Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Has a Strong Debut and Bright Future for E-Commerce Sellers
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Walmart Fulfillment
Services (WFS) Has
a Strong Debut and
Bright Future for
E-Commerce Sellers
White Paper
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Has a Strong
Debut and Bright Future for E-Commerce Sellers
FBA’s well-publicized struggles to keep dustry as a whole shattered growth pro- ing engine that makes Walmart+ success-
pace with demand during the early jections. ful in the long run. Much the way FBA al-
months of the COVID-19 pandemic taught lows e-commerce merchants of all sizes
important lessons about the value of mar- One of the particularly successful to advertise fast and free Prime ship-
ketplace diversification.1 As product limits third-party sales channels that emerged ping, WFS opens the door to more Wal-
and fulfillment delays throttled Amazon’s out of this period has been Walmart Mar- mart+-ready listings. Third-party sellers
ability to meet spiking demand, sellers ketplace. As customers’ shopping habits without the logistical capacity to satis-
who were heavily reliant upon the con- began to expand and include more com- fy Walmart+ fulfillment times now have a
venience and sales volume of FBA found parison shopping focusing on metrics like practicable pathway to get their products
themselves scrambling to reroute their price and delivery speed, Walmart was in the Walmart+ ecosystem.
fulfillment strategies through other chan- prepared with two new initiatives to help
nels. its marketplace compete: What’s more, WFS has already passed one
of its first major hurdles to being seen as
Conversely, online sellers with diversified, • Walmart+ - Walmart’s Amazon a worthwhile investment: throughout the
omnichannel strategies proved to be es- Prime-adjacent membership service pandemic, Walmart Fulfillment Services
pecially resilient. Contrary to sellers ham- offering fast, free shipping as well as suffered no downtime or any of FBA’s pan-
strung by FBA delays, sellers utilizing mul- additional grocery, fuel, and brick- demic-induced logistical constraints. In-
tiple fulfillment methods were able to get and-mortar retail benefits, has given stead, WFS was able to establish itself as a
products out to customers and profit shoppers a new option for speedy and convenient and reliable fulfillment partner
from record-setting consumer demand. It reliable online purchases. in otherwise uncertain times. This strong
proved to be one of the clearest caution- initial showing is paving the way for Wal-
ary tales against overcommitting to a sin- • Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) - mart’s continued growth in the e-com-
gle channel. Walmart’s merchant-fulfillment ser- merce space.
vice is its answer to FBA. Merchants
When all was said and done, 2020 saw ship their products to a Walmart logis-
an unprecedented boom in e-commerce tics center where everything from
sales volume - worldwide retail e-com- picking and packing to shipping, re-
merce sales topped 4.2 trillion USD with turns, and customer service are han-
over 2 billion people purchasing goods dled by Walmart. The program rolled
or services online. 2 While FBA may have out in 2020 following an invite-only tri-
stumbled out of the gate, channels and al in 2019.
marketplaces of all sizes - FBA included -
experienced massive year-over-year GMV While much was made about Walmart+,
growth. 3 By year’s end, the online retail in- WFS could turn out to be the game-chang-
1. https://sellercloud.com/white-papers/white-paper-fulfillment-by-amazon-fba-impacted-by-covid19-mid-year-2020-sellercloud-report
2. https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/
3. https://sellercloud.com/white-papers/white-paper-sellercloud-2020-year-over-year-e-commerce-growth-report
2021 Sellercloud 2
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Is About Walmart’s
Commitment to E-Commerce More Than Its Competition
with Amazon
The Walmart versus Amazon e-com- now and moving forward.
