Walmart Expands Services for Marketplace Sellers with New Shipping and Fulfillment Offerings Ahead of Holiday Season

187

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, announced a series of new services aimed at bolstering its marketplace business, particularly as the busy holiday season approaches. On Tuesday, the company revealed plans to provide third-party sellers with end-to-end solutions, including transportation of goods from Asia directly to Walmart’s U.S. warehouses, as well as comprehensive fulfillment services that cover order processing, shipping, and returns management for any e-commerce website.

This strategic move underscores Walmart’s commitment to strengthening its marketplace, a crucial revenue stream as it seeks to close the gap with Amazon in the highly competitive world of third-party sales. Walmart’s marketplace has seen significant growth, contributing to the company’s overall global e-commerce sales, which surpassed $100 billion last year.

The announcement comes on the heels of Walmart’s decision to unwind its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, signaling the retailer’s intent to take greater control over its third-party business operations. By handling more of its marketplace activities in-house, Walmart is positioning itself to better compete with Amazon and capitalize on the growing demand for online shopping.

In addition to the transportation services, Walmart is also offering financial incentives to its marketplace sellers. Qualified third-party sellers will have access to cash advances, providing them with the liquidity needed to manage their operations more effectively. Furthermore, Walmart will waive peak-season storage fees for sellers who send their inventories to Walmart’s fulfillment centers before September 30. These initiatives are designed to help sellers meet the expected surge in demand during the holiday shopping season and prepare for Walmart’s own sales events, which often coincide with Amazon’s Prime Day in October.

Walmart’s marketplace has seen a rapid expansion over the past year, with a significant influx of sellers, particularly from China. The retailer profits by encouraging these sellers—many of whom are small businesses or independent stores—to utilize Walmart’s extensive delivery network and fulfillment services, as well as to advertise their products on Walmart.com. Sales through Walmart’s marketplace have increased by over 30% in each of the last four quarters, demonstrating the success of this strategy.

Currently, Walmart’s marketplace features over 420 million products and more than 100,000 active sellers, with over a third of them based in China, according to data from research firm Marketplace Pulse. Despite this impressive growth, Walmart still trails Amazon, which boasts over 2 million active sellers.

In a further effort to attract and retain sellers, Walmart announced that it will offer fulfillment services at rates averaging 15% lower than those of its competitors, though the company did not specify which competitors were included in this comparison. Additionally, Walmart will provide a service to transport goods from Asian ports directly to its U.S. warehouses, streamlining the supply chain for third-party sellers and helping them to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

These new services and incentives are part of Walmart’s broader strategy to enhance its marketplace business, making it more attractive for sellers and ultimately more competitive with Amazon. As the holiday season approaches, these initiatives are expected to play a crucial role in driving sales and expanding Walmart’s presence in the e-commerce space.