What you should know before making a delivery to a Walmart distribution center
Whether you’re a large or medium-sized logistics shipper, partnering with a huge e-commerce retailer like Walmart is one of the best things you can do to expand your business.
After you’ve done the hard work of getting your goods into Walmart’s supply chain, you’ll need to transport them to a Walmart warehouse. Walmart warehouses (also known as Walmart Distribution Centers) can be found all across the United States. Goods of all kinds — general merchandise, dry groceries, perishable groceries, and other specialist categories — are delivered from the distribution centers to Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs within a 150-mile radius of each distribution center.
Knowledge is power when it comes to building a productive partnership with Walmart. To be successful as a shipper with the retail behemoth, you must first understand what — and who — you are working with. All of the information you need to deliver effectively at Walmart fulfillment centers is provided below.
Walmart warehouses: fast facts
These facts come straight from the Walmart website:
- In the 1960s, Walmart’s distribution network began in a rented garage.
- Walmart Warehouses can be found all across the country, from Hermiston, Oregon to Hope Mills, North Carolina, to Fort Worth, Texas… and everywhere in between.
- Walmart’s warehousing operation is one of the world’s largest.
- The operation provides services to stores, clubs, and clients directly.
- Walmart transportation employs 6,100 tractors, 61,000 trailers, and about 7,800 drivers.
- Each Walmart warehouse is about 1 million square feet in size and employs over 600 Walmart warehouse employees.
- A regional distribution center may feature up to 12 miles of conveyor belts capable of transporting hundreds of thousands of cases every day.
Fun fact: Each Walmart supermarket delivery center can hold up to 4 million bananas at once.
Do you want to deliver to a Walmart warehouse? Here are the essentials:
Walmart distribution hubs are well-known for being among the most efficient delivery locations in the country. These facilities, which are highly automated and open 24 hours a day, handle hundreds of trucks every hour. Because of the large number of products coming in, Walmart’s compliance procedures are among the most stringent of any store.
Walmart warehouses reinforced their already strict criteria in 2020. These standards are part of Walmart’s OTIF (On-time, in-full) strategy. Walmart does not budge on its compliance criteria when it comes to the unloading procedure.
“Suppliers must fulfill orders exactly how Walmart desires, meet the company’s “must arrive by” date at the chosen warehouse, and do so at least 98% of the time or face a fee equal to 3% of the cost of items sold,” according to FreightWaves. The directive applies to purchase orders for both in-store and online purchases.”
To avoid high costs or being kicked from Walmart’s shelves, you must follow the guidelines as much as possible. Select your carriers, appointment times, and unloading technique with care. The following are some tactical suggestions for maintaining a great connection with Walmart, particularly when shipping to their warehouses.
Be punctual.
The significance of being on time goes without saying in logistics, but being on time for your delivery appointment is an absolute need at Walmart warehouses.
If a Walmart product carrier is late for an appointment, the driver will, without exception, wait until the next open delivery appointment. This means that a product could be sitting on a truck at the Walmart warehouse for several days or weeks. Furthermore, if you miss the authorized appointment window (typically 1-5 days), you will be fined up to several thousand dollars by Walmart.
On the other hand, if you’re short on time, Walmart warehouses are easy to work with and efficient, and you’ll be in and out in an hour. Arriving early or on time at the Walmart warehouse will secure a long-term profitable relationship with Walmart.
Discover Walmart warehouse technologies.
Walmart desires the success of its suppliers. Walmart shoppers are satisfied when they know they can rely on their transporters. Walmart competes with Amazon, so maintaining innovative and shipper-first policies is critical to retaining suppliers.
Walmart Inc. empowers shipping partners by giving them access to RetailLink, a central technological hub that oversees the connection with Walmart. Wal-RetailLink Mart is an internet-based solution that allows suppliers to access point-of-sale data and other critical information.
- RetailLink, Walmart’s proprietary system, handles all scheduling for drop-off appointments at Walmart warehouses.
- When you are approved to operate with Walmart as a supplier, you will be granted a RetailLink account and login information.
- Each person in your company must have their own RetailLink account and password.
- Walmart’s RetailLink service provides easy-to-access data that can benefit you and your business. You may create custom report queries to discover trends, locate FAQs, and create dashboards to conveniently comprehend your drop-off data.
Adapt to — and enjoy — the benefits of the Walmart way of doing things.
There are several pros of maintaining a great relationship with Walmart; aside from the obvious reasons like getting your product in front of millions of potential buyers both on Walmart.com and in person at Walmart stores, Walmart is one of the most efficient drop-off locations in the country.
Other benefits of partnering with Walmart include:
- Unlike other logistics drop-off points, Walmart warehouses do not impose lumper fees to unload your merchandise if you arrive on time.
- Walmart warehouse associates, loaders, unloaders, and package handlers are trained to be fast and efficient when unloading.
- Walmart is constantly innovating to improve its supply chain. To stay up with industry advancements, Walmart argues that augmented reality, virtual reality, micro-warehouses, hyperlocal distribution hubs, and drones are all part of the plan.
- Every week, about 220 million customers and members visit a Walmart Inc. organization.
Working with Walmart is a no-brainer when you consider the perks. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, as the saying goes. So embrace the Walmart approach, obey the compliance regulations, and be on time to see your business flourish.
If you’re interested in learning more about shipping with Get Loaded and Rolling, now is the best time to get started. Sign up with Get Loaded and Rolling today.