merce battle has never quite been a fair
fight. Walmart is a brick-and-mortar em- According to Walmart’s Q1 2021 Earn-
pire that has branched out into online re- ings Report, online sales increased by
tail. Conversely, Amazon has always been 37% and online sales have increased over
positioned as an e-commerce-first com- 200% over the past two years. 5
pany that has expanded into both brick-
and-mortar and service industries. This Sellercloud users have seen substan-
discrepancy is what makes comparisons tial upticks in their Walmart sales per-
between the two inevitably wade into ap- formances, as well - including 2019-2020
ples and oranges territory. Nevertheless, YOY increases of 211% in orders and 205%
the pair do account for nearly half of all in GMV. 6
online retail sales in the US. As such, com-
parisons are inevitable. With the rollout of WFS, Walmart Mar-
ketplace sellers have been given a path-
By the end of 2020, Walmart remained way to merchant-fulfilled orders on par
firmly in its position as the number 2 US with Amazon’s long-successful FBA pro-
retail e-commerce company in terms of gram. Moreover, as Walmart+ continues
both gross sales ($64.2 billion) and per- to gain traction, WFS gives third-par-
centage of total e-commerce sales (7.1%). ty sellers a practical way to reach cus-
Walmart was still a far cry from Amazon’s tomers searching for products that can
$367 billion and 40.4% market share, but be delivered quickly and reliably - a met-
it also maintained a comfortable lead on ric shoppers self-identify as crucial when
eBay - Walmart’s closest competitor with comparison shopping online. 7
$38.67 billion in gross sales and a 4.3%
market share. 4 Early reporting from both industry sourc-
es and our Sellercloud data offers an op-
All that being said, coming out of 2020, timistic view that the strong debut of WFS
Walmart’s commitment to online retail is only the beginning for Walmart’s po-
has never been stronger. WFS is a key tentially lucrative fulfillment evolution. 8
component of that commitment - both
4. https://www.emarketer.com/content/amazon-dominates-us-ecommerce-though-its-market-share-varies-by-category
5. https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2021/05/18/walmart-releases-q1-fy22-earnings
6. https://sellercloud.com/white-papers/white-paper-sellercloud-2020-year-over-year-e-commerce-growth-report
7. https://www.retailwire.com/discussion/survey-says-consumers-want-online-orders-shipped-fast-and-free/
8. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sharonedelson/2021/01/27/want-your-order-even-faster-check-out-walmarts-new-tech-powered-options/
2021 Sellercloud 3
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Is Quickly Proving
Itself to Be a Viable Fulfillment Partner
As a newer service, WFS has ground to 2020 eclipsed those of FBA in both total al order and sales growth into the next
make up before it challenges the sheer orders and total sales. Both fulfillment ser- quarter.
size and volume of FBA. FBA sellers gain vices yielded similar month-over-month
access to billions of desktop and mobile growth percentages for Sellercloud users Growth for both fulfillment services ex-
website visitors per month from over 100 through December. perienced a lull in January and February
countries. FBA sellers also gain access to 2021, but WFS was able to end the quarter
over 70 million Amazon Prime subscribers This 2020 holiday performance was a by again posting solid month-over-month
who, on average, spend 233% more than strong showing for WFS. Walmart’s up- percentage gains for Sellercloud users in
non-Prime Amazon shoppers. 9 In reality, start fulfillment service was able to meet March - exceeding those of FBA over the
this is likely an insurmountable lead for demands throughout one of the high- same period.
Amazon. est-grossing online shopping seasons of
all time. What’s more, Sellercloud data On a per-seller basis, these numbers be-
But again, as the e-commerce indus- demonstrates how most sellers were able come even more noteworthy.
try continues to trend toward omnichan- to build on that success with addition-
nel marketing as a cornerstone for suc-
cess, picking the winners between dueling
corporations doesn’t matter. The key is to
find reliable and profitable channels that
yield positive returns. WFS is proving to be
one of those partners.
While WFS is still in its relative infancy
compared to FBA, Sellercloud data shows
how its adoption has already started pro-
ducing growth results mirroring the indus-
try leader. Of particular interest is the rel-
ative growth of each of these platforms.
While FBA remains dominant in terms of
overall order volume and sales, WMS is far
outpacing FBA in average month-over-
month growth.
For all Sellercloud sellers selling on both
WFS and FBA, WFS’s month-over-month
growth rates from October to November
9. https://financesonline.com/amazon-statistics/
2021 Sellercloud 4
Focusing on Sellercloud customers who
sold products using both WFS and FBA
over the course of November 2020 through
March 2021:
• Total Orders
• The total number of WFS orders per
seller increased by an average of
548% month-over-month. FBA to-
tal orders over that same span in-
creased by an average of 5.7%
month-over-month.
