Amazon gets all the attention. Meanwhile, Walmart Marketplace has been quietly building something that matters more to manufacturers than most people realize: a marketplace with lower fees, less competition, and a customer base that actually buys household and industrial products.
If you're a manufacturer already selling on Amazon and wondering where to expand next, Walmart deserves a serious look. Not because it's going to replace Amazon — it won't. But because the economics are better, the competition is thinner, and the customer overlap is smaller than you'd expect.
The Fee Comparison That Changes the Math
Let's start with what matters most: how much of your sale you actually keep.
| Fee Component | Amazon | Walmart |
|---|---|---|
| Referral fee (most categories) | 15% | 6–15% (category dependent) |
| FBA fulfillment fee (standard item) | $5.40+ | N/A (you fulfill) |
| Monthly subscription | $39.99/mo (Professional) | $0 |
| Storage fees (FBA) | $0.87–$2.40/cu ft/mo | N/A |
| Closing fee (media) | $1.80 | $0 |
For a $39.99 product in the "Health & Household" category:
Amazon (FBA): $6.00 referral + $5.40 fulfillment + $0.35 storage = $11.75 per unit in Amazon fees. That's 29.4% of the sale price going to Amazon before you count product cost, shipping to FBA, or advertising.
Walmart (seller-fulfilled): $6.00 referral (15%) + $0 everything else = $6.00 per unit in Walmart fees. That's 15% of the sale price. You handle fulfillment yourself, which costs $6.50–$8.00 per order (shipping + labor), but you control it.
Net comparison: Amazon takes $11.75. Walmart takes $6.00 + your fulfillment cost of ~$7.00 = $13.00. Wait — Amazon is actually cheaper?
Not so fast. That Amazon number doesn't include inbound shipping to FBA ($0.50–$2.00/unit), long-term storage risk, or the fact that Amazon's FBA fees increase every year. And if you're already fulfilling your own Amazon orders (FBM), the comparison is $11.75 (Amazon FBA) vs. $6.00 (Walmart) — because your fulfillment cost is the same either way.
For manufacturers who fulfill their own orders — which is most manufacturers, since you already have a warehouse — Walmart's fee structure is meaningfully better.
The Competition Gap
Amazon has approximately 2 million active third-party sellers in the US. Walmart Marketplace has roughly 150,000. That's a 13:1 ratio.
Less competition for the Buy Box. Less advertising cost to get visibility. Higher probability that your product listing actually gets seen by shoppers.
For manufacturers in categories like cleaning supplies, industrial products, health and beauty, and home goods — categories where Walmart's customer base is strong — the reduced competition translates directly to lower customer acquisition costs. You don't need to spend $2–$3 per click on Walmart Sponsored Products the way you do on Amazon.
The flip side: Walmart's total marketplace GMV is smaller. You'll sell fewer units. But you'll keep more margin per unit and spend less on advertising. For many manufacturers, profit per unit on Walmart exceeds Amazon despite lower volume.
The Application Process
Walmart doesn't let just anyone sell on their marketplace. They're selective. This is good news for manufacturers — it keeps out the low-quality resellers and dropshippers that flood Amazon.
What Walmart looks for:
A US business entity. You need a US-registered business with a US tax ID. International sellers can apply but face additional requirements.
An established track record. Walmart prefers sellers with existing e-commerce experience. If you're already selling on Amazon, your own website, or other marketplaces, mention it. They want evidence you can fulfill orders reliably.
Competitive pricing. Walmart's brand is built on low prices. They'll check your proposed pricing against Amazon and other retailers. If you plan to charge 20% more on Walmart than Amazon, you'll likely get rejected.
Product quality and brand ownership. Manufacturers have an advantage here. You make the product. You own the brand. You control quality. Walmart values this over resellers arbitraging someone else's product.
The application takes 2–4 weeks for approval. Once approved, you set up your Seller Center account, create product listings, and configure fulfillment settings.
Listing Optimization: What's Different from Amazon
Walmart's search algorithm is different from Amazon's. A few things that matter:
Product Titles Follow a Specific Format
Walmart prefers: Brand + Product Name + Key Attributes (size, count, flavor) + Pack Size. Keep it under 75 characters. Amazon rewards keyword-stuffed titles. Walmart penalizes them.
