Walmart Offers Discount to New Sellers

Walmart.com sellers, or possibly models (company photo)

In an effort to lure in more third-party sellers as it battles Amazon’s dominant marketplace, Walmart is offering new sellers a 50% discount on commissions for 90 days, while also extending savings on Walmart’s version of FBA to new signups.

The commission discount program is open to new merchants who sign onto Walmart.com by May 31 and start selling by June 30. Sellers who enroll in Walmart Fulfillment Services and inbound an order by June 30 get 90 days of free storage and 10% off fulfillment fees.

Walmart said its marketplace is growing fast, adding 20,000 sellers in 2021 and providing access to millions of monthly visitors, with plans to top 2 million items listed by the end of the year. By comparison, Amazon.com has about 12 million items listed, while eBay has a staggering 1.6 billion.

Walmart said total gross merchandise value (GMV) transacted through WFS – launched in 2020 – grew 500% last year, although off a considerably smaller base than FBA, which has been around for 16 years. WFS also features a preferred carrier program where sellers can take advantage of Walmart’s scale to save on inbound transportation costs to its network of fulfillment centers.

On the advertising side of the equation, another area where Amazon has a major head start, Walmart last week launched Walmart Connect. The platform creates multiple ways for sellers to reach Walmart customers in store and online, including self-serve display ad campaigns, a demand-side platform (DSP) to automate targeted ad serving, video screens in store, premium ad units and a partner program of adtech vendors to help sellers optimize and scale campaigns. Walmart’s advertising arm topped $2 billion in revenue in 2021.

Last year, the company also launched GoLocal, an extension of its growing fulfillment services arm which as the name implies offers same-day and next-day delivery to retailers. Home Depot became the first named customer in October, with Chico’s FAS joining shortly after.

In March, Walmart merged GoLocal with its Delivery Services platform which provides access to a network of last-mile carriers for merchants and offers tracking, visibility and communication for end customers.

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