What is Walmart Fulfillment Services?
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is a service offered to Walmart third party sellers, similar to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
Walmart Fulfillment Services allows sellers the ability to store their inventory in Walmart-owned fulfillment centers. WFS will pick up, pack, and ship an order placed on Walmart.com. Walmart also handles customer support and returns on orders shipped through WFS.
Walmart explains:
"The program allows sellers to focus more on increasing their sales while having confidence in the speed and quality of their orders.”
Many eCommerce merchants find it difficult to manage order fulfillment on their own. Fulfillment is expensive with many operational challenges.
Selling with a fulfillment provider allows sellers to concentrate on other aspects of their business, and allow them to continue to grow.
WFS is a great way to sell your product on the internet. It can increase your sales and offer Marketplace sellers many perks, including the following:
Customer service includes packing, shipping, rapid delivery and easy returns
Straightforward pricing
Dashboards that make it easy to track inventory, orders, shipments, and other information
Search rankings for your products can be improved with built-in tools
Call center specialists available to answer any questions or address your concerns
To increase conversions, detailed product listings
It's easy and quick to get started with the platform. Once you have been approved as a Marketplace seller send your inventory to a Walmart fulfillment center. The team will take care of the rest. This allows you to concentrate on growing your business and making sales.
Why You Should Be Selling on Walmart
Walmart.com is the most popular shopping destination because of its worldwide recognition and seemingly endless product offerings. According to ComScore, the audience currently exceeds 120 million unique visitors per month.
Selling on Walmart.com has many advantages. You can reach a large audience and gain new customers.
Remember that Walmart Marketplace is a curated marketplace of sellers. You must offer high-quality products at a competitive price and excellent customer service to be approved. What does this all mean? You will have more visibility for your listings and can also sell alongside professional sellers and Walmart's first-party product offerings.
Walmart WFS vs. Amazon FBA
Let's take a look at some of the 3PL categories and see how Amazon and Walmart differ in their offerings.
Subscription Fees
Prospective Amazon FBA sellers will need to choose between the professional or individual selling plan. The individual plan is free, but sellers cannot run PPC ads or compete in the Buy Box.
Walmart Fulfillment Services doesn't charge sellers any monthly subscription fees.
Selling Fees
Amazon FBA and WFS selling fees fall into three categories:
1. Referral Charges
Walmart refers between 6% to 20%, but Amazon can charge up to 45% for certain categories.
WFS cannot sell certain products, such as home décor and apparel pieces. It's a trade-off businesses must weigh individually.
Amazon's FBA fees can be quite complex. Instead of calculating your ROI on a chart it is better to use Amazon’s proprietary revenue calculator to calculate your profits.
2. Storage Charges
Walmart and Amazon FBA storage charges are almost always pretty close, except in Q4. Amazon's storage fees go up during the holiday season.
Here's where things get more complicated. WFS charges more if you store your product within Q4 for more than 30 days.
You need to ask yourself this question: Will I store my product with 3PL during holiday months for less that 30 days? If so, Walmart is your best choice. If not, Amazon is better.
Don't try to do this all in your head with Amazon. You can calculate your ROI using their calculator.
Walmart's storage fees are as follows:
January to September: $0.75/cubic feet per month
October (holiday season), November (holiday season), $0.75/cubic feet per month for items kept 30 days or less, and $1.50 per cubic foot for items that are stored for longer than 30 days
Products that WFS stores more than 12 months will be subject to a $7.50/cubic feet per month storage fee
Depending on the product you sell, this could be an issue for your company.
3. Fulfillment Fees
Amazon uses a weight tier system to determine their fulfillment fees. Walmart, on the other hand considers the product's total dimensional weight. This is a subtle difference.
These fees are hidden behind the seller signup portal by both companies.
As you begin using WFS, be aware that the cost of shipping may not be the same as FBA’s cost, even on exactly the same items.
Logistics Services
Both Amazon FBA (Fulfillment Service by Walmart) offer top-notch services to their clients. You can't go wrong when it comes to the quality of their deliverables.
WFS and Amazon FBA both have strict quality control procedures to avoid mis-ships and stock-outs. Their shipping infrastructures are unmatched in the business world, as we have seen throughout this post.
These services include:
Product receiving and storage
Picking and packing, and processing product
Customer service inquiries and returns
Accepting responsibility for damaged or lost products
Bottom Line
Comparing WFS to FBA can be complex, but there are some benefits to WFS:
Fast Shipping
Customers who purchase $35 or less can receive free 2-day shipping.
