Walmart Case Study | What is Walmart Fulfillment Services? - Project W: Episode 9

Summary

In this episode of Project W, Carrie Miller and Tim Jordan explore the importance of fulfillment in e-commerce, specifically for Walmart.com. They discuss various fulfillment options available to sellers, including merchant-fulfilled, 3PLs, Deliverr, and Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS). The episode highlights the benefits of leveraging Walmart's infrastructure for faster shipping and better customer satisfaction, as well as the challenges and considerations sellers face when choosing their fulfillment strategy.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Project W is a series aimed at helping businesses expand their sales and growth through Walmart.com by leveraging the same methods used for Amazon products.
• 📦 Fulfillment is a critical aspect of marketplaces' advantage over other e-commerce platforms, and it significantly impacts both buyers' and sellers' expectations.
• 🏬 Amazon's Prime program set the standard for two-day shipping, which has influenced the entire industry's expectations for delivery times.
• 🛒 Walmart has its own set of fulfillment expectations for sellers, which includes options like Merchant Fulfilled, where sellers handle the entire shipping process themselves or through a 3PL.
• 📦 Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN) is a baseline requirement for Walmart sellers, but it can be challenging due to the need for high shipping volumes and fast delivery times.
• Walmart offers alternatives to MFN, such as Deliverr, which acts as an interim solution for sellers to offer two-day shipping by using Deliverr's existing fulfillment network.
• 🔄 Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is Walmart's own fulfillment system, which is still growing and not immediately available to all sellers, requiring an application and acceptance process.
• 🏆 Using WFS can help sellers gain the Walmart Plus badge, which is beneficial for product ranking and meeting the fast fulfillment promise to customers.
• 🔄 Sellers are advised to apply for WFS once their account is set up and they have some sales, but they should not rely solely on WFS due to potential inventory and acceptance limitations.
• 📈 The script provides an overview of fulfillment options, not specific instructions on how to manage shipments or set up fulfillment, focusing on the impact on scaling and ranking capabilities.
• 📅 Future episodes of Project W will cover setting up PPC campaigns, reading seller center reports, and other advanced topics to further assist sellers in maximizing their presence on Walmart.com.

Q & A

What is the main topic of discussion in episode 9 of Project W?

The main topic of discussion in episode 9 is the fulfillment options available for sellers on Walmart.com and how they can impact sales, growth, and ranking capabilities.

How did Amazon's Prime program change the industry's expectations for fulfillment?

Amazon's Prime program, by creating warehouses all over the country and offering two-day shipping, set high expectations for fast delivery, which influenced both buyers and sellers in the industry.

What are the challenges faced by sellers when they choose merchant fulfillment?

Merchant fulfillment challenges include managing the volume for two-day shipping, negotiating terms with shipping carriers like FedEx or UPS, ensuring timely delivery, and handling manual order tracking and software integration.

What is the significance of having a robust distribution center in the context of merchant fulfillment?

A robust distribution center allows sellers to have multiple 3PLs or third-party logistics centers spread out in different regions, enabling them to ship orders from the closest center to the customer, reducing shipping time and cost.

Why is Walmart's fulfillment service (WFS) considered an advantage for sellers?

WFS is an advantage because it leverages Walmart's volume to decrease shipping rates and provides the infrastructure and capabilities that individual sellers may not have, allowing for faster and more cost-effective shipping.

What is the Deliver service, and how does it relate to Walmart fulfillment?

Deliver is a third-party logistics service with warehouses across the country that can distribute products to offer two-day shipping. It acts as an interim solution for Walmart sellers before they can fully utilize Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS).

What is the process for sellers to start using Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)?

Sellers need to apply for WFS, and once accepted, they can start shipping their products to WFS for distribution. It's recommended to apply as soon as the account is set up and start selling.

How does the availability of Walmart's physical stores contribute to its fulfillment capabilities?

Walmart's extensive network of physical stores allows for store pickups, providing customers with the option to buy online and pick up in-store, which can be especially useful for last-minute purchases or items not available for home delivery.

What is the importance of not relying solely on Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) for all inventory?

