The Complete Guide to Selling on Walmart Marketplace in 2026

If you're an e-commerce seller looking to diversify beyond Amazon, Walmart Marketplace has quietly become one of the most compelling opportunities available today. With over 200,000 active sellers on the platform and aggressive investment in seller tools, fulfillment infrastructure, and incentive programs, Walmart is no longer just an afterthought for third-party sellers. It's a serious channel that successful brands are using to reduce platform dependency, capture new customers, and improve overall margins.

This guide walks you through everything you need to know: how to get approved, how to set up and optimize your listings, how to handle fulfillment, how to advertise, and how to take advantage of Walmart's current New-Seller Savings program before the window closes.

Why Walmart Marketplace Deserves Your Attention

The numbers tell the story. Walmart.com draws over 400 million unique visitors per month, and the marketplace crossed 200,000 active sellers in 2025. That's still a fraction of Amazon's seller base, which means far less competition for any given product category. Lower competition translates directly to better organic visibility and lower advertising costs.

There's also a customer quality argument. Walmart shoppers tend to be loyal, value-conscious buyers who are already in a purchasing mindset when they land on the site. The Walmart brand carries deep trust, especially in the United States, and that trust extends to third-party listings sold through Marketplace.

When it comes to Walmart fees, the marketplace does not charge monthly subscription fees or setup fees. You pay referral fees only when you sell (typically ranging from 6% to 15% depending on category), which compares favorably to Amazon's combined referral and subscription costs. Add the current new-seller incentives into the equation, and the financial case for launching on Walmart is stronger now than it has ever been.

How to Get Started on Walmart Marketplace

Step 1: Get Approved to Sell

Walmart Marketplace is a curated platform. Not everyone who applies gets approved, and that's by design. Walmart reviews applications to ensure that sellers can meet quality and performance standards, which ultimately benefits the sellers who do get in by keeping the marketplace less crowded.

Who Can Apply

Walmart now accepts sellers from a growing list of countries including the United States, Canada, China, India, the UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and several others. Domestic U.S. sellers will need a U.S. Business Tax ID (EIN). International sellers without a U.S. Tax ID can indicate that during the application process and submit an alternative business verification form.

What Walmart Looks For

The application process asks for business information, product catalog details, and fulfillment capabilities. While Walmart doesn't publish a precise approval rubric, sellers generally improve their chances by demonstrating:

• An established e-commerce track record (selling history on Amazon, your own website, or other platforms)
• A catalog with clear product differentiation and competitive pricing
• The operational capacity to meet Walmart's shipping and performance standards
• A clean business record with no history of policy violations

The Application Process

You can start an application at marketplace.walmart.com. The process typically takes about 10 days from submission to approval, though it can vary. Once approved, you'll complete onboarding, setting up your seller account, configuring payment details, agreeing to Walmart's Retailer Agreement, and completing tax information.

One important note: if you plan to participate in the New-Seller Savings program (covered in detail below), make sure that you opt in through the Payments page in Seller Center once you're live. The savings and incentives are not automatic. You have to activate them.

Step 2: Build Your Catalog

Once approved and onboarded, the most important thing you can do is build a strong, well-optimized catalog. Walmart's algorithm favors listings with high quality scores, competitive pricing, fast shipping, and solid reviews. Your catalog quality directly determines how much organic traffic you receive. 

Note: You may also hear Walmart refer to its overall product offering as an “assortment”. It’s their term for the product catalog. 

Listing Basics

Every product listing on Walmart requires:

• A product title (keep it clear, keyword-rich, and under 75 characters)
• At least four high-quality images (white background preferred for the main image; lifestyle and detail shots for secondaries)
• A detailed product description
• Key features in bullet format
• Accurate pricing and inventory counts
• A product identifier (UPC, GTIN, or EAN)

The Listing Quality Score

Walmart assigns each listing a Listing Quality Score from 0 to 100. This score considers content completeness, customer ratings and reviews, offer attractiveness (pricing and availability), and post-purchase quality signals. Listings with scores above 60 perform significantly better in search results, and a score above 80 can qualify you for the Pro Seller badge, a visible trust signal that improves conversion rates (similar in visual concept to Amazon’s Choice badge).

To improve your score, focus on filling out every attribute field available for your category, adding multiple high-quality images, pricing competitively, and responding to customer reviews over time.

