Welcome ecommerce enthusiasts! Today we're diving into the 5 most common issues keeping Walmart Seller’s awake at night and how to triumph over them.
If you have a Walmart seller account, you know the hustle: it's both exciting and challenging. Whilst there is plenty of opportunity as a Walmart 3rd party seller, there are some costly pitfalls.
But don't worry! Every problem has a solution.
Plus, I've got a list of nifty tools and software that are designed to support Walmart marketplace sellers, to make the journey even smoother. Ready? Then grab your virtual hiking boots and let me walk you through it!
With over 35 million products listed on Walmart's online marketplace, it's easy for your listings to get lost in the search results.
If you’re just about the start selling on Walmart (or even if you’re a experienced seller) you might be asking “Why is Product Listing Visibility a potential problem?’’. Well, it is generally true that people tend to rely heavily on the search results presented on the first page of Google, Amazon and yes, Walmart too. This behaviour is supported by various studies and data that show a significant drop in user engagement and click-through rates as you move down the search result pages. So, getting higher up the Walmart search results is important if you want to make more sales!
Imagine you're selling handmade candles - if your product listings aren't optimized for Wamart customers, your beautiful wild harvested eucalyptus-scented artisan candles could end up on page 25 of search results, while Uncle Jim’s regular vanilla candles (with listings that have been better optimized) dominates the first page!
The successful 3rd party sellers on Walmart, make their products visible by optimizing product listings with relevant keywords, high-quality images, and detailed descriptions. The more aligned your listing is with what users are searching for, the higher the chance it appears in top results.
For example, if you're selling "vegan leather boots", Jungle Scout might indicate that shoppers frequently search for "cruelty-free boots" or "eco-friendly leather boots". You’re still selling the exact same product but you’re using the right language to promote it to more customers. Simple if you know the right search terms or keywords to use.
Both Jungle Scout and Helium 10 have recently expanded their Amazon FBA software packages to support Walmart Sellers.
How Does Jungle Scout Help Walmart Sellers: Jungle Scout's keyword tool lets sellers discover high-volume keywords relevant to their products. By integrating these keywords into product titles, descriptions, and backend search terms, sellers can significantly improve the chances of their listings appearing in customer searches.
With the Walmart marketplace being an open platform, many sellers might offer similar or even the exact same products. Here's where price wars begin. Sellers get desperate to stand apart and often undercut each other by a few cents or dollars to appear as the lowest-priced option. This can be enough of a tactic to dominate sales!
Take the example of Andy and Max, both selling plastic desktop organisers. Andy lists his desktop organiser for $20. Seeing this, Max drops his price to $19.75. Not to be outdone, Andy then lists his for $19.60. This race to the bottom can severely erode profit margins.
Rather than engaging in a relentless price war, channel your efforts into increasing your value proposition. Meaning? Give customers more bang for their buck in other ways that are valuable to them. This could be in the form of faster shipping, product bundles, superior customer service, or exclusive product features. By enhancing perceived value, you can justify a higher price point.
Wally Smarter can help you keep a close eye on competitor prices and understand market trends, allowing you to adjust your pricing strategy effectively. If you know what customers are willing to pay then you don’t have to keep dropping prices to beat the competition.
Use Wally Smarter to help you do better product research, write optimized listings rank better, track competitors and a bunch of other strategic activities to increase your sales.
Order fulfillment delays occur when there's a lag in processing, packing, or shipping an order after a customer has made a purchase. In the world of e-commerce, speed is king. Delays can negatively affect customer satisfaction, leading to poor reviews and damaging a seller's reputation. Some reasons for these delays might include:
Join forces with trusty third-party logistics specialists or enlist the help of Walmart's own Fulfillment Services (WFS). If you’ve read “The 2023 Walmart Marketplace Playbook for Sellers” you’ll know that sellers see (on average) a 50% total value of merchandise sold (GMV) when using WFS.
Your customers get their goodies on time, and you'll reap the benefits of being in control of your delivery times AND increasing your online income!
Software/Tool Recommendation: Consider using ShipStation or ShipBob. These platforms not only integrate with multiple sales channels, ensuring consistent tracking of orders across platforms like Walmart, Amazon, and Etsy, but they also allow you to compare shipping rates among different carriers, print labels, and automate many parts of the fulfillment process.
Walmart's seller policies keep evolving. I’ve talked about this before in this amazon-vs-walmart article. Walmart are strict about how its sellers operate and takes complaints about shoddy business practices seriously.
Be the eagle-eyed guardian of your seller account. Regularly check the Walmart marketplace seller center and participate in their webinars or training sessions. Stick to the guidelines, communicate with Walmart's support like a pro, and keep your account sailing smoothly.
If you’ve created a recognised brand on Walmart (or any marketplace platform) then you need to be concerned about counterfeiting. If you’re generating good sales, then your profits start to look attractive to counterfeiters who will enjoy riding your success wave.
Walmart's Brand Protection program is designed to ensure that intellectual property rights are respected and protected on its marketplace. So, make sure to enroll at Walmart's Brand Portal, be vigilant against the forces of counterfeiting, and keep your brand's flag flying high.
And there you have it. This post has given you the Top 5 Walmart Seller Problems AND Solutions!
Navigating the exciting landscape of eCommerce might have its challenges, but now you're ready to face them head-on, with a dash of style, a sprinkle of determination, you can be a Walmart BOSS!
So, go on, embrace the journey, and enjoy soaring to new heights in the Walmart Marketplace.
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Jessica Clark has a passion for all things eCommerce. She’s always learning and adapting to find efficiencies and to stay competitive in a fast-paced sector.
Walmart is super strict and will ban your account very quickly if you are to be found selling or attempting to sell counterfeit, fake, or replica products.
They are very big on brand protection and IP infringement.
The two eCommerce giants are similar but also different in some important ways. For an eCommerce entrepreneur, the difference could be important depending on your products and end customer. To understand more, we’ve written a more comprehensive Amazon Vs Walmart article to cover off the key considerations.
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