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The specifics of what the Walmart broker does vary widely. Suppliers hire brokers to do anything from getting their product on the Walmart shelf to improving Walmart sales to reducing environmental waste. Some suppliers hire a broker to do just one or two specific tasks. Others want full service from their brokers.

A broker can perform any or all of these functions:

• Analyze and manage sales data
• Provide category insights
• Take a supplier’s product from concept to the Walmart shelf
• Offer negotiation guidance
• Manage communication between the supplier and Walmart staff (buyers, merchandisers, etc.)
• Provide item setup and maintenance
• Run weekly reports
• Select/advise on packaging decisions
• Train staff
• Develop and execute advertising campaigns for Walmart Connect
• Oversee shelf placement of product
• Improve a supplier’s supply chain: streamline operations, optimize logistics, drive efficiency
• Set up/ attend/ present at line reviews
• Plan promotions and analyze their results
• Follow/report trends within a supplier’s category

Naturally, the more brokers do, the more money they get from the supplier.

What Are the Benefits of Working With a Walmart Broker?

Retail is complex. Hiring a broker can provide advantages in a variety of areas.

• A broker’s specialized knowledge can help a client navigate intricate processes and make better decisions.
• Experience makes brokers aware of options that new suppliers couldn’t know, allowing them to get better deals for the supplier.
• Brokers save clients time and reduce their stress so they can focus on their products.
• For entrepreneurs unfamiliar with retail or with Walmart, a broker can mean the difference between rejection and acceptance. A good broker who is familiar with Walmart’s expectations, requirements, and forms will speed up the process and eliminate errors.
• For a supplier team that is short-staffed or has limited funds, a broker may be able to fill in important gaps at a cost lower than hiring a full-time employee.
• When time is critical and in short supply, a broker can often get results more quickly.
• In complex situations, a broker can apply years of experience to keep things going swiftly, accurately, and efficiently.
• When things are in a state of flux at Walmart, a broker can dedicate time and resources to staying abreast of all the changes, allowing the client to concentrate on other aspects of the business

What Are the Disadvantages of Working With a Walmart Broker?

While hiring a broker can offer many benefits, there are also significant disadvantages:

• Cost. Brokers typically charge fees or commissions. Those expenses usually are substantial and can eat into profits dramatically.
• Bad advice. Some brokers have very limited experience, some have poor judgment, and some disregard deadlines. Not all brokers are what they say they are.
• No learning. By relying on a broker, a supplier becomes less involved in decision-making, which ultimately prevents them from learning how to manage their Walmart business effectively.
• The brand’s story is lost. When brokers represent multiple products, the uniqueness of each can be lost to the Walmart buyer. Nothing conveys the excitement and value of a product as well as the company founder or owner.
• Isolation If you are not in the meetings at Walmart, you never get to know your buyer. You yourself have no relationship with that person or other decision-makers at Walmart.
• Conflicts of interest. A broker may serve two competing suppliers. They may be more interested in what they earn than in a supplier’s product, sales, or growth at Walmart. A broker may have too many clients to serve each well or may cater to a bigger client while giving an upstart less time and attention.
• Hard to stop. Without a plan to step away from a broker, a supplier may be in a never-ending cycle with costs that will escalate in time. Helping you build an exit plan from them so you can stand on your own is something brokers do not want to do.

How Should a Supplier Select a Broker?

If you decide to hire a broker to help you manage and grow your Walmart business, you will want to work with someone who is honest as well as experienced. But how can you tell someone is a good fit for you?