Pricing Strategy

Walmart is price-sensitive both at the customer level and the algorithm level. If your price is significantly higher than the same item sold elsewhere online (including on your own website), your listing may be suppressed from the Buy Box. Walmart's Repricer tool can help automate competitive pricing, and it also earns you an additional referral fee discount during the New-Seller Savings program.

Step 3: Choose Your Fulfillment Strategy

How you fulfill orders matters enormously on Walmart. Fast shipping wins. Products with two-day or next-day delivery are prominently featured in search results and have dramatically higher conversion rates. You have two primary options:

Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)

WFS is Walmart's in-house fulfillment network, analogous to Amazon FBA. You send your inventory to Walmart's fulfillment centers, and Walmart handles pick, pack, ship, customer service, and returns on your behalf. In return, items fulfilled by WFS automatically receive the "Fulfilled by Walmart" badge and two-day shipping guarantees.

The business case for WFS is compelling. Sellers using WFS report an average GMV increase of 50% for items enrolled in the program, driven by better placement and higher customer confidence. WFS rates are also competitive (approximately 15% lower than many competing fulfillment services) with no inventory minimums or maximums and a transparent fee structure.

For new sellers, WFS is worth serious consideration from day one, both for the performance uplift and because enrollment in WFS unlocks additional discounts under the New-Seller Savings program.

Seller-Fulfilled (Self-Ship)

If you prefer to manage your own fulfillment, Walmart's Expedited Delivery programs allow seller-fulfilled listings to earn two-day and next-day badges, but you'll need to demonstrate the operational capability to consistently meet those windows. Walmart also offers "Ship with Walmart," a program that gives you access to discounted shipping labels through Walmart's carrier relationships.

The Seller-Fulfilled path works well for sellers with existing 3PL relationships, large or heavy items that don't fit neatly into WFS fee structures, or businesses that already have strong fulfillment infrastructure. The downside is that you're fully responsible for meeting performance metrics, and any lapses can hurt your seller health score.

Step 4: Advertise with Walmart Connect

Organic visibility is valuable, but advertising accelerates growth especially in the early days when your listings don't yet have the review history to compete on their own. Walmart offers several advertising options through Walmart Connect.

Sponsored Products

Walmart's core advertising product, Sponsored Products, places your items in search results and on product detail pages on a cost-per-click basis. The targeting options are solid, and because Walmart's ad marketplace is less competitive than Amazon's, cost-per-click rates tend to be lower for comparable products.

Best practices for Sponsored Products include starting with automatic campaigns to identify which search terms drive purchases, then layering in manual campaigns targeting your best-performing keywords. Monitor your advertising cost of sale (ACoS) closely in the early weeks and adjust bids accordingly.

Walmart Connect Display and Video

For larger brands, Walmart Connect also offers display and video advertising that leverages Walmart's first-party purchase data for targeting. These formats are best suited for brand awareness and top-of-funnel goals rather than direct conversion, and they typically require a dedicated advertising relationship with a Walmart Connect representative (or an agency like AO2 😉).

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

A newer offering, Walmart's Search Engine Marketing program extends your visibility to Google by promoting your Walmart listings in Google Shopping results. New sellers can receive up to $1,000 in SEM reimbursement credits through the New-Seller Savings program after eligible ad spend.

Step 5: Understand Seller Performance and the Pro Seller Badge

Walmart monitors seller performance continuously. Your seller health score is based on four primary metrics: order defect rate, cancellation rate, late shipment rate, and valid tracking rate. Falling below Walmart's thresholds on any of these can result in listing suppression or account suspension.

The Pro Seller badge is awarded to top-performing sellers who maintain excellent metrics, have a strong Listing Quality Score, and meet a minimum GMV threshold. The badge appears directly on your listings and in search results, signaling to customers that you're a trusted seller. Studies consistently show that the Pro Seller badge improves click-through rates and conversion, making it a meaningful competitive advantage to pursue.

To maintain strong performance metrics, build operational processes that ensure orders ship on time every time, use tracking that uploads promptly, and monitor your seller health dashboard weekly.

Walmart's New-Seller Savings Program: Up to $75K to Launch Your Business

Walmart has launched its New-Seller Savings program that offers new sellers up to $75,000 in combined savings during their first year on the platform. It's the most substantial marketplace launch incentive currently available anywhere in e-commerce, and it deserves to be a central part of your decision-making when evaluating Walmart as a channel.

