Savvy marketers are eying Walmart.com as a way to diversify their online advertising strategy after the retail giant reported earning a whopping $2.1 billion in advertising revenue in 2021.
Walmart.com gets a staggering 415.8 million visits each month – and that number keeps climbing.
Why You Should Be on Walmart.com
Besides more than 400 million monthly visitors, the Walmart marketplace is the first and best reason you need to be advertising on Walmart.com. One of the primary benefits of Walmart Marketplace is its shoppers, attracting more than 110 million visitors each month. The best way to take advantage of such a high number of visitors is by promoting your products via the Walmart sponsored products program. This will ensure your ads show up first.
Despite the heavy traffic it receives, the number of sellers on Walmart Marketplace is relatively small. There are currently only around 100,000 sellers selling on Walmart. This is compared to 9.7 Million global sellers on Amazon! Although Amazon may bring in a larger audience, the ratio of Sellers to buyers on Amazon is significantly better, which can mean lower CPCs and total competition.
Walmart is a very important component of a comprehensively filled out portfolio of online retailers. As the second largest online retailer in the United States it helps diversifty the portfolio to create stability in addition to adding more revenue.
It’s also incredibly simple to integrate Walmart with other eCommerce platforms such as Shopify. You can install the Walmart Marketplace directly from your Shopify app and publish them directly to Walmart Marketplace at no additional cost.
How to Start Advertising on Walmart
Selling on Walmart Marketplace is similar to other eCommerce selling platforms, so if you have experience with any kind of online sales and marketing you’re off to a good start understanding the platform.
The first and best example of this is the sponsored ads you see on Google. When you register your products in the Walmart sponsored products program, your ads will show up first for relevant searches. This is assuming they have the leading bid in the category. However, even if you’re not the leading bid, it’s likely that sufficiently bid ads will place your products higher than their organic rankings. This is especially true for newer products. The benefit here is less fierce competition as compared to Google Ads or Amazon advertising. For more information, see how Walmart.com compares to Amazon.
The advertiser pool on Walmart is much more limited due to the strict requirements that must be met in order to advertise.
Register as a Walmart Marketplace Seller
If you’re not signed up as a Walmart Marketplace seller yet, the first step is to apply for the program. Once your application is approved, you’ll be prompted to complete the registration process.
You’ll be asked to sign the Retailer Agreement, to start. Then you’ll be asked to complete your company’s profile. Finally, you have to connect a payment method and you’ll be ready to advertise!
Create Your Product Listings
Now you’re ready to begin creating your Walmart Marketplace catalog in earnest. Walmart Marketplace offers a few different options that you can use to populate your catalog.
The first is called Setup by Match. If Walmart already carries your products, you can simply use Setup by Match to create your listings. Once this process is complete, it’s important to audit your images and product description to make sure they are correct, fully filled out, and eye catching.
If you want to create entirely original listings, you’ll want to use the Full Item Spec option. This process is still streamlined, and efficient though, as Walmart offers templates for creating product listings in different categories. As with the setup by match option, it’s important to make sure your product pages are strong in order to drive up the conversion rate by interested shoppers.
Walmart recommends listing around 100 items to start. Then you’ll need to complete the order testing step. This is available in your Partner Home.
Request Advertising Access
Now you’re ready to sign up to advertise on Walmart. Every application needs to be approved by Walmart’s ad platform, Walmart Media Group.
First, you need to submit your company’s name. Then enter your contact information. You’ll then be prompted to enter some more specific information about your Walmart Marketplace account.
To be verified to advertise on Walmart, you’ll be asked to provide:
- How many SKUs you’ll be carrying
- Primary product category
- Advertising campaign objective
- Target demographic
- Preferred advertising plan
- Estimated budget
Attend the Advertising Webinar
Once you’re approved, your company will be invited to attend a webinar for advertising on Walmart. This is mandatory to be able to begin advertising on the platform.
These webinars happen weekly, so there are plenty of opportunities to attend. They also offer a lot of good info that will help you succeed in the marketplace.
Congratulations! You’re now set up to advertise on Walmart Marketplace.
Of course, if you know much about digital marketing and eCommerce you’ll know there’s a lot more to it than that. There’s a vast ocean of information out there on how to get your products in front of the eyes of your customers.
That’s where working with a dedicated team of highly-trained digital sales and marketing experts comes into play. We know it all, and do even more, so you can focus on building your business and delivering world-class products and customer service to your customers!
Walmart Advertising Services
Walmart.com is a great way to diversify your retail advertising strategy. As a leading Walmart PPC agency, Search Nurture can help set up your Walmart seller account, develop a strategy and manage ads on your behalf. If you want to learn more about what it’s like working with us, schedule a call. We’ll even show you how Walmart.com fits into your greater retail advertising strategy.
