In their efforts to catch up, Walmart is launching programs aimed at ensuring that their delivery experience can match the vaunted Amazon Prime. Last year, they launched Walmart Fulfillment Services, a new program that enables sellers to store inventory and ship through Walmart’s fulfillment centers.
In this article, we’ll cover how WFS works, it’s strengths and weaknesses, and alternative solutions for sellers that want to deliver fast and free on Walmart.com.
How does Walmart Fulfillment Services work?
At its core, Walmart Fulfillment Services is a competitive answer to Amazon Prime. The single most important element of competing with Amazon is earning parity on fast and free shipping. Without fast and free shipping, Walmart knows that customers will continue to turn to Amazon. The more quickly Walmart can grow WFS and get its sellers to use the network, the better its 2-day shipping coverage will be.
Sellers that use Walmart Fulfillment Services for their Walmart listings go through a relatively simple and hands-off process. Once a seller has an account and listings, and the seller is approved for Walmart Fulfillment Services, then they send inventory to Walmart fulfillment centers and convert their products to Fulfilled by Walmart listings.
If they didn’t have it already, they’ll then get the Walmart TwoDay badge, boosting impressions and conversion. Then, when a customer places an order, Walmart will pick, pack, and deliver the item – no intervention needed from the seller. Moreover, Walmart also manages the returns process and provides customer service.
Benefits of Walmart Fulfillment Services
Straightforward solution for Walmart
Simply put, sellers that use Walmart Fulfillment Services for their Walmart orders have a low-complexity solution. There aren’t complicated integrations to worry about, and management tools are available through the seller’s account with Walmart.
Enables fast shipping
Since Amazon introduced its Prime program, 2-day shipping has quickly evolved from a “nice benefit” to a “must have”. In fact, a recent McKinsey study found that over 90% of consumers see 2- to 3-day delivery as the baseline. Without it, your offer will see high cart abandonment as shoppers select it, then realize that it doesn’t come with the delivery service they expect.
Walmart Fulfillment Services powers fast and free delivery by automatically enrolling products into the Walmart TwoDay program. Walmart’s studies have shown the program to boost conversion by 30-50% – a massive revenue increase.
Handles customer service
Walmart handles all customer inquiries, refunds, and returns for products sold through WFS. In addition to the TwoDay tag, in fact, WFS products get “Free & Easy Returns” and “Fulfilled by Walmart” tags, which further increase visibility and conversion.
When it comes to your time, WFS saves you a lot of time by handling customer service. As we’ll handle in the next section, though, there’s a drawback to the “Free & Easy Returns” tag.
Drawbacks of Walmart Fulfillment Services
Point solution that doesn’t work elsewhere
Just like Amazon FBA and other marketplace solutions, Walmart Fulfillment Services works only for Walmart. You likely know already that the best sellers don’t put all their eggs in one basket – they list across multiple marketplaces and often have their own webstore as well. So if you’re one of those top sellers, WFS is only a partial fulfillment solution.
The benefits of Walmart Fulfillment Services as a simple solution for selling on Walmart fade away when you have to manage alternate fulfillment platforms for other selling channels.
Increased returns
Amazon FBA sellers already are well acquainted with the flipside of easy returns – you may not have to worry about it when a customer calls in a return, but you’ll definitely be worrying about it when you realize how big of a hit your margin is taking. A 5% return rate already sounds like a big issue – but it gets that much worse when you realize that a 5% return rate usually comes out to about a 20% negative effect on net profit.
In its quest to chase Amazon, Walmart has adopted a similar return policy for WFS that enables the customers to process a full refund for almost any reason. Beware – this benefit will boost revenue, but it comes with a big hit to profitability.
Alternatives to Walmart Fulfillment Services
The most cost-effective way to offer nationwide 1-day and 2-day delivery is to adopt a distributed fulfillment strategy. Of course, Walmart Fulfillment Services will achieve this for you, but it’s far from a complete solution. If you want a more flexible fulfillment approach that can support your multi-channel sales, here are your four best options.
Open Multiple Fulfillment Centers: Merchants can take it upon themselves to open multiple US fulfillment centers and control fulfillment. The benefits of total control, though, are offset by challenging market dynamics. Warehouse space has never been more limited or expensive, and hiring for frontline fulfillment workers is so competitive that Amazon is paying as much as $22.50 per hour for new employees. On top of that, opening one’s own centers for Walmart fulfillment ties up significant capital and is risky. Pick the wrong location, and you’ll be left footing the bill.
Third-Party Logistics Companies (3PLs): Another option is to outsource fulfillment to multiple 3PLs. Since the majority of 3PLs are smaller operations with just a few locations, you’ll have to work with a few to get nationwide 1-day and 2-day coverage. Fulfillment costs vary between 3PLs, so be sure to use something like a 3PL request for proposal (RFP) template to get an apples to apples comparison.
Deliverr: Deliverr uses a network of 3PLs to provide nationwide fast and free shipping to Walmart sellers, and if you use it to fulfill your Walmart orders, you’ll automatically qualify for the Walmart TwoDay badge. Like Walmart Fulfillment Services and other 3PLs, Deliverr does the heavy lifting of fulfillment for their clients. Also like Walmart Fulfillment Services, though, Deliverr is limited in scope. The service focuses on small packages and their fulfillment cost balloons as product size rises. They also avoid the elephant in the room, Amazon, and shy away from doing fulfillment for orders on the largest eCommerce channel. If you use their service, be prepared to add the complexity of other fulfillment solutions as you grow.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Fulfillment Network: A modern and affordable alternative to working with 3PLs is to use a peer-to-peer e-commerce order fulfillment network. A P2P network is a collective of highly vetted eCommerce retailers who offer up excess warehouse space and resources to provide high-quality Walmart fulfillment to other merchants. As a result, costs are typically lower than what you get with a traditional 3PL fulfillment company, and service levels are higher. With a P2P network, flexible multi-channel fulfillment with nationwide 1-day and 2-day delivery is the norm. The diverse set of merchants ensures that each customer gets a solution customized to their need, while innovative technology ensures the highest quality fulfillment.