The 2026 New-Seller Savings program runs from February 2, 2026 through January 31, 2027. To qualify, your store must go live after February 1, 2026, and you must opt in through the Payments page in Seller Center after going live. 

Referral Fee Discounts

Up to $72,000

The largest component of the program is a tiered discount on Walmart's referral fees, applied automatically as you generate sales:

• 20% off base referral fees on your first $50,000 in gross merchandise value (GMV)
• 30% off base referral fees between $50,000 and $500,000 in GMV
• 40% off base referral fees once your sales exceed $500,000 in GMV

These discounts continue until your total savings reach $72,000. To put that in practical terms: if you're in a 12% referral fee category and sell $200,000 in your first year, the tiered discounts meaningfully protect your margins at exactly the stage when you need it most.

Walmart Fulfillment Services Credits

Up to $2,000

New sellers who use WFS receive 10% off fulfillment costs until the total savings reach $2,000. This incentive is designed to reduce the risk of testing WFS, and it stacks with the general performance advantages of the program. Getting inventory into a Walmart fulfillment center early allows you to unlock two-day delivery badges quickly, which drives both search placement and conversion. Thus, the sooner you use this credit, the more compounding benefit you gain.

Advertising Credits

Up to $1,500

The program includes two advertising credit opportunities. First, new advertisers who sign up for Walmart Connect receive up to $500 in Walmart Connect ad credits upon enrollment. Second, new advertisers who sign up for Walmart's Search Engine Marketing program can receive up to $1,000 in SEM reimbursement credits after eligible ad spend.

Taken together, that's $1,500 in advertising credits that can fund your initial keyword and campaign testing without coming out of your operating budget. Using these credits strategically during launch can meaningfully accelerate your time to profitability.

How to Build Long-Term Success on Walmart

The New-Seller Savings program is a powerful on-ramp, but the sellers who win on Walmart long-term are the ones who build durable catalog and operational advantages.

Reviews Matter More Than You Think

Walmart's algorithm heavily weights review velocity and average rating. Enroll in Walmart's Post-Purchase Review program to automatically prompt buyers for feedback after delivery. Syndicate your existing reviews from other platforms through Walmart's Review Syndication Program where eligible. 

Expand Your Assortment Systematically

Walmart rewards sellers who offer broad, relevant assortments. Use the Assortment Growth Dashboard in Seller Center to identify product gaps in your category that you're well-positioned to fill. Listings in underserved subcategories often achieve strong organic placement quickly.

Leverage Omnichannel Opportunities

Walmart has been steadily expanding its omnichannel capabilities, including a program that allows Marketplace items to be showcased in physical Walmart stores. For brands with the right products, in-store placement is a powerful complement to online visibility and something to discuss directly with your Walmart account team once you've established a strong Marketplace presence.

Monitor and Iterate

Walmart provides sellers with robust analytics through Seller Center, including search term reports, listing quality data, and traffic and conversion metrics. Build a routine of reviewing these weekly, identifying underperforming listings, and making incremental improvements to content, pricing, or advertising. Walmart Marketplace rewards consistent optimization over time.

How to Get Started on Walmart Marketplace

If you're ready to move forward, here's a practical sequence to follow:

First, apply at marketplace.walmart.com and ensure your store goes live after February 1, 2026 to qualify for New-Seller Savings. Plan for roughly 10 days of onboarding time from approval to live status.

Second, immediately opt in to the New-Seller Savings program through the Payments page in Seller Center. Don't leave savings on the table.

Third, prioritize catalog quality from day one. Build complete listings with strong images, keyword-rich titles, and fully filled attribute fields. Aim for Listing Quality Scores above 60 before investing heavily in advertising.

Fourth, evaluate WFS for your highest-velocity SKUs. Enroll your best items in WFS to earn two-day badges and capture the WFS fulfillment credits available through New-Seller Savings.

Fifth, activate your advertising credits. Sign up for Walmart Connect and Search Engine Marketing to receive up to $1,500 in ad credits, and launch initial campaigns to build visibility while your organic ranking develops.

The opportunity on Walmart Marketplace in 2026 is real, and the incentive environment makes this a particularly favorable moment to enter. If you're an e-commerce brand looking to build a more resilient, diversified revenue base, there's no better time to start.

AO2 Management helps e-commerce brands launch and scale across Walmart Marketplace and other major channels. If you'd like to talk through your Walmart strategy, get in touch with our team.

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