Walmart’s recent online growth has gotten brands of all size rethinking their marketplace strategy on Amazon. In general Walmart marketplace sales are 2-4% of what comparable item sales are on Amazon (based upons Yeoman’s exclusive cross platform brand analysis over the last 5 years.
However, the pandemic has brought a surge in volume on Walmart, especially in groceries and consumables.
So is Walmart worth it? Commissions and fees are comparable to Amazon (10-15% range) but there are several differences brands should be aware of. The first is shipping and perfomance.
Remember, Walmart really doesn’t have a mature, active program like FBA. They do have a program through their partner Delivrr, but this is fairly new and not a large % of their shipments yet.
If you’re doing the fulfillment, Walmart’s standard metrics are slightly tougher than Amazon in terms of late shipments and tracking but they tend to be more forgiving if you have performance issues.
| Amazon Fulfilled by Merchant | Amazon Premium (1 and 2 Day non-prime) | Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime | Walmart | |
| Late Shipment | <4% – 30 Days | <1% – 30 Days | <1% – 30 Days | <1% – 30 Days |
| Prefill Cancellation Rate | <2.5% – 7 Days | <0.5% – 7 Days | <0.5% – 7 Days | <2.5% – 30 Days |
| Valid Tracking | >95% – 30 Days | >99% – 30 Days | >99% – 30 Days | >99% – 30 Days |
| On time Delivery | >97% – 30 Days | >97% – 30 Days | >99% – 30 Days | NA |
| Refund Rate | NA | NA | NA | <5% – 30 Days |
| Ship Rates and Rules | Must ship cont. US, can charge | Must ship cont. US, must offer 1 or 2 day (but can charge) | Must ship cont. US, free 2 day min | Varies, but all require US ship. Can override free |
FYI – Walmart does have their own 2 day program but it has the same metrics as their standard program.
They also both have an overall defect rate that’s calculated as shown below:
| Overall Defect Rate | Comment |
| <2% 90 days | Walmart counts cancellations, returns, delivery issues, and complaints as defects |
| <1% 60 days | Amazon only counts negative feedback and claims/chargebacks in this metric |
Bottom line – if you can meet Amazon’s fulfillment programs, you should easily be able to support Walmart. If you’re a FBA only vendor, there’s a lot more hurdles and logistics required to get up and running.
Need help? Nobody knows more about Amazon and Walmart than Yeoman. We’ve been actively working in both marketplaces for over a decade and have helped brands launch and optimize over 650,00 products. Contact us today to learn more.