Offer 1-day and 2-day shipping at ground rates or less.
E-commerce Revolution with Strategic Packaging Solutions Like anyone in the e-commerce world, small business owners are always looking for ways to streamline their operations
Hazardous Materials What is a Hazardous Material? What Items Are HAZMAT? Classes of HAZMAT Items What Classes Can Ship on Various USPS Services? What Changes
For many sellers in eCommerce, Amazon has long been the platform that they simply could not ignore. However, in recent times, another channel has emerged. Walmart is arguably America’s most well known retailer
For many sellers in eCommerce, Amazon has long been the platform that they simply could not ignore. However, in recent times, another channel has emerged. Walmart is arguably America’s most well known retailer – the company has a sprawling footprint of around 4,717 physical locations. Recent developments, including the rise of Amazon and the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed the Arkansas-based retailer into investing more in eCommerce.
Walmart expects its eCommerce business to grow significantly in the next 5 years.
The company’s Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey acknowledged that the majority of the company’s profits come from its physical stores. However, he expects eCommerce’s contribution to grow significantly in the coming years as more retail becomes digital. To that end, the company has invested $7.2 billion in supply chain, omnichannel and technology infrastructure. Early results from the company are promising – in the second fiscal quarter of 2024, eCommerce sales grew 24% (compared to 6.4%) for comparable in-store sales. The company also reported that active digital users grew 20% in the quarter. 95% of American consumers visit Walmart stores at least twice a year. While Walmart crossed 150,000 third party sellers on its marketplace as of May 2022, that number pales in comparison to the 1.11 million that Amazon has. However, one thing is certain – Walmart is likely to continue growing investments in eCommerce, and take advantage of the enormous shopper base their physical locations attract. This represents a growing base for eCommerce brands and merchants to sell to.
However, just like Amazon, free and fast shipping is almost a prerequisite for success. On Amazon, customers apply the Prime filter when shopping just to see products that come with fast delivery. In many ways, shipping is no longer a back office operation, it has become central to today’s customer experience. Walmart allows sellers to gain competitive advantages by offering TwoDay and ThreeDay delivery.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what benefits TwoDay and ThreeDay delivery offers on the marketplace, what it takes to earn the TwoDay fast shipping badge, how to ensure you’re compliant with the seller performance standards and some options available to merchants to offer fast Walmart fulfillment.
As their names suggest, TwoDay and ThreeDay delivery tags are applied to offers on Walmart which feature free delivery to customers in two or three business days.
In a world where customers are constantly comparison shopping across brands, listings and marketplaces, free and fast shipping provides strong competitive advantages. In many cases, customers choose knockoff or imitation products over superior alternatives simply because of faster delivery.
The DeliveryTags are a great way to gain prominence on the marketplace, distinguish yourself from competitors and to build customer lifetime value through repeat purchases.
What Benefits do the Tags Give?
The important thing to understand is that the two day and three day delivery options are slightly different from each other in a few, significant ways. In each section, we’ll examine the difference between them and what benefits sellers get from each.
High Conversion Lift
The single biggest advantage sellers get from offering customers TwoDay or ThreeDay delivery is the increased conversion. In Walmart’s words, these are the conversion lifts that sellers can expect to see with these delivery offerings:
ThreeDay
TwoDay
As high as 30%
As high as 50%
Boosts Search Rank and Discoverability
Many sellers are already familiar with Amazon’s A9 algorithm. For those not aware, the A9 algorithm factors in a variety of criteria to rank listings on search results in the Amazon marketplace.In a similar fashion, Walmart has what it calls a “Listing Quality Score”. The algorithm applies weights to different criteria (such as price and shipping speed) before ranking listings on search results.
Offering two day or three delivery, and earning fast delivery tags go a long way toward improving your Listing Quality Score, improving metrics such as Buy Box win rates and search rankings. Here’s the difference according to Walmart:
The filter inclusion is similar to the filter Prime shoppers apply when browsing the Amazon marketplace just to see Prime eligible listings.
ThreeDay
TwoDay
Buy Box prominence
Buy Box prominence, increased search rankings and filter inclusion
Fast Shipping Badges
On marketplaces like Walmart, customers have almost infinite choice – fast shipping badges are a great way to stand out and quickly become the preferred listing for customers.
Here’s what you get with TwoDay and ThreeDay:
ThreeDay
TwoDay
No Fast Delivery Tags
Fast Delivery Tag
How To Qualify For TwoDay and ThreeDay Delivery
Now that we’ve taken a look at all the benefits that two offer, let’s examine what actually needs to be done to qualify for these options.
ThreeDay Delivery
For ThreeDay Delivery, sellers need to perform no extra work! They can simply configure a shipping template with “Standard” shipping method, and then pick a transit time of 3 days.
TwoDay Delivery
Sellers aiming to achieve two day speeds on their Walmart fulfillment (and earn the fast shipping badge that comes with it) have 3 different options available to them:
Use Walmart Fulfillment Services
Work with Walmart’s partners – ShipBob or Flexport
Ship yourself (using your own warehouses or 3PL).
