Walmart’s New Initiative to Support Marketplace Sellers

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Walmart (NYSE:WMT) announced on Tuesday that it will provide marketplace sellers with services to manage the transportation of goods from Asia directly to its U.S. warehouses. This initiative will also include order fulfillment and returns management from any e-commerce website, aiming to boost its marketplace business as the holiday season approaches.

Walmart’s marketplace has become a crucial revenue stream as it seeks to compete more effectively against Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in handling third-party sales. This announcement follows Walmart’s decision to unwind its stake in Chinese e-commerce retailer JD (NASDAQ:JD) last week, signaling its intent to increase in-house management of third-party business.

Additionally, Walmart will offer cash advances to qualified sellers and waive peak-season storage fees for those who send inventory to its fulfillment centers before September 30. These measures were announced during Walmart’s annual Marketplace Seller Summit and are intended to help sellers prepare for the high demand during holiday shopping and Walmart sales events, which typically align with Amazon’s Prime Day in October.

Over the past year, Walmart has significantly increased its seller base on Walmart.com, particularly through partnerships with small businesses and independent stores from China. These sellers are encouraged to utilize Walmart’s delivery network or Walmart Fulfillment Services to handle orders and promote their products.

Walmart reported over 30% growth in marketplace sales for each of the last four quarters, contributing substantially to its global e-commerce sales that surpassed $100 billion last year. The retailer features over 420 million products on its marketplace and has more than 100,000 active sellers, with about a third based in China, according to research firm Marketplace Pulse. Despite this growth, Walmart still lags behind Amazon, which has over 2 million active sellers.

Walmart also highlighted that sellers can ship orders to customers using its fulfillment service at rates averaging 15% lower than those of competitors, although specific competitor details were not provided. The initiative includes managing the transportation of goods from Asian ports to U.S. warehouses for third-party sellers.