How to become a Walmart supplier

Becoming a supplier for Walmart can be a game-changer for CPG brands. It presents an opportunity for brands to tap into one of the largest retail markets in the world – and share the products they’re passionate about with a greater audience than ever before. 

In order to establish a successful business relationship with Walmart’s decision makers, growing CPGs must demonstrate success in their existing retail accounts (for example, Whole Foods or distributors like KeHE and UNFI). Providing solid data that proves sales velocity, effective inventory management, and timely order fulfillment is crucial in impressing a Walmart account manager or category manager.

In this guide, we will provide a comprehensive overview of the Walmart buying process and offer valuable insights and tips on how to use data to become a Walmart supplier.

Types of Walmart suppliers

When it comes to selling products through Walmart, CPG brands have a few options to choose from. The retail giant offers a range of entry points for suppliers, including national and regional distribution, as well as third-party selling on the Walmart Marketplace, a part of Walmart.com. Understanding these different channels can help brands make informed decisions and plan their Walmart strategy accordingly.

Regional distribution – Regional distribution is an entry point for prospective Walmart suppliers that can prove demonstrated success in particular geographic areas. This can be an attractive option for smaller CPGs that want to test the waters with Walmart and build a local following before expanding nationally. Still, it's important to keep in mind that Walmart has high standards for product quality and order fulfillment, so you’ll need to meet these requirements in order to succeed and maintain their shelf space.

National distribution – National distribution is an entry point for prospective Walmart suppliers that allows them to sell their products in Walmart stores across the country. This option is ideal for CPG brands that have already established a robust track record with other national retailers, and who are looking to further expand their reach. National distribution with Walmart can provide significant benefits, such as access to a vast customer base and large increase in brand awareness and sales. However, it also requires an investment in supply chain management to maintain a consistent supply of product across all stores.

Walmart Marketplace – Walmart Marketplace is a third-party platform that enables businesses to sell their products directly to Walmart customers online. One of the biggest challenges here is that resellers can also sell the same products, so suppliers cannot always control the quality of the customer experience, and there can be incongruencies in pricing. Still, success on Walmart Marketplace can lead to opportunities with retail distribution as it shows that the brand has proven sales and a positive reputation among Walmart’s customer base.

National distribution with Walmart can provide significant benefits, such as access to a vast customer base and large increase in brand awareness and sales. However, it also requires an investment in supply chain management to maintain a consistent supply of product across all stores.

Criteria and requirements

Walmart is one of the largest retail chains in the world, with a massive customer base and more than 100,000  suppliers. As such, they have established strict criteria and requirements for prospective suppliers to ensure the quality and consistency of products across all their stores. Ambitious CPG companies that wish to become a Walmart supplier will want to ensure that they can meet these key requirements.

Proven success – Brands should be able to prove success in their existing retail accounts. You’ll need to provide data, either from other retailers or e-commerce sales, that demonstrates significant sales velocity and incremental growth in your category. Brands should also leverage geographic sales data to prove success in various markets.

Strong inventory and supply chain management – Suppliers must have efficient inventory and supply chain management systems in place to ensure timely delivery of products to Walmart stores (known to Walmart as OTIF). They should demonstrate full visibility and control of their inventory and distribution, which can be accomplished using integrated data platforms such as Crisp.

Competitive pricing – Walmart is known for its everyday low prices, and suppliers will be expected to offer competitive pricing for their products. The trade off for lower sales margins is access to Walmart’s vast customer base and ability to sell a greater amount of products.

Quality products – Walmart has strict standards for product quality, and in order to become a supplier you will need to meet or exceed these standards. As part of the set-up process, brands will need to provide detailed information about their ingredients, packaging, and certifications.

Legal compliance – Walmart CPG suppliers must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including those related to product safety and labeling. You must also have the ability to transmit electronic data interchange (EDI) documents to Walmart in order to process orders, invoices, and other transactions.

Ethical and sustainability standards – Walmart places a high priority on ethical and sustainable business practices, and suppliers must demonstrate a commitment to these values. In fact, the global retail giant has set a goal to reduce 1 gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions from their supply chain by 2030, and they work with their suppliers to reduce overall waste and improve energy efficiency. As such, Walmart requires prospective suppliers to provide information about their emissions footprint, including sourcing of materials and manufacturing processes.

Differentiation is key

Brands interested in becoming a Walmart supplier should carefully evaluate their unique value proposition and how it can benefit Walmart's bottom line. Walmart's shelf space is considered highly coveted real estate, and the Category Managers who oversee it are constantly seeking ways to maximize the company’s profits.

To stand out from the competition and earn a place on Walmart's shelves, brands must demonstrate why their product is a better, more lucrative and sustainable choice than existing offerings. 

Luckily for smaller CPGs, Walmart is also becoming more hip to emerging trends and innovation, and will consider these factors in their buying process. Additionally, as part of their commitment to ethical business practices and focus on community building, Walmart is striving to incorporate mission-driven companies into their product assortments more than ever before. 