If you’re choosing to use your own fulfillment, you will need to meet these requirements:
Have been a seller on Walmart for 90 days or fulfilled at least 100 orders
Maintain an on-time shipping and delivery rate greater than 95%
Maintain a valid tracking rate greater than 95%
Have a cancelation rate lesser than 1.5%
Offer free returns
Let’s assume you do what it takes and you’re now selling more with your fast delivery tags – great! But as sellers know, it’s crucial to stay on top of the requirements of the marketplace to ensure you retain your fast shipping badges and keep your listings active. Here’s what sellers need to do on Walmart:
Sellers must maintain an On-Time Delivery Rate greater than or equal to 95%. To give this some perspective, let’s compare this against a program like Seller Fulfilled Prime.
While SFP has more demanding speed metrics (expecting roughly 30% of orders on standard sized SKUs to be delivered within 1 calendar day), Walmart has higher on-time delivery expectations. SFP expects only 93.5%, while Walmart expects 95% on-time delivery.
This means that you need to find partners with order fulfillment networks that have warehouses at multiple strategic locations, so that you can shorten the distance to your customers and make your Walmart fulfillment faster.
The only downside is that this leaves sellers at the mercy of the carriers, such as USPS, UPS and FedEx. Their ability to deliver products accurately and on time becomes important.
Valid Tracking Information
Sellers must maintain a Valid Tracking Rate greater than 99%. This requires strong technology and integrations between your fulfillment platform and Walmart. Whenever you receive orders, your systems must write back tracking information automatically to Walmart.
Make sure that you check your fulfillment partner has solid technology and 2-way integrations (such as Cahoot’s with Walmart) that fetch and push important information.
Refund Rate
Sellers must maintain a refund rate less than 6%. This applies to reasons that the seller is responsible for, such as items being damaged or incorrect items being received.
It is essential that you identify fulfillment partners with checks, balances and procedures to prevent such issues. For example, Cahoot has scan-verification technology to nearly eliminate the possibility of incorrect items being picked and packed. Additionally, you need to ensure that your fulfillment partner has excellent pick-pack and order fulfillment practices to package items well, following all relevant guidelines and procedures. Warehouses on the Cahoot network must pass a 44 point checklist before they can begin fulfilling orders for sellers – ensuring industry leading fulfillment standards.
Cancel Rate
Brands must maintain a seller-initiated cancel rate of less than 2%. Such events can commonly occur when orders are received on items that are actually out-of-stock.
Cahoot has a powerful integration with Walmart that pushes back inventory count information. Additionally, the system also comes with dashboards that provide color-coded alerts about your inventory levels (yellow to indicate it’s time for replenishment, and red to indicate that it needs to be done in a hurry!) This ensures you can minimize stock-outs.
Additionally, if you’re fulfilling from multiple locations, make sure that your software has intelligent exception management capabilities to handle problems at one node. If stock-outs or bad weather occur, you can still keep your promise to customers if your shipping software intelligently reroutes orders to other locations.
Seller Response Rate
Sellers must respond to customer inquiries that they receive within 48 hours, more than 95% of the time. The reason for this is obvious – Walmart is positioning itself as a serious challenger to Amazon, which has built a reputation for stellar customer experience. Walmart expects its sellers to offer customers a similar quality of service.
Options to Offer TwoDay Delivery
Walmart Fulfillment Services
Walmart Fulfillment Services is the retailer’s inhouse logistics network, using which you can make your listings eligible for TwoDay Delivery. Let’s take a look at its pros and cons.
Pros of using WFS
Automatic eligibility for TwoDay delivery
Just like using Fulfillment By Amazon makes your listings eligible for Prime automatically, using WFS earns you TwoDay Delivery. There is no requirement to meet the qualification criteria.
Nationwide Network of Warehouses
As Walmart invests in growing its eCommerce capabilities, supply chain infrastructure building will be a key focus area. With 31 fulfillment centers dedicated to eCommerce as of June 2022, the company’s warehouse footprint ensures that it is possible to achieve nationwide two day delivery.
Competitive Pricing (Depends on SKU mix)
According to Helium 10’s comparison between Amazon FBA and Walmart WFS, the two programs are relatively level with each other on fulfillment fees. Sellers already used to working with FBA might see savings on some SKUs with WFS, while others might be cheaper on FBA.
The broad implications for sellers are similar to those with Amazon. For fast moving SKUs with minimum storage times that are small or lightweight, WFS will offer great rates. For big and bulky items, you may be able to find better alternatives offering more competitive rates. The real pain with programs like FBA and WFS is seen on long-tail or slow moving SKUs. When items don’t leave a Walmart Fulfillment center quickly, storage fees can rapidly eat into your margins.
Sellers must choose whether to work with WFS or look for alternative providers based on careful analysis of their specific product catalog.
Cons of using WFS
Restricted to Walmart
Possibly the biggest limitation of WFS is that it is restricted to just your Walmart orders. This means you’ll probably need to continue using FBA for Amazon, while you seek out another partner for your Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM) or Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) orders. You’ll also have to check if this partner supports other sales channels, such as Shopify (DTC), eBay or Target. Finding such a partner becomes harder if you’re selling to other retailers like Nordstrom or Macy’s, and require B2B replenishments as well.
Poor Fit For Certain SKUs
WFS does not offer competitive pricing for big and bulky items. Additionally, their storage fees make the service impractical for slow-moving or long tail SKUs.
For a seller with a SKU mix that features these types of items, WFS may not make a lot of sense.
Too Much Redundant Inventory For You To Manage
You’re already used to sending your inventory to FBA warehouses. That has caused sellers significant headaches with inventory receiving delays and damages in transit. If you use WFS to handle Walmart, you’ll have to repeat all your inbounding processes that you did for FBA – if you sent your items to an Amazon warehouse in California to handle West Coast orders, you’ll have to do it again to a Walmart Fulfillment Center. You’ll have to learn Walmart’s guidelines and processes for receiving inventory and get used to working with another partner.
