What is Retail Link?

Retail Link is an online portal for vendors partnering with Walmart. It serves as a comprehensive data platform that acts as the single source of truth for vendors, providing a wide range of functionalities and tools to streamline their operations within the Walmart ecosystem. In this article, we will delve into the key features of Retail Link, and how it compares to Walmart’s other platform, Luminate.

History of Retail Link

Walmart suppliers were provided online access to Retail Link in 1997. The platform gave the businesses access to point-of-sale data to track sales by store and replenish inventory as dictated by demand. This gave Walmart a significant advantage over its competitors, who were not able to aggregate and provide this level of data at the time.

As Walmart continued to refine and expand the platform, Retail Link incorporated additional features such as forecasting tools, collaborative planning, and advanced analytics reports.

Today, Retail Link is a vital part of Walmart's supply chain. The platform allows Walmart to track data across over 10,000 stores in 20 countries and manage supplier relationships from the initial set-up process on.

Retail Link features and reports

Retail Link offers numerous features and reports to help suppliers manage their business and optimize performance within the Walmart marketplace. Here are some key components and reports provided by Retail Link:

Electronic data exchange (EDI) – Retail Link facilitates electronic communication between Walmart and its suppliers through EDI. EDI enables the exchange of standardized business documents such as purchase orders, invoices, and ship notices. 

Purchase orders (POs) – Retail Link allows suppliers to receive, access, and manage their purchase orders. Suppliers can view details of their POs, including quantities, delivery dates, and pricing information to plan their production and fulfillment processes accordingly.

New vendor documents – When suppliers onboard with Walmart, there are various documents and agreements involved. Retail Link provides a platform for suppliers to access and manage these new vendor documents efficiently. This can include contracts, compliance requirements, and other necessary paperwork.

Item set-up – Retail Link supports the item set-up process for suppliers. Suppliers can enter and manage their product information, including attributes like UPC codes, item descriptions, pricing, and packaging details. Accurate and up-to-date item information is required for selling to Walmart, and key to successful inventory management. 

Decision support system (DSS) – The Decision Support System is a tool within Retail Link that empowers suppliers with sales and inventory reports, such as sales trends, inventory levels, out-of-stocks, and other performance metrics.

Retail basket analysis – Part of the DSS, Retail Link offers retail basket analysis, which provides suppliers with insights into customer purchasing behavior. This analysis examines the products that customers frequently purchase together, allowing suppliers to identify cross-selling opportunities or develop promotional strategies to increase sales. 

On time in full (OTIF) – In Retail Link, the OTIF report is a metric that measures a supplier's ability to deliver orders accurately, on time, and in the expected quantities. Meeting high OTIF standards is crucial for maintaining a strong supplier-retailer relationship and avoiding penalties.

Retail Link is a vital part of Walmart's supply chain. The platform allows Walmart to track data across over 10,000 stores in 20 countries and manage supplier relationships from the initial set-up process on.

Retail Link challenges and limitations

While Retail Link reports provide valuable insights for suppliers, it's important to acknowledge the limitations of the platform. Despite offering a range of reporting capabilities, the age and vastness of Retail Link can make it cumbersome, and impact user experience and efficiency. Here are some notable issues:

Speed – One common criticism of Retail Link is its outdated infrastructure, which can result in slow report generation and setup times. Generating reports may take several minutes, which can be frustrating for users who require quick access to data.

Lack of API – Retail Link's absence of an API restricts the ability to seamlessly integrate it with other systems or automate data retrieval and analysis. At Crisp, we’ve developed custom technology that connects directly to the Decision Support System on behalf of our clients to circumvent this challenge. 

Complex navigation – Navigating Retail Link can be challenging, particularly for new users or those unfamiliar with its interface. The complex navigation structure can contribute to a steep learning curve and potentially hinder efficient data retrieval and analysis.

Assistance required – Due to the complexity of Retail Link, users often require guidance or assistance to navigate and locate the desired data. Whether it’s through paid training sessions or external consulting, additional resources may be necessary to fully leverage the platform's capabilities.

Harnessing the power of Retail Link

Retail Link holds a wealth of data essential for optimizing your business with Walmart, and with the right data processes in place, it can be harnessed as a valuable resource rather than being seen as a necessary evil. 

Crisp, a retail data platform for CPG brands, offers a Retail Link connector, enabling brands to seamlessly integrate their data into the platform’s native dashboards or popular BI and cloud tools like Excel, Power BI, Azure, Snowflake, Google Cloud, and more. Crisp efficiently retrieves data from Retail Link at scale and granularity levels that would otherwise be time-consuming for brands to access.

In addition, Crisp encourages brands to reduce reliance on brokers for data reporting. By directly accessing and utilizing Retail Link data through Crisp’s easy-to-use platform, brands gain more control and independence in managing and analyzing their data.

This data can prove crucial for buyer meetings and line reviews, as brands can utilize Crisp to present compelling Walmart sales data in an accessible, easy-to-understand format to propel business forward. 

Finally, as part of a brand’s subscription to Crisp’s Retail Link connector, they have access to a comprehensive data catalog that includes a glossary of Retail Link terminology, data refresh frequencies, and reference tables. This information can help brands better understand Walmart's data infrastructure and how to use it to their advantage.

By leveraging Crisp's capabilities alongside Walmart’s Retail Link, brands can optimize their data analysis, streamline communication, and enhance their decision-making processes. These advantages contribute to improved efficiency and effectiveness in working with the retail giant. 

Crisp efficiently retrieves data from Retail Link at scale and granularity levels that would otherwise be time-consuming for brands to access.

Leading the way to Luminate

As Sam Walton said, “the one thing that is constant in retail is change.”

Walmart has always been a leader in retail innovation. In the early days, the company pioneered the use of barcodes and scanners to improve efficiency in its stores. In recent years, Walmart has continued to innovate by expanding into new channels, such as e-commerce, and pickup and delivery. Walmart's omnichannel strategy is designed to give customers the convenience of shopping wherever they want, whenever they want.

When it comes to keeping track of data across these channels, this is where Walmart's cutting-edge Luminate platform comes in. It goes beyond the capabilities of Retail Link and offers advanced data analytics along with shopper insights for a full-view of business within the retailer’s vast ecosystem.

Crisp's platform is also compatible with Walmart's Luminate platform, so businesses can use Crisp to automatically ingest and pipe data from Luminate into the BI or cloud tools they use today. This makes it easy for businesses to get the most out of Walmart's Luminate platform and make better, more impactful decisions across the supply chain.

Walmart's Retail Link platform is a legacy system that has been used by suppliers for decades to access data about sales, inventory, and other key metrics. It serves as the basis for Luminate, which is positioned to help omnichannel Walmart suppliers succeed in the years to come. Crisp is pleased to offer technologies that are compatible with both systems.