Walmart is renowned for a variety of things, including huge discounts, one-stop shopping, and, more recently it’s offering Walmart fulfillment services. For those who are eCommerce company owners contemplating expanding their reach to different markets, Walmart might be an ideal partner. How does it work? What are the benefits? Read on to discover.
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What are Walmart Fulfillment Services?
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is a fulfillment service that lets sellers outsource their inventory management services for an expense. It’s also known as Walmart’s “answer to Fulfillment by Amazon.”
If a buyer places an order with an online seller using WFS, Walmart takes over the process of placing an order. It processes the order, handles returns, and offers customer assistance on behalf of the seller.
Based on Gartner, Walmart has one of the most impressive supply chains worldwide. Walmart Fulfillment Services lets sellers take advantage of Walmart’s impressive logistics capabilities, backed by a reliable, secure fulfillment process.
As Walmart expands in size and broadens its markets the fulfillment services offered by Walmart will likely increase as well.
Walmart Fulfillment Services Features and Benefits
Walmart has an impressive supply chain around the globe, with a rank in the number 8 spot within the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2021. Marketplace sellers using WFS benefit from the size, reach and efficiency Walmart has been working hard to perfect over the years.
5 WFS best advantages:
1. 2 days delivery: Amazon Prime has set the standard for quick shipping; however, Walmart is ready to meet the challenge. With WFS, sellers can provide 2-day shipping anywhere within the continental United States.
2-day delivery also aids in helping your product get a better ranking in search results in addition to Buy Box prominence, meaning that more customers will be able to see your ads. (Learn more on the advantages of Walmart’s two-day delivery label.)
2. Order and inventory management: WFS offers reporting dashboards for sellers to keep track of the inventory levels, orders, and shipments in real time.
Walmart Seller Central features a Fulfillment Insights webpage that lets merchants track important shipping metrics broken down by performance in shipping, carrier efficiency, and regional performances.
3. Customer service: With WFS, Walmart manages all customer inquiries, refunds, and returns. Items that are participating are highlighted by “Two Day Delivery,” “Free & Easy Returns,” and “Fulfilled by Walmart” tags to increase the visibility of the product and better conversion.
4. Straightforward pricing: WFS offers a basic pricing model based on two major changes: a monthly storage charge and shipping fees depending on the weight or dimensions.
5. Leverage Walmart’s strong presence – 90 percent of Americans reside just 15 minutes from a Walmart shop, allowing customers to visit Walmart for customer support or returns. Allows selling and buying from Walmart more accessible and attractive.
The pricing structure for storage and processing WFS products is easy. There is a base cost and an additional charge for hazardous materials, clothing, and too-large products.
What is the base Fee?
To find out the weight of your products, use the following table to figure out the fee base:
If the total weight of the items is less than one pound, then use weight to determine the base rate.
If the weight of an item exceeds 1 pound take the weight that is the highest of the weight of the item or dimension weight to determine the base price.
Additionally, you need to add 0.25 pounds to the packaging materials and round the result by a pound or two to calculate the shipping weight.
Keep in mind that If the longest part of your product is greater than 96 inches or the length plus girth (girth equals more than the amount of height and breadth) exceeds 130 inches, The unit weight begins at 90 pounds.
For Items that are too large, use the following rules to calculate the base price:
You can add $3.00 in addition to your base fulfillment cost if the longest edge of your product exceeds 48 inches, the median of your product is more than 30 inches or the length + the width of your product exceeds the 105-inch limit.
Include $25.00 in addition to your base fee for fulfillment. The longest edge of your product is longer than 96 inches, or the length plus girth is over 130 inches.
How to set up Walmart Fulfillment Services
Getting started with WFS is relatively easy so long as you’re an existing Walmart Marketplace seller. If you’re not, go to the Walmart Fulfillment Service Interest Application. Walmart recommends sellers keep the following information ready before beginning their application for the seller:
- U.S. Business Tax ID. Social Security numbers are not accepted
- Categories of primary products, catalog size, and information related to it (e.g., the total SKUs you originally planned to meet through WFS)
- A planned integration strategy for your catalog of products (i.e., what method you intend to add your inventory already on the platform. There are a variety of options available, including the bulk upload option, API, and an external solution supplier)
For already existing Walmart sellers, login into the Seller Center account. Seller Center account and use the WFS link from the marketplace dashboard to start the process.
Walmart examines the application. You’ll need to convert your products to Fulfilled by Walmart listings if they approve.
Remember that any product you want to sign up for the program should be listed in the Walmart Marketplace.
After that, you’ll have to send all your stock to Walmart fulfillment centers. There, items will be kept until a buyer places an order. Then, from Walmart’s warehouses, the orders are packed and delivered.
Walmart Fulfillment Services vs. Amazon FBA
Reporting
Even though it FBA provides more details to sellers and offers the additional benefit of delivering orders to select websites that are not part of Amazon, Walmart is rapidly increasing its reports. In the past 3 months, Walmart has made significant modifications to its reporting and worked directly with authorized sellers to develop dashboards. These dashboards can assist sellers in understanding their products’ performance and determine whether the items that aren’t available on Walmart have the best chance of success on the platform.
Preparation of the product
As opposed to the Amazon Seller Central service, the Walmart Seller Portal cannot yet permit you to create packaging labels or shipping labels required for delivery of the items to Walmart’s fulfillment center. Therefore, shipping preparation could be a tedious, manual process.
Product Requirements for Walmart Fulfillment Services
Walmart Fulfillment Services has more strict restrictions on products than FBA. Walmart is working to stop counterfeit goods from entering its market and to keep warehouse space to a minimum. They are also taking lessons from Amazon’s mistakes.
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