Selling on Walmart vs Amazon is not a question of which marketplace is better. It is a question of
which constraint binds you. Amazon has far more traffic and far more competition. Walmart has less of
both, plus an approval process that keeps some sellers out entirely.
The single most useful difference: Walmart Marketplace is gated. You apply. You can be declined. Amazon, by contrast, lets almost anyone begin selling within a day of deciding to, which is why the two platforms feel so different to a new seller even though the fee structures and the mechanics of listing a product are broadly similar once you are inside them. That asymmetry explains most of the rest, including
why Walmart listings frequently face fewer competing offers.
For nearly every seller reading this, the honest answer is Amazon first, Walmart second. In our experience the interesting question is when to add the second, not which to pick.
The comparison that matters
| Amazon | Walmart Marketplace | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Open to almost anyone, live in days | Application and approval, can be declined |
| Traffic | Substantially higher | Substantially lower |
| Competition per listing | Heavy, frequently many offers | Lighter, often few or no other offers |
| Monthly seller fee | Professional plan subscription | No monthly subscription |
| Referral fees | Category-based percentage | Category-based percentage, broadly comparable |
| Fulfillment | FBA, mature and deep | Walmart Fulfillment Services, newer and narrower |
| Advertising | Deep, mature, expensive | Less developed, less expensive, less competitive |
| Buy box equivalent | Buy Box, contested | Listing ownership, less contested |
| Brand tools | Brand Registry, A+ Content, Vine | Fewer, developing |
On market share figures, we are deliberately not quoting one. An earlier version of this page claimed
Amazon captured “nearly 50%” and “48%” of US online sales in two different places, which is both
internally inconsistent and higher than credible estimates support. Published estimates vary by
methodology and by what counts as ecommerce, and the direction is not in dispute: Amazon is much larger,
Walmart is much smaller and growing. That is all the number was ever doing for the decision.
The approval gate
The first practical hurdle, and I’d call it the one that ends the conversation for a meaningful share of sellers.
Walmart reviews applications and looks for signs of an established operation: business history, a
tax identity, a catalog with real products, evidence you can fulfill reliably. Approval is not guaranteed. Rejection is not always explained.
Two consequences worth planning for. You cannot test Walmart casually the way you can test Amazon, so
the decision to apply is a decision to commit some effort. And the gate is the reason competition is
lighter, so the barrier that annoys you also protects you once you are through.
I’d treat approval as the first question rather than the last. In our experience sellers build a whole
Walmart plan before discovering they do not qualify yet.
Traffic against competition
The real trade, and in our experience the one people get backwards most often.
Amazon gives you more shoppers and more rivals for each one. A crowded category can mean a dozen offers on one listing. Aggressive advertising costs. A Buy Box you may not hold. Our guide to
Amazon PPC campaign structure covers what competing
there actually involves.
Walmart gives you fewer shoppers and a better chance with each one. Fewer competing offers. Cheaper advertising. Less established incumbency in many categories, and in our experience that combination is worth more to a struggling seller than the traffic difference is worth to a winning one.
The arithmetic that decides it: a smaller audience you convert well can beat a larger one you barely
reach. If you are invisible on Amazon, Walmart may produce more revenue at lower cost even at a
fraction of the traffic. If you are already winning on Amazon, Walmart is incremental rather than
transformative.
Fees, honestly
Broadly comparable, and I’d not let anyone tell you fees are the deciding factor here.
No monthly subscription on Walmart versus Amazon’s Professional plan fee. Real. Small, relative to everything else.
Referral fees are category percentages on both, in a similar range. Check your specific category
rather than assuming, because the variation within each platform exceeds the variation between them.
Fulfillment is where the gap is. FBA is mature, deep, and integrated into a delivery promise buyers
recognize. Walmart Fulfillment Services is newer with narrower eligibility. If you fulfill yourself,
Walmart holds you to delivery standards you should read before applying, because they are stricter than
sellers expect.
I’d not choose between these platforms on fees. The decision sits in traffic, competition, and whether
you can meet Walmart’s fulfillment expectations.
What transfers and what does not
Useful if you are already on Amazon and considering adding Walmart.
Transfers well: your product, your photography, your understanding of what buyers ask, your supplier
relationships, and most of your listing copy with light editing.
Transfers partly: keyword research. Search behavior differs. The vocabulary mostly does not.
Does not transfer: your reviews, your rank, your advertising history, and your Buy Box position. You
start from zero on all four. That is the cost people underestimate, and it is why adding a marketplace
is a launch rather than a copy-paste.
Also does not transfer: your Amazon brand protections. Brand Registry, A+ Content, and Vine have no
direct equivalent, so the tools you rely on for control will be thinner.
Who each one suits
Amazon suits you if: you are starting out and want to test quickly, which I’d say describes most people asking this question, you need the audience size, your
category rewards advertising sophistication, or brand protection tooling matters to you.
