Amazon has been the eCommerce giant for the past 20 years, and any brands serious about an online presence have to at least consider an Amazon presence. The same is true for third-party online sellers. Whether you have your own brand or are selling products produced by someone else, Amazon is close to a requirement.
However, Amazon isn't the only choice these days. Since setting up in the eCommerce arena in 2016, Walmart.com has seen tremendous growth - both in number of customers and number of sellers.
If you have experience selling on Amazon and are thinking about dipping into Walmart, there is no better time than now to do it. Many potential sellers were deterred by hearing how immature Walmart's platform was and about the difficulties of breaking in a slightly different system.
How is Walmart Different?
The lack of third-party tools to support Walmart sellers has also been an issue. However, now that tools like Sellegr8 have been created, the same seller information that you've long relied on for Amazon selling is available for Walmart vendors.
If you are thinking about applying for a seller account on Walmart, be aware that there are some differences in the way the two platforms operate. It's tempting to think that you will be able to move all your high-performing Amazon listings straight over to Walmart and get similar - or better - results.
Of course, there is more to setting up your new Walmart listings than just copy and paste. Walmart's algorithm looks for different qualities in a listing, and the listing software requests different information.
Since many experienced sellers are familiar with Amazon's listings, let's take a look at how Walmart listings are different.
Walmart Listings Should Be Unique, Short, and Have No Special Characters
If you are used to creating keyword-stuffed, eye-catching Amazon listings, Walmart titles will come as a breath of fresh air. In the Walmart world, listing titles are required to be short, succinct, and unique.
Short means just that - Walmart rewards listings with titles between 50 and 75 words. By rewards, we mean, of course, that these listings have a much better chance of ranking at the top for the product category or keyword search. Not meeting these guidelines can result in punishment - not just lower rankings, but possibly suppression of your product altogether.
Since the title needs to be short, concise is a given. Walmart expects customers to actually read the title and use it to make an informed buying decision, so they are very picky when precise product information is shown. Make sure you are including the important keywords. But, since it needs to be readable, you will only be including the broader keywords.
Understanding Search Volume for Walmart Keywords
When creating your Walmart listings, understanding search volume is critical. Unlike Amazon, where you might focus on high-volume keywords regardless of relevance, Walmart's algorithm prioritizes relevance alongside volume. This means a highly relevant keyword with moderate search volume often outperforms a high-volume but less relevant term.
Sellegr8's Keywords Discovery tool provides invaluable data on search volume for Walmart-specific keywords, helping you identify:
- High-volume keywords that are directly relevant to your product
- Seasonal trends in search volume that can inform your listing optimization schedule
- Competitor keywords that are driving significant traffic
It's important that you do your Walmart keyword research before beginning a listing. You need to know which keywords buyers are searching for using a specific Walmart keywords tool.
Of course, you will want to track your keyword performance using a tool like Sellegr8, but since it's difficult to change a listing title once it has been approved, check out the keywords before you craft your listing.
Very important to make your listing title unique. Walmart does not want a title copied from Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, or any other searchable online shop. Pay attention to this requirement! Your listing will be punished for copying.
Here's one of the most difficult for new Walmart sellers to remember: No Punctuation! Really. No dashes, no exclamation points, no emojis - not even a period. The occasional comma might be tolerated, but nothing else. Also, avoid special symbols, like 1/2, TM, hearts, *, #. Anything that is not a standard keyboard letter is a no-no.
This requirement seems to be in conflict with the idea that your listing title needs to be readable, but those are the rules.
Walmart's Formula, and Don't Forget the UPC
Both Amazon and Walmart have a recommended listing title structure, but Walmart takes it much more seriously than Amazon. As we said above, Walmart will punish listings that stray too far outside their guidelines. Since Walmart is much less crowded than Amazon for sellers, you want to do everything possible to reach the top of this smaller pile of listings.
Here's a side note - when you sit down to list your products on Walmart - don't forget the UPC. Not a problem if your item has been purchased wholesale and already has one of these Universal Product Codes, but if your item is a multi-pack (which is a great idea to list!) Or a private label item, you will need to apply for UPC codes unique to that item.
As a general rule, you need a unique UPC for each product variant - color, size, pattern, and pack quantity requires a different UPC. Be careful buying these from less official sources. You may find that the UPC you purchased has already been assigned and is useless to you.
The Walmart listing formula is this:
Brand + Clothing Size Group (if applicable) + Defining Quality + Item Name + Style (if applicable) + Pack Count
If color is something customers are likely to search for, include it in your listing title. However, if your listing contains color variants, don't include a specific color in your title.
While Amazon listings give more room to capture lots of keyword variation, Walmart's titles are much more user-friendly for consumers.
Prices are Important
Amazon sellers are, of course, focused on price. The race to capture the Buy Box for any individual product is fierce, and price plays a huge part in that.
With Walmart, though, low prices are a governing principle. If your price is considered by Walmart to be 'uncompetitive', your product will be delisted. Even if you adjust your price quickly, your product may be out of commission for 24-48 hours.
To avoid getting into Walmart's pricing jail, make sure you price competitively and you pay attention to when prices get cut on other stores. Walmart checks your prices (including shipping) against other products on its own site as well as other websites. If that product can be bought cheaper on Amazon, Walmart would rather not list it at all.
Walmart also gives sellers access to several different promotional banners/badges when you reduce your price by at least 5% or put items on clearance.