Here are a few questions to start a conversation with a broker you’re thinking of hiring:

• Do they value my business, my product, and my knowledge? How do I know?
• How do they structure their fees or commissions? Transparency around their pricing model is essential to ensure there are no hidden costs.
• What is their experience with Walmart? How long have they been learning about Walmart? How long have they been advising about Walmart? Were they ever Walmart suppliers themselves?
• Which suppliers are they currently working with and in which categories? How long have they been with each? Who can I speak with about the work with these other suppliers?
• Does their area of expertise match the sort of help you need? Being an expert in item management is wonderful — unless you really need an inventory expert!
• How big is their team? Who else works with them? For how long? What are their qualifications?
• Who specifically will my team work with? How often will we connect?
• What services does this broker provide? You, the supplier, must understand the scope of services they offer, whether it’s just connecting you with clients or managing logistics, negotiations, etc.
• What kind of market insights can they provide? Do they provide ongoing analysis or advice on trends that could affect your business?
• How do they handle potential conflicts of interest? It’s important to know how they balance representing multiple clients and avoid favoritism or conflicts.

What Are the Options Besides Hiring a Broker?

If you know you need some help but hiring a broker doesn’t seem right for you, you still have three options to consider.

1. Become a Student Yourself

• • Learn more. Take classes, dig deep, ask questions, go to coffee with suppliers who are experienced with Walmart and in the know.
  • Spend time in the Walmart Academy. There is a wealth of information there. It may take time to find what you need to know but explore it fully.
  • Take notes when you talk with your buyer. Ask questions when you don’t understand. Find out WHY and HOW things are done.
  • Spend time in Walmart stores. Walk the aisles. Talk with staff. Study what your competitors are doing, how they have packaged their products, the colors they are using, where they are on the shelf.
  • Visit Walmart.com and search for a variety of products. Note in detail what is happening as you scroll through the product description. Read details, look at product photos, read reviews. Place orders and be aware of each of the steps to completion.

• Attend conferences and meetings that will help you learn. Talk with other conference attendees.

(8th & Walton has a slate of courses that will help you learn if you decide to take this route.)

2. Hire a Person to Fulfill a Broker’s Role

Adding a person to your staff is costly both in money and in time, but often it is the right solution in the long run. How do you know if you should replace your broker by hiring someone for your team?

• If you are unhappy with your results, have fines or deductions that are the result of errors, have missed deadlines, or simply don’t trust your broker.
• If your broker is costing more than he/she is worth. This happens when a product is doing great due to nothing the broker has done, but the broker gets escalating payment because of the commission structure. (Suppliers often are displeased with brokers because of this.)
• If you now have the resources (time and talent) to onboard someone properly and without losing ground with Walmart.
• If someone on your existing team has expressed interest in or shown aptitude for the role.

3. Turn to 8th & Walton

We at 8th & Walton provide many of the services of a broker with two significant distinctions.

First, we believe YOU need to be the face of your brand, and, for that reason, it is you who meets with Walmart. Our team will coach you before any meeting or line review so that you make the best presentation and the best impression possible. But after all, you are the brand and you will always be the brand. That’s why it is important that you develop the relationship with Walmart, not us.

Second, suppliers know exactly what our service will cost. It is not based on a sliding scale or a commission. We make our rates public, so if you work with us, you will know in advance what your cost will be each month.

Our team of experts truly helps suppliers. They built PathFinders and the services it offers around what suppliers need and what they can afford. It helps them grow. Helps them reduce costs. Helps them eliminate fines. Helps them learn. Helps them improve their relationship with Walmart. This team has expertise in a full range of skills and has been accumulating Walmart knowledge and wisdom for decades.

One last thought — Some Walmart suppliers have hired a person to interface with Walmart and had 8th & Walton get that person up to speed. It has worked well, and costs have been predictable and contained throughout the process.

Contact us today to learn more about how 8th & Walton can help you build your business with Walmart.

Get your free consultation today and take your Walmart strategy to the next level!

The Bottom Line on Walmart Brokers

Deciding to hire a broker or deciding not to hire a broker. Both are daunting decisions because there is so much to consider and so much at stake.

Your finances if you do or if you don’t. Your needs today, your needs tomorrow. How to manage the time needed to learn the Walmart business or the time it will take to interview and hire.

These are decisions that deserve your full consideration because being a Walmart supplier is an incredible opportunity.

Next steps:

• Determine both your short-term and long-term needs.
• Decide what kind of cost you can bear.
• Prepare to learn or prepare to interview (a broker, a candidate to hire, 8th & Walton’s team).
• Decide.

