Submission Process

What to do

Suppliers who wish to initiate a business relationship with Walmart must complete an online product submission. If your application is filled out correctly, we will forward your information to the buyer, who will review your product and provide you with either an email outlining next steps or an explanation of why it's being rejected.

If your application is not complete, you will receive an email explaining what is needed and a request for you to resubmit your application.

Get to Know Walmart

In order to best serve Walmart and make a noticeable presentation and impression, it is beneficial that you get to know our business and understand not only our needs, but also how your firm can help fulfill them.

The Following Will Enable You to Better Understand Our Core Process

1. Read this information in its entirety. It contains valuable information that will be beneficial to your business now and in the future or for other business initiatives.

2. Visit one or more Walmart Stores, Sam's Club locations or Supercenters. Get to know our product offerings, quality and prices.

3. Compare your product or service to our existing ones.

4.Make sure you understand the Walmart customer and how your product or service will complement our present assortment.

Provide the Following Requirements

It is necessary to provide all required information with the initial proposal of your product or service.

1. Register and obtain a Supplier Evaluation Report with Dun & Bradstreet (D & B) before beginning the questionnaire process. Call 866-815-2749. Rating guidelines must apply.

2. Complete the Online Product Submission. (Resale Product).

3. Services/Non-resale Suppliers: fill out the Supplier Questionnaire online, print, and mail to the address below.

4. Ensure that you will be able to provide a copy of your product liability certificate of insurance when requested.

5. Provide a copy of your Uniform Code Council (UCC) (GS1) letter identifying your company’s bar code labeling (mail with your sample).

6. If you are a minority/women-owned business, you will need to provide a copy of your current minority or women-owned certification.

Disclaimer: All cost incurred to meet requirements are responsibility of Supplier.

Assemble Your Proposal Packet Be sure to provide a sample of your product when requested. Your buyer contact should provide you with the appropriate address for mailing. Send copy of UPC code letter and product sample(s) to the following address (all together in one mailing).

Walmart will not be liable for any costs incurred by your company in any attempt to meet Walmart's standards.

Financial Statements

Financial position is an important part of supplier assessment and is reflective of the overall stability of your company and its future relationship with Walmart/Sam's Club. It is important that you can properly assess your capacity for production through your financial information, i.e.; income statement, balance sheet / profit & loss statement and the statement of cash flows. If you need assistance with this assessment, contact a local certified public accountant in your area or a small business development center.

Dun & Bradstreet (D & B) In order to evaluate a firm's financial standing, a Supplier Evaluation Report (SER) is required. This report is purchased by the supplier through our electronic process.

To ensure an accurate report, it is necessary for the supplier to update their financial information with D & B. If you are not currently listed with D & B, you will need to do so. You will be issued a D-U-N-S Number at the time of listing, which should be included on the Supplier Questionnaire. The D-U-N-S Number is D & B's distinctive nine-digit identification number. To contact Dun & Bradstreet, you may call (866) 815-2749 or visit their website at www.dnb.com. An Supplier Evaluation Report (SER) report will need to include a financial risking rating before the report is acceptable.

Please have your D&B information up to date before submitting your application (a risk rating of 7,8 or 9 will not be considered). A credit card to pay for the D&B report will be required. In order for your application to be submitted, you must purchase this D&B report when prompted. If you have any questions please call (866) 815-2749.

Charges will accrue for this report with Dun & Bradstreet: an initial registration charge and a fee for purchasing the report on-line. All Charges are the supplier's responsibility. Supplier Insurance Requirements A copy of your Certificate of Liability Insurance will be requested once your company has been accepted by the buyer. Please do not make these changes or purchase insurance until requested by Walmart Please note that your insurance should cover the following areas:

Commercial Liability

The supplier name must be shown on the certificate of insurance to be the same as on the online agreement and the Federal Tax ID.

Must list as Additional Insured & Certificate Holder:

Walmart Stores Inc., its subsidiaries & affiliates
Attn: Insurance Compliance
702 SW 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716-0145

Must include:

Commercial General Liability including Product Liability

Each Occurrence

Minimum Limits: $2,000,000* Each Occurrence (Must be equivalent to U.S Dollars). Note that an Excess Liability/Umbrella can be used to increase the primary General Liability limits.

*Up to $10,000,000 will be required if determined by Walmart as a high-risk product according to a matrix of insurance limits provided by a reputable insurance broker and followed by Walmart To determine what limit is required for you type of product; review the Supplier Liability Insurance (SLI) Matrix, if you do not see your product, contact Insurance Compliance.

Territory and Jurisdiction

Worldwide

*Suppliers Insurance shall be considered primary, noncontributory, and not excess coverage. The insurance carrier(s) must be "A" rated according to A.M. Best or another insurance rating industry authority.

The insurance company must show that Walmart will be given 30 days written notice in case of cancellation.

Workers' Compensation (if entering Walmart property):

Statutory must comply with insured's respective state workers' compensation laws.

