In this episode, David Milstein, the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sellcord, joined Paul Sonneveld and discussed his expertise in the various aspects of Walmart's unique position in the market and the remarkable opportunities it presents.
Walmart offers growth and opportunity
“Walmart's a marketplace that's just growing so quickly. And if you're able to get in now at this opportune time, you're going to see the revenue or just the profits of your labor in a few years or even a few months you know, you can see that today. Just a great way to expand.” - David Milstein, Co-Founder/COO Sellcord
Walmart offers growth and opportunity in the e-commerce marketplace. In a podcast discussing Walmart's marketplace, it is highlighted that Walmart is gaining more traction and becoming a viable platform for brands and service providers.
It begins by addressing the question of why brands and service providers should consider Walmart as a platform, especially when Amazon already dominates the e-commerce space. David Milstein, the co-founder and COO of Sellcord, compares the current state of Walmart to Amazon seven years ago and emphasizes the potential for growth and profitability. He suggests that brands that take advantage of Walmart's marketplace now will see the benefits in the future, just as early adopters of Amazon did.
This growth opportunity is significant, considering the challenges that brands face on Amazon, particularly in terms of driving growth and profit. Adding another 10 to 20 percent to sales can make a substantial difference to a brand's bottom line.
In addition to growth potential, Walmart offers benefits that Amazon sellers may not have access to. One of these benefits is the opportunity for private label sellers. Walmart uses its physical stores as an avenue for sellers to get their products on shelves. The yearly program called "open call" allows brands to pitch their products directly to Walmart for a chance to be sold in-store. This not only provides a foot into the retail game but also offers exposure to a massive player in the retail world. Getting a single purchase order from Walmart can be a game-changer for a business.
Another advantage of Walmart's marketplace is its lower level of competition compared to Amazon. With less competition, it is easier and cheaper for sellers to enter the Walmart marketplace. This makes it a more attractive option for brands looking to diversify their revenue streams. Instead of solely focusing on Amazon, brands can allocate some of their resources to Walmart and potentially see significant results.
Furthermore, It is also worth noting that Walmart's marketplace is continuously evolving and improving. The company is investing in technology and infrastructure to enhance the platform and provide a better experience for both sellers and customers. This commitment to innovation and growth means that the opportunities available in Walmart's marketplace will only continue to expand in the future.
When selling products, you always have to make sure that the product you are selling is a good fit. Meaning, many customers should have searched and looked for this particular product. Also, check and compare the pricing of your competitors and think of other strategies that can make your product unique from others to sell.
“Make sure your keywords are obviously on point. You want to make sure your keywords are keyword on Walmart. You know, it's a whole strategy obviously, but generally you make keyword in your title and throughout the description, like layering all those additional keywords. You don't want to have like a really heavy intensive keyword title. That's just not the way Walmart expects you to do things.”
Optimising your listings is also one of the factors that can make your product stand out of the rest. Customers tend to be very specific on their needs and right categories, keywords and even images, those little things could eventually impact your brand to sell. Adding the best keywords on your title can be one of the strategies as well. That is once they search a particular keyword, your product may automatically appear on the search items.
Walmart and Amazon have different copy guidelines. Walmart requires a much shorter title with 50-75 characters only unlike Amazon with up to 200 character limit depending on the category. Also, put into consideration following their guidelines to maintain a good listing quality score. Also, keep track of the categories to avoid misleading your customers.
WFS or Walmart Fulfillment Services is Walmart’s version of FBA, Fulfilled By Amazon. And this is exclusive to 3P sellers only. Although WFS is still in its evolution stage, this is considered as Walmart’s advantage to Amazon because Walmart has more warehouses in the US. You can see Walmart stores within 50 miles which gives the ability to offer that really fast shipping process even for like 2-3 hour shipping period. This is a big plus for customers especially if they need to have the items as soon as possible. But always keep in mind to always check your inventory, and never go out of stock.
“…It's a great program. Highly recommend it, and it'll definitely help you move units.”
What’s next after you create your listing is obviously promoting and marketing your items and that’s where PPC comes in place. In some cases, it might work others might not but as David tells in the podcast it’s worthwhile to get initial zero sales to one than not doing anything on your listings. You really need to take action and do the initial push to get it off the ground.
“Walmart offers a review accelerator program. Highly recommend it to check that out. And additionally, Walmart offers free reviews indication. Free. It's insane.”
And lastly, having great reviews and reviewing them for future reference. Customers nowadays are very smart that before they purchase a product, they look for customer reviews and feedback first and there they may be able to have a feel of the item and can also help them with their decision to purchase your product. Reviews and feedbacks are not always positive therefore, you also need to put into consideration their bad feedback and should be able to take action to avoid those in the future.
Conclusion
Walmart’s marketplace offers a unique opportunity for brands to broaden their revenue. Its rapid growth, potential for private label sales, lower competition, and commitment to innovation makes it an appealing platform for businesses looking to diversify their revenue and tap into new customer bases. By leveraging Walmart's marketplace now, brands can position themselves for future success and potentially outperform their competitors. As Walmart continues to gain traction and expand its reach, it is clear that it should not be overlooked as a valuable platform for e-commerce businesses.