It's important not to rely solely on WFS because during the inbound process of accepting and distributing products, sellers might temporarily run out of inventory to sell. Keeping some inventory in merchant fulfillment or Deliver ensures continuous sales.

What additional topics will be covered in the upcoming episodes of Project W?

Upcoming episodes will cover setting up PPC campaigns, reading seller center reports, performance updates, restock suggestions, and improving listing quality scores.

Outlines

00:00

🛒 Introduction to Walmart Fulfillment Options

In this introductory paragraph, the hosts, Carrie Miller and Tim Jordan, set the stage for a discussion on fulfillment strategies for selling on Walmart.com. They introduce the topic as a crucial element for e-commerce success, comparing it to Amazon's Prime program and its impact on consumer expectations for fast shipping. The paragraph outlines the basic concept of marketplace fulfillment systems and their advantages over traditional e-commerce models, such as eliminating the need for sellers to manage their own warehousing and shipping logistics. It also highlights the importance of fulfilling orders quickly to meet consumer expectations and stay competitive on the platform.

05:02

🚚 Merchant Fulfillment Challenges and Strategies

This paragraph delves into the specifics of merchant fulfillment, where sellers handle the entire process of order fulfillment from their own warehouses or third-party logistics (3PL) centers. The hosts discuss the challenges of achieving two-day shipping, especially at scale, and the need for volume to negotiate favorable shipping rates with carriers like FedEx or UPS. They also touch on the importance of timely delivery to maintain customer satisfaction and the potential downsides of not leveraging marketplace fulfillment services, such as higher costs and manual order tracking. The paragraph concludes with a mention of the baseline requirement for sellers to be able to ship through their own means if other options are unavailable.

10:04

📦 Exploring Walmart Fulfillment Services and Deliver

The hosts explore the options available to sellers for fulfillment on Walmart.com, including Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) and the interim solution, Deliver. They explain that WFS is Walmart's own fulfillment network, which is still growing and not immediately available to all sellers, requiring an application and acceptance process. In contrast, Deliver is a third-party logistics service that partners with Walmart to offer two-day shipping by distributing products across its warehouses. The paragraph also addresses the limitations of WFS and the importance of not relying solely on it due to potential inventory and acceptance delays, suggesting a balanced approach with multiple fulfillment methods.

🏪 The Role of Store Pickups in Walmart's Fulfillment Ecosystem

In the final paragraph, the discussion turns to the unique advantage Walmart has with its extensive network of physical stores, allowing for store pickups as part of its fulfillment options. The hosts highlight the demographic reach of Walmart's stores and the potential for integrating online orders with in-store pickup, which can enhance customer convenience and satisfaction. They also speculate on the future integration of Walmart's retail capabilities with its online platform, suggesting a bright outlook for Walmart's fulfillment services. The paragraph wraps up with a summary of the fulfillment options covered in the episode and a teaser for upcoming episodes that will delve into PPC campaigns and seller performance on Walmart.com.

Keywords

💡Project W

Project W is the title of the series, which aims to guide businesses on leveraging Walmart.com for sales and growth. It is a journey that the hosts, Carrie Miller and Tim Jordan, are taking the audience on, with each episode focusing on different aspects of selling on the platform. In the transcript, 'Project W' is mentioned as the overarching theme of the video series.

💡Fulfillment

Fulfillment in the context of e-commerce refers to the logistics process of receiving customer orders, packaging, and delivering products to the end customer. In the video, fulfillment is highlighted as a critical aspect that gives marketplaces an advantage. The script discusses various fulfillment methods available to sellers on Walmart.com, such as merchant-fulfilled, Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), and third-party logistics (3PL).

💡Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime is a membership program offered by Amazon that provides customers with benefits such as two-day shipping on eligible items. In the script, it is mentioned as a game-changer in setting customer expectations for fast shipping, which has influenced the entire e-commerce industry, including how sellers operate on platforms like Walmart.com.

💡Merchant Fulfilled

Merchant Fulfilled is a term used to describe a scenario where the seller handles the order fulfillment process, including picking, packing, and shipping the products. In the video, it is presented as a baseline requirement for Walmart sellers and is discussed in terms of its challenges, such as achieving two-day shipping and managing logistics with shipping carriers.