Peak Season Storage Fees
While Walmart’s warehouse network is smaller compared to Amazon, they also face similar problems – a large number of sellers vying for limited spaces. This means you’ll face peak season surcharges for storage.
This illustrates the problem – if you don’t have a SKU that is fast moving, you’re in trouble. This means storage fees triple on SKUs that have been sitting in Walmart Fulfillment Centers for more than just 30 days!
For SKUs that have been sitting more than a year in their warehouses, the rates can be even more expensive.
ShipBob
Pros of Using ShipBob
Automatic eligibility for TwoDay Delivery
As ShipBob is one of Walmart’s approved partners, brands that use them can instantly activate TwoDay delivery.
Nationwide network of warehouses
ShipBob has a global network of warehouses. This allows them to spread inventory across multiple locations to reach customers within the two day window.
Cons of Using ShipBob
Rates May Not be The Best
ShipBob operates their own warehouses. While this may provide them control, it also places significant fixed costs and assets on their bottom line. With leasing rates, warehouse worker wages and carrier rate increases all going up, they may have no choice but to pass on the increased costs to their customers.
As this article explains, ShipBob customers have complained about times when they’ve found it difficult to get hold of someone from the company to fix their issues. Walmart does not hold 3PLs accountable for issues with deliveries, it holds you, the merchant, directly responsible.
Flexport (Deliverr)
Pros of Using Flexport (Deliverr)
Automatic Eligibility For TwoDay Delivery
As one of Walmart’s official providers, you get instant access to TwoDay delivery.
Nationwide Network of Warehouses
With over 80 Warehouses, Flexport’s DTC offering (formerly Deliverr) has the scale required to support nationwide 2 day delivery.
Cons of Using Flexport (Deliverr)
Expensive For Oversized Items
Deliverr’s rates are not competitive for big and bulky or oversized items. If a lot of your SKUs are in this country, you might need to evaluate other options.
Uncertainty Around Service Due to Business Challenges
After the exit of Dave Clark from Flexport, the company has been facing significant challenges internally. With recent reports that the company plans to lay off as much as 20% of their workforce, prospective customers might be nervous about the ability of the company to keep up its service levels and customer experience.
“The real difference-maker for us with Cahoot was [that Cahoot works] across the board and that regardless of where a consumer is, they can get their product in two days. The Cahoot full-service solution simplifies our operations and upgrades our delivery experience at the same time.”
You make the rules, you play by them! Having your own fulfillment operations frees you from having to rely on anyone else for fulfillment.
Centralized Inventory Management
If you can manage your fulfillment for WFS, that allows you to scale the same to your other sales channels and online marketplaces. You don’t need to inbound inventory multiple times. It allows you to become leaner and manage your inventory much more efficiently.
Cons of Using Your Own Warehouses
Prohibitively Expensive
With warehouse lease rates, worker wages and carrier GRIs all on the rise, it has rarely been more difficult to absorb the last-mile costs associated with making deliveries.
A brand aiming to cover the continental US with 2 day shipping requires at least 4 strategically located warehouses (a strategically located warehouse is one that is close to a major population center of the US – such as the Northeast, Southern California, Chicago Midwest region and Texas). This can be a significant drain on your resources. Even for very large brands, the economics are proving hard to justify.
Can Consume Your Time and Energy
When you bring fulfillment operations in-house, the complexity of running your own logistics can overtake your focus on the activities that actually matter – selling and taking care of your customers.
Running your own fulfillment operations can leave you drowning in busy work and process management.
Cahoot
Pros of Working With Cahoot
Nationwide Warehouse Network
Cahoot has one of the largest warehouse networks in the US. We have 100+ warehouses, rivaling Amazon’s 110 fulfillment centers. Other providers, including Walmart themselves and ShipBob do not have as many warehouses.
Such a huge network offers certain advantages.
The first is that we have warehouse locations that work for nearly any brand. Different brands see orders coming from different regions. Brands selling well-established, commodity-style products might see most of their orders come from the major population centers, such as the Northeast and Southern California. On the other hand, someone selling surfing gear might see most orders come in from Florida and California. Similarly, someone selling skiing and winter sports equipment might see most of their orders come from Colorado or Vermont.
Whatever the geographic spread of your customer base, we’ve got warehouses that can deliver products to your customers in 1 or 2 days using economical ground shipping.
The second is that our vast network allows us to scale to meet the requirements of extremely challenging programs, such as Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime. What’s challenging for other providers isn’t for us.
Great Rates Across All SKUs
While other providers may not have the best rates across all SKU sizes, we have competitive pricing for all types of items – small, fast-moving, big and bulky, long-tail and seasonal.
While the likes of WFS and Flexport may become more expensive for oversized items, Cahoot offers competitive rates across the size spectrum. We also have a good track record of offering ShipBob customers meaningful savings on their current shipping fees.
This ensures that you’ll keep fulfillment costs under control and get back more savings to focus on growing your business.
“We onboarded with Cahoot at the beginning of Q4 with the single goal of reducing our 3PL costs. We have been happy to see considerable savings on SPD costs instantly. The team continue to work with us to ensure we distribute our inventory to the right locations across the US to reduce our SPD label costs. Rather than buying an app or a service, it feels like we have begun a great partnership with the Cahoot team who have a genuine interest in helping our business to succeed.”
Centralized Inventory Management With Fulfillment Across All Channels
With WFS, you’ll have to work with multiple partners to handle your fulfillment across different sales channels. Cahoot is out-of-the-box integrated with all leading online marketplaces and shopping cart platforms. We also support B2B replenishments. You can use Cahoot as a one-stop shop for fulfillment, ensuring that you can run lean on inventory and streamline your operations.