Still, your company’s unique background and business practices are only one part of their sales story. In order to make a compelling case to a Walmart account manager or category manager, a CPG brand will need to leverage its data to prove market relevance and the ability to continuously fulfill orders on a large scale using sales velocity and distribution reports.

Demonstrating a strong market presence and high product demand, paired with the ability to use retailer data to lead a strong and consistent supplier relationship, is key to differentiating yourself to Walmart’s decision makers. 

your company’s unique background and business practices are only one part of their sales story. In order to make a compelling case to a Walmart account manager or category manager, a CPG brand will need to leverage its data to prove market relevance and the ability to continuously fulfill orders on a large scale using sales velocity and distribution reports.

Steps to becoming a Walmart supplier

Becoming a Walmart supplier is a great opportunity for brands to expand their reach, but the process can be complex and time-consuming. After reviewing the general requirements to become a Walmart supplier, you will need to follow a series of steps, including completing a comprehensive application process. Here are some key steps to keep in mind to complete the process successfully:

Make a connection – Before starting the application process, take time to forge an initial relationship with a Walmart decision maker. One of the best ways to do this is by working with an experienced broker, who can more easily make a connection with one of their account managers. While category managers tend to make final decisions about the companies they bring on board, account managers help brands understand if they are a good fit and can ensure a successful application process.

Be prepared – Next, you’ll need to ensure that you have the right documents and information to begin the application process. This includes having the necessary insurance and certifications, as well as ensuring that products meet Walmart's quality and safety standards. As part of the application process, brands need to provide specific details about their products, including ingredients, sizes, shipping configurations, legal details about the business and more. 

Apply and follow up – After gathering the necessary information, designate a person or team to complete the online application. The application process takes place on Retail Link, Walmart’s data-sharing platform, and you can find detailed instructions here. After applying, have a broker or sales team follow up with an established account manager or category manager to gain more information about next steps.

Engage in negotiations and sign a contract – After submitting an application, Walmart will review the information and determine your product is a good fit. If they are interested in onboarding your brand, they will reach out to begin negotiations. This may include discussions around pricing, assortment, supply chain logistics, and more. Having the right data in negotiations will be key to helping the buyer understand how the products fit into their assortment, and can sweeten the deal.

Upon coming to an agreement, you’ll sign a contract and plan for the first shipments!

Be aware that the process to become a Walmart supplier can take months or even years, from preparation to signing a deal. In the time it takes to reach negotiations with a Walmart decision-maker, however, your company can aggregate even more compelling data to build a strong case and close the deal. Stay patient and understand that more time equates to more preparation for success with one of the largest retailers in the world.  

More tips for success

Understand Walmart’s merchant roles – Account manager vs category manager: It's important to understand the difference between these two roles in order to effectively communicate and pitch products to Walmart. An account manager is responsible for managing and maintaining the overall relationship with the supplier – usually through a well-connected sales broker – while a category manager is responsible for the performance and profitability of a specific product category. Knowing which person to approach with a pitch can make a big difference in chances of success.

Target specific regions – By analyzing geographic sales data, you can can identify the strongest regions for success with Walmart and use historical data to prove market demand in initial negotiations.

Targeting select locations will help you get a foothold in the beginning of your supplier relationship with Walmart. Demonstrated success in these initial locations can open the door to greater distribution opportunities.

Drive your sales story – Crisp’s data platform provides tools to to easily track sales and prove the success of products in existing retail accounts. With year-over-year (YoY) sales and velocity dashboards, you can clearly demonstrate the growth and profitability of their products to large retailers like Walmart. 

Use Crisp’s Walmart connectors to become a trusted supplier partner – Walmart suppliers use Crisp to aggregate granular sales data across thousands of store locations. The Walmart connector seamlessly feeds Retail Link and Luminate data into Crisp dashboards – or through to BI tools (Power BI, Excel), cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud), and data warehouses (Snowflake, Databricks).

This integrated technology creates a single source of truth for all Walmart sales and inventory data, helping suppliers stay ahead of out-of-stocks, track the performance of promotional campaigns, and consistently fulfill orders and drive sales. 

By analyzing geographic sales data, you can can identify the strongest regions for success with Walmart and use historical data to prove market demand in initial negotiations.

Targeting select locations will help you get a foothold in the beginning of your supplier relationship with Walmart. Demonstrated success in these initial locations can open the door to greater distribution opportunities.

Conclusion

Becoming a supplier for Walmart is a significant move for CPG brands looking to establish themselves as household names. However, the process does involve several requirements and intricate steps that require careful consideration. Despite this, many CPGs are ambitious enough to achieve the goal of becoming a Walmart supplier. 

By utilizing data, CPGs are better able to create a persuasive sales pitch that can help them secure opportunities with Walmart and become a valued supplier partner.