8th & Walton

In January, Walmart published its OTIF Charges Schedule for the year. Three months later, that schedule is on the front burner once again because Walmart changed its Academy — and that has made locating the schedule a challenge.

The OTIF Charges Schedule is very important to Walmart suppliers. As a supplier, you need to be informed of the schedule in order to understand when OTIF compliance charges will be invoiced, published to your account, and potentially deducted from your remittances. The schedule also provides clarity on how weekly charges are aggregated into monthly and quarterly summaries.

The key point is that you should review and contest any posted projected charges that you see in the OTIF app BEFORE the monthly date freeze load date.

Opportunity

Ocean’s Halo, a producer of seaweed-based snacks, sought to expand its market presence by partnering with Walmart. The goal was to introduce their products to a broader audience and establish a strong foothold in the retail market.

Goals

• Increase Product Awareness: Introduce Ocean’s Halo products to Walmart shoppers nationwide.
• Drive Sales Growth: Achieve substantial year-over-year sales increases.
• Expand Market Share: Position Ocean’s Halo as a leading brand in the seaweed snack category.

Solution

With 8th & Walton’s help, Ocean’s Halo collaborated closely with Walmart to implement a strategic growth plan:

• Phased Product Rollout: Starting with a select assortment in a limited number of stores, Ocean’s Halo gradually expanded its product line and store presence based on performance metrics.
• Supply Chain Optimization: Maintained over 98% On-Time In-Full (OTIF) performance, ensuring reliable product availability and building trust with Walmart’s supply chain operations.
• Omnichannel Marketing: Leveraged Walmart Connect’s advertising solutions, including Sponsored Search and Onsite Display ads, to reach customers across multiple touchpoints.
• Sustainability Initiatives: Aligned with Walmart’s sustainability goals by eliminating plastic trays and reducing packaging footprints, appealing to eco-conscious consumers.

Strategy

The partnership focused on a data-driven approach to scale responsibly:

• Performance-Based Expansion: Utilized sales data to inform decisions on product assortment and store count increases.
• Targeted Advertising: Employed Walmart’s first-party data to identify and target key customer segments, enhancing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
• Customer Engagement: Created engaging content, such as recipes and usage ideas, to inspire purchases and integrate products into customers’ daily routines.
• Exclusive Product Launch: Introduced new flavors exclusively at Walmart, enhancing customer engagement and driving incremental sales

Tactics

• In-Store Promotions: Executed category takeovers and featured placements to boost product visibility.
• Digital Advertising: Ran campaigns across Walmart’s digital platforms, including display ads and sponsored products, to drive online and in-store traffic.
• Sustainability Messaging: Highlighted eco-friendly packaging and practices in marketing materials to resonate with environmentally conscious shoppers.

Big Wins

• 30% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR): Achieved consistent sales growth over multiple years.
• Market Share Increase: Expanded Walmart’s seaweed snack market share from 22% to 36%.
• Top Online Performer: Became #1 Seaweed Snack sold on Walmart.com.
• Supply Chain Excellence: Recognized as one of Walmart’s most trusted suppliers for forecasting and OTIF performance.

Key Takeaways

• Strategic Collaboration: A phased and data-driven approach to product rollout can lead to sustainable growth.
• Operational Excellence: Maintaining high supply chain performance fosters strong retailer partnerships.
• Integrated Marketing: Utilizing omnichannel advertising solutions effectively engages customers and drives sales.
• Sustainability Alignment: Eco-friendly initiatives resonate with consumers and align with retailer values, enhancing brand appeal.

Ready to Grow Your Brand with Walmart?

Ocean’s Halo’s success demonstrates the power of strategic collaboration, supply chain excellence, and omnichannel marketing. If you’re looking to expand your market presence, optimize your supply chain, and leverage Walmart Connect’s advertising solutions, we’re here to help.

Fill out the form below, and our team will reach out to discuss your growth strategy and how you can scale your business successfully with Walmart.

As a Walmart supplier, it’s important you’re aware of common errors in Item Management and how to fix or avoid them. Item Management, as you know, is the tool suppliers all use to create, set up, and maintain omnichannel items (items for in-store and Walmart.com).

(For purposes of this article, we will use the term Item Management instead of Items and Inventory (used in Supplier One and formerly known as Item 360).

The 3 Main Aspects of Item Management

• The groundwork of item creation. Before you begin to create your items, you build a solid base of practical knowledge by learning the foundation, building blocks, and background of the Item Management process. For example, what is a GTIN?
• Item creation basics. It’s crucial to set up items correctly — from the start. To do this, be sure to know the difference and hierarchical relationship between Each (sometimes referred to as the Saleable unit), Case (sometimes referred to as the Orderable Pack), and Pallet, and it is crucial to know what you can and cannot change once the item is created.
• Item development. Advance and refine your ability not only to create items but to maintain your items, and learn the best ways to enhance items to improve content score ratings. Within Item Management, you can update basic information, omni attributes, cost, images, rich media (like video), and supply chain attributes.

