Amazon Vs Walmart.com, which is the best marketplace? In this post, we discuss selling on these online marketplaces. We will look at the areas of overlap, differences, and the pros and cons of selling on Amazon and Walmart.
The line between Amazon and Walmart is becoming increasingly confusing as the two retail giants battle it out to take a bigger cut of the estimated $5 trillion retail market.
Hi, my name is Jessica Clark. I’ve been a Shopify and Amazon Seller for several years and make a steady and reliable income selling small electronic and tech accessories.
I’m familiar and comfortable with Amazon FBA, but I’m hearing more of a buzz around Walmart.com and the opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to expand into a new marketplace. Is Walmart the next Amazon?
And, what I'm really wondering; is it possible that by adding Walmart as a marketplace I could increase my income?
In this article, I look at the essential considerations of selling on Walmart and selling on Amazon to help you decide which is the best marketplace for your business. You can read about:
Amazon has dominated online shopping with over a 40% market share in the U.S eCommerce market. In simple terms, customers buy more from Amazon than from the other top 9 online retailers, COMBINED.
Although Walmart is the world’s biggest retailer by revenue, it’s only the 2nd choice for online shoppers and has a market share of around 6-7%. Certainly, nothing to shout about, but Walmart is currently considered the fastest growing online marketplace and is actively expanding into UK, Canada, and China.
Both companies are investing vast amounts of money and are strategically expanding their businesses. And for eCommerce business owners, there are exciting new opportunities to make more money by leveraging these platforms to access more customers and increase sales.
Even though Amazon and Walmart are starting to step on each other’s toes, they are rooted in unique histories. Amazon started as an online store selling ‘everything,’ and Walmart is primarily a brick-and-mortar store selling groceries.
The companies have different business models, so selling on Amazon Vs Walmart has some differences you should consider when choosing a marketplace to sell on.
The Walmart approval process is robust and designed for more experienced sellers.
The approval process includes providing evidence of eCommerce experience and historical sales. The application process takes around 2-4 weeks and approval isn’t guaranteed.
If you would like to know more about the process and how to get approved on Walmart marketplace, then this article explains it all.
On the other hand, Amazon often allows newbie sellers without experience to join the marketplace within 24 hours of submitting an application.
This difference between Walmart and Amazon also affects the number of sellers and competition. You can read more on this below under the heading Competition for Customers.
Currently, Walmart is expanding into Canada, UK and China, in addition to their already very successful retail business in the USA.
Until now, it has been difficult for international sellers (outside of the USA) to start selling on Walmart. With this global expansion, there are now new opportunities arising, and given Walmart’s ambitions to compete with Amazon, I’d say it won’t be long before more countries are added to the list.
Amazon is widely accepted as THE international marketplace operating in no fewer than 58 countries with access to a staggering 1.2 billion potential Amazon customers!!!
This is a major difference between Walmart and Amazon that can’t be ignored. If your strategy depends on international growth, then this factor alone could help you decide whether Amazon or Walmart is better for your business.
Competition is another crucial difference between Walmart and Amazon. Amazon is an established third-party seller marketplace with experienced sellers.
But is the Amazon marketplace at saturation point with 1.9M active sellers trying to compete for sales? Only the smart sellers survive, and the bigger sellers take advantage of PPC (pay-per-click) advertising to get (and stay) ahead.
There are far fewer Walmart sellers (approximately 120,000), making the competition less fierce and the goal of getting ranked much easier. If better conversions are your goal, then getting ranked is how you achieve it!
Why become a Walmart Seller? With fewer third-party sellers on Walmart.com, now is an opportune time for sellers to get established in a marketplace with over 120 million unique online customers per month.
There is also a difference between the product listings on Walmart and Amazon.
For many buyers, we’ll be used to seeing product listings with long titles that don’t always match exactly with the product.
This is known as ‘keyword’ stuffing, and it’s a way for sellers to get an advantage by beating the Amazon algorithm and getting ranked.
Customer loyalty for Walmart as a trusted and affordable brand cannot be underestimated, and Walmart expects quality from its sellers. Walmart has a quality focussed approach to its product listings and ranks products according to a listing quality score.
Keyword stuffing isn’t an acceptable winning formula, and you can see product listings with straightforward titles and descriptions.
You can read more about product and keyword research for ranking your Walmart product listings in our article about WallySmarter.
Both platforms are customer focussed and expect a low return rate. Sellers that do not put customers first with quality products, can get suspended.
There is also a difference between the costs for selling on Walmart and Amazon. Anyone selling on Walmart or Amazon marketplaces must have a seller account. However, Amazon charges Pro sellers a fee of $39.99 per month. This fee is payable whether you sell an item or not.
Walmart does not charge sellers a monthly fee. Walmart seller fees are only payable as a referral fee per sale once they start selling their products.
It’s also worth a mention that PPC advertising is a major income stream for Amazon, and the costs of PPC adverts have increased in recent years, making it a high risk for smaller players.
Walmart also offers PPC advertising, but the costs are more affordable than Amazon due to less seller competition.
Getting your product listings right is important for selling on both platforms.
On Amazon, most listings have descriptions and images to help a buyer make a decision, but there is a limitation on video content. Amazon will host videos but only for Brand Registry A+ products.
With Walmart, rich media is allowed for any listing. You can create exciting and informative product listings that include infographics and videos. This is a paid-for extra hosting service but gives you an option if your product relies on video content to demonstrate its key benefits.