If having a predictable cost is important to you and working with a team of experts located in Northwest Arkansas feels right, please contact 8th & Walton. We will be happy to hear what you need and describe our services to determine if working together would be a good fit.

The post What Is a Walmart Broker? Pros/Cons of Hiring One appeared first on 8th & Walton.

The news is out: Walmart has launched Supplier One, and it is available for all suppliers to use now. It can be accessed through the Supplier One app in Retail Link® or through the website. 

An online portal that consolidates some functions found in Retail Link®, Walmart Supplier One is billed by Walmart as offering suppliers a “unified” experience. It is being designed as a spoke and hub model: Think of it as a one-stop shop for managing daily supplier tasks.

What Is Supplier One?

Supplier One is a portal that consolidates Retail Link® apps, such as Item 360 and PO management. It is available to all continental U.S. suppliers. 

What Is the Purpose of Supplier One?

The purpose of Supplier One at Walmart is to improve and streamline supplier processes. A video introduction from Walmart notes that Supplier One will allow users to access critical data, information, and apps without opening multiple windows on their computers. 

Supplier One website indicates that the platform will provide the following:

Unified Experience

Walmart Suppliers can manage many of their processes through Supplier One, whether they are selling online, in-store, or a mix of both. 

State-Of-The-Art Support

Users can access real-time support and a single location for all support tickets. You can review your support tickets, download transcripts, and quickly get the help you need.

Insight-Driven Recommendations

When you enter the Supplier One dashboard, you’ll find a summary of your top tasks, making it easy to set priorities and ensure compliance with Walmart’s requirements. 

API and App Integrations

Supplier One quickly, smoothly, and effectively connects to and integrates with apps and other portals. Nobody on your end will need to add code, and you’ll get your team up and running quickly.

Key Features of Supplier One

Its key features fall into the categories listed below.

Order Management

This section mimics some of what NOVA does in Retail Link®. Track your orders by status, including New POs, Closed Orders, and Past Due. This section also tracks fill rates and shortages.

Items and Inventory

The Items and Inventory feature complements Retail Link’s® Item 360 and its current functions: Catalog, Setup, Maintenance, and Submissions Manager, with an enhanced interface. 

• Catalog: The catalog functionality provides a listing of your products with details such as Universal Product Codes (UPC), Global Trade Item Numbers (GTIN), and Walmart Item Numbers (WIN).
• Setup Hub: A hub for adding items, shippers, item proposals, and multi-box shipping. 
• Maintenance: This is another hub for maintaining your current items. You can manage DSV inventory, item media and content, and supply chain details.
• Submissions Manager: A single interface for all item creation and maintenance submissions.

Payments

You can use the Payments section to track your payments and deductions with your data in sortable columns. These columns include Distribution Center IDs, Amount Paid to Vendor, PO#, and others. 

Reports

Use this section to run accounting reports such as Unpaid Detail, Paid Detail, and 90-Day Paid Detail. 

Performance

The Performance Scorecard shows a list of key metrics for your business. It is an OTIF Scorecard with content health scores, and it gives information (for both e-commerce and in-store) such as In full, On time, and content quality. The metrics also include the current score and target score. 

The  Returns Trends section provides an overview of return-related metrics, categorized by gross merchandise value, units, and return reasons. This information can help you and your team understand why customers return your products and the financial impact of returns on your business. 

• GMV: The GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) category calculates return dollars and your GMV return rate compared with the previous period.
• Units: Units metrics provide the same details and comparisons as the GMV category, but these are broken down into Return Units and Units Return Rate. 
• Return Reasons: A ring graph depicts the reasons for returns, including the consumer changing his or her mind, damaged merchandise, and items that don’t work properly. 
• Top Returned Items: This section shows you, at a glance, which items are most often returned. You can further segment these items by factors such as item number, return dollars, and return rate.

Demands and Forecasts

Run your store demand forecast directly from this section.

Apps and Integration

Integrate with external 3p Apps and connect your system directly into the Walmart system using APIs.

