ShipBob is now an official shipping and fulfillment partner on the Walmart (NYSE: WMT) Marketplace, giving small and medium-sized businesses new options for fulfilling their e-commerce orders within two days.
The cloud-based logistics platform is now able to fulfill orders for Marketplace sellers with free two-day shipping. ShipBob will continue as a third-party logistics provider capable of fulfilling orders outside of Walmart’s two-day delivery program.
“We are excited about the strides Walmart is making in e-commerce,” said Dhruv Saxena, CEO and co-founder of ShipBob. “Our mission is to democratize fulfillment for companies of all sizes, which is why we are excited to partner closely with best-in-class platforms like Walmart Marketplace. Together we can now open our U.S. fulfillment network to their sellers.”
The free two-day shipping program covers the continental U.S. and has a 95% on-time delivery rate, ShipBob said. The company’s platform includes inventory visibility, order and shipment tracking across all sales channels and locations, and advanced analytics into shipping performance, inventory allocation and fulfillment costs.
“Helping our sellers have access to two-day delivery options is a key priority for Walmart. We’re happy to be working with ShipBob and see this relationship as a big advantage for our sellers and customers,” said Jeff Clementz, senior vice president of Walmart Marketplace.
ShipBob also offers a carbon-offset program for e-commerce orders. The company works with Pachama to provide 100% carbon-neutral options for brands using the ShipBob platform. ShipBob customers using the Pachama tool will see monthly shipping emissions calculations tracked by Pachama. They can use an app to purchase carbon credits. ShipBob also offers tools to allow brands to share their commitment to sustainability, ShipBob said.
The addition of ShipBob represents another step in Walmart’s efforts to counter Amazon’s e-commerce dominance. In March, Walmart quietly opened up its Marketplace to sellers outside of the United States.
Chinese e-commerce publication eBrun.com reported on March 8 that the U.S. retail giant was allowing Chinese companies to register on the platform. Previously, Chinese sellers had to register as a U.S. subsidiary to sell.
Related:
Read: Walmart and Target among retailers spending billions to catch Amazon
Read: ShipBob offers carbon offsets for e-commerce brands through Pachama
In Q1 2021, Walmart saw e-commerce sales grow 43% globally year-over-year and now make up 12% of total company sales. In the U.S., e-commerce sales increased 37% year-over-year.
On the company’s earnings call, John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., said fulfillment has been a key area for the company.
“On fulfillment services, it’s great to see the team expanding capacity. We now have seller demand,” he said. “My team and I have spent a number of hours listening to sellers, talking to sellers and figuring out all the tools that we need to add. So this is important for their businesses as well. And then, as we said in the quarter, we had 37% growth in e-commerce on top of a big number last year. We’ve basically doubled the business the last couple of years.”
Walmart is investing heavily in its ability to deliver on e-commerce. The Bentonville, Arkansas, retailer said it would invest $14 billion in capital expenditures, with much of that coming on the supply chain side. Walmart officials expect e-commerce revenue to top $100 billion in the next few years.
Click for more Modern Shipper articles by Brian Straight.
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