Walmart suits you if: you have an established operation that can pass approval, you are struggling for
visibility on Amazon in a crowded category, your margins cannot support Amazon advertising costs, or you
want a second channel to reduce single-platform dependence.
Both suit you if: you have the operational capacity to run two channels properly. That last clause is
doing real work. Two badly run channels earn less than one well-run one, and in our experience the
seller who adds Walmart while their Amazon account has unresolved listing problems ends up worse on both.
What running both actually demands
The operational reality, because the strategic case for a second channel is easy and the execution is not.
Inventory splits. Stock committed to Walmart Fulfillment Services is not available for Amazon orders,
and vice versa. That means either holding more total inventory or accepting stockouts on one side. For a
seller already tight on cash, this is the constraint that decides it, and it is rarely mentioned in the
articles urging diversification.
Listings need separate maintenance. Two catalogs, two sets of content rules, two suppression systems to monitor, and in our experience the second one gets checked far less often than anybody intends. Copy transfers with editing; upkeep does not transfer at all.
Pricing has to be coordinated. Both platforms watch competing prices, and an inconsistency between
your own channels can suppress your offer on one of them. I’d decide a pricing policy across channels
before listing anything.
Support and returns double. Different windows, different expectations, different metrics measuring you, and I’d read Walmart’s before applying rather than after.
Somebody has to own it, and in my experience this is the single best predictor of whether a second channel survives its first year. In our experience this is where second channels quietly fail: nobody is
accountable for Walmart specifically, it gets attention in month one and none in month four, and the
account decays into a liability with active listings and no monitoring.
A rough test I’d apply: if you cannot name the person who will check Walmart weekly, do not open it
yet.
A sequence that works
Rather than launching everything at once.
- Get Amazon genuinely healthy first. No unresolved suppressions, listings converting, advertising structured. I’d treat this as a gate rather than a suggestion. A second channel amplifies whatever state you are in.
- Apply to Walmart early, because approval takes time and you lose nothing by having it pending.
- Launch a narrow selection, 5 to 10 of your best-converting products rather than the whole catalog.
Fewer listings, properly maintained, beat a full catalog nobody watches. - Fulfill the way you already know for the first quarter, rather than adding a new fulfillment system
at the same time as a new channel. - Judge it at 2 quarters, not 2 months. Reviews and rank build slowly from zero on any platform, and in my experience two months is exactly when a new channel looks like a mistake.
- Then decide whether to expand the selection or withdraw cleanly. I’d treat withdrawing as a legitimate outcome rather than a failure.
The dependence argument
The strongest reason to add a second marketplace, and it is rarely about revenue.
Single-platform dependence is a genuine business risk. A suspension, a policy change, a category
restriction, or a fee increase all land with no alternative. Our guide to
appealing an Amazon policy violation covers
what a suspension actually involves, and the answer is weeks of revenue at best.
A second channel is insurance rather than growth, and in my experience judging it as growth is why so many get abandoned. I’d frame the decision that way, because judging Walmart
purely on its first-year revenue against Amazon’s will always make it look not worth doing.
If you want the expansion decision assessed against your actual numbers rather than in general, that sits
inside our account management service.
We are an Amazon Ads partner and an Amazon SPN Verified Partner.
FAQ
Is it better to sell on Walmart or Amazon?
Neither is better in general. Amazon has far more traffic and far more competition; Walmart has less of
both plus an approval gate. If you are invisible on Amazon in a crowded category, Walmart can produce more
revenue at lower cost. If you are already winning on Amazon, Walmart is incremental.
Is Walmart Marketplace harder to join than Amazon?
Yes. Walmart reviews applications and can decline them, looking for business history, tax identity, a real
catalog, and evidence you can fulfill reliably. Amazon is open to almost anyone within days. That gate is
also why competition on Walmart listings is lighter.
Are Walmart fees lower than Amazon’s?
Broadly comparable. Walmart has no monthly subscription where Amazon charges for the Professional plan,
and referral fees are category percentages in a similar range on both. Category variation within each
platform exceeds the difference between them, so fees are a poor basis for the decision.
What does not transfer from Amazon to Walmart?
Reviews, organic rank, advertising history, and Buy Box position, all of which start from zero. Amazon’s
brand protections also have no direct equivalent, so Brand Registry, A+ Content, and Vine are not
available in the same form.
Should I sell on both Walmart and Amazon?
Only if you have the operational capacity to run both properly. Two badly run channels earn less than one
well-run one, and adding a marketplace while your existing account has unresolved listing problems
usually makes both worse.
What is the strongest reason to add Walmart?
Reducing single-platform dependence rather than revenue. A suspension, policy change, or fee increase on
Amazon lands with no alternative if it is your only channel, so a second marketplace serves as insurance.
Last updated: August 31, 2026. Fee structures, fulfillment eligibility, approval criteria, and brand
tooling change on both platforms. Seller Central and Walmart Seller Center carry the current terms. An
earlier version of this page quoted US market share figures that were internally inconsistent and higher
than credible estimates support; those have been removed.
