart Marketplace.
In this blog post, we will delve into the benefits of selling on Walmart Marketplace, why diversifying your revenue streams is essential, and how launching your product on Walmart can be a low-risk investment.
Walmart Marketplace: The Fastest Growing Platform
Walmart is not just a traditional brick-and-mortar retail giant anymore; it has successfully transformed itself into a formidable e-commerce player. With millions of loyal customers, Walmart Marketplace has seen exponential growth in recent years. By joining this thriving marketplace, you gain access to a vast customer base and benefit from the first-mover advantage.
Embracing the exponential growth of Walmart.com provides sellers with a unique chance to tap into a vast customer base that is already loyal to the retail giant. A recent report revealed that Walmart's sales percentage is continuously topping expectations with a +7.6% year over year growth ($152.3 billion net sales vs. $148.7 billion expected) especially with the help of its e-commerce arm. They are outpacing the industry average by a significant margin, with a total of $19.2 billion e-commerce sales in 2022 alone.
Positioning your brand on Walmart can provide a significant boost to your sales, visibility, and overall business growth. Amazon merchants can position themselves as early entrants and leverage the momentum of this burgeoning marketplace.
Diversifying Revenue Streams: Mitigating Risk and Expanding Potential
Relying solely on one platform for your e-commerce business can be risky especially when unexpected changes in policies or market dynamics occur. While Amazon may have been a great starting point, diversifying your revenue streams is essential for long-term success.
By expanding to Walmart Marketplace, you tap into an entirely new customer segment that may have different shopping preferences or may not be present on other platforms. Not only that, there’s the potential of getting your products into Walmart’s thousands of brick and mortar stores across the country. Allocating investments across different financial instruments helps safeguard your business from potential disruptions and market fluctuations. It allows you to reach a broader audience and increase your chances of sustaining growth. Creating more revenue streams is crucial for long-term business sustainability and growth
Diversification among online retailers has become increasingly important in recent years. It’s important to see the value of expanding beyond Amazon and anticipate how Walmart can be a promising avenue for growth.
Low-Risk Investment: Leveraging Your Existing Brand
Launching your product on Walmart Marketplace comes with minimal risk, especially if you have already established your brand on Amazon. You have already done the hard work of developing your brand, optimizing your listings, and building a customer base.
Transferring your products to Walmart becomes a seamless process, thanks to the similarity in listing and fulfillment processes between the two platforms. You’ll already know what to avoid and what steps to do to make your product launch successful.
By leveraging the brand equity developed on Amazon, sellers can expedite their entry into the Walmart.com marketplace and minimize the costs associated with establishing brand recognition. Additionally, there is no cost to create a seller account on Walmart Marketplace, making it an attractive option for sellers looking to expand their online presence. This removes financial barriers and makes it easier for Amazon merchants to test the waters and assess the potential of Walmart.com for their specific niche and products.
Launching Your Product on Walmart.com: A Step-by-Step Guide
Now that we understand the advantages of selling on Walmart Marketplace, let's dive into the steps you can take to ensure a successful product launch:
Research and Preparation
Conduct thorough market research to identify product demand, competitive landscape, and pricing strategies specific to Walmart.com.
- Familiarize yourself with Walmart's guidelines and policies.
- Analyze your target market and competition on Walmart Marketplace.
Register and Create Your Seller Account:
Walmart Marketplace's registration process is straightforward and designed to get you up and running quickly.
- Sign up for a seller account on Walmart Marketplace.
- Provide the necessary business and tax information.
- Complete the steps and wait for approval.
Product Listing and Optimization:
Utilize Walmart's intuitive seller portal to list your products. Pay attention to the product descriptions, images, and pricing to optimize your listings and maximize visibility. Employ strategic keywords and relevant attributes to optimize your product listings for search rankings on Walmart.com. This will improve your product's discoverability by potential customers.
- Create compelling and accurate product descriptions.
- Use high-resolution images that showcase your product's features.
- Ensure that your listings comply with Walmart's guidelines and requirements, you can reference Walmarts style guides for more information on this.
Inventory Management and Fulfillment:
Decide on your preferred fulfillment method, whether it's through Walmart's third-party fulfillment centers or your own. Take note as well that using WFS can increase your conversion rates, improve listing rankings, and more. Ensure smooth order processing and timely shipping to maintain customer satisfaction.
- Integrate your inventory management system with Walmart Marketplace.
- Monitor stock levels and ensure timely replenishment.
- Choose the most suitable fulfillment method: self-fulfilled or Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS).
Marketing and Promotion:
Leverage Walmart's advertising solutions and other promotional opportunities to increase visibility and reach a wider audience. Create compelling product listings, offer competitive pricing, and highlight the unique value proposition of your products.
- Utilize Walmart's marketing tools, such as Sponsored Products and Deals.
- Leverage social media platforms to create buzz and drive traffic to your Walmart listings.
- Collaborate with influencers or content creators to increase brand awareness, any high converting traffic you send to a new product listing will help you rank high very quickly.
Monitor Performance and Analytics:
Regularly reviewing your sales data is essential in improving your sales margins. Customer reviews and competitive analysis can be used to fine-tune your strategy and optimize your performance on Walmart.com.
- Continuously assess numbers on your sales growth
- Evaluate quantitative and qualitative key performance indicators
- Monitor productive feedback from your customers and refine your approach from it
Conclusion
Expanding your online sales channels to include Walmart Marketplace can be a game-changer for your business. The rapid growth of Walmart's e-commerce platform, coupled with the benefits of expanding your revenue streams, makes it a compelling choice for online sellers. Selling on Walmart.com presents a tremendous opportunity for Amazon merchants to expand their reach.
With your existing brand on Amazon, launching on Walmart Marketplace becomes a low-risk investment that can yield significant rewards. By following the steps outlined above, you can successfully navigate the process of launching your product on Walmart and unlock new opportunities for growth and success.
Remember, diversification is key to building a resilient and thriving e-commerce business. Embrace the potential of Walmart Marketplace, seize the first-mover advantage, and propel your business to new heights. Get leverage from your brand equity from Amazon and launch a strategic plan to position yourselves for long-term success.
As you embark on this new venture, remember to keep yourself informed and up-to-date on the latest trends and strategies in the e-commerce industry. By constantly adapting and optimizing your approach, you can stay ahead of the competition and maximize your success on Walmart.com. If you struggle with any aspect of running your Walmart business, however, our team can help.
SellCord is a Walmart approved partner agency exclusively focused on launching and managing brands on Walmart.com. We work with hundreds of brands across all categories, assisting them with the onboarding stage, setting up their product listings, managing their ad campaigns, and more. As a team of experienced sellers ourselves, we gained a deep understanding of what works best on the marketplace, and we help others replicate that same success.