Employers' Liability:

$1 Million (waiver of subrogation where permitted by law)

EACH RENEWAL OF INSURANCE MUST SUBMITTED BY THE SUPPLIER.

A copy of your Certificate of Liability Insurance will be requested once your company has been accepted by the buyer. Please do not make changes or purchase insurance until requested by Walmart Accord liability form is preferred.

Once your company has an active vendor number, you must keep the required insurance coverage at all times. Failure to maintain the required insurance coverage, your account will be placed on hold (payments to your company will be withheld until a current certificate is furnished and approved) or inactivated. Please include your vendor number on the certificate.

Universal Product Code (UPC)

For scanning and accounting purposes, Walmart/Sam's Club requires all merchandise to have a UPC label (bar code). To obtain a UCC (GS1) company prefix for the UPC number you must first become a member of the Uniform Code Council. (GS1) To become a member of the UCC (GS1), call (937)435-3870 or visit their website at www.uc-council.org. Please enclose a copy of your UCC (GS1) membership letter reporting your firm's actual UPC number with your sample.

Disclaimer: All costs incurred to meet requirements are responsibility of Supplier.

Minority & Women-Owned Business Development Program

Walmart began its Minority & Women-Owned Business Development Program in 1994, and since that time has increased its number of minority and women-owned business suppliers.

The purpose of this program is to help facilitate potential of minority and women-owned businesses that provide retail goods or services. The support we offer is as varied as the individuals involved, but our goal is constant: to ensure our business approach reflects the broad marketplace we serve. Through this program, we provide assistance in locating resources, as well as guidance and consultation to program participants to help them become Walmart suppliers. Regardless of whether they become a Walmart supplier or not, our goal is to help them develop their individual businesses.

If your business is minority or woman-owned, Walmart requires that you become certified by one of the authorized site certifying organizations. The National Minority Supplier Development Council or one of its regional affiliates certifies minority-owned firms and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council provides certification to women-owned firms. If your business is both minority and woman-owned, you need only one of these certifications.

By becoming a certified Minority/Women-Owned Enterprise you also become part of a network that is supported by more than 3,500 corporate members including most of America's largest publicly-owned, privately-owned and foreign-owned companies, as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions. In addition, the regional affiliates help to match your firm with member corporations, which want to purchase goods and services. For example, in 2006, member corporations of NMSDC purchased more than $100.3 billion from its certified members. When you become certified, you become part of a database from which Walmart and other Fortune 500 companies, ranging from retail outlets to service organizations, actively seek suppliers.

For more information regarding certification, please contact one of the following organizations:

National Minority Suppliers Development Council
15 West 39th St.
New York, NY 10018
(212) 944-2430
www.nmsdcus.org

Women's Business Enterprise National Council
1710 H St.
NW 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 872-5515
www.wbenc.org

Criterion for Women-Owned Business Certification

At least 51percent ownership by a woman or women
Proof of effective management of the business (operating position, by-laws, hire-fire and decision-making role)
Control of the business as evidenced by signature role on loans, leases and contracts
U.S. Citizenship

Criterion for Minority-Owned Business Certification

For-profit enterprise
At least 51percent minority owned, operated and controlled
Located in the United States
U.S. Citizenship

Certifying Minority Groups

African-American/Black: A U.S. citizen having any African American ancestry
Hispanic/Latino: A U.S. citizen of true-born Hispanic heritage, from any of the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America or the following regions: Mexico, Central America, South America or the Caribbean Basin only
Native American: A person who is an American Indian, Eskimo or Native Hawaiian, and regarded as such by the community of which the person claims to be a part. Native Americans must be documented members of a North American tribe, band or otherwise organized group of native people who are indigenous to the continental United States and proof can be provided through a Native American Blood Degree Certificate (i.e., tribal registry letter, tribal roll register number)
Asian-Pacific: A U.S. citizen whose origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific or the Northern Marianas
Asian-Indian: A U.S. citizen whose origins are from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh

If Your Status as a Minority or Woman-Owned Business (MWBE) Changes

If a Walmart/Sam's Club supplier no longer qualifies as a minority or woman-owned business, it is imperative that Walmart/Sam's Club is notified promptly. This may or may not affect the supplier relationship. The information concerning Walmart's minority and women-owned business development must be kept current. Any supplier who intentionally falsifies or withholds information concerning his/her minority or women-owned business status will have his/her Walmart/Sam's Club supplier number terminated.

Disclaimer: Any costs incurred for MWBE certifications are the supplier’s responsibility.

Samples

When submitting samples upon request of the buyer, we require that you send only one of each product you want Walmart/Sam's Club to consider. If there are style differences, such as color or design, please feel free to include detailed product information conveying these options. Additionally, we ask that you send nothing that weighs more than 25 pounds or larger than three-square feet. If your product exceeds this limit, please ONLY send detailed product literature that includes the specifications and illustrations/photographs of your product. Please do not send samples of perishable or live goods, unless requested by the buyer or Supplier Development. All samples become the property of Walmart and are not returned.