How Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) compares to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

As most sellers are now aware, Walmart Marketplace is an online platform similar to Amazon.com where third-party sellers can list their products. As a platform with over 120 million monthly visits, Walmart Marketplace became very popular in a short space of time. Also, with around 100k sellers compared to the millions of sellers on Amazon, Walmart Marketplace offers the opportunity for many sellers to be more competitive. 

Since its launch, Walmart Marketplace has been improving all the time. In past years, these improvements led to Walmart beginning to compete with Amazon. Two years ago, they had ten million products in their online catalog, and most of those were Walmart Marketplace sellers’ products. In 2020, Walmart launched Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) in response to the already well-known Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). 

Let us give you a short introduction to Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), how to get started, the features, benefits, and fees, and a comparison with FBA. 

What is Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)

Walmart Fulfillment Services is a project that gives sellers the ability to store products with Walmart, who will then carry out the picking, packing, and shipping of orders. Like Fulfillment by Amazon, WFS also gives sellers confidence that their orders will be delivered fast and followed up with exceptional customer support. 

If you’re already a seller on Walmart Marketplace, you can apply to WFS from Seller Center by completing the WFS application. Approval depends on meeting the eligibility requirements. If you’re not a seller on Walmart, you need to become one and then apply to WFS. 

The number of sellers applying to WFS is growing every month because the WFS features are increasing their sales and simplifying the order fulfillment processes. 

Features and Benefits of Using WFS

There are 5 main features and benefits of using WFS: 

1. Two-Day Delivery: Walmart can provide fast delivery all over the continental United States with 100% security. The supply chain of this giant, built over 60 years, makes Walmart and this feature absolutely unique in the United States. 
2. Detailed Control Panel: When launching WFS, Walmart also integrated a very detailed WFS Dashboard which gives sellers the ability to track all the data they need including shipments, orders, sales, and inventory levels. 
3. Fees and Pricing: The pricing structure is straightforward in that monthly fees and shipping costs are dimension and weight-based. It’s important to know: 
   • The maximum product weight is 30 lb.
   • Maximum product dimensions are 25 x 20 x 14 inches.
   • Fulfillment fees start at $3.45 per unit and increase based on the weight and each additional lb. 
   • Storage fees start at $0.75/cubic foot per month and are different in Q4 than in Q1 – Q3. 
4. Tags and Customer Support: Products participating in WFS are given unique tags to let customers know that they can expect 2-day delivery, fulfillment by Walmart, and easy return options. This means that all customer inquiries are handled by Walmart, and products with tags have a much higher conversion rate. 
5. Account Support and Enhanced Support: Sellers who apply to WFS will have the ability to get recommendations from Walmart experts for growth and optimization, and access to call center support associates who will answer all their questions. 

WFS and FBA Comparison

Let’s make a quick comparison between WFS and FBA: 

• Sending inventory to fulfillment centers: Walmart sellers need to ship the inventory to only one or two fulfillments centers, which is usually not the case with FBA (you need to send units into multiple fulfillment centers). It makes the process easier for Walmart sellers.
• Membership: While Amazon retains 1-day and 2-day options for Prime members, Walmart’s Plus membership, (which is an alternative to Prime), is not mandatory for Walmart’s 2-day delivery. 
• In terms of weight and dimensions, Amazon can receive more heavyweight products, but costs are high. Walmart’s usual restriction is up to 30lb weight. 
• WFS offers fulfillment only for Walmart orders. FBA covers multi-channel orders too. 
• WFS stores inventory separately by seller. FBA merges shipments by default. 
• While WFS sellers have support from experts, FBA sellers have a general support team, which is often not the best solution for resolving inquiries. 
• Finally, it’s important to note that Walmart was able to handle 2-day shipping during the pandemic in 2020, even in Q4, which wasn’t the case with FBA who failed in Q4. 

Conclusion

There are plenty of reasons to think about applying to WFS. Every seller is interested in having a big audience, more sales, fast delivery, great customer and account support, higher conversion, and simple storage pricing! 

Key Takeaways: 

1. Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) gives sellers the ability to store products, and Walmart will pick, pack, and ship the orders. 
2. The top benefits of using WFS are fast delivery, a seller-friendly dashboard, new tags that increase conversion rates, customer support, and enhanced seller support from Walmart experts. 
3. Compared to FBA, Walmart sellers have the advantages of a more straightforward process for sending inventory, and no membership requirements for the customers. 

What can we do for you? 

While the goal is to run a successful Amazon business, the larger your inventory gets, the harder it becomes to monitor and deal with issues that may arise with keeping your account healthy and growing. At BellaVix, we are dedicated to helping you monitor your account, solving any possible problems regarding your account on your behalf, and ensuring your business grows in sales and ranking with our services. We have the experience and knowledge to take your account to the next level.

If you have additional questions or want us to help you on your Amazon journey, don’t hesitate to contact the BellaVix Team. 

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