Walmart is significantly expanding its marketplace seller services to enhance its competitive edge and prepare for the upcoming holiday season. The retail giant announced that it will now offer a suite of logistical and financial services aimed at helping third-party sellers optimize their operations. These services include handling the transportation of goods from Asia directly to U.S. warehouses, order fulfillment, and return management from any e-commerce platform.
Additionally, Walmart is providing cash advances to qualified sellers and waiving peak-season storage fees for inventory sent to its fulfillment centers before September 30. These strategic moves are part of Walmart’s broader effort to strengthen its marketplace business, which has become an increasingly vital revenue stream as it seeks to close the gap with Amazon in the e-commerce space.
The new services were unveiled at Walmart's annual Marketplace Seller Summit and are designed to help sellers meet the surge in demand expected during holiday shopping and other sales events that align with Amazon's Prime Day in October. Over the past year, Walmart has aggressively expanded its marketplace, adding a significant number of sellers, particularly from China. The company’s marketplace sales have grown by over 30% in each of the past four quarters, contributing to a global e-commerce revenue that surpassed $100 billion last year.
Walmart’s marketplace now features over 420 million products and more than 100,000 active sellers, with a substantial portion of these sellers based in China. Despite this growth, Walmart still trails behind Amazon, which boasts over 2 million active sellers globally. To further entice sellers, Walmart also announced that its fulfillment service will ship orders at rates averaging 15% lower than those of unnamed competitors. The retailer’s initiatives underscore its commitment to bolstering its marketplace platform and capturing a larger share of the e-commerce market during the critical holiday shopping period.
Additionally, Walmart is providing cash advances to qualified sellers and waiving peak-season storage fees for inventory sent to its fulfillment centers before September 30. These strategic moves are part of Walmart’s broader effort to strengthen its marketplace business, which has become an increasingly vital revenue stream as it seeks to close the gap with Amazon in the e-commerce space.
The new services were unveiled at Walmart's annual Marketplace Seller Summit and are designed to help sellers meet the surge in demand expected during holiday shopping and other sales events that align with Amazon's Prime Day in October. Over the past year, Walmart has aggressively expanded its marketplace, adding a significant number of sellers, particularly from China. The company’s marketplace sales have grown by over 30% in each of the past four quarters, contributing to a global e-commerce revenue that surpassed $100 billion last year.
Walmart’s marketplace now features over 420 million products and more than 100,000 active sellers, with a substantial portion of these sellers based in China. Despite this growth, Walmart still trails behind Amazon, which boasts over 2 million active sellers globally. To further entice sellers, Walmart also announced that its fulfillment service will ship orders at rates averaging 15% lower than those of unnamed competitors. The retailer’s initiatives underscore its commitment to bolstering its marketplace platform and capturing a larger share of the e-commerce market during the critical holiday shopping period.