Let’s Grow! Walmart’s Inaugural Seller Summit Emphasizes Massive Marketplace Opportunity

On Wednesday, Walmart hosted ‘Let’s Grow!’ — its first-ever marketplace seller summit, bringing together hundreds of third-party sellers in Las Vegas to discuss the future of its online marketplace platform.

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Unlike seller conferences by other online marketplaces, the company chose to launch its first seller conference as an invitation-only event, somewhat preaching to a choir of active sellers.

Hopefully, in the future, Walmart will open up its seller summit to match marketplace competitors such as Amazon and eBay to enable new or prospective sellers to gain invaluable insights.

Nevertheless, during the conference, Walmart highlighted the massive opportunity for sellers on its growing Marketplace platform that now is the third-largest ecommerce marketplace in the U.S. and the 21st most visited website in the United States, according to Similarweb, a web and traffic analytics company.

Manish Joneja, SVP, Walmart Marketplace and Walmart Fulfillment Services, shared his belief that Walmart’s Marketplace represents one of the greatest opportunities in retail today. Beyond the sizable business opportunity, it is also a chance to re-imagine the marketplace model.

Launched in 2009, Walmart Marketplace has grown to have more than 400 million SKUs on its platform, complementing Walmart’s first-party assortment. But more importantly to online sellers, the marketplace has become a major driver of Walmart’s ecommerce growth.

The retailer is committed to being a neutral marketplace platform, providing customers access to products regardless of whether they are sold directly by Walmart or third-party sellers. “Put simply, we believe in growing together,” Joneja added.

Walmart to Expand Marketplace in More Global Markets

During the summit, Walmart outlined several new initiatives aimed at expanding its platform, including making it easier for sellers to reach customers beyond its North American markets of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Early next year, the company will launch in Chile, allowing eligible cross-border sellers to reach consumers in that country. Additional countries are expected to be added as well in 2024. This will enable small sellers and major brands to “turbocharge” their growth.

Enhanced Discoverability and Opportunity

Walmart is also continuing to launch new features and tools to help sellers stand out. This includes the ongoing rollout of Brand Shops, a digital storefront that allows brands to customize their own pages on the site with unique branding, messaging and curated product selections.

Furthermore, the company is enhancing product discoverability through personalized content, seasonal collections and regional merchandising campaigns.

And Walmart bridging digital and physical retail, like no other retailer can at this scale, to make Walmart the go-to destination for convenience and assortment.

One example is its new Virtual Garage, available both online and within the Walmart app, which offers customers the ability to save information about multiple vehicles. But, the real power is the ability to seamlessly book service appointments at any of its Auto Care Centers for eligible parts purchased on Walmart.com.

Fulfillment and Delivery

To aid sellers with fast and cost-effective fulfillment, Walmart has expanded its fulfillment center footprint and is expanding local pickup and delivery options, leveraging its expansive network of retail stores.

Walmart also announced support for bulky items through Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), which enables sellers to offer large products such as canoes and trampolines. Sellers can use WFS to ship multi-box items like patio sets as well.

Walmart claims that sellers using WFS see a 50% average growth in sales after shifting items to its fulfillment service.

Growth Opportunity

The inaugural marketplace summit signifies the strategic priority Walmart is placing on the growth of its marketplace business.

With over 120 million unique monthly visitors to Walmart.com, the Walmart Marketplace provides a massive platform for sellers to reach ready-to-buy consumers.

The summit made clear that Walmart will continue expanding its marketplace platform as a key part of its ecommerce strategy. More initiatives focused on enhancing the seller and customer experience can be expected as the company keeps expanding its tools and services.

To learn more about Walmart’s Marketplace opportunity, see its ‘The 2023 Walmart Marketplace Playbook for Sellers‘ page.