Developing a great product is the first step to successfully selling on Walmart.com. The next step? Crafting a high-quality product listing that ensures your product will both show up in product searches and convince shoppers to click “Add to Cart.” Without solid product listings, your products—no matter how great they may be—won’t be seen or purchased.
While high-quality product listings are important on every online marketplace, there are some special considerations you should make while selling on Walmart.com. Whether you’re a veteran or novice on the mega corporation’s online marketplace, the tips below can help you better understand Walmart’s system and optimize your listings to increase both traffic and conversion.
What is the Listing Quality Dashboard, and what role does it play in Walmart listings?
Walmart’s Listing Quality Dashboard is a free tool available to help all Walmart sellers optimize their product listings. The dashboard gives each product listing a quality score out of 100 based on four listing factors: content and discoverability, offer, ratings and reviews, and post-purchase quality.
The content and discoverability score is determined by the clarity and descriptiveness of titles, descriptions, images, and attributes. The offer category is based on product prices, delivery speeds, and in-stock rates. The ratings and reviews category depends on how customers review your product, and post-purchase quality looks at both delivery defects on rates of cancellations and returns.
In addition to the score itself, the dashboard also gives sellers tips to make the listing more effective and thus improve the quality score. The suggestions may tell you if your text is too short or too long, missing keywords, or contains grammatical errors. It’s important to fine-tune your listing to keep your score high—a higher score means your listing will appear higher in Walmart’s organic search rank.
Why is it so important to optimize my Walmart listings?
A high score on Walmart’s Listing Quality Dashboard means your product will rank higher in searches, helping you reach as many potential customers as possible. Walmart is constantly scoring your listing, and the moment your listing quality score drops, your search rank will drop, too.
Consistently high listing quality scores can also help earn sellers a Pro Seller badge, which Walmart describes as “a mark of excellence given to top-performing Marketplace sellers.” This badge can help you win the Buy Box, outrank competing listings, and build consumer confidence in your brand.
Listing scores aren’t the only reason it’s important to optimize your listings—quality listings also improve customer experience, which instills consumer trust in your product and leads to higher conversion rates. To build as much consumer confidence as possible, you should have quality information and consistent branding for your product listings across all marketplaces, not just Walmart. Take care to avoid channel conflict at all costs. The consumer is more likely to trust your brand if it tells a consistent story between Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and any other marketplaces. Plus, if your product is cheaper on one marketplace, you’re most likely going to see a drop in sales on the marketplaces with the higher price.
What makes a high-quality Walmart listing?
The Listing Quality Dashboard makes it easy for sellers to define a high-quality listing. Sellers should focus on the same factors that Walmart prioritizes: content and discoverability, offer, ratings and reviews, and post-purchase quality.
Content and discoverability
To earn a high listing quality score, you’ll first want to optimize your listing title. The goal is to include as many key attributes in the product title as you can—like the product’s size or color—while still keeping it concise. The optimal title length varies from category to category, but Walmart’s Listing Quality Dashboard will give you feedback so you know the ideal length for your specific product. In many cases, optimal Walmart titles are shorter than titles that may perform well on marketplaces like Amazon.
The description is another key aspect of Walmart listings that convert. Just like with the title, the key factors to consider are the keywords, complexity, and description length. If your description is too short or too long Walmart will dock your listing quality score, which will affect your organic search rank on-site.
Your listings should include at least six high-quality images. Lower-quality images will not only turn potential customers away from your product but will also lead Walmart to dock your listing quality.
High-quality Walmart listings also include as many discoverability attributes as possible. These attributes are anything that can help shoppers find your product on Walmart.com—they may include the product size, count, brand, color, condition or flavor. Based on the product category, the Listing Quality Dashboard knows what attributes your product should have listed, and it will dock your listing quality score if you’re missing any of those attributes.
Offer
To get the best score possible—and thus the most exposure and sales possible—your products should be competitively priced, consistently in stock, and delivered quickly.
If you’re struggling to deliver your products quickly, Walmart offers several different options that may help. Walmart ThreeDay shipping is available for all Walmart sellers, and sellers can request access to Walmart TwoDay shipping in Seller Center. If neither of those options fits your brand’s needs and capabilities, Walmart also offers discounted carrier rates, Walmart Fulfillment Services, and a partnership with Deliverr.
Ratings and reviews
Consumer reviews and ratings are also considered to determine your listing quality and ranking. High-quality products, detailed listings, and top-notch customer service all contribute to positive organic reviews. To get more reviews quickly, you can participate in Walmart’s Spark Reviewer Program or partner with Bazaarvoice.
Post-purchase quality
Minimizing delivery defects, returns, and cancellations will also help your listings rank higher in search results. Accurate descriptions and high-quality images, which we’ve already discussed, go a long way to ensure customers feel confident in what they are ordering, making them less likely to cancel or return their orders.
What next?
If you need help optimizing your brand’s Walmart listings, you’re in the right place. Our ecommerce experts are equipped to improve your brand’s presence on Walmart.com and increase both traffic and conversion—at no cost to you. Schedule your free consultation today.