Content Quality Matters More
Walmart's Listing Quality Score directly affects your search ranking. This includes image quality, description completeness, attribute accuracy, and pricing competitiveness. A score below 60% significantly hurts visibility.
Reviews Transfer (Sometimes)
If your product has reviews on Walmart.com from retail sales, those reviews may carry over to your marketplace listing. This is a significant advantage for manufacturers whose products are already sold in Walmart stores.
Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS)
Walmart now offers their own FBA equivalent. Items fulfilled through WFS get a "Fulfilled by Walmart" badge and are eligible for Walmart+ free shipping. The fees are competitive with FBA. But for manufacturers who already have fulfillment operations, self-fulfillment with proper order management gives you more control and often better economics.
Integration: Connecting Walmart to Your Existing Operation
This is where multi-channel order management earns its keep. When you add Walmart as a channel, you need:
Inventory sync. Walmart needs to know your available quantity, and it needs to update when you sell on other channels. If you sell 5 units on Amazon, Walmart's available quantity decreases within minutes. Otherwise, you risk overselling — and Walmart penalizes oversells aggressively.
Order import. Walmart orders need to flow into the same processing queue as your Amazon, WooCommerce, and eBay orders. Your warehouse team shouldn't need a separate dashboard for Walmart orders.
Tracking sync-back. When you ship a Walmart order, the tracking number pushes back to Walmart's system within hours. Late tracking uploads affect your seller metrics.
Return processing. Walmart's return policy differs from Amazon's. Returns need to be processed according to Walmart's rules, with status updates syncing back to Seller Center.
An order management system that supports Walmart's API handles all of this automatically. Orders come in, inventory adjusts across all channels, labels print at your packing station, tracking syncs back. The operator doesn't need to know whether an order came from Amazon or Walmart — the workflow is identical.
The Walmart Customer: Different from Amazon
Walmart's online customer base skews differently from Amazon's. Understanding this helps you decide which products to list and how to position them.
Price sensitivity is higher. Walmart shoppers are more price-conscious than Amazon shoppers. If your product competes on value — good quality at a fair price — Walmart is a natural fit. If your product is premium-priced, Amazon's audience may be more receptive.
Household and consumable categories are strong. Cleaning products, health and beauty, food and beverage, pet supplies, and home essentials perform well on Walmart Marketplace. Industrial and specialty products have a smaller audience.
Repeat purchase rates are high for consumables. If you sell a product that gets used up and reordered — cleaning supplies, personal care, supplements — Walmart's customer base has strong repeat purchase behavior. Lower per-unit margin is worthwhile because lifetime value is higher.
Brand recognition matters. Walmart shoppers tend to buy brands they recognize from retail stores. If your product is already on Walmart shelves (or looks like it could be), you have a credibility advantage over unknown brands.
The 30-Day Launch Plan
Week 1: Apply to Walmart Marketplace. While waiting for approval, prepare your product listings — titles, descriptions, images, pricing. Use Walmart's listing format guidelines, not your Amazon listings copy-pasted.
Week 2: Once approved, set up your Seller Center account. Connect your order management system's Walmart integration. Configure inventory sync — start with your top 10–20 SKUs, not your entire catalog.
Week 3: Go live with listings. Set competitive prices (check what the same or similar products sell for on Walmart.com). Enable Walmart Sponsored Products for your top 5 SKUs with a modest daily budget ($20–$30/day).
Week 4: Process your first orders. Monitor fulfillment metrics closely — on-time shipping, valid tracking, cancellation rate. These early metrics set the tone for your seller score. If you're using a scan-driven packing workflow, Walmart orders process identically to your other channels.
Month 2–3: Expand your catalog. Add more SKUs based on what's selling. Optimize listings based on Listing Quality Score feedback. Adjust advertising based on ACOS data.
The Bottom Line
Walmart Marketplace isn't Amazon. It's smaller, pickier about who it lets in, and requires a different approach to listing optimization. But for manufacturers — especially those making household products, consumables, and health/beauty items — the economics are compelling: lower fees, less competition, and a customer base that buys the kinds of products manufacturers make.
The key is treating it as a complement to Amazon, not a replacement. Run both channels through the same order management system, fulfill from the same warehouse, and let the system handle the channel-specific differences. Your warehouse team packs boxes. The system handles the rest.
See how OrderHUBx manages multi-channel selling including Walmart.