💡3PL (Third-Party Logistics)

3PL refers to businesses that outsource part or all of their logistics needs to a specialized company. In the script, 3PLs are mentioned as an option for sellers to distribute their products across different locations, allowing for faster shipping to customers and减轻ing the burden of managing inventory and shipping directly.

💡Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)

Walmart Fulfillment Services is Walmart's own fulfillment network, similar to Amazon's FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon). The script explains that WFS is an advantageous option for sellers as it allows them to leverage Walmart's infrastructure for storage, distribution, and fast shipping. However, it also notes that WFS is not immediately available to all sellers and requires an application process.

💡Deliver

Deliver is a third-party logistics service mentioned in the script as an interim solution for two-day shipping on Walmart.com. Sellers can ship their products to Deliver, which then distributes them to its warehouses for fast delivery to customers. It is positioned as an alternative to WFS while Walmart continues to expand its own fulfillment infrastructure.

💡Two-Day Shipping

Two-Day Shipping is a service承诺 by e-commerce platforms to deliver products to customers within two business days. In the video, it is discussed as a key factor in customer satisfaction and a competitive advantage for sellers. The script explores how different fulfillment methods on Walmart.com can impact a seller's ability to offer two-day shipping.

💡Walmart Plus Badge

The Walmart Plus Badge is a designation that can be earned by sellers on Walmart.com, indicating that they offer fast shipping options, such as two-day delivery. In the script, it is mentioned as a valuable asset for improving a seller's ranking and visibility on the platform.

💡PPC Campaigns

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click, a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on an ad. In the video, the hosts mention that future episodes will cover how to set up PPC campaigns on Walmart.com, which is an important strategy for driving traffic and sales to a seller's products.

💡Seller Center

The Seller Center is a platform or dashboard provided by e-commerce marketplaces, including Walmart.com, where sellers can manage their product listings, view performance reports, and handle order fulfillment. In the script, it is mentioned as a resource that will be explored in future episodes, particularly for understanding performance metrics and optimizing sales strategies.

Highlights

Episode 9 of Project W focuses on creating sales and growth opportunities for businesses using Walmart.com.

Amazon's Prime program and fulfillment infrastructure have set high expectations for two-day shipping in the industry.

Marketplace internal fulfillment systems have revolutionized e-commerce by reducing the need for sellers to manage their own infrastructure.

Walmart has expectations for sellers to quickly deliver products to consumers, offering several fulfillment methods.

Merchant fulfillment involves sellers using their own warehouses or third-party logistics (3PLs) for order fulfillment.

Merchant fulfillment is a baseline requirement for Walmart sellers but comes with challenges such as shipping costs and speed.

Using multiple 3PLs can help merchants get closer to customers and reduce shipping times and costs.

Third-party sellers sometimes struggle with timely order fulfillment and accurate tracking information.

Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is an advantage for sellers, leveraging Walmart's infrastructure and volume for lower shipping rates.

WFS is not immediately available to all sellers and requires an application and acceptance process.

Delivery is an interim fulfillment solution that acts as a third-party logistics service with a nationwide presence.

Using Delivery can be an easy transition for sellers already using the service for Shopify or other marketplaces.

WFS is growing and expanding its infrastructure, but it can be throttled, affecting the speed of inventory acceptance.

Sellers are advised to apply for WFS once their account is set up and they have some sales.

Walmart's vast number of physical stores offers the option for customers to pick up online orders in-store.

Walmart is integrating its distribution, pickup, and retail capabilities for a comprehensive fulfillment strategy.

Upcoming episodes will cover setting up PPC campaigns, reading seller center reports, and managing restock suggestions.

The episode provides a high-level overview of Walmart fulfillment options and their impact on scaling and ranking for sellers.