Two-Day Tags
These tags are given to listings using WFS and are eligible to receive the 2-day shipping option for no additional charge. This boosts their ranking and increases their chances of winning the Buy Box.
Benefit from Walmart's Strong Presence
90% of Americans live within 15 minutes of Walmart shops. This allows them to make it more convenient for customers to visit the stores to get returns or customer service.
Exclusive Inventory
Regardless of whether your product is identical to that of another seller, yours will be treated as an individual product by default. This reduces the chance of mislabeling or commingling-related errors.
Walmart WFS FAQ's
Does Walmart WFS improve my product ranking?
Walmart Fulfillment Services make order management easier and less costly for sellers. Walmart's performance standards are important to sellers who want to be successful. They understand the importance of fast delivery and low shipping costs. WFS merchants often have better visibility in Walmart's search results and faster shipping. This can lead to increased business growth.
Walmart 3rd party sellers also have access to Walmart's omnichannel capabilities, such as Free & Easy Returns Program. This gives them a competitive advantage that is unmatched by any other third-party service.
WFS allows sellers to increase their sales by offering 2-day shipping for no additional charge. Additionally, they get Buy Box prominence with the 2-Day Tag to their items.
Listings eligible for two-day shipping are also eligible for "fast shipping" tags. This allows you to compete on more than price alone. You can offer fast shipping and a higher level service. How can you take advantage of this Walmart offer?
Is Walmart WFS reliable?
In a word - yes! Customer satisfaction is a core value of Walmart and walmart.com. A primary reason for establishing WFS was to improve the shipping time and reliability of third party sellers. Since the goods are already in Walmart’s warehouses, they are able to control how quickly the items get to the customers.
Also, Walmart fulfillment centers are strategically placed to be within a short shipping distance for the major US population centers to increase speed of fulfillment.
How do I apply for Walmart Fulfillment Services?
You must be an existing Walmart Marketplace retailer to be eligible for WFS. Your products must also meet the following requirements.
All products must be shipped from the United States to Walmart fulfillment centers
No perishable products or regulated products
Products cannot exceed 30 pounds in weight
Product dimensions should not exceed 25 inches x 20? x 14
You must also be in good standing with the platform, with a history that includes on-time orders and great customer satisfaction.
Although Walmart was notoriously slow to approve the program, sellers reported an increase in applications that went through.
It's easy to get started with WFS, provided you are a Walmart Marketplace seller. Visit the Walmart Fulfillment Service Interest Form. Walmart recommends sellers have the following information before they start their seller application:
U.S. Business Tax ID. Social Security numbers are not accepted
Primary product categories, catalog sizes, and related information (e.g. total SKUs that you initially plan on fulfilling with WFS)
Planned integration method of your product catalog (i.e. how you plan to add your existing inventory onto the platform). There are three options available: API, bulk upload, and external solution provider.
Existing Walmart sellers can sign in to their Seller Center account and use WFS to start the process.
How much does WFS cost?
Walmart Fulfillment Services' simple pricing structure is one of its main selling points. Walmart's website states that there is a simple pricing structure. This includes a fixed monthly storage charge and a fulfillment fee based on shipping weight. However, apparel and hazardous items are exempted from this pricing structure.
The program's pricing begins at $3.45 if products weigh less than 16 ounces, or 1 pound.
From January to September, sellers can expect to pay $0.75 for each cubic foot of storage space. The $0.75 fee applies only to items that are stored for less than 30 calendar days from October to December.
Items that are kept longer than this will cost $1.50/cubic feet per monthly, for a total of $2.25/cubic feet per month.
Straightforward pricing: WFS has a simple pricing structure that is based on two main costs: a monthly storage charge and shipping costs based upon weight or dimension.
Conclusion
WFS is ideal if you are an independent seller who sells products that are easy to pack and ship and want to increase your online sales without spending a lot. It is also an excellent fit for eCommerce businesses with high sales volumes that want to outsource picking, packing and shipping.
This low-cost solution can help these brands identify more potential customers, increase brand awareness, scale their business, and attract Walmart shoppers.
About the Author
Alon Saggie is an entrepreneur, Sellegr8's co-founder and a veteran eCommerce seller, who helps other sellers crush it on Walmart.com.
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