• Total GMV
• WFS total sales increased by an av-
erage of 398% month-over-month.
FBA total sales increased by an av-
erage of 2% month-over-month.
It is worth noting that scale plays a role
here. FBA is an established fulfillment pro-
vider that launched 15 years ago, where-
as Walmart Fulfillment Services has only
been in full operation since 2020. For
high-volume sellers, a single digit month-
over-month percentage increase likely
amounts to substantial profit boosts.
That said, for WFS to be delivering this
type of rapid growth this quickly shows
it is an excellent option for e-commerce
sellers looking to broaden their market-
place-fulfilled sales channels.
Isolating subsets of these figures based
on order volume further highlights the op-
portunity to scale provided by the WFS
sales channel.
1. 6 https://sellercloud.com/white-papers/white-paper-sellercloud-annual-trends-and-first-party-e-commerce-growth-report
2021 Sellercloud 5• FBA total sales decreased by an av-
erage of 6.4% month-over-month.
Even as the post-holiday numbers
dragged down FBA’s average month-
over-month average growth figures, WFS
maintained a net positive trajectory. This
is yet another example of how omnichan-
nel diversification is a crucial component
of a balanced e-commerce strategy. The
more places products and listings are vis-
ible, the higher the odds that an e-com-
merce business can continue to grow on
some marketplaces, even when facing
slowdown on others.
Focusing first on sellers from the afore-
mentioned dataset that averaged more
than 2,000 WFS orders per month, the
growth numbers bear out:
• Total Orders
• The total number of WFS orders per
seller increased by an average of
155% month-over-month.
• FBA total orders over that same span
decreased by an average of 8.2%
month-over-month.
• Total GMV
• WFS total sales increased by an av-
erage of 181% month-over-month.
2021 Sellercloud 6Once again focusing on the sellers from erage of 647% month-over-month.
the aforementioned dataset, but this time
highlighting sellers that averaged few- • FBA total sales increased by an aver-
er than 750 WFS orders per month, the age of 11% month-over-month.
growth numbers are impressive:
Even at lower volumes, WFS is present-
• Total Orders ing Sellercloud sellers with an opportuni-
ty to scale month-to-month at a signifi-
• The total number of WFS orders per cant pace.
seller increased by an average of
968% month-over-month. No matter the size of the e-commerce
business, WFS has proven to be a via-
• FBA total orders over that same ble channel for growth. Ear-
span increased by an average of 18% ly adopters have continued
month-over-month. to see increased month-over
month order volume and
• Total GMV sales through Q1 2021 and
into Q2.
• WFS total sales increased by an av-
2021 Sellercloud 7Key Takeaway: The Time Is Now to Get In on the Ground
Floor With WFS
In the modern e-commerce landscape, di- ings who cannot meet the program’s 2-day Low-stock notifications, automated reor-
versifying fulfillment partnerships matters. fulfillment requirements. dering, dynamic warehouse management,
While FBA continues to drive billions of dol- and end-to-end inventory tracking give
lars in annual GMV for Sellercloud custom- For existing FBA sellers, selling via WFS you peace of mind knowing that your mer-
ers, over-relying on a single (albeit profita- should be an immediate priority. The chan- chandise is always where it is supposed to
ble) fulfillment channel has its risks. This is nel has already proven in its infancy that be.
especially true when it comes to partner- it has the potential to make a big splash
ships like FBA that take on so much of the in the e-commerce industry and rise to be- Integrations with numerous major chan-
end-to-end order logistics. come the closest competitor to FBA yet. If nels, business systems, and logistics pro-
the growth figures from early adopters are viders – Rapidly expand your online pres-
One of the key takeaways from 2020 must any indication, WFS is poised to play a ma- ence across multiple marketplaces (both
be that businesses that broaden their sta- jor role in online retail for a long time to 1P and 3P) and distribution channels, while
bles of marketplaces and fulfillment chan- come. also gaining complete visibility into met-
nels are better safeguarded against issues rics that matter.
