Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) has arrived in Canada.
The initiative offers end-to-end fulfillment services and customer support, including returns, for Walmart Marketplace sellers at market competitive rates.
Through WFS, participating sellers are able to offer two-day shipping and in-store pickup to customers.
Walmart said key benefits of the initiative include:
- Walmart handles all storage and logistics: sellers ship inventory directly to Walmart, where items will be stored, picked, packed and shipped to customers;
- Faster shipping than ever before using Walmart’s two-day shipping, which will be available to more than 95 per cent of Canadians;
- Customer support and returns managed by Walmart, including option for customers to return Marketplace purchases in-store, following our standard returns policy; and
- No inventory requirements or minimums to participate – sellers of all sizes can leverage Walmart Fulfillment Services.
“We’re bringing Walmart’s logistics, one of the best in Canada, to our third-party sellers, enhancing their opportunity on Walmart.ca while creating even more choice and better service for our customers,” said Daniel Farmer, VP Digital Platforms & Marketplace, Walmart Canada. “By empowering our sellers with more options for warehousing and fast shipping, we’re making it easier for sellers of every size to bring their products to our customers.”
Farmer said the company is very excited about WFS and its impact for both sellers on the Marketplace and for consumers.
“Growth has been accelerating year over year as sellers experience the Marketplace platform and get access to Canadian customers. More and more sellers see the value of the platform and they want to join,” he said.
Since its launch in 2017, Walmart Canada said its online Marketplace has seen exponential growth. Today, Walmart Canada’s Marketplace is home to more than 50 million items from more than 7,000 sellers, including thousands based in Canada.
“Walmart Fulfillment Services is the foundation to building the most convenient, affordable and fastest fulfillment ecosystem in Canada,” said Laurent Duray, Chief eCommerce Officer, Walmart Canada. “The launch of Walmart Fulfillment Services in Canada is a vote of confidence in omnichannel as we build a best-in-class experience for our customers with our Marketplace as an important growth driver.”
Farmer said WFS really leverages Walmart’s unique scale and supply chain capabilities as well as the retailer’s store network to support sellers with warehousing, fulfillment, customer support, including returns for all orders that flow through the Marketplace.
“Sellers are typically smaller businesses, local brands and the advantage for them is to access Walmart’s supply chain capability as well as the store network for either pickups or return,” he said. “What goes along with that is competitive rates, fast service to customers, nationwide reach. Those are all the advantages for sellers on our platform.
“It gives them speed, reach but also efficiencies in being able to leverage Walmart’s capabilities to run their business.”
Farmer said overall e-commerce has become a more and more important channel to Canadians.
“The Marketplace business itself allows Canadians to access more and more selection from Walmart from our seller partners and our seller partners need services to be able to reach more and more customers faster. So that’s really how all this fits together,” said Farmer.
“The growth in the e-commerce channel continues to accelerate, particularly since the pandemic. We’ve seen a lot of customers switch to the digital channel. How this service supports those customers is they get access to more and more selection, faster. So they will get access to two-day delivery for 95 per cent of Canadians through Walmart Fulfillment Services and our seller partners.”
Walmart Canada operates more than 400 stores across Canada, with 1.5 million customers each day.
