(BPT) - By Manish Joneja, SVP, Walmart Marketplace and Walmart Fulfillment Services, Walmart U.S.
Transformation is part of who we are at Walmart.
You see, as customer preferences shift and change, so do we. We're not just keeping up, we're leading the way in meeting customers right where they are. It's about providing new avenues for customers to get what they need, whenever and wherever they need it.
We recently brought together a group of third-party sellers for our first-ever summit dedicated to Walmart Marketplace, our endless aisle where sellers of all sizes can offer customers the items they need and love.
Growing together
At the summit I shared my belief that the evolution of Walmart Marketplace is among the greatest opportunities in retail. Beyond the sizeable business opportunity, it's a chance to create the marketplace model of the future. We're building alongside sellers, listening to their needs to create a platform that's easy to use and the first choice for customers and sellers alike.
By design, our marketplace is a level playing field, providing customers access to what they want regardless of whether Walmart or a third-party seller owns the inventory. Put simply, we believe in growing together.
New opportunities
Walmart has a built-in base of hundreds of millions of loyal customers, our eCommerce business is thriving and we're just getting started with Marketplace. We're creating new opportunities to reach more customers through Walmart Business, a channel for B2B sellers; and Walmart Restored, a program to help sellers seize the emerging popularity of refurbished goods.
And we're giving access to reach more customers around the world. Adding to our existing markets of Canada, Mexico and the U.S., early next year we're opening up our marketplace in Chile to eligible cross-border sellers. If you're a small business, international seller or a major brand who wants to turbocharge growth, you should be on Walmart Marketplace.
Your products, our online presence
We're also making it easier than ever to ensure products can stand out.
We're continuing to roll out Brand Shops, dedicated digital storefronts that allow brands to create their own curated pages with ease, build Brand Shelves to feature curated assortments, or try a seasonal collection. Both can boost discoverability and enhance customer experience. The creativity is yours. The reach is Walmart's.
Earlier this year we reimagined Walmart.com to further enable item discovery through rich personal content, seasonal relevance and regional merchandising. We're bridging digital and physical retail to make Walmart the destination across categories.
For example, our new Virtual Garage online and in the Walmart app allows customers to store details about multiple vehicles. This connects with scheduling service appointments at our thousands of Auto Care Centers. As customers use these features, they can easily shop our full range of auto items.
Fulfilling the future
Fulfillment can often be one of the biggest challenges for any retailer. Our advanced supply chain is helping sellers reduce cost while providing customers convenience.
Walmart blazed a trail in pickup and delivery, perfecting the systems and technology needed to provide a great customer experience. Now we're bringing this expertise to sellers by standing up local pickup and delivery for sellers who have physical stores. Customers can pick up their items directly or have same-day delivery through our last-mile delivery network. This will lower sellers' fulfillment costs, create new ways to convert sales and delight customers along the way.
We're also providing more fulfillment options to make it more convenient for sellers who list big and bulky items such as canoes or trampolines by offering access to Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), our low-cost end-to-end fulfillment solution. Sellers can now use WFS to ship multi-box items like patio sets. These new services mean more items can carry the Fulfilled by Walmart tag that helps drive conversion. And we know sellers see on average 50% growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) when shifting items to WFS.
All this progress means something special for our customers, too: even more choice. That means they're all turning toward Walmart to find the items they love - items just like the ones Walmart sellers offer.
The summit was a big milestone for us and our seller community. Walmart Marketplace can take you to new places, whether that's a new market on the map, an emerging area like refurbished products or a spot on a shelf in one of our thousands of stores. If you want to become a Walmart seller, click here. If you're already on this journey, thank you. The only way to go is up.