Walmart is exploring offering a fulfillment program for third-party merchants on its marketplace, according to Internet Retailer. An executive made the revelation at the Shop.org conference in Dallas on Tuesday. NOTE: See update below.
Tri Huynh, director of business development for Walmart.com Marketplace, told Internet Retailer it’s in the exploratory stage.
But unlike Amazon, which has over 2 million sellers, Walmart has 1,000 sellers offering over 10 million SKUs. But that could be the point of an FBW (Fulfillment By Walmart) program – it would have control of the shipping and customer service rather than having to rely on the integrity of 3P sellers, making it more comfortable in scaling its merchant program.
Interesting tidbit: “We look at how well they are doing on other marketplaces,” Huynh said. “We don’t mind if they sell the same products on other marketplaces. That means it’s a good product.”
Find the full story on Internet Retailer.
Update: Walmart spokesperson Bao Nguyen told EcommerceBytes its executive misspoke in his interview with Internet Retailer. “We have made no decision to explore or open up fulfillment services to third parties,” Nguyen told EcommerceBytes.
