Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) said its Marketplace business is benefiting from investments made over several years in assortment, pricing, delivery speed, fulfillment and product discovery, as the company reported Marketplace growth of more than 50% in each of its first two quarters.
Speaking at a Piper Sandler discussion, Manish Joneja, Walmart’s senior vice president and global head of Marketplace and Fulfillment Services, said the growth was not tied to a single operational change. Rather, he said it reflected the connection of multiple parts of Walmart’s commerce ecosystem.
Assortment expansion targets new customers
Marketplace remains weighted toward general merchandise, including fashion, home, hardlines, electronics and toys, according to Joneja. While it also includes some food products, such as shelf-stable international grocery, its larger role is to broaden the assortment available to Walmart shoppers beyond traditional store offerings.
Joneja said Walmart still sees assortment gaps and is pursuing brands, sellers and direct-to-consumer companies to address them. He cited K-beauty products and Nespresso as examples of new offerings that have helped attract customers. In the case of Nespresso, he said 40% of shoppers who bought the product from Walmart had not previously bought coffee from the retailer.
The expanded selection is also bringing in customers from higher-income households, he said. Walmart’s goal is to enable shoppers who arrive for grocery purchases to also find products such as pet food, beauty products or athletic footwear in the same ecosystem.
“We want to serve our customers what they want, need, and love,” Joneja said. He added that Marketplace customers are spending more frequently and across categories such as fashion, home and hardlines.
Stores become fulfillment nodes
Joneja emphasized Walmart’s store footprint as a differentiator in the marketplace business. He said Walmart’s 4,500 U.S. stores, alongside fulfillment centers and its broader supply-chain network, allow the company to position inventory closer to customers.
Walmart has begun using data on regional demand and customer demographics to forward-deploy selected third-party Marketplace inventory to store backrooms. The inventory is not currently being placed on store shelves, he said, but is intended to support pickup and delivery orders.
That approach can allow Marketplace products to be included with grocery purchases and delivered within as little as 30 minutes in some areas, Joneja said. He stated that 95% of the U.S. population is within a three-hour delivery range of Walmart stores, while 60% is within a sub-30-minute range.
Joneja said Walmart’s online pickup and delivery business grew 43% in the most recent quarter. He argued that traditional same-store sales comparisons do not fully capture how stores are evolving into fulfillment nodes that support e-commerce and Marketplace demand.
Fulfillment and advertising support seller economics
Walmart Fulfillment Services, or WFS, is a central part of the company’s Marketplace strategy. Joneja said items placed in WFS generate conversion rates more than 50% higher than items outside the service, while sellers can see costs that are 15% lower. He said 50% of Marketplace sales came through WFS.
Through WFS, sellers can have Walmart pick up inventory from ports in countries including China, Vietnam and India, position products based on demand patterns and fulfill orders not only for Walmart but also for other marketplaces and direct-to-consumer sites, including Shopify.
Joneja said combining WFS with advertising can significantly increase sales. In some instances, items using both WFS and advertising have generated five times gross merchandise value growth, he said.
Beyond traditional advertising, Walmart is connecting sellers with creators, influencers and affiliates based on product categories and campaign needs. Sellers can determine their own spending levels, while Walmart offers guidance on where marketing dollars may generate the best return, Joneja said.
International expansion uses U.S. marketplace playbook
Joneja said Walmart is extending its Marketplace approach to Canada, Mexico and Chile. The company has opened walmart.com to Canadian and Mexican customers seeking U.S. assortment from Marketplace sellers, he said.
Walmart is aiming to simplify international selling by allowing sellers to access multiple markets through one entry point rather than navigating separate processes for each country. The company can deploy inventory near borders and use fulfillment operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to support cross-border sales, Joneja said.
Looking ahead, Joneja said the company expects the distinction between first-party and third-party products to become less meaningful to customers. The intended experience is for shoppers to receive products ranging from grocery items to Marketplace merchandise in the same basket and on the same delivery timeline.
About Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT)
Walmart Inc is a multinational retail and technology company that operates supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets, e-commerce platforms and membership warehouse clubs. Its merchandise includes groceries, apparel, electronics, home goods, health and beauty products, general merchandise and other consumer products.
Founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated in 1969, Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company serves customers through operations in the United States and international markets, including Mexico, Canada, China, India and several countries in Central America and Africa.
