Walmart unveils 2024 Holiday Checklist for Marketplace Sellers
Walmart's comprehensive guide helps Marketplace sellers prepare for the crucial holiday shopping season with key strategies and tools.
On October 8, 2024, Walmart Marketplace released its annual holiday checklist to help sellers prepare for the busiest shopping season of the year. This comprehensive guide provides Marketplace sellers with essential strategies and tools to optimize their performance during the critical holiday period.
The checklist emphasizes the importance of leveraging Walmart's Listings Quality dashboard to enhance product visibility. Sellers are encouraged to optimize titles, descriptions, and images to improve search rankings and stand out in a competitive marketplace. Monitoring Pro Seller badge status is also highlighted as a key factor in building customer trust.
For assortment planning, Walmart recommends using the Assortment Growth dashboard and Assortment Explorer tools. These data-driven features help sellers identify best-selling items and expand into new categories based on demand. The guide stresses the importance of reviewing seasonality and price trends to target peak selling windows and maintain optimal inventory levels.
Pricing and Promotional Strategies
Competitive pricing is emphasized as crucial during the holiday season. The Pricing Insights dashboard provides sellers with key metrics to compare their prices against competitors. Walmart's Repricer tool is recommended for automated price adjustments to help win the Buy Box.
The guide also outlines strategies for creating effective promotions:
- Offer at least 20% off or $50 off the comparison price
- Beat the lowest price in the past 60 days by at least 5%
- Utilize Flash Deals and Seasonal Events through the Deals dashboard
Shipping and Fulfillment Optimization
Fast and reliable shipping is presented as a key differentiator during the holidays. Walmart encourages sellers to:
- Offer OneDay or TwoDay delivery options
- Maintain an On Time Delivery rate above 95%
- Utilize Ship with Walmart for discounted shipping labels (up to 25% off USPS rates, or 30% for Pro Sellers)
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is highlighted as a comprehensive solution for storage, picking, packing, and shipping. According to Walmart's data, WFS rates average 15% less than competitors, and sellers using WFS see an average 50% GMV growth for items with "Fulfilled by Walmart" and "2-day shipping" tags.
For sellers operating on multiple e-commerce platforms, Walmart Multichannel Solutions is presented as a way to consolidate inventory and fulfill orders from various channels through Walmart's supply chain.
Cross-Border Commerce
The guide introduces Walmart Cross Border, a port-to-door ocean freight service for importing goods from select Asian ports to U.S. fulfillment centers. This service aims to help sellers expand their assortment and maximize holiday sales by leveraging Walmart's global supply chain partnerships.
Pro Seller Program and Advertising
Walmart encourages sellers to strive for Pro Seller status, which offers benefits such as referral fee discounts and program credits. The checklist notes that Pro Sellers have 1.8 times the conversion rate of average Marketplace sellers.
For increased visibility, Walmart Connect advertising solutions are recommended. The guide states that three out of four top Marketplace sellers have used Walmart Connect advertising in the past six months. Options include Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Videos.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is also highlighted, with Walmart offering a Quick Start campaign option and potential ad reimbursement credits.
Returns and Customer Experience
The holiday checklist emphasizes the importance of a smooth returns process. Walmart announces an extended return window for the 2024 holiday season, with most items purchased between October 1 and December 31, 2024, eligible for return until January 31, 2025.
Sellers are advised to:
- Include packing slips with all items
- Offer free in-store and online returns for eligible items
- Consider enabling Keep it, Partial Keep it, and Replacement options for cost-efficient returns
- Review Post-Purchase Quality insights to optimize based on customer experiences
Key Facts
- Guide released on October 8, 2024
- WFS rates average 15% less than competitors
- Sellers using WFS see 50% average GMV growth for eligible items
- Pro Sellers have 1.8 times the conversion rate of average sellers
- 75% of top Marketplace sellers used Walmart Connect advertising in the past six months
- Extended holiday return window until January 31, 2025, for most items