Advice From an Item Management Expert

Over the years, 8th & Walton’s Joel Graham has helped hundreds of Walmart suppliers with their items. His experience comes from earlier legacy iterations (Item 360 and Online Item File) and his mastery of Item Management as it is today. According to Joel, suppliers need to understand the importance of setting up all items. Some suppliers, he says, believe they should only have to set items up for in-store customers. But the omnichannel experience means more than purchasing; therefore, he explains that all items are omnichannel items.

“Recently I was working with a supplier who sells frozen meat,” Joel illustrates. “They don’t sell their product online, so they didn’t think they needed to set up their item for Walmart.com. But even if an item can’t be directly purchased and shipped from Walmart.com, it still needs to be listed on Walmart.com for discoverability and OPD (online pickup and delivery).”

Joel further explains,

“If your item is available only in Walmart’s stores, and I’m shopping on my Smartphone and see your item, I’m going to put it in my OPD order. Therefore, this purchase is now considered an omnichannel item. It doesn’t matter if the item is picked from store inventory by someone in a Walmart store. It was found and purchased online. Even if the supplier doesn’t sell their items online, the omni process ensures they are discoverable online for BOPIS (*Buy Online, Pickup in Store), store pickup, or delivery.”

What sorts of errors occur?

• Data entry and setup errors and inconsistencies
• Lack of knowledge leading to the incorrect choices of the complex item setup Example: Lack of understanding the difference between crossdock and staple stock (DC alignment)
• System and integration issues
• Compliance and policy violations
• Pricing and promotion issues

What are the most common errors?

Incorrect or incomplete product data

• Poorly written product titles
• Not following Walmart’s guidelines, such as missing key attributes (e.g., brand, size, color) or including promotional text
• Missing or incorrect GTIN/UPC: Providing an invalid or already-used UPC or GTIN
• Poor product descriptions: Vague, overly short, or promotional descriptions that do not provide enough detail about the product

Image issues

• Low-quality images: Poor resolution, blurry, or non-compliant images.
• Incorrect background: A background other than the pure white background Walmart requires for the main image
• Incorrect cropping of the images
• Not enough images to create a good online experience
• Misleading or missing images: Not showing the actual product or missing required views (e.g., front, back, packaging, and close-ups)

Pricing and inventory errors

• Incorrect pricing (cost or retail) entered at the time of creation or maintenance
• Inventory issues: Phantom inventory is one example. Product is sold as a different item (e.g., one red and one blue item have the same price, but the red item gets scanned twice).

Product type and attribute mismatch

• Incorrect product-type classification: Misclassifying items into the wrong product type, leading to visibility and discoverability listing issues
• Missing required attributes: Leaving out attributes like color, size, or material, which can impact search filtering (SEO)

Non-compliant or missing shipping and compliance information

• Wrong or missing shipping details: Incorrect weight, dimensions, or shipping information can lead to shipping issues.
• Lack of compliance information: For example, an item contains material that is considered hazardous if disposed of incorrectly, such as a car or lithium battery. (See WERCSmart.)

Two Actions You Can Take

Preventing errors can be easily avoided if you always complete these steps:

1. Use Item Management within Supplier One and regularly audit your item attributes.
2. Ensure accurate data entry by conducting a final review of your item attributes before submission. In other words, double, even triple check your work!

Want to Ensure Your Items Are Set Up for Success? Fill out the form below, and our team will reach out to discuss your needs and help you navigate Walmart’s Item Management system effectively.

Best Practices for Walmart Suppliers

Welcome to the new year! We wish you success and prosperity in 2025!

With the new year, you as a Walmart supplier will see exciting new opportunities. When considering Best Practices, it’s critical that you understand the importance of aligning with Walmart’s goals and expectations. For greater success in the coming year, think over each of the recommendations below and implement as many as you can.

Review Walmart’s Year-End Reports and Performance Metrics

This is a key element to Best Practices.

• Analyze OTIF (On Time In Full) sales trends and compliance scores from the past year.
• Identify areas of success to replicate.
• Find opportunities for improvement.
• Use data insights to set measurable goals for the new year

Stay Updated on Walmart Policies and Initiatives

Align your processes with Walmart’s goals so you become a better Walmart supplier.

Retailers and suppliers work together to grow sales and lower costs. Achieving one or both of these goals begins by making improvements to the supply chain. From the purchase of raw materials to the final customer purchase, small supply chain improvements can mean huge profits added to the bottom line annually.

But what is the first step in improving the supply chain? It’s actually improving the process of improving the supply chain. Individual partners can improve their area of the supply chain, but a good decision manufacturing could have adverse repercussions in distribution.

Openly sharing planning and communication between the supply chain links creates the opportunity for smoother transitions and deters costly errors. This process of supply chain improvement collaboration is known as CPFR.

What Is CPFR?