Applying to Sell on Walmart’s Marketplace

Although its e-commerce website launched in 2000, Walmart did not create its own marketplace until 2009, nearly a decade after Amazon. However, Walmart’s marketplace differs from Amazon’s in the sense that it is more exclusive and thoroughly vetted before sellers are accepted — many sellers find that it can be tremendously challenging to get approved regardless of revenue or success on other e-commerce channels like Amazon. Below are the initial steps involved in becoming eligible to sell your products on Walmart’s marketplace.

1. Complete Walmart’s marketplace application.

If you are brand new to selling online, your application to sell on Walmart may not get approved, as you need an existing product catalog and must be able to demonstrate historical sales on your own website as well as on Amazon and/or eBay. 

According to Walmart, the application should take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete. You need to provide contact information as well as details regarding your business, annual revenue, product assortment and integration capabilities, shipping and operations, and e-commerce and marketplace experience. 

Walmart recommends that you also have the below information readily available when applying to become a seller:

• Your U.S. Business Tax ID
• W9 or W8 and EIN Verification Letter from the Department of Treasury, verifying your U.S. business address or place of physical operations
• U.S. business address
• Planned integration method for your product catalog, such as bulk upload, API, or a solution provider
• Your primary product categories, catalog size, and related information

Once you submit the application, it typically takes about two to three weeks for Walmart to respond. The company openly states that it is seeking relationships with reputable brands and retailers that “provide first-class customer service, a compelling product assortment, competitive pricing, and fast, reliable fulfillment.” If you are approved, you will receive an email to set up your seller account. Then, you will follow the below steps.

2. Sign the retailer agreement with a Walmart representative.

The agreement details specific information such as Walmart’s role and responsibilities in the partnership, your responsibilities, the order and fulfillment process, return management, and pricing details. It outlines policies against counterfeit, illegal, or misbranded products, and ensures that you possess legal rights to sell the products.

3. Complete your seller profile and connect your payment account.

Once you acknowledge Walmart’s retailer agreement, you will provide your company name how you would like it to appear to customers on Walmart.com, as well as your corporate address for Walmart to use internally. Once you have done this, your Partner Account is officially created.

You will be required to fill out a W-9 form for tax purposes and register with Payoneer to receive your Walmart payments. Then, you will populate your customer service policy, which will be shown to customers on your Partner Profile page. You will also need to provide shipping information, review Walmart’s return policy, and select your pricing model, which will either be based on the price of the total order or the item weight or number of items per order. 

Finally, you will select your shipping methods and regions that you support for all products. After you complete these steps and your Partner Profile and payment information are complete, you will be able to move on to item and order testing to onboard your products to Walmart.com.