Transcripts

welcome to episode 9 of project w where

we're taking you on a journey to create

more opportunities sales and growth for

your business using walmart.com

we're showing you how to sell your

amazon products on walmart.com using

these same simple methods i'm carrie

miller with helium 10 and i'm tim jordan

of private label legion and the question

i have for you is what's going to happen

when we get to episode 11 because carrie

likes to throw up the episode numbers

how are you going to do 11 i don't know

i don't know

we'll figure it out

in this episode we're going to be

talking about fulfillment fulfillment's

a massive part of the reason that

marketplaces have an advantage over some

other types of ecommerce selling and

we're going to give you kind of the

basic rundown of fulfillment with

walmart.com here we go

[Music]

one of the greatest things that amazon

did was create their prime program they

create they started warehouses all over

the country and got us all trained to

expect two-day shipping which is great

for us but in times like last year where

the fulfillment was overwhelming it was

kind of a quite a change for us but it

they definitely set up the expectations

in terms of fulfillment which is

what i think

has changed the entire industry and not

only from the buyer side but also from

the seller side

traditional e-commerce meant that i

would have to create a website sell a

product and then i would actually have

to go out and box that product tape that

product label that product ship it

myself pay for the shipping myself so

the marketplace internal fulfillment

system really changed the game because i

didn't have to have my own internal

infrastructure i could kind of piggyback

off of the infrastructure and

capabilities that the marketplace built

out for us now walmart has some

expectations for us the sellers of being

able to get our product quickly to the

consumer there's three or four ways in

which we can do that currently through

the walmart system in this episode we

want to tell you about those different

ways

the first thing is we can do merchant

fulfilled and that's basically you have

your own warehouse and you

you know are doing all the fulfilling

the picking packing and shipping and

getting those products out quickly now

to get the two-day shipping it means

you're doing a ton of volume so it is

kind of challenging you know just

negotiating those terms on your own with

fedex or ups um so it does bring a lot

of challenges plus you have to you know

make sure that you're on time and that

you are really delivering this this fast

shipping so that's something that you

should consider when doing merchant

fulfilled and merchant fulfilled is a

baseline requirement of walmart remember

we were setting up the account they said

how are you going to ship this stuff to

3pl or is it through

your own warehousing system so it's like

the last case scenario but required yeah

if everything else is full if everything

else is backlogged and we can't use the

other fulfillment options we must as a

minimum be able to ship ourselves now

that means that it's going to be really

hard to give free two-day shipping

because if i have my warehouse in the

southeast

it's going to be really expensive to

ship a 20 item to california right

so what you would do in that scenario is

distribute your products

if you're using merchant fulfilled with

kind of more robust distribution center

that would mean having

three pls or third-party logistics

centers and there are tens of thousands

of these spread out in the u.s and i

could take maybe

uh five pallet order and have one pallet

in one region and one pallet in the

other and one pallet and then the orders

would actually be transmitted to the

closest fulfillment center that's

housing my product so that we're

geographically closer all right so we've

got merchant fulfilled which just

basically means walmart says hey you've

got an order ship the product and i

could do it myself

or i could have a third party like

contractor right so a third party

fulfillment center that's shipping this

out the problem is

this takes a lot of manual work right

because i have to be tracking those

orders i have to have uh some sort of

software integration i have to be

uploading tracking information there's a

lot that is on me and it actually

negates one of the biggest benefits of a

marketplace which is being able to i

don't know scale that up i guess you

would say as a

seller

the other thing is we're not always

trustworthy right third-party sellers a

lot of times we're late to get stuff

packed we're like to get stuff shipped

we're not putting tracking numbers in

correctly we don't have

lower shipping rates like because we

don't have those pre-negotiated with the

shipping carriers so our product cost or

our purchase cost we may have to elevate

beyond what the consumer expects to

cover those costs so although it's

baseline it's kind of you know a

standard that we have to have it's not

always ideal and that's why fulfillment

systems like fba for amazon or wfs or

walmart fulfillment services with

walmart are a big advantage not just for

us but for the consumer also because

they can leverage their volume and

decrease their shipping rates they have

the infrastructure and capabilities that