Lastly, working with a partner like Cahoot cuts down the number of relationships you need to manage, freeing your team from process management and busy work. Working with a trusted full-service partner is also better than running your own fulfillment operations. You’ll reclaim time, resources and bandwidth to focus on activities that grow your brand, rather than get caught in the complexity of managing logistics.
Responsive, Personal Support
When comparing providers like ShipBob, Flexport and Cahoot, the quality of customer support matters. There are many advantages to working with a partner rather than Walmart directly, because of their ability to handle fulfillment on other channels. But the key thing to remember is that Walmart holds brands directly responsible for any issues with shipping. And while fulfillment is crucial to business operations, things don’t always go as planned. That’s why it’s important to quickly get help when you need it. Cahoot’s US based team is always ready to offer assistance when you need it, ensuring minimal downtime for your business.
Cons of Working With Cahoot
Not the Best Fit For Those Just Starting Out
Cahoot offers the most benefits to merchants with some degree of traction, who are currently shipping 250 orders a month (roughly 10 packages a day).
Once merchants cross the initial phase, we can help them scale operations with our powerful network and technology.
Conclusion
Like with Amazon, offering free and fast shipping is critical to succeeding on the Walmart marketplace.
Offering TwoDay and ThreeDay delivery has a number of advantages – including improving buy box win rates, rankings in search results and most importantly, conversion lift.
Merchants have a number of options available to offer two and three day deliveries, including using Walmart Fulfillment Services, their inhouse logistics, ShipBob, Flexport or Cahoot.
It’s important for merchants to identify partners with both a large warehouse network, as well as competitive rates across the size spectrum. It’s also important to look for providers that bring full-service capabilities beyond just the Walmart channel, so that sellers can cut down the number of providers they have to work with to manage their logistics. This has the added benefit of streamlining inventory management. Lastly, sellers should make sure to pick a fulfillment partner that offers reliable, responsive support. After all, you’re accountable to Walmart, not your 3PL!
With the nation’s largest retailer now aggressively investing in eCommerce, it’s a perfect time for all sellers and brands to bring their products to Walmart. The key is in doing so in a way that keeps complexity and costs low, while growing sales with free two and three day deliveries on every order.
Offer 1-day and 2-day shipping at ground rates or less.
E-commerce Revolution with Strategic Packaging Solutions Like anyone in the e-commerce world, small business owners are always looking for ways to streamline their operations and
Hazardous Materials What is a Hazardous Material? What Items Are HAZMAT? Classes of HAZMAT Items What Classes Can Ship on Various USPS Services? What Changes
Amazon is a competitive platform. You need to have a quality product, excellent listing content, and plenty of reviews to catch the attention of busy shoppers. You also need to have plenty of inventory in stock and be prepared to fulfill orders quickly.
Selling on Amazon also requires you to be extremely vigilant. Unfortunately, hijackers and fierce competitors abound. You must pay close attention to the details to keep your business running smoothly. In this article, we’ll share why you need to monitor your Amazon listings and how to do it.
Search Visibility is Essential
Simply put, shoppers won’t see your listings in Amazon’s search results if they are search-suppressed. Since
over 50% of product searches begin on Amazon, a suppressed listing is a real problem that can quickly hurt your bottom line.
Amazon
suppresses listings from search for a variety of reasons, including failure to meet its image requirements, incorrect listing content, and titles that are too long. You can check to see if any of your listings are currently search-suppressed on the Manage Inventory page in Seller Central. If you have suppressed or inactive listings, a hyperlink that says “Search Suppressed and Inactive Listings” will be displayed at the top of the page. Clicking that link will take you to the Fix Your Products page where you can learn more about the issues and find out how to resolve them.
Inactive Amazon listings are not available for purchase and will not appear to customers who are searching for your product. If your product goes out of stock and you don’t have a restocking process in place, the listing will become inactive. Changes such as the manufacturer discontinuing the product or you choosing to stop selling the product can also cause a listing to become inactive. Policy violations are another common reason that listings are inactive.
If your listing is inactive due to a change you’re aware of, it’s not a surprise that you’re not selling that particular product. However, policy violations can be a surprise, particularly if someone else made changes to your listing that caused a violation. Having a
process in place to regularly check for search-suppressed and inactive listings can save you a lot of time and money.
Staying in Stock
Amazon customers expect fast and free shipping. Failing to provide it can quickly lead to lost sales and a decline in your product’s organic search ranking on Amazon. It takes a lot of time and resources to build momentum for your product listing at launch, but it takes even more effort to rebuild that momentum for a product that goes out of stock.
Having a system in place that tells you what to restock and when can help prevent these issues. It’s also important to have backup systems in place if you rely on Amazon FBA to fulfill your orders. Delays in shipping and receiving can cause your product to go out of stock. Inventory management is a delicate balance and trends can change very quickly. Having a product go viral on social media is every seller’s dream, but if you don’t have the inventory available to fulfill those orders, your listing is going to suffer while traffic diverts to your top competitors. But you also don’t want to overstock and get stuck paying for aging or excess inventory! Working with a fulfillment solution such as Cahoot can help you manage your inventory for Amazon and other channels so you can deliver the best experience to your customers.
Look Out for Suspicious Activity
Hijackers take over existing Amazon listings, making changes to the listing or price and sometimes even selling a counterfeit version of a branded product. Being hijacked can cause you to lose the Buy Box, revenue, and your excellent seller reputation. After all, buyers who receive a sub-par version of your product or who experience shipping delays will leave product reviews and seller feedback reflecting their experiences.
Battling Amazon hijackers is tough, but regularly monitoring your listings for unauthorized changes can help you identify suspicious activity so you can start building a case with Amazon. Look for changes to your listing content, such as the title, images, and brand name. Changes to the number of offers available or Buy Box ownership may signal hijacking activity if you sell a private label product.
