If You Build It (Together), They Will Come: Walmart Introduces New Fulfillment Service Built with Sellers, for Sellers

Feb. 25, 2020
By Jaré Buckley-Cox, vice president, Walmart Fulfillment Services, Walmart eCommerce

As we've been building our marketplace service and relationship with sellers, many have asked if they can leverage our eCommerce fulfillment network to fulfill orders quickly and efficiently for their items. We're excited to introduce Walmart Fulfillment Services(WFS), a service where select sellers can leverage our world-class supply chain capabilities - from storing, picking, packing and shipping items to handling of returns and customer service.

We built this service with sellers, for sellers, and are proud to offer our partners transparent and simple pricing that's one of the lowest on the market. WFS is designed to help sellers generate more profitable sales of their inventory at scale, while growing their business with Walmart Marketplace. With WFS, they'll gain a trusted partner that cares about their business and their customers and benefit from a more personalized experience. And as for customers, they'll enjoy a larger assortment of great brands and products along with fast shipping, easy returns and dedicated customer service.

Sellers are excited about the service and the opportunity it can offer their business. I spoke with Raj Sapru, chief operating officer for Netrush; and George Hatch, director of marketplaces for Pattern. Both organizations work with companies to help them navigate selling on a third-party marketplace, and both have been instrumental in helping us build WFS.

Jaré Buckley-Cox: Why are you excited to be part of WFS?

Raj Sapru: As more shoppers start to use Walmart's online marketplace, it's important to meet shoppers where they are. It's a priority to us as a retailer that we provide a premium experience that matches the quality of the products we sell. WFS offers that experience.

George Hatch: WFS enables us to partner with one of the world's largest brick-and-mortar retailers and fastest-growing ecommerce marketplaces. Through WFS, not only will our brand partners experience major growth alongside Walmart.com, but our customers will save valuable time and money.

Jaré: What are some results you've been seeing with WFS?

Sapru: Our results with WFS have been promising. We feel that WFS will position us for success as Walmart continues to drive traffic to the service.

Hatch: WFS has created incentives for Pattern's brand partners to begin thinking about expanding to Walmart.com. With WFS, we've had one of our best sales months on Walmart.com.

Jaré: Based on your experience with WFS so far, what would you like to see more of?

Hatch: I'd love to see WFS continue to grow, both in the number of items available as well as the number of sellers participating. I look forward to seeing what tools and features Walmart will release to make this even easier for sellers as well as to help WFS scale.

Sapru: Consumers need engagement - data and insight will be critical for addressing new, loyal and changing consumers. From the perspective of premium brands, marketplaces have proven challenging to tell their brand story and engage with shoppers. New ways for customers to engage with brands in a meaningful way on the platform and during the research and discovery phase will only enhance the customer experience.

Jaré: What advice would you give other sellers who might be considering WFS for their business?

Hatch: I'd tell them WFS will be an 'absolute must' to grow their brand. Opportunities to get in early on initiatives like this don't come around often, and Pattern has been very pleased with the way WFS has performed for our brand partners thus far.

Sapru: Walmart has the right cross-functional team in place to address our needs. If you understand your strategy and what you want, the Walmart team is able to have an open discussion about objectives and realistic results. The more you put in, the more you get out.

Walmart Fulfillment Services

LEARN MORE: Learn more about WFS and all it has to offer our sellers and customers: marketplace.walmart.com/walmart-fulfillment-services/