kerry and i are never personally going

to have right to get that stuff shipped

out faster yeah i wanted to clarify

something i don't know if i made this

clear but with

merchant fulfilled you actually can do

longer than two day shipping so that's

why when you see the three plus days

shipping it's usually a merchant

fulfilled item so that means uh you know

they might take seven days to get it to

you or ten days so that definitely will

decrease your conversion when the

shipping is much longer so you can do it

but it's not preferred in our ranking

in our ranking episode we talked about

the prominence and importance of that

two-day shipping to get ranked yeah and

which is again really expensive very

expensive if you're doing it yourself so

as walmart was building out their

infrastructure into what is now walmart

fulfillment services which has some

limitations we'll talk about a little

bit they gave us an interim option i

would call it that interim option was

utilizing an existing fulfillment system

which is called deliver deliver with two

r's so can you explain kind of what

delivery is yeah deliver is sort of a

third-party logistics but they've got

warehouses all over the country so you

basically ship in your products to them

and they distribute them to all their

different warehouses so that you can

actually offer two-day shipping so when

you're on walmart they actually have

partnered with them so that you can

actually

um do that two-day shipping through

deliver so it's like an outsourced wfs

yeah right because walmart didn't have

the infrastructure they contracted out

so it's like almost a white label fba or

white level wfs and what's kind of nice

is a lot of people use deliver through

their shopify sites already so it's kind

of an easy transition especially for

those who have already set it up that

way yeah so i think this announcement

was made a year ago and we know a lot of

people using deliver and deliver is an

interesting conversation because it's

not true walmart wfs and it's not truly

controlled merchant field it's like that

middle of the ground now in a perfect

world we would use what walmart has set

up now which is wfs or walmart

fulfillment service it is their own

warehousing their own storage their own

inter warehouse transportation right so

you can send in a truck full of

something to one place and they

distribute it for us and then they would

also distribute locally to their buyers

now the reason i say that

i would select that in a perfect world

is because the world's not perfect

and

we don't mean to disparage wfs but we

will say this wfs is growing right now

and they are building out more

infrastructure they are setting up more

warehouses more intake facilities

they're growing that's why delivery was

so important is like an interim solution

the other thing about wfs is it's not

always immediately available to every

seller is it

you have to apply to wfs so yeah that is

something that you have to apply and get

accepted to walmart fulfillment services

so

something else again to consider in a

non-perfect world so we tell everybody

once you get your account set up and you

start selling go ahead and apply for wfs

some accounts you even have to wait a

little bit to apply until you get some

sales going sometimes you're accepted

immediately sometimes it takes a little

longer and then once you do get it set

up

it seems like there's a prioritization

of whose stuff gets accepted faster or

how much inventory they accept so it's a

little bit throttled i would say so the

game plan that we like to tell people is

get your account set up

get some products loaded get selling

apply for wfs

and then as soon as you're eligible

start shipping products into wfs let

them distribute and sell it now if you

get wfs and the other qualifications

then you also get that walmart plus

badge which we talked about was so

valuable for ranking but never put all

of your eggs wait this is a pun for our

egg tray

never put all of your eggs in one basket

meaning or one egg tray or a whole thing

never put all your eggs in one egg tray

don't 100 depend on wfs because if i

have a thousand units that i want to

sell in walmart and i send in a thousand

units to wfs during that inbound time of

accepting those products being

distributed i might not have any

inventory to sell so i like to keep some

inventory back in either merchant

fulfilling through my 3pl or through

deliver while the other inventory is

getting to walmart and as they continue

to accept more and speed up we'll

continue to utilize it more and more and

more but go ahead and definitely apply

to it and get accepted so that you can

start taking advantage of it all right

so to review if you guys will bear with

me i'd actually like to draw out it's

not going to be pretty carrying sorry

but just a rough explanation of all

these different components

so if here on the screen this represents

customers these are buyers that are

getting the product the baseline that we

have to have available to sell in

walmart is our ability to ship from an

internal source all right so this is our

warehouse or this is our

business address right and every time an

order comes in from the walmart platform

this being the platform that order

comes to us

and then we package the product and we

ship it to our customers right