If you suspect hijacker activity on your listing, start by making a test purchase from the other seller so you can determine whether the product is counterfeit. Send a
cease-and-desist letter if your intellectual property or trademark is being used without permission. Report counterfeit products and
any trademark infringement or copyright violations to Amazon.
Aim for Five Stars
Both seller feedback and product reviews are ratings provided by customers via a five-star scale on Amazon. Doing your best to provide a five-star experience to every buyer will set you up for success with both ratings.
Maintaining a strong Amazon seller feedback rating helps protect your overall account health. Seller feedback is provided by buyers about their experience with you as a seller, including packaging and shipping. Ensuring that you have consistent and reliable fulfillment processes is crucial. Amazon looks at your seller feedback score to evaluate how well you meet buyer expectations.
Amazon reviews impact your product’s performance in Amazon’s search results. They also build buyer trust. Strong customer reviews positively impact your ad performance and marketing efforts. Having recent and relevant reviews shows Amazon that buyers like your product, leading to better positioning on the platform. After all, Amazon wants buyers to buy products that meet their expectations. Great reviews along with strong seller feedback show Amazon that you are prepared to deliver the customer experience it expects.
Protect Your Amazon Business
Growing and protecting your Amazon business requires careful attention, but there are tools to make it easier. Amazon doesn’t send alerts for search suppression and other changes to your listings, but
eComEngine does. Our Amazon seller software is designed to make selling on Amazon simpler, from monitoring your listings to getting more reviews.
Becky Trowbridge, eComEngine
Becky Trowbridge is the Digital Marketing Manager at eComEngine. Her mission is to empower Amazon sellers with the information they need to be successful in a competitive market. When she’s not creating content, she enjoys spending time outdoors, trying new recipes, and reading.
Offer 1-day and 2-day shipping at ground rates or less.
E-commerce Revolution with Strategic Packaging Solutions Like anyone in the e-commerce world, small business owners are always looking for ways to streamline their operations and
Hazardous Materials What is a Hazardous Material? What Items Are HAZMAT? Classes of HAZMAT Items What Classes Can Ship on Various USPS Services? What Changes
For many eCommerce brands and sellers, there are already lots to think about when shipping orders – you need to send inventory to warehouses, have shipping labels printed, and pick, pack and ship items correctly.
However, some sellers sell products that require extra diligence, care, and attention while shipping them. Shipping Hazardous Materials, or HAZMAT as they’re commonly called, can be complex. In June 2023, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced a number of changes to the guidelines sellers have to follow while shipping HAZMAT items. Following these guidelines is important for sellers to maintain compliance and mitigate regulatory risks, while also ensuring the safety of USPS staff who ship and deliver your packages.
A lot of sellers may not be aware of the extent and impact of these new changes. Failing to comply with the new requirements can cause significant damage to your brand. In this article, we’ve compiled everything you need to know about HAZMAT shipping.
We start by understanding the definition of a hazardous material and what items are classified as HAZMAT. We then take a deep-dive into how the Postal Service was handling HAZMAT previously and what has changed in the latest requirements. We examine why the USPS might be making these changes and the potential penalties you face for non-compliance. Lastly, we look at what your fulfillment partner must do to ship your orders in a compliant manner, keeping your brand, USPS personnel, and your customers safe.
What Items Are HAZMAT?
The Postal Service classifies every hazardous material into one of nine categories.
Classes of HAZMAT Items
Let’s first examine these categories, understanding their definitions, example items that fall into them, and the risks they can pose to people, the environment, or property.
You can use this as a template to do a preliminary analysis of whether your items are likely to fall into any of these HAZMAT categories.
Hazard Class
Definition
Example Items
Risks
1.1 – 1.6
Explosives with varying characteristics
Fireworks, dynamite, and ammunition (small arms)
Can vary from a massive explosion to low sensitivity explosions.
For more information on a specific hazard class or regulation, refer to Publication 52. For help with a specific SKU you’re trying to ship, refer to the Postal Service’s HAZMAT Shipping tool.
Items
Ground
Air
International
Explosives With Varying Characteristics (1.1 to 1.6)
Prohibited Class 1.4 (Minor Explosion Hazard) may be shipped, only with prior approval from USPS Headquarters as per 341.2c of Publication 52
Prohibited
Prohibited
Flammable Gasses (2.1)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 342 of Publication 52
Prohibited
Prohibited
Non-Flammable, Non-Toxic Gasses (2.2)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 342
Permitted if material qualifies as ID8000, per 342
Prohibited
Toxic Gasses (2.3)
Prohibited
Prohibited
Prohibited
Flammable Liquids (3)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 343
Prohibited Combustible liquids are permitted if material qualifies as ID8000 per 343
Prohibited
Flammable Solids (4.1)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 344
Prohibited
Prohibited
Spontaneously Combustible Solids (4.2)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 344
Prohibited
Prohibited
Dangerous When Wet (4.3)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 344
Prohibited
Prohibited
Oxidizing Substances (5.1)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 345
Only as Limited Quantity Air Material, per 345
Prohibited
Organic Peroxides (5.2)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface Material, per 345
Only as Limited Quantity Air Material, per 345
Prohibited
Toxic Substances (6.1)
Only as Limited Quantity Surface material per 346. Other poisons may ship as permitted in 346.231
Permitted if it qualifies as ID8000 material per 346. Other poisons may ship as permitted in 346.231
Prohibited
Infectious Substances (6.2)
Only as permitted in 346
Only as permitted in 346
Only First-Class Package International Service with Registered Mail service per 622
Radioactive materials (7)
Only per 347
Prohibited
Only First-Class Package International Service with Registered Mail service per 622
Corrosive Substances (8)
Only Limited Quantity Surface material per 348
Only Limited Quantity Air material per 348
Prohibited
Miscellaneous Hazardous Materials (9)
Only Limited Quantity Surface material and other materials as permitted in 349
ID8000 material and other materials as permitted in 349
Prohibited, except for magnetized materials per 349 and 622.4 and lithium batteries per 622.5
What Changes Has USPS Recently Made To HAZMAT?
