Guide to
Walmart Drop Ship Vendor
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Walmart's marketplace model relies on the dropshipping model. Dropshipping concept allows Walmart to sell products on their marketplace, without owning inventory, but instead, have suppliers to store and ship products. There are a few types of Walmart suppliers: local, national, and E-Commerce. You can read about each of them on Walmart’s site. Below, we will focus on Walmart's E-Commerce suppliers, emphasizing Walmart DSV (Drop Ship Vendors).
It is important to note that online suppliers utilize almost the same onboarding process as Walmart's National Suppliers.
It is important to note that online suppliers utilize almost the same onboarding process as Walmart's National Suppliers.
There are three ways to sell on Walmart.com
3P
It is relatively easy to become a Walmart 3P merchant. You can apply to become one here. As a 3P Walmart seller, merchants ship products directly to buyers, sellers are responsible for their shipping costs, and when listings compete with Walmart, the seller’s listing always loses. Walmart’s offer will be displayed as the one winning the buy box.
DSV
Sellers keep products in their warehouses and list them on Walmart.com. When a customer places the order, the seller ships it to the buyer with a Walmart packing slip. Walmart can also request that a seller ship it to Walmart's retail location when a buyer chooses the "pick up in-store" option. A significant difference between DSV and regular 3P marketplace sellers is that Walmart covers the shipping cost for DSV, so there is no shipping expense for Drop Ship Vendors. See also Walmart's FAQ for details.
Warehouse Supplier
The supplier ships products to a Walmart Fulfillment Center, Walmart houses the products and ships to the customers. This means sellers ship their products directly to Walmart warehouses before the customer orders an item.
3P
DSV
Warehouse Supplier
Seller stores products in their own warehouse
Seller stores products in their own warehouse
Seller ships products to Walmart Warehouse
Products listed on Walmart.com as
Products listed on Walmart.com as
Products listed on Walmart.com as
Products are not available to be picked up at a Walmart retail location, only delivered. When a purchase is made, the seller ships the product to the buyer. The seller is responsible for the shipping cost.
Products are available to be picked up at a Walmart retail location or delivered to the buyer.
When a purchase is made, the seller ships the product to the buyer. Walmart covers the shipping expense.
When a purchase is made, the seller ships the product to the buyer. Walmart covers the shipping expense.
Products are available to be picked up at a Walmart retail location.
When a purchase is made, Walmart ships the order to the customer. There is no additional shipping cost for the seller.
When a purchase is made, Walmart ships the order to the customer. There is no additional shipping cost for the seller.
DSV vs. 3P
There are several benefits of being a Walmart DSV Seller in comparison to 3P:
Sold by Walmart
As a Walmart DSV seller, your products are listed as “Sold by Walmart,” which helps your product’s credibility.
As a Walmart DSV seller, your products are listed as “Sold by Walmart,” which helps your product’s credibility.
Elite
DSV sellers must have a proven track record of great customer service and quality products. While 3P sellers are held to high standards, DSV merchants are under even more scrutiny.
DSV sellers must have a proven track record of great customer service and quality products. While 3P sellers are held to high standards, DSV merchants are under even more scrutiny.
Credibility
As a multivendor marketplace, Walmart gives sellers limited authority to request changes. DSV sellers are prioritized as having more credibility to update product page information.
As a multivendor marketplace, Walmart gives sellers limited authority to request changes. DSV sellers are prioritized as having more credibility to update product page information.
Free Shipping
Your products are eligible for Free Shipping and (even better!) Walmart covers all shipping charges.
Your products are eligible for Free Shipping and (even better!) Walmart covers all shipping charges.
Ship to Store
Your products are eligible for “Ship to Store,” a popular option in which buyers can pick up their products from their local Walmart.
Your products are eligible for “Ship to Store,” a popular option in which buyers can pick up their products from their local Walmart.
Buy Box
If another 3P merchant is selling the same product, as a DSV seller your product takes priority and is more likely to get the Buy Box. This increases conversion and puts you in a winning position against 3P sellers.
If another 3P merchant is selling the same product, as a DSV seller your product takes priority and is more likely to get the Buy Box. This increases conversion and puts you in a winning position against 3P sellers.
GeekSeller + DSV
Our multichannel features are designed to help Walmart sellers automate and simplify their operations.
- Synchronize your inventory between Walmart Canada and other marketplaces and online stores.
- Automatically send orders for fulfillment to 3PL companies.
- Manage inventory in multiple warehouses.
- Generate shipping labels easily.
- Consolidate your Walmart SWW orders
- Manage and create new listings easily.
- Unlimited access to our support that specializes in Walmart.
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Order management
You can generate in bulk and print all the required DSV labels from within GeekSeller panel.
Integration with 3rd party systems
GeekSeller can also send your DSV orders for fulfillment to ShipStation or Shopify, and a few other platforms. Please contact us for details.
DSV sellers can put rich media content on their pages
Walmart Drop Ship Vendors (DSV) can enrich existing items with rich media. Rich Media includes material such as videos, comparison tables, and view360 media. GeekSeller provides tools for sellers to easily add that content.
How to apply to become a Walmart DSV?
Before you begin, you need to know that completing the registration process for Walmart DSV or warehouse supplier does not guarantee approval.
A seller will need to provide the required information and documents to tell Walmart more about their company. This is the checklist with the information that domestic suppliers should be prepared to provide in order to become a fully qualified supplier of Walmart.
When you are ready, create an account here and follow the steps to apply.
Walmart DSV Program Requirements
Before you apply for DSV, you need to make sure you meet all the requirements and meet Walmart's standards. Walmart is pretty strict with measuring seller's performance and not meeting those standards lead to suspension. Below are listed the most important requirements, for a full list, see this Walmart's article.
DSVs are required to comply with the below program requirements. Failure to comply may result in account suspension or termination.
- Being able to fulfill orders Monday through Friday up to 12 pm local time.
- Submitting Operational Outages (scheduled closures) to Walmart at least 14 days in advance.
- Ship with FedEx, UPS and USPS – Walmart assigns a carrier and ship method to each order. Supplier must ship with the Walmart assigned carrier method.
- Shipping in plain, unbranded boxes and do not include packing slips or marketing materials in packages.
- Shipping only from the contiguous 48 states (suppliers cannot ship from Hawaii or Alaska)
- Keeping updated inventory numbers.
- Maintaining DSV Performance Standards outlined below.
See Walmart's FAQ to learn more about DSV standards and requirements.
I have a newly invented product in the final stages of the patent application and beta testing on the prototype. We are looking to launch in April or May and would like to be a vendor for Walmart/Sam’s Club. Can you help?
Hello Adam, We can help you with the registration form if you have any questions, but the decision regarding approval is up to Walmart. If this is a new product, we suggest starting with selling on the Walmart Marketplace (here is the application form, please make sure to select GeekSeller as your integration partner, so that if you do not hear back from Walmart about your application we can contact them and ask what the issue is). The idea is that joining the marketplace is the best way to start, and you can apply for being a DSV seller or Sam’s Club vendor after proving to Walmart how your products perform while you are a 3P seller. One challenge you will face is that this is a new product, so you cannot show its reviews and sales. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to get approved to sell on Walmart if you cannot show your GMV for the last several months and some kind of validation of your products such as great reviews on other marketplaces. You may need to start selling on other marketplaces that allow new products to be sold and apply to Walmart after a year when you have product reviews on other platforms and a year of revenue to show. You can also keep an eye on the next “Walmart’s Annual Open Call for Products Made, Grown or Assembled in America” – see more details about the 2021 event. Hope it helps!