“How can I increase sales on Walmart?” That’s the question on the mind of the more than 150,000 sellers who utilize the eCommerce platform. With more than 400 million online visitors each month, Walmart is the perfect platform for any retailer looking to diversify their eCommerce business.
But success on the platform is not guaranteed. To guarantee your success as a Walmart Seller, and increase sales on the Walmart platform, you have to focus on conversion rate optimization.
Walmart Marketplace Selling Strategies That Drive Sales
The challenge for many eCommerce brands is not how to sell on Walmart Marketplace but how to increase sales and stay competitive on the platform. Fortunately, most sellers already realize the importance of good customer feedback.
Just like Amazon, the number of positive reviews a seller receives on Walmart has a direct impact on product rankings and sales. Thus, the best way to increase sales on Walmart is to increase positive reviews by enabling a rich customer experience in your Walmart store.
1. Provide Excellent Customer Service
To stand out as a Walmart Seller, you need to provide an enhanced customer experience. As with any retail marketplace, the best way to do this is to provide top-notch customer service at every level.
By doing so, you not only keep your account in good standing, but also increase the likelihood of receiving more positive reviews. Thankfully, Walmart already sends out an email request to customers requesting product reviews. So, all you need to do is provide a great shopping experience. Fortunately, that’s easy to do if you:
- Ensure product descriptions are accurate and informative;
- Add frequently asked questions, sizing charts, and all other necessary details to your store;
- Ensure your customer service team is always available for customer issues and questions;
- Resolve issues within 24 hours;
- Maintain a reserve level of products to avoid stockouts, and
- Create useful content for shoppers, like product guides and templates for customer service inquiries.
By doing these things you not only provide the customer with everything they need to have a positive experience with your store, you also improve your brand image and make it easier for shoppers to find your store online.
2. Optimize Your Product Listings
To stand out amongst the competition and increase sales on Walmart, sellers need to optimize their product listings. These three tips will increase your products chances to appear in front of shoppers more effectively:
Focus on SEO
Search Engine Optimization is a critical aspect for every seller on Walmart because it increases the likelihood that your product will show up on search results, both on Walmart’s site and search engines like Google. Focus on product aspects that are tagged for search, like:
- Product Name
- Images
- Key Features
- Description
- Attributes
Win the Buy Box
Though Walmart gives shoppers the option to view listings from other sellers, the item page prominently displays only one seller’s listing in the Buy Box, which is also the section of the page that contains the Add to Cart button.
Because it’s featured more prominently on the page, the seller that wins the Buy Box also typically wins the sale. So, how do you win the Walmart Buy Box?
Walmart typically displays the cheapest listing in the Buy Box. So, to win the Walmart Buy Box, you need to keep your prices competitive and, of course, have enough items in stock. If items are out of stock, they won’t appear. Read the Flowspace guide on How to Avoid Stockouts and Overstocking.
Run Promotions and Advertisements
Another effective way to increase your listing visibility and conversions is to consider Walmart’s paid advertising options, creatively dubbed “clearance” and “reduced”.
The clearance promo will reduce the original listing price and is the best option for sellers looking to sell slow-moving stock. Reduced, on the other hand, is for savings greater than 5% for items that cost $100 or for savings more than $5 for items that cost over $100.
Walmart only lets a limited number of sellers participate in the Walmart Performance Ads Program but, if approved, you may be one of the many sellers who have reported seeing 10% conversion rates using WPA.
3. Place Products in the Right Categories
It may seem simple, but deciding which correct product categories and attributes correctly apply to your item is critical to success on Walmart Marketplace. Unlike Amazon, Walmart categorizes their online products the same way they do in their brick and mortar stores.
If you put your product in the wrong category or overlook a key attribute, that item may not show up in the right shopper’s search results. Thus, it’s always a good idea to consult Walmart’s Knowledge Base before listing your products.
4. Determine the Right Markup to be Profitable
Walmart’s stated priority is to provide customers with the lowest prices and highest value of purchase. That is their mission and they expect third-party sellers to share their commitment to that mission.
To the extent that, they will remove listings without prior warning if the price fails to remain the most economical. Therefore, If you want to obtain instant visibility and increase sales on the Walmart platform, you need to make low prices a priority.
Unfortunately, that priority doesn’t always make sense for your business. It’s up to you to determine the right markup to stay profitable and competitive on the platform. To do that, simply take the sales price minus the unit cost, and divide that number by the unit cost. Then, multiply by 100 to determine the markup percentage.
5. Streamline Fulfillment Operations
There are innumerable ways to increase sales on Walmart, but the most effective is to deliver a quality customer experience. Though the shopping and user experience are incredibly important, they don’t mean anything if your 3PL can’t deliver.
If you’ve tried all of the above but your Walmart sales are still faltering, then it is time to switch to a fulfillment provider who can help you deliver a top-notch experience to your customer every time they buy.
Fortunately, all you need to do to get that process started is explore Walmart Marketplace integration services with Flowspace. With a nationwide network of 1000+ warehouses and fulfillment centers, Flowspace is the best choice you can make for your growing eCommerce business.
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