Selling internationally is an increasingly popular strategy amongst sellers who can scale their businesses outside country borders. One of the largest opportunities available in global retail today is selling on one of Walmart’s international platforms. Businesses wishing to efficiently enter into new markets need to understand how to onboard onto Walmart Global Marketplace Platform.
This article will outline what the Walmart Global Marketplace onboarding process is, the benefits of being on the Walmart Global Marketplace, how to onboard the proper way, and some common problems to avoid in the onboarding process.
What Is Walmart Global Marketplace?
The Global Walmart Marketplace for globally selling to many countries and around the world is New at Walmart. Sellers can sell internationally on Walmart.com, Walmart Canada, Walmart’s Supercenters in Mexico, and as many stores in other countries that Walmart sells products.
Instead of being limited to selling just in the U.S., sellers can reach an international customer base in each country using their Walmart Global Marketplace onboarding. This gives sellers access to:
- A highly respected, trusted, and secure global retail brand
- The ability to sell to customers in every country where Walmart operates
- Local websites, currencies, and payment options for each country where Walmart stores exist
- Logistics and shipping support (if applicable)
Selling internationally through the Walmart Global Marketplace can greatly enhance the brand’s visibility on a worldwide level, provide much greater opportunities for total sales, and help ensure that sellers have created a solid marketing plan before they start selling products internationally.
Onboarding Sellers with Walmart Global Marketplace
The onboarding process of ecommerce sellers on wbigital.com involves a stepwise approach for sellers to begin selling products in the Walmart international marketplaces. Many of the requirements may differ slightly towards countries but the general onboarding process involves:
Application Submission
In this part of the onboarding process, sellers will submit business name and information, tax documentation, and operational details about their business to Walmart.
Verification and Compliance Evaluation
Walmart will take a look at the legitimacy of the seller’s business, products, and whether or not the seller is compliant with Walmart’s Marketplace Policies.
Marketplace Setup
Once verification is complete, sellers will be creating product titles/descriptions/images/pricing/options, and shipping and tax settings.
Logistics and Fulfillment Setup
Sellers will then choose whether or not to self-fulfill or to use any of Walmart’s provided fulfillments programs.
Go Live and Monitor Performance Metrics
After obtaining approval and setup, the seller will now begin to list their products and monitor their performance metrics.
To help sellers in identifying and organizing these onboarding steps, there are companies that can assist sellers in organizing these onboarding steps such as Caasto which will help sellers ensure that their documentation and compliance requirements are aligned correctly.
Prerequisites for Onboarding
Business owners need to gather certain things prior to starting the onboarding process for Walmart’s global marketplace.
- Business Registration Documentation of Validation
- Tax Identification Numbers (Local and Foreign If Applicable)
- Bank Account Information For International Payments
- Accurate Descriptive Product Catalogs
- Compliance Documentation for Any Regulated Categories
- Shipping Policy and Return Policy Clearly Stated
Benefits of Walmart Global Marketplace Expansion
Some Regional Areas Require Certification/Import Export License Before Using Walmart’s Global Marketplace Onboard Process Therefore Preparing for Your Business Ahead of Time Will Decrease Time Delay in Approval and Provide For a Better Experience During Onboarding Process and Approval Process By Walmart’s Global Marketplace.
Walmart has a number of advantages to vendors who successfully complete their global marketplace onboarding process:
- Reach new customers around the world
- Build brand trust and recognition
- Diversify revenue streams
- Benefit from Walmart’s scalable infrastructure
- Use data to improve your business through Walmart’s reporting tools for optimizing listings, pricing and engaging with customers.
Walmart Global Marketplace Onboarding Challenges
Even with a large amount of opportunity, there are still several challenges with the Walmart Global Marketplace Onboarding Process:
1) Compliance & Regulations
Each country has its own laws regarding importing products, how products are labelled and what standards must be met by those products when exported to Walmart.
2) Currency & Tax Complexity
Without proper planning, managing taxes and currencies between countries can be very complicated.
3) Logistics & Shipping Costs
Shipping products internationally requires careful analysis of shipping costs to ensure that sellers will remain profitable.
4) Localization Requirements
Most product listings will have to be adapted to match the language, measurement system and preferences of the local consumer.
5) Performance Metrics
Performance metrics related to shipping time, cancellation rate and customer satisfaction, are strictly enforced by Walmart.
These factors can be the basis of many operational disruptions for sellers if they are not considered early in the onboard process.
Optimizing Global Marketplace Onboarding by Anticipating Future Success
The best way for sellers to successfully onboard to the Walmart Global Marketplace is to follow these best practices above, so that your experience in doing so is more efficient:
Conduct Market Research
Conduct market research to study demand trends, competition, and pricing benchmarks for your target market/country.
Optimize Product Listings
Make sure your product listing has local keywords and descriptions as well as high-quality photos that appeal to buyers in that area.
Use Logistics Strategically
Identify how you’re going to fulfill orders and how long it will take you to ship them to meet performance standards.
Know the Tax Laws
Work with a tax professional who can help you with how to properly file taxes and comply with rules for selling across borders.
Stay on Top of Performance
Monitor your order defect rate, your on-time shipping rate, and your customers’ feedback regularly.
There are consulting companies, such as Caasto, that provide structured support to help sellers improve operations, optimize product listings, and prepare for compliance.
Technology & Tools in the Onboarding Process
Digital technology is an important part of the onboarding process for Walmart’s Global Marketplace. These technologies include:
- Inventory management systems
- Pricing automation tools
- Currency conversion systems
- Order management systems
- Analytics dashboards
Using these different types of technology can help improve your efficiency and accuracy when working with a variety of different online marketplaces at the same time.
Long-Term Strategy After Onboarding
The post approval process of Walmart global marketplace is only the start of long-term success. Continued growth will only happen with:
- Ongoing listing improvements
- Modifying your pricing to be competitive
- Providing exceptional customer service
- Planning for seasonal promotions
- Forecasting your inventory levels
For a global marketplace to succeed, you must manage performance consistently through the use of data for your decision-making.
Conclusion
Walmart’s marketplace is an opportunity to reach customers across borders and expand into international markets. Even though there are several activities that take place during the onboarding process, including compliance procedures; document uploads; localization of products; and logistics planning, a good preparation phase will make it much easier for sellers to have fewer obstacles during onboarding.
By knowing the Marketplace requirements, understanding how to use the right technology, and being disciplined with operational processes, sellers will be able to build a solid foundation in international markets. Also, whether vendors will manage the onboarding process themselves or will have support from a third-party service provider such as Caasto, there are many opportunities to simplify the onboarding process with access to information and proper strategic planning.
For any seller wishing to develop their business in an international market, mastering Walmart’s global marketplace onboarding is one of the first steps to achieving long-term growth in global eCommerce.