One significant advantage of Walmart over Amazon is that they offer in-store pickup. With over 90% of the United States population living within 10 miles of a Walmart store, it makes it easy for customers to pick up their online order while doing their weekly grocery shopping.
I believe this is Walmart’s superpower and one that Amazon cannot rival.
Successful sellers on the Walmart.com online platform have the opportunity to be invited to sell in Walmart stores across the United States! This is possibly the most exciting thing about selling on Walmart.
Imagine getting your products into 4,735 physical stores across the USA. That is mind-blowing to most eCommerce solopreuneurs and potentially life-changing.
Amazon now boasts around 175 fulfillment centers, and in some instances, Amazon can deliver products within HOURS! That’s just insane!
The Amazon paid membership program has been an unequivocal success story. There are over 200 Million Amazon Prime members. With Amazon FBA, your customers can access free shipping within 1-2 days.
FBA has provided many sellers with fulfillment services to go global and go big. Amazon has fine-tuned this part of its business over many years and has established an unrivaled trust and reputation for fast and efficient fulfillment services.
Even though Walmart has joined the party with Walmart WFS, they have yet to prove themselves, and with only 20 fulfillment centers, their delivery speed cannot possibly compete with FBA.
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) and Amazon Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) both offer the following services:
The main differences between Walmart WFS and Amazon FBA are:
We know that life has shifted in an unexpected way since COVID-19, especially when it comes to our shopping habits. Like, many savvy retailers, Walmart pivoted to online selling, and having tasted a piece of the eCommerce pie, the retail giant is now poised for further success.
Walmart is now the second largest eCommerce retailer in the United States with eCommerce making up around 13% of its sales. By opening up to third-party sellers, small and medium-sized eCommerce businesses get to jump onboard a train that is picking up speed.
Is Walmart marketplace worth selling on? Our opinion at Hustle Life is that Walmart is poised to strike, making selling on Walmart Marketplace a fantastic opportunity for experienced and established sellers.
How do you get experience? Most sellers start out on other platforms. The most similar marketplace is Amazon. But being successful on Amazon is proving harder due to ferocious seller competition and expensive PPC advertising costs. But don't let this little problem defeat you.
"A person who sees a problem is a human being; a person who finds a solution is visionary; the person who goes out and does something about it is an entrepreneur." – Anonymous
Understanding the Amazon ecosystem, avoiding painful and costly mistakes, and creating an income isn't rocket science, but it does require some genuine know-how. Below is our pick of some of the best courses currently available.
Amazing Selling Machine is a well-established high ticket course to help you create a BIG business with high revenue. The course creators also claim that its members have sold over $8.6 BILLION FBA products to date.
Marketplace Superheroes Ignite is an affordable course focused on creating a comfortable income ($200-300k a year) to replace your 9 to 5 job.
Freedom Ticket by Helium 10 is a newer FBA course designed by an eCommerce titan called Kevin King. The Freedom Ticket philosophy is about setting in place solid foundations for the long haul. The course will help you create a private label brand to generate a sustainable, long-term income.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely a few pit-falls and it's not all roses working with the big guys, add to that lots of competition. If you want a heads-up on some of the latest issues and how to get around them then hopefully our article helps!
I’m also aware that you might be asking, ‘Can you sell on both Amazon and Walmart marketplaces at the same time?’
Of course, you need to pay attention to some rules, but the simple answer is YES you can! You don’t have to choose between selling on Walmart marketplace or Amazon because you’re allowed to be a seller on both platforms!
Our WallySmarter Review explores the WallySmarter suite of tools that assist primarily in selling on Walmart, however, the Amazon to Walmart Repricer tool and their Arbitrage tool will certainly help if you wish to work with both marketplaces.
Most eCommerce success stories come from expanding across multiple platforms TO REACH MORE CUSTOMERS AND MAKE MORE SALES. If you have winning products, time, support and the processes in place, then this is a great way to build a robust business.
My recommendation is to consider investing in some good quality, tried and tested software to support your business. Read my article on Helium 10’s powerful software for Amazon and Walmart sellers to understand how this suite of tools has helped me build a reliable online income.
In this article, I’ve walked through some of the key factors I think you need to consider when deciding to sell on Walmart or Amazon.
There’s also the option of selling on both Amazon and Walmart platforms. Most newbie sellers can get an Amazon Seller account without prior experience and then expand into Walmart once they have some credentials and a proven track record.
And finally, I would suggest that the pros and cons of selling on Amazon Vs Walmart should be considered alongside the products you’re planning on selling and the strategy you have for your business. Remember the old adage: ‘One man’s trash is another man's treasure!’
Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world with the most amount of active sellers, registered sellers and online sales.
Walmart however has the largest annual turnover (revenue) of an eyewatering $570 billion across all the Walmart business.
Walmart + is a membership program similar to Amazon Prime. For $12.95 per month or an annual fee of $98 Walmart + gives you a whole bunch of benefts. These are just some of the current benefits on offer:
They are always adding new benefits.
Approved Walmart Marketplace sellers are able to advertise their products in video and 360 spin image formats. Walmart has plans to support other media advertising options later in 2023.
Walmart does not charge a monthly account fee nor a fee to initially set up your account.
Walmart Marketplace charges its sellers a Referral Fee ranging from 3-20% depending on the category you product is in. You can view the full list of Walmarts Categories and Product Fees right here.
Like Amazon they also charge storage fulfillment fees.
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