How to Sell on Walmart Marketplace
Walmart Marketplace is the second largest online marketplace in the US, with over 120 million unique monthly visitors. For brands already on Amazon, Walmart represents a significant incremental revenue opportunity — often with less competition and lower advertising costs than Amazon in many categories. This guide covers how to get started, key differences from Amazon, and how to succeed on Walmart.
What is Walmart Marketplace?
Walmart Marketplace is a platform where approved third-party sellers list and sell products on Walmart.com. Walmart acts as the marketplace operator, providing the platform, payment processing, and customer trust. Walmart has a selective seller approval process — not everyone who applies is accepted. The platform has grown substantially since 2020 and now represents a meaningful sales channel for many CPG and DTC brands.
How to Apply to Sell on Walmart Marketplace
- Apply at marketplace.walmart.com — Walmart reviews applications based on product category, brand credibility, and seller history
- Provide business documentation: EIN, business address, product catalog information, and category details
- Walmart is selective — higher approval rates for established brands with a track record on other marketplaces
- Approval can take 2–4 weeks; Walmart may request additional information during review
Key Differences Between Amazon and Walmart Marketplace
- Less competition: Walmart Marketplace has fewer sellers than Amazon in most categories, meaning less Buy Box competition for brands
- Walmart has no direct equivalent to Amazon Prime — instead, Walmart+ members get shipping benefits
- Advertising: Walmart Connect (Walmart's advertising platform) works similarly to Amazon PPC but has fewer targeting options and lower overall ad complexity
- Content: Walmart's listing content requirements differ — different image specs, attribute structure, and A+ equivalent (Rich Media Content)
- Fulfillment: Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is Walmart's equivalent to FBA — similar model, different infrastructure and fee structure
Walmart SEO: How Search Works
Walmart's search algorithm (formerly called Polaris) works similarly to Amazon's but with different weighting factors. Key ranking signals include: keyword relevance in title and attributes, price competitiveness, review count and rating, in-stock rate, and shipping speed. A critical difference: Walmart strongly weights competitive pricing — products that are priced higher on Walmart than on Amazon can be suppressed by Walmart's price competitiveness algorithm.
Walmart's algorithm actively monitors prices across the internet and will suppress listings where your product is priced higher on Walmart than on other sites. If your Amazon price is lower than your Walmart price, Walmart may suppress your listing or remove the Buy Box. Brands expanding to Walmart must have a clear price parity strategy — and must monitor both channels actively. This is one of the most common and costly mistakes brands make in their first 90 days on Walmart.
Walmart Advertising: Walmart Connect
Walmart Connect offers Sponsored Products ads (appearing in Walmart search results and product pages) and Display ads. The targeting options are similar to Amazon Sponsored Products, with keyword and item-level targeting. Walmart Connect is generally less competitive and has lower CPCs than Amazon in most categories — making it a cost-effective channel for brands willing to invest in building category presence.
Common Mistakes When Expanding to Walmart
- Simply copying Amazon listings directly — Walmart has different attribute requirements and character limits
- Pricing higher on Walmart than Amazon — Walmart's algorithm will suppress your listings
- Ignoring Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) — non-WFS listings are typically disadvantaged in Buy Box and search ranking
- Under-investing in Walmart advertising at launch — organic ranking on a new marketplace requires advertising support to build sales velocity
Frequently Asked Questions
Walmart Marketplace is a platform where approved third-party sellers list and sell products on Walmart.com. Walmart acts as the marketplace operator, providing the platform, payment processing, and customer trust. Walmart has a selective seller approval process — not everyone who applies is accepted. The platform has grown substantially since 2020 and now represents a meaningful sales channel for many CPG and DTC brands.
Apply at marketplace.walmart.com — Walmart reviews applications based on product category, brand credibility, and seller history. Provide business documentation: EIN, business address, product catalog information, and category details. Walmart is selective — higher approval rates for established brands with a track record on other marketplaces. Approval can take 2 to 4 weeks.
Walmart Marketplace has fewer sellers than Amazon in most categories, meaning less Buy Box competition. Walmart has no direct equivalent to Amazon Prime — instead Walmart+ members get shipping benefits. Walmart Connect has fewer advertising targeting options than Amazon Ads. Content requirements differ including image specs and attribute structure. Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is Walmart's equivalent to FBA with different fees.
Walmart's search algorithm works similarly to Amazon's but with different weighting factors. Key ranking signals include keyword relevance in title and attributes, price competitiveness, review count and rating, in-stock rate, and shipping speed. A critical difference: Walmart strongly weights competitive pricing — products priced higher on Walmart than on Amazon can be suppressed by Walmart's price competitiveness algorithm.
Walmart Connect offers Sponsored Products ads appearing in Walmart search results and product pages, and Display ads. Targeting options are similar to Amazon Sponsored Products with keyword and item-level targeting. Walmart Connect is generally less competitive and has lower CPCs than Amazon in most categories — making it a cost-effective channel for brands building category presence.
Common mistakes include simply copying Amazon listings directly (Walmart has different attribute requirements and character limits), pricing higher on Walmart than Amazon (Walmart's algorithm will suppress your listings), ignoring Walmart Fulfillment Services (non-WFS listings are typically disadvantaged in Buy Box and search ranking), and under-investing in Walmart advertising at launch.
About Perfality
Perfality is an end-to-end ecommerce and marketplace management agency trusted by 75+ global CPG and DTC brands including Spectrum Brands, Kenneth Cole, Black+Decker, Stella & Chewy's, and Galderma. With 8 years of hands-on experience and a 100+ specialist team based in Jaipur, India, Perfality helps brands grow on Amazon, Walmart, Chewy, Petco, and other major marketplaces through listing optimization, A+ content, PPC management, account operations, chargeback recovery, and data intelligence. Learn more at www.perfality.com.
Perfality manages Walmart Marketplace for CPG and DTC brands alongside Amazon — from seller approval through content, advertising, and ongoing optimization.