Growth Opportunity

Evolve your business with growth programs such as Luminate reporting, Walmart Connect (advertising), and Review Accelerator (to increase the number of reviews).

Tips and Strategies to Navigate Supplier One

Working with a new platform can be challenging, and it is expected that Supplier One will continue to undergo refinements over the coming weeks and months. Here are some tips for working effectively within the system:

1. Set aside some time to familiarize yourself with the platform and learn how you can best make use of it. One example is how many of Supplier One’s features offer multiple options for viewing or retrieving data. Experiment to see which meets your supplier’s business needs best. 
2. The Summary and Tasks feature on your dashboard alerts you to prioritized tasks. Take advantage of this “to-do” list and monitor your productivity. You might find that Supplier One becomes your first stop each workday!
3. As you work in Supplier One, consider ways that its enhancements can help you and your team change or refine your processes.

The Future of Supplier One

Walmart is investing heavily in technology, and there will be continued development of Supplier One and its features.

With ongoing user feedback, the platform might continue to develop its features and functionality, helping suppliers access critical data and optimize their business practices. 

In the meantime, this is a good opportunity to review your current processes and practices to ensure a smooth transition to the system. You may also want to check and see if any third-party apps and platforms you use are integrated into the Supplier One system.

Stay Ahead of the Curve:

Learn more about our upcoming Supplier One class HERE

Schedule a FREE 15-Minute Walmart Consultation

Questions? Concerns? Feeling a little overwhelmed? 8th & Walton is here to help. Our experts can answer your questions, address your concerns, and provide the training and guidance you and your team need as you continue to build your relationship with Walmart and Sam’s Club. 

Schedule your free consultation today!

The post Make Walmart’s Supplier One Work for You appeared first on 8th & Walton.

Register for our Luminate Fundamentals class now by clicking here.

Why This Matters

Understanding what these labels mean is essential for accurately interpreting the time period your report covers. Misinterpreting them can lead to incorrect analysis and decisions.

Tips for Accurate Analysis

• Verify Your Time Period
  Before you start analyzing your report, double-check the time period you’ve selected. This ensures that the “This Year” and “Last Year” columns reflect the data you need. To do this, click on the Excel worksheet tab located at the bottom of your Excel file labeled “metadata”. It is usually the second tab in your downloaded file. In this worksheet, look for the column labeled “Filters” to confirm the time period used for your report.
• Communicate with Report Recipients
  If you’re forwarding your report to others, make sure to inform them of the time period the report reflects, especially when using the “This Year” and “Last Year” columns.

Conclusion

Navigating the “This Year” and “Last Year” columns in Luminate’s Report Builder might seem complex initially due to its dynamic nature. However, once you understand that these labels are relative to the time period you select when building the report, you can interpret your data more accurately and make meaningful comparisons. By following these tips, you can ensure your reports will provide clear and actionable insights — and that enables better decisions.

8th & Walton also has set up Luminate Hub to help Walmart suppliers. To learn more about the Luminate Fundamentals class or other services, please complete the contact form below for more information.

The post Understanding Luminate™: What This Year/Last Year Columns Mean appeared first on 8th & Walton.

What Is a Walmart Week?

A Walmart week begins on Saturday at 12:01 a.m. and ends on Friday at midnight. Walmart weeks are the building blocks to Walmart’s fiscal year calendar.

Walmart starts its fiscal year on February 1. But the first week on Walmart’s calendar does not begin on February 1— unless February 1 happens to be a Saturday. Because Walmart weeks start on Saturday, the Walmart fiscal year calendar will always begin on the Saturday of the week that contains February 1.

What Is the Walmart Fiscal Year Calendar?

Understanding the Walmart weeks will help you understand the Walmart supplier calendar. The Walmart year begins in February, so Q1 for Walmart is February, March, and April.

Not any old February, March, and April, though. Walmart uses a 4-5-4 calendar, which means that February has four weeks, March has five, and April has four. This 4-5-4 pattern is repeated for each quarter of the year.

