With logistics woes continuing to plague the industry and worries about additional complications during times of increased shipping volume and activity, we’re all working to determine the best fulfillment options. Delivery is closely tied to consumer satisfaction and it’s crucial to get it right whenever possible.
With Walmart Fulfillment Services, another convenient tool has become available for sellers to consider using in the months ahead.
In this post, we’ll highlight this service, define its primary features and provide best practices for sellers who choose to use it.
What is Walmart Fulfillment Services?
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) enables you to store inventory at Walmart fulfillment centers. When a customer places an order on Walmart.com, WFS will pick, pack and ship the order to the customer on your behalf. WFS also handles all customer support and returns for these orders.
What are the requirements?
The basic requirements for products managed through WFS are straightforward. To use WFS, your products must:
- Ship to Walmart fulfillment centers from locations within the US
- Not be perishable or regulated items
- Weigh 30 pounds or less
- Not exceed the maximum dimensions of 25” x 20” x 14”
What are the benefits of using WFS?
Using WFS provides several significant benefits, including:
- Two-day delivery. Walmart will pick, pack, ship and deliver orders to customers within two days. In addition, items shipped within two days get 2-day delivery tags resulting in better search results.
- Easy returns. Walmart processes and handles all WFS customer returns.
- Visible tags. WFS items are displayed with a Fulfilled by Walmart tag to indicate that Walmart fulfills these marketplace orders.
- No hidden fees. That includes a fixed monthly storage fee and a fulfillment price based on shipping weight alone.
- Full transparency. Track inventory, orders, and shipments with easy-to-read dashboards.
- Increased site visibility. Gain higher search rankings and buy box prominence with delivery tags indicating two-day delivery.
- Dedicated assistance. Sellers can get help from dedicated WFS call center associates to have all questions answered.
- Access to WFS fulfillment experts. Receive custom recommendations on optimization and growth for your business.
Any recommendations or best practices?
A few key actions can help you fully harness the power of WFS.
First, in selecting your products, be sure to bring your best-selling items to Walmart.com. Premium brands or items not listed on Walmart.com today are preferred. Walmart’s best practices indicate that GMV growth is best achieved by setting up a minimum of 50 SKUs and keeping inventory continually replenished. Of course, you’ll also want to ensure participating items meet Walmart Marketplace guidelines for prohibited/restricted products
Secondly, select products that are priced competitively. Competitive prices capture the attention of consumers, especially on large marketplaces known to attract bargain-savvy consumers.
Once you’ve finalized your product selections, ensure the content for each item page is of the highest quality. Pay close attention to every detail in titles, text and images. Fill out all relevant attributes to improve search performance. And consider the top reasons why a consumer is viewing your product listing. Are they most interested in technical specifications? Do they want to better understand how to use your product? Is it likely they’ll search for variations of the product? Addressing these questions within the content will boost confidence in a potential decision to purchase your product.
To maximize your presence on Walmart.com, join the Walmart Sponsored Products program and combine it with WFS to increase your overall item visibility. And, finally — but perhaps most importantly — assess your inventory levels and consider your needs into the future. If you do capture the buy box or climb the search results to increase your exposure among purchase-ready consumers, be sure you have enough inventory to meet customer demand.
Looking for intelligent, personalized insights to succeed on Walmart.com? Our Managed Services for Marketplaces team works in this specialized domain all day every day. They operate as extensions of your team, applying their years of experience and long-standing relationships with platforms such as Walmart, Amazon, eBay and others to help you strengthen your strategies and implement actions to optimize your performance. Contact the team to find out more about what they can offer for your business.
If you’re not currently selling on Walmart Marketplace, complete this form to get the process started today.
