Sell on Walmart.com Gateway

Walmart is one of the biggest retail businesses in the world. Established in 1962, the company now boasts more than 11,200 stores in 28 different countries. As someone that is looking to sell their outdoor products online, one of the primary e-commerce sites that you should take a look at is Walmart.com. Walmart's e-commerce site was listed as third in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 guide after experiencing substantial growth over the fiscal years of 2014 and 2015. Selling your products to Walmart as a supplier is almost certainly a guaranteed way to expose your business to new customers and to boost sales - but doing so is not as easy as it is on other sites. You can't just sign up to Walmart.com and begin selling your products. You have to apply in order to become a third party supplier, and Walmart doesn't just accept any company. There have strict standards in place in order to maintain their standard of quality and to limit their liability.

Becoming a Supplier on Walmart.com

There are thousands of companies around the world that act as suppliers to Walmart. Considering the fact that Walmart has hundreds of millions of customers to serve on a weekly basis, signing up as a supplier in order to sell your outdoor products can be hugely beneficial. However, Walmart doesn't just allow any business to become a supplier. The following are the requirements you'll need to meet in order to apply as a supplier, whether it's on a local, national or global level.

Insurance Requirements

If your products are found to be faulty or dangerous, you will be liable for any lawsuits that occur as a result. Walmart requires that its suppliers carry product liability insurance exactly for this reason. Product liability insurance will help protect your company by covering legal costs and any liabilities resulting from potential claims or lawsuits that are related to your products. You not only need to provide documentation that proves to Walmart that you have product liability insurance, but you must agree to maintain it as long as you remain a supplier for Walmart.

Merchandising Requirements

While product liability insurance will help to limit financial damage in case your products are found to be faulty or dangerous, Walmart's reputation can still be damaged if any of their third party products are found to be faulty or dangerous. Because of this, you need to meet these merchandising requirements:

  • Food Product Requirements - If you are looking to sell food products, you'll need to meet very strict requirements, whether it's for food processors, produce or pet food. You will also need to request an onsite audit of your food factory. For pack houses, you'll have to complete a pre-assessment checklist for pack houses. Depending on where your facility is located, both of these onsite audits can cost between $975.00 and $1,250 each. You will need to receive a passing score of 71 or above in order to be considered by Walmart.
  • General Product Requirements - To ensure the quality of your products, you will need to submit a General Certificates of Conformity along with all product test reports. New factories will need to pass an onsite supply chain security audit. A Factory Capability and Capacity audit is required for all direct import factories. Additionally, your application documents will need a GS1 Company Prefix number, which - depending on the number of items requiring the number - could initially cost as little as $250 and as little as $50 to renew every year thereafter.

Walmart's Basic Supplier Standards

Walmart has high standards for its suppliers. Their brand's reputation is at stake, after all. And it's not just the level of quality of the products that they are selling either. The reputation of the suppliers they are working with will affect Walmart's reputation as well. This means that your business standards, such as how you treat your employees, is something that Walmart takes into serious consideration on your supplier application. The following are the basic supplier standards that you will have to meet in order to be considered as a supplier:

  • Your factory must have visibility and disclosure - Every facility used to produce or manufacture your products must be disclosed to Walmart and must be available for a Responsible Sourcing audit. Any business that either manufactures its products in an unauthorized facility or that subcontracts to an unauthorized facility will most likely be rejected as a supplier to Walmart. As part of Walmart's Standards for Suppliers audit, you will need sure that you -
    • Pay all of your employees properly and for all labor hours.
    • That all labor performed for your business is voluntary.
    • That your employee working hours are not excessive and that they follow all local laws and regulations.
    • That your business complies with all child labor laws and standards.
    • That your facilities meet every health and safety standard.
  • You must have company representatives in place - You will need to have designated company representatives that are responsible for the compliance of your facilities and any applicable laws and standards. These representatives will need sufficient access to your facility operations in order to verify your facility compliance.
  • You must have a worker helpline - Walmart requires all its supplier facilities to have a worker helpline, such as a toll-free number and e-mail, where workers can report any concerns anonymously.

As you can see, there are a lot of requirements that you will need to meet in order to sell your outdoor products on Walmart.com as a supplier. However, this ensures that only the best products are sold on Walmart, which means that being accepted as a supplier will not only help sales, it will help with your brand's reputation. To apply as a supplier to Walmart, you'll need to make sure you meet these requirements before filling out their online product submission form and supplier questionnaire. It will take roughly four weeks for your application to be reviewed.