These little quirks mean that the Walmart calendar will rarely match the calendar on your wall at home, but it also means that each quarter contains three months and 13 weeks: a 4 week month, a 5 week month, and another 4 week month. This allows for a more accurate report of sales.

The four 13-week quarters make up 52 Walmart weeks, and that’s a year — a Walmart year. However, 52 7-day weeks come to just 364 days.

How Does Walmart Get 53 Weeks in a Year?

The earth’s year, the time it takes the earth to travel around the sun is about 365.242199 days (at the moment). We’ve never come up with a perfect way to divide the year, so calendars usually start off just fine, and then pretty soon they’re celebrating the Winter Solstice in July. The standard solution for that is Leap Year — we tack an extra day onto February every four years.

Walmart does the same, adding an extra week every seven years so that there is a 53-week year to catch everyone up and avoid having the Walmart December in spring.

This can be a lot to keep straight. Fortunately, you don’t have to memorize the Walmart year — though most suppliers do get used to it after a while.

What Is a Fiscal Year Anyway?

Businesses establish their reporting based on a fiscal year. A fiscal year is the 12-month period selected by the business to be its annual accounting period. Specifically, it is the time a business completes a full accounting cycle from journal entries to year-end financial statements.

The “period selected by the business” is important. As long as the period of time is a consecutive 12 months, it doesn’t have to begin on January 1. The business can begin its fiscal year well past the beginning of the calendar year.

Why Start a Fiscal Year After Jan. 1?

Many businesses begin their fiscal year in February. The biggest reason for this move is the busy holiday shopping season for retailers. With the increased transactions during December and January, it would be complicated for a retailer to prepare its year-end financial statements and file its corporate income tax returns at this time.

Those January transactions are an important factor as they account for a spike in returned merchandise. No retailer wants holiday merchandise purchased in one fiscal year to be returned in the next fiscal year. It would be a devastating (and skewed) beginning to the following year’s numbers. With the fiscal year starting later, the numbers reflect more accurately.

Download Your Free Walmart Fiscal Calendar

Knowledge at your fingertips — an annual calendar of Walmart weeks and Walmart quarters for US suppliers, a calendar of Walmart weeks and Canadian holidays for suppliers selling in Walmart Canada, a Planning Calendar, and Past Years Calendar. It’s all free! Just download and store to use immediately whenever needed.

US FYE 2026 Calendar – Download Now

Canada FYE 2026 Calendar – Download Now 

3-year planner (FYE 2025, 2026, 2027) – Download Now 

Need More Help? If you have questions about using these calendars or need assistance with your Walmart sales reporting, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our Walmart experts at 8th & Walton are offering free consultations to help you navigate your Walmart business with confidence. 

Get your free consultation today and take your Walmart strategy to the next level!

The post Walmart Fiscal Year Calendar: Understanding the Walmart Weeks appeared first on 8th & Walton.

Walmart Stores uses the 4-5-4 fiscal calendar and often refers to major events as Walmart Weeks on the calendar. Rarely will a Walmart buyer say that a modular sets on August 9; they’ll say the modular sets Week 28.

Staying on Top of Walmart’s Calendar: Free Downloads for FYE 2026 

Keeping track of Walmart’s unique calendar system can be challenging. To help you stay organized, we’ve created free, downloadable calendars that cover Walmart Weeks, quarters, the 4-5-4 layout, and 3-year calendar comparisons. 

Ready to download? Here are our latest offerings: 

US FYE 2026 Calendar – Download Now

Canada FYE 2026 Calendar – Download Now 

3-year planner (FYE 2025, 2026, 2027) – Download Now 

These calendars are essential tools for any supplier working with Walmart. They’ll help you align your planning with Walmart’s fiscal year and ensure you’re always on the same page as Walmart.

Need More Help? If you have questions about using these calendars or need assistance with your Walmart sales reporting, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our Walmart experts at 8th & Walton are offering free consultations to help you navigate your Walmart business with confidence. 

Get your free consultation today and take your Walmart strategy to the next level!

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