Recently, the USPS has been making a number of changes to the way it handles and processes HAZMAT shipping.
These have important implications for sellers. In this section, we take a look at each of them:
Declaring HAZMAT During Label Generation
USPS now requires shippers to officially declare that packages contain HAZMAT when they purchase shipping labels.
The shipping label consequently clearly indicates this, making it easy for USPS staff to handle the shipment with the required care.
Items Allowed on Ground vs. Air
Recently, USPS has begun restricting electronic devices that are used, damaged, or defective to ground services alone.
These packages must now be labeled as ‘Restrictive Electronic Devices’ for ‘Surface Transportation Only’.
Separation of HAZMAT And Non-HAZMAT Items
The USPS has also begun requiring that HAZMAT and non-HAZMAT items must be clearly separated into different parcels or mail receptacles. The HAZMAT parcels need to have clear marking and identification.
Why Have These Changes Been Made?
Why is there suddenly an increased focus on these compliance requirements from the Postal Service? Many shippers have been used to operating without any changes to requirements for a long time and might be surprised about why these changes are taking place now.
In this section, we’ll take a look at why USPS is enforcing these new requirements, as well as the risks you face if you don’t comply with them.
Safety of USPS Personnel and Transportation
According to Shippo’s estimates, over 10,000 safety incidents involving HAZMAT shpping were reported in the first nine months of the 2020 fiscal year. That number has continued rising – in 2022, there were over 25,000 HAZMAT incidents reported.
Such incidents pose significant risks for USPS personnel, the environment, property and other people sharing the road or airspace during their transportation. In a bid to reduce this impact and improve overall safety outcomes, these new requirements are being enforced.
More Reliable On-Time Delivery
While these incidents are detrimental from a health and safety perspective, that isn’t their only negative. They disrupt operations and delay deliveries. In fact, Shippo estimates that packages are delayed by an average of 2 weeks after such incidents.
With USPS aiming to compete more aggressively in parcel delivery with the likes of UPS and FedEx, an increasing accident rate can lower their delivery SLAs and affect service levels for all shippers.
USPS’ latest regulations are aimed at streamlining their network operations and reducing downtime and disruptions.
Penalties For Non-Compliance
As the number of HAZMAT shipping related incidents is on the rise, failure to comply could affect your brand’s ability to conduct operations normally. With health, safety, and lives at stake – the penalties for noncompliance are heavy. Here are the possible penalties:
Your shipments could be denied entry into the USPS mailstream – affecting your ability to meet customer delivery promises.
For serious infractions, the US Department of Transportation can pursue civil penalties.
The maximum penalty for Hazardous Materials violation is $89,678. However, if the violation results in death, serious illness, severe injury to an individual or significant damage to property, you could be fined as much as $209,249.
Such incidents can be financially damaging, affect your brand’s reputation and in some cases even threaten its very existence.
What Should You and Your 3PL Do While Shipping HAZMAT?
Identify Your HAZMAT SKUs Using Product SDS
The first question you might have is – which of my SKUs are HAZMAT? The quickest way to identify this is using the Product Safety Data Sheet (SDS). What is a Safety Data Sheet?
A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is a document that provides detailed information about the properties, hazards, and safe handling procedures of a product. It includes essential details such as the product’s composition, physical and chemical characteristics, potential health and environmental hazards, safe usage guidelines, emergency response measures, and regulatory information.
You can use the SDS database to locate your product’s safety sheet.
On it, you’ll need to go to Section 14, which provides transportation information, including the category that DOT classifies the product under. Using this, you can understand which USPS services can be used to ship the item, as well as specific marking / labeling, and packaging requirements.
Properly Designate HAZMAT SKUs on Shipping Software
You need to designate your HAZMAT SKUs on your shipping software. This is important for a number of reasons:
This can be transmitted to USPS when purchasing labels, so that they know you are shipping HAZMAT.
It helps your fulfillment partner affix the right marking / labels when packing these items.
It helps your fulfillment partner package these items the right way.
Having your SKUs properly designated on a digital system of record is the best way to ensure defect-free, compliant fulfillment. Relying on spreadsheets or human-to-human conversation can lead to potentially costly lapses.
Adhere to Packaging Requirements
While shipping HAZMAT, you must make sure to follow packaging requirements to keep your items secure and spill or leak-proof.
Your fulfillment partner must have deep knowledge of what HAZMAT SKUs you are shipping, and then package them in accordance with the specific requirements laid out in Appendix C of Publication 52.
While the details can vary significantly based on the item, these are broad best-practice guidelines applicable across most items. Following these packaging practices requires industry-leading fulfillment standards from your 3PL. Warehouse staff must make sure to diligently pack each SKU in the best possible way on every order.
Inner Packaging
Employ inner packaging that is compatible with the specific hazardous material but also capable of withstanding the conditions of transportation.
Inner packaging must be leak-tight for liquids and gas-tight for gasses, preventing unintended release during transit.
Outer Packaging
Utilize robust outer packaging that serves as a primary barrier to protect the inner packaging and the contents from external forces and potential hazards.
Choose outer packaging materials that are suitable for the specific characteristics of the hazardous material being shipped.
Cushioning and Absorption
An effective cushioning system safeguards the inner packaging from movement and potential damage during transit, providing an additional layer of protection.
