Sell on Walmart: expand into the US online market

(Thinking of) selling in the USA? Download our useful fact sheet & infographic: get all the essental information about ecommerce in the USA in one place!

New ecommerce trend: strong local presence of global online sellers

A large number of Europeans and Americans prefer shopping from local online marketplaces. For example, in the USA one of the leading marketplaces is Walmart.

Local marketplaces provide sellers with extra ecommerce opportunities. They tend to offer less competition and often allow cross-border sales & purchases.

On many local marketplaces, organic search results are still a major source of sales for many sellers. Compared to eBay or Amazon that tend to be flooded by sponsored products or ads, the cost of sales on local marketplaces is likely to be lower than on mainstream global ecommerce platforms.

It’s worth mentioning that local marketplaces tend to have smaller inventories than the big names. Popular items are easily available on those sites but the long tail (unique or hard-to-find) items may be missing or have a limited availability. As a result, international sellers are usually welcome to fill the gaps on such marketplaces.

Global marketplaces like eBay and Amazon are great for gaining wide coverage in many countries and can boost international revenues significantly. When looking to capitalize in a specific country, though, often there are other marketplaces that can give you access to more buyers.

Mark Ellis, VP, Growth & Partnerships at Webinterpret

Selling on Walmart marketplace

Walmart is a US marketplace that describes itself as the largest multi-channel retailer. It’s a universal marketplace catering to most types of buyer personas. The platform is acquiring or expanding additional services to third parties.

According to Mark Ellis, Walmart, while not as large a US marketplace as Amazon, remains the number one retailer and commands an impressive 110 million monthly buyer visits to their ecommerce store and marketplace.

Walmart offers most product types: from apparel & accessories to gourmet food; from health & personal care products to jewelry, computers and sporting goods.

Walmart in numbers

• 110 million unique monthly visitors
• Access to over 440 million customers visiting Walmart as well as visitors of affiliate websites including Jet.com.
• Walmart is now the No. 2 online retailer in North America, surpassing Apple Inc.
• Walmart’s US ecommerce sales grew 40% in Q2 2018 (33% growth in Q1).
• Walmart US ecommerce sales grew significantly in the four quarters of FY 2021 (compared to the same quarters a year earlier). In Q4 2021, the company’s ecommerce sales grew by 69%. In 2021, Walmart registered net sales of around 28.9 billion USD.
• As a result of the pandemic, Walmart’s US ecommerce sales hit 97% annual growth.

Reasons to sell on Walmart

• • No monthly, annual or initial setup fees (Walmart uses commission fees only)
  • Authority & credibility: leverage the brand trust that shoppers give Walmart when shopping online
  • Mobile presence: Walmart has a great mobile app with an optimized buying journey
  • Effortless transactions for both buyers & sellers: Walmart ensures faster page checkouts and provides preferred payment options, such as credit cards, gift cards, Paypal, Visa Checkout, Cash, Amex Pay, Chase Pay, etc.
  • Walmart has partnered with Payoneer to offer weekly paychecks to their marketplace merchants.
  • Lower competition: competing on Walmart for a product space is still easier than on eBay or Amazon. Walmart is a go-to store for shoppers, but is a newer option for online sellers, which means less competition. Thus, now may be the best time to begin selling on Walmart.

What to sell online after Covid-19 & Brexit: Download

Walmart & international ecommerce

A big part of Walmart’s revenue comes from Walmart US & Walmart International. The platform’s total revenue has seen a steady and consistent increase over the last few years.

The International segment is important to Walmart. Walmart International observed a steady growth with continuous increase (up from $116.1 billion in 2017 to $120.8 billion in 2019).

Walmart has the highest revenue from the International segment when compared to Best Buy and Costco.

Walmart International contributes nearly one-quarter of total revenues and gross profit, which makes it a significant contributor and an important segment for the company.

Although Walmart has historically been available to US-based sellers only, now non-US sellers can also apply to sell on Walmart. Compared to bigger marketplaces, there’s still less competition, which can translate into bigger revenue.

FREE download: ecommerce in the USA

Since Walmart is an invite-only marketplace, you first need to apply to sell on the platform. The marketplace is keen on reputable brands and retailers that offer great customer service, a wide product assortment, competitive pricing and reliable fulfilment.

There are certain requirements for international sellers, for example:

• Having a US entity (including a US W9 tax ID and mailing address)
• The ability to ship from a US warehouse (excluding FBA)
• Product identifiers (if the barcode is missing, invalid, or a duplicate, the product won’t be accepted)
• An international returns address.

Sell more on marketplaces in 2021 & beyond

According to Mark Ellis, listing on global marketplaces is a must in your international expansion strategy but if you want to realize your potential, listing with marketplaces like Allegro, CDiscount, Walmart and Bol.com is essential.

Webinterpret supports merchants selling on big, international ecommerce platforms, such as eBay and Amazon as well as more local marketplaces.

In the post-coronavirus world, exploring additional marketplaces provides sellers with extra opportunities to meet increased online product demand in international markets. It can also help merchants retain their overall sales capacity in the case of potential challenges.

Our marketplace offer is constantly expanding so if you want to grow your online sales, feel free to contact our sales experts. They will help you analyze your international sales potential and choose markets that will offer you the best possible return on investment.

Sources

• Getting Started Selling on Walmart in 2020
• Complete List Of Online Marketplaces Across The Globe
• Selling on Online Marketplaces
• The World’s Top Online Marketplaces 2020
• Walmart International's net sales 2019-2020
• Is The Revenue Contribution Of Walmart International Significant To The Company?
• US ecommerce grows 44.0% in 2020
• Walmart U.S. quarterly ecommerce sales growth in the United States
• Walmart's US ecommerce sales hit 97% annual growth
• Walmart reports