we ship it now this warehouse

doesn't necessarily have to be ours it

can be a 3pl

okay and we might even have multiple

three pls

in different locations

right and we distribute the inventory

between all those and they ship out to

all these different customers

as the platform order instructions come

in

the interim

is deliver

and the way that works is we take our

inventory

we actually ship it to deliver

they distribute it to all of their

individual warehouses

the order comes in automatically to

deliver and deliver ships the orders

back out to the customers okay

and i actually think that

for a lot of people deliver is going to

be the best option because you don't

have to take inventory out of what you

already have for your shopify sites

a lot of people use deliver for shopify

so i and even for some of their other

marketplaces to just fulfill any items

that they have so this is actually a

really awesome setup for probably

a lot a lot of you a majority of you so

so these could be different platforms

shopify big c and they're all sending

order uh orders directly to deliver

deliver shipping them out and then kind

of the we'll call it the holy grail

is wfs okay wfs being walmart

fulfillment service like i said and they

are going to have tons and tons and tons

of distribution centers stores whatever

it is just like deliver we would take

our inventory send it to wfs and wfs

would then distribute to all of these

different regional fulfillment centers

or even stores all right even stores

that have some capability to accept and

ship and then all of those orders are

going to the customers right

now in my

very accurate yet jumbled

illustration here

what is the one component of walmart's

fulfillment capabilities that i haven't

drawn on here let's see if you

understand what i mean you haven't drawn

on that i haven't drawn on here it's a

trick question uh the stores is that

what you're talking about pickups store

pickup you got hey

good work so the one thing that we

sometimes forget is that walmart has a

mountain of stores over 10 000 stores

and i think the the demographics are

like 90 percent of north american

population is within 10 miles of a store

so if they need something fast right or

if they don't want to wait on shipping

or if they want to buy something that's

on the store shelves the other option is

for walmart customers to buy something

and actually drive and pick it up

themselves at the store which again

doesn't necessarily impact walmart.com

sellers like us a ton right now

because most of our stuff is not

physically in stores

but walmart continues to show us through

different projects that they are

integrating the capabilities of a

distribution center a pickup center and

a full retail store so

i think that the future is bright for

walmart fulfillment because of all of

those capabilities and all that square

footage and storefront that they have

right now i think that covers it right

yeah i think so hope you guys like my

illustration please comment in this

video if you're watching this on youtube

and give me like an f through an a

rating a being the best i hope i see a

lot of a's on my second grade

illustrative purposes here but i think

it works all right so remember in this

episode we're not showing you how to

manage shipments we're not showing you

how to set up fulfillment we just want

to give you kind of a high level

overview of the fulfillment options

available to us as walmart sellers kind

of how they work and how they are going

to affect our capabilities to scale as

well as affect our ranking capabilities

by getting that walmart plus badge and

that fast fulfillment promise for

walmart.com all right so on the next

episode that you're going to see there

will have actually been a pretty big

chunk of calendar several weeks between

this episode and the next one even

though the release dates are going to

trickle them out in order and we're

going to let all of this stuff play out

get our inventory in get our sales apply

for wfs apply for the advertising portal

and on some of the next episodes we're

going to be showing you things like

how to set up your ppc campaigns how to

actually read your seller center

reports and performance updates and

restock suggestions and all of that good

stuff so we have a lot more coming up

but we've definitely gone a long way to

show you exactly how to move your

existing amazon products and inventory

over to

uh walmart yeah and we'll definitely be

showing you our listing quality score

and hopefully by that time it'll be

improved dramatically yeah we think it

should have a few sales so all right so

to review in this episode we covered

kind of a high level overview of the

options for walmart fulfillment

capabilities right where they're small

fulfillment services to deliver or

merchant fulfilled merchant filter 3pls

all that good stuff if you want to see

some specific show notes or you can get

all of the episodes and all the other

resources at helium10.com

project w and on the next episode i

think that assuming all things go right

we're going to actually jump into

setting up ppc campaigns right we will

be doing that and also our walmart

fulfillment services too

so we're going to show you how all that

works and how to set it up okay see you

on the next episode

[Music]

bye