For liquids, incorporate absorbent materials within the packaging to contain and manage spills, preventing leakage that could pose safety and environmental risks.
Closure and Sealing
Ensure secure closure and sealing of packages to prevent any leakage or spillage during transportation.
Verify that closures meet regulatory standards and are appropriate for the specific hazardous material being shipped, maintaining the integrity of the package.
Overpack Requirements
If applicable, employ overpacking techniques as an additional layer of protection and consolidation for smaller packages.
Overpacks should not only consolidate packages but also be designed to contain leaks or spills, providing an extra measure of safety.
Compatibility
Package hazardous materials with a keen focus on preventing any reactions between different substances within the package.
Separation of incompatible materials within the packaging ensures that any potential chemical reactions are avoided, maintaining the safety and stability of the shipment.
Quantity Limits
Adhere strictly to quantity limits specified for each hazardous material to prevent overloading and ensure compliance with safety regulations.
Packaging must be designed to accommodate the specified quantity, preventing any compromise in the safety of the contents.
Adhere to Marking and Labeling Requirements
When shipping HAZMAT items, it is important to affix various marking labels onto the package that provide information to USPS staff about what the package contains.
This helps them handle the package the right way, and ensure higher safety standards. While these can vary significantly by product, here are a few common marking / labeling practices required for HAZMAT items. For your specific SKU, make sure to refer to Appendix C of Publication 52.
Your 3PL must be capable of mapping each SKU you have to its specific labeling requirements. This detail-oriented rigor must be backed up by defect-free, high-quality fulfillment standards that ensure each package has all the necessary labels on it.
Hazard Class Labels
Hazard class labels need to be affixed to the outer packaging, indicating the primary hazard class or division of the material.
Ensure hazard class labels are prominently displayed, providing USPS staff a quick visual identification of the potential risks associated with the shipment.
Handling Labels
Mark packages with handling labels, communicating specific instructions on how to safely handle them during transportation.
Clear and concise handling labels contribute to the safe and proper management of the package during transit.
Identification Numbers
Clearly display proper shipping names and identification numbers on the outer packaging.
This information assists in identifying the material and its associated hazards, aiding in emergency response and handling procedures.
Limited Quantity Marking
If applicable, mark packages with the “Limited Quantity” marking to indicate compliance with quantity limitations for certain hazardous materials.
This marking is crucial for packages that qualify for reduced regulatory requirements.
Overpack Marking
For overpacks, mark them appropriately to indicate that they contain hazardous materials.
Overpack markings help handlers and emergency responders quickly identify packages that include multiple smaller packages.
Orientation Arrows
On packages containing liquids, include orientation arrows to indicate the correct orientation for safe handling.
Proper orientation ensures that liquids are transported in a manner that minimizes the risk of leaks or spills.
Elevated Temperature Marking
If applicable, mark packages containing materials at elevated temperatures to communicate the additional risks associated with heat.
This marking ensures awareness of temperature-related hazards during transportation.
Declare HAZMAT During Label Generation
If you’ve designated your SKUs as HAZMAT in your shipping software, this step shouldn’t be too difficult!
When generating labels, your shipping software needs to inform USPS that you’re shipping HAZMAT. This allows the Postal Service to prepare to handle your items the right way.
Conclusion
With an increased focus on the safety of its personnel and the performance of its network, the USPS has rolled out these new HAZMAT changes.
Many, many items fall under HAZMAT, and a lot of them may not be immediately obvious as meeting the classification. With increased penalties and regulations, it is important for shippers to carefully scan their product catalog for HAZMAT SKUs and then ship them following all necessary protocols.
This takes deep attention to detail, high quality fulfillment standards, and solid technology at your fulfillment partner’s end. Shipping HAZMAT items can seem daunting – but with the right fulfillment partner, you’ll be able to ship them as seamlessly as your other SKUs. Good luck, and happy shipping!
Offer 1-day and 2-day shipping at ground rates or less.
E-commerce Revolution with Strategic Packaging Solutions Like anyone in the e-commerce world, small business owners are always looking for ways to streamline their operations
For many sellers in eCommerce, Amazon has long been the platform that they simply could not ignore. However, in recent times, another channel has emerged.
Fulfillment Revamps Cause “Out-of Stocks” for Walmart Shoppers
Walmart online shoppers are finding it more difficult to order certain items — heavier products like detergent and pet food and bulkier multi-item orders that are expensive to ship — The Wall Street Journal reports.
E-commerce fulfillment is the bane of any online retailer, which is why solving the last mile has emerged as e-commerce’s Holy Grail.
Shipping and fulfillment costs are bedeviling all players, including Amazon, which has arguably set consumer expectations for fast and free shipping. The e-commerce giant’s shipping costs rose 31% year over year in its most recent quarter, after rising more than 30% (and usually more than a third) in the last five quarters, according to its second quarter earnings report.
The company for half a century has staked its own success on fiercely efficient retail distribution, playing hardball with suppliers and honing its supply chain to maximize profits. But it’s a system based on legacy retail, where the customer supplies free labor to cover the last mile: taking items off shelves, bringing them to checkout, loading them into the vehicle and getting it all home.
Walmart has struggled to bring the same level of efficiency to its online sales, though it continues to experiment. Last month, the company revamped a pilot program, in which store employees deliver online orders. And, the company says it will have expanded its prominent in-store pickup towers to 700 stores by year’s end.
Offer 1-day and 2-day shipping at ground rates or less.
E-commerce Revolution with Strategic Packaging Solutions Like anyone in the e-commerce world, small business owners are always looking for ways to streamline their operations and
Hazardous Materials What is a Hazardous Material? What Items Are HAZMAT? Classes of HAZMAT Items What Classes Can Ship on Various USPS Services? What Changes