beyond their control. Establishing partner- Expand Your Omnichannel E-Commerce
ships with reliable and scalable partners is Presence With Sellercloud Streamlined fulfillment and warehouse
essential. management tools - The Sellercloud fam-
As a truly omnichannel management plat- ily of products includes patented technol-
Walmart’s fulfillment offerings current- form, Sellercloud ensures that all of the ogies designed to help you fulfill orders
ly present one of the best opportunities to channels where you sell can coexist with- quickly and accurately - whether from
expand into a marketplace-fulfilled sales in the same inventory, warehousing, ship- your own warehouses or with the help of a
channel. With WFS, sellers get the benefit ping, and tracking workflows. What’s more, third-party fulfillment partner.
of increased exposure on the second larg- adding new marketplaces and channels
est e-commerce marketplace in the US with into existing workflows is made simpler by Multi-channel catalog tools – Create, ad-
minimal logistical overhead. At the same both a host of over 120+ API- and EDI-lev- just, and optimize your listings from one
time, Walmart’s stricter seller-application el integrations with leading e-commerce convenient database that seamlessly inte-
criteria means less competition than less partners, as well as a responsive and agile grates across an extensive list of integrat-
restrictive marketplaces like Amazon. This support team ready to help you onboard ed channels.
means that sellers have a higher chance of new ones. Sellercloud is truly an all-in-one,
their listings appearing in front of Walmart. end-to-end e-commerce solution offering Customizable workflows – Easily create
com’s nearly 140 million unique visitors per a multitude of convenient and dependable workflows to meet your business’s unique
month. WFS also opens the door to reliably features: needs across all of the channels where
reaching Walmart+ subscribers and leap- you sell and between all the software and
frogging other sellers in the search rank- Fully-synced inventory management – cloud-based systems that you rely on.
2021 Sellercloud 8Expand your omnichannel e-commerce presence with
Sellercloud
As a truly omnichannel management plat- • Fully-synced inventory management plete visibility into metrics that matter.
form, Sellercloud ensures that all of the – Low-stock notifications, automated
channels where you sell can coexist within reordering, dynamic warehouse man- • Multi-channel catalog tools – Create,
the same inventory, warehousing, shipping, agement, and end-to-end inventory adjust, and optimize your listings from
and tracking workflows. What’s more, add- tracking give you peace of mind know- one convenient database that seam-
ing new marketplaces and channels into ex- ing that your merchandise is always lessly syndicates listings across an ex-
isting workflows is made simpler by both a where it is supposed to be. tensive list of integrated channels.
host of over 120+ API- and EDI-level integra-
tions with leading e-commerce partners as • Integrations with numerous major • Customizable workflows – Easily cre-
well as a responsive and agile support team channels, business systems, and logis- ate workflows to meet your business’s
ready to help you onboard new ones. Sell- tics providers – Rapidly expand your unique needs across all of the chan-
ercloud is truly an all-in-one, end-to-end online presence across multiple mar- nels where you sell and between all the
e-commerce solution offering a multitude ketplaces (both 1P and 3P) and distri- software and cloud-based systems you
of convenient and dependable features: bution channels while also gaining com- rely on.
Channels and listings Operations
Accounting
Orders
Reporting
Catalog
Web service API Advanced
Features
Omnichannel
Warehousing Shipping
3PL
Inventory
WMS
Shipping
Purchasing
2021 Sellercloud 9SELLERCLOUD HAS HELPED HUNDREDS OF SUCCESSFUL E-COMMERCE
RETAILERS TAKE THEIR BUSINESSES TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
To learn more about Sellercloud contact us, or request a demo today.
Visit us:
410 Monmouth Ave Suite 502,
user Kasey Magyar Lakewood, NJ 08701, United States
Sales Executive | Sellercloud (888) 315-6652
phone 732-481-1179 EXT 347 sales@sellercloud.com
at magyar.k@sellercloud.comYou can also read