Use The Latest Item Spec
Walmart guides you very specifically as to what information your listing should contain. If you are listing a single product, the manual set-up tool will guide you through each requirement. Unless you are very familiar with online product creation, you may need to dig into Walmart's Knowledge Base to figure out what each attribute category is asking for.
Make sure you list your product in the right category! Incorrect category mapping is another of the main reasons products get delisted on Walmart. It may seem easiest to just skip all the category jargon and just list your item as 'Other', but don't. Your product probably won't have the right attributes to make it discoverable. Customers just won't be shown your product.
One option Walmart took away with the introduction of Item Spec 4.0 is the time-honored practice of Walmart backend keywords. These invisible but searchable lists of every possible keyword variant were convenient, but not as necessary as you might think. Use a good Walmart keywords tool to find the highest ranking long tail keywords for your products and your items will be highly discoverable.Advanced Walmart Keyword Research and Discovery
To make sure you are using SEO-friendly keywords everywhere in your listings, you need access to a good Walmart keywords tool. Sellegr8's Keyword Discovery feature provides unique advantages for sellers:
Competitor Keyword Analysis
Unlike Amazon, where tools often focus on general search volume, Sellegr8 allows you to:
- Research keywords driving traffic to your competitors' listings
- Identify untapped keyword opportunities with significant search volume
- Discover seasonal keyword trends specific to Walmart's marketplace
Cross-Platform Search Insights
It's important to remember that a huge percentage of Walmart's customers come from web search tools such as Google, rather than just an internal search on Walmart. Keep that in mind when researching keywords. Sellegr8's platform accounts for this by providing:
- Insights into how customers find products via external search engines
- Data on keywords that drive traffic from Google to Walmart listings
- Comparative analysis between internal Walmart searches and external search traffic
Once you've done your research, you are likely to have a list of long tail and short tail keywords. If you start with a really good list, you can use both types of keywords strategically throughout your listing.
Short tail keywords are important to allow both shoppers and search engines to find your product category. Since these are very broad search terms, you are unlikely to rank high.
So once you've found your short tails, spend more time focusing on the long tail keywords. These are much easier to rank for, since they are more specific. Customers searching for these items know much more exactly what they want.
Use variations of long tail keywords in your listings, while also keeping them highly readable. Make sure each sentence or bullet point of your listing has one long tail keyword. If your headline contains 'Short sleeve sweater', make sure the next line changes it up to 'Sweater with short sleeves' or 'Sweaters for summer'.
Monitoring Your Keyword Rankings: The Key to Continuous Optimization
Once you've created your listing with carefully researched keywords, the work isn't over. The most successful Walmart sellers continuously monitor their keyword performance and make strategic adjustments based on real data.
Real-Time Rank Tracking
Sellegr8's Keyword Rank Tracking tool provides several critical advantages:
- Real-time tracking of your keywords' positions in Walmart search results
- Comparative analysis against competitors for the same keywords
- Distinction between organic and sponsored keyword rankings
- Historical data to identify trends and seasonality effects
This level of insight allows you to:
- Quickly identify when rankings drop and take immediate action
- Recognize which keywords are delivering the best ROI for sponsored ads
- Discover new ranking opportunities as they emerge
- Understand how algorithm updates affect your visibility
Integrating Rank Tracking with Advertising Campaigns
One of the most powerful features of Sellegr8's platform is the ability to connect keyword ranking data directly with your advertising strategy. This integration allows you to:
- Allocate advertising budget more effectively to keywords with the best conversion potential
- Identify keywords where you're already ranking well organically, reducing ad spend on these terms
- Target keywords where competitors are outranking you with strategic ad placements
- Track the impact of sponsored campaigns on organic rankings over time
By leveraging these insights, you can develop a comprehensive strategy that balances organic optimization with targeted advertising, maximizing your visibility while controlling costs.
Pro-Tips for Walmart Success
The most important information to take away from this article are:
- Walmart's listing must be unique - not copied from Amazon or other eCommerce platforms
- The listing title needs to be free from punctuation, emojis, or special characters
- Walmart requires a unique UPC for each listing
- Walmart will suppress listings that don't meet its low price guidelines
- Avoid keyword stuffing and make sure your long tail keywords flow in a readable listing
- Use a robust keyword research tool like Sellegr8 to identify high-volume, relevant keywords
- Track your keyword rankings consistently to maintain and improve your listing visibility
- Integrate your keyword strategy with your advertising campaigns for maximum impact
Making Data-Driven Decisions with Sellegr8
What truly sets successful Walmart sellers apart is their ability to make decisions based on data rather than gut feeling. Sellegr8's suite of tools provides the comprehensive data infrastructure you need:
- Keywords Discovery - Find exactly what customers are searching for
- Rank Tracking - Monitor your position in search results
- Listing Monitoring - Get alerts when critical changes occur
- Performance Analytics - Measure what's working and what isn't
- Advertising Optimization - Maximize your ROI on ad spend
By leveraging these powerful tools together, you can create a data-driven strategy that continuously improves your Walmart marketplace performance.
Walmart is not Amazon - the platform has a different set of priorities and started from a different customer base. That isn't to say experienced sellers will have trouble with Walmart listings. Just the opposite! By following Walmart's listing guidelines, doing thorough Walmart keyword research, and using a powerful Walmart keywords tool like Sellegr8.com, you will be dominating your niche in record time.