Guide · Choosing a Walmart program
Walmart offers a brand three different ways to sell the same product: as a third-party seller on Walmart Marketplace, as a first-party warehouse supplier shipping pallets to Walmart's distribution centers, or as a first-party Drop Ship Vendor shipping each customer order from your own warehouse. They differ in who owns the price, who owns the inventory, how orders arrive, what your warehouse does each day, how you get paid, and which clocks and scorecards you live under. This page lays the three side by side and shows how brands run two at once.
The one question
On Walmart Marketplace you are the merchant: the customer buys from you on Walmart's site, and Walmart takes a referral fee. In both first-party programs Walmart is the merchant and buys from you at wholesale. The two 1P programs then split on where the inventory sits at the moment of sale: for a warehouse supplier it is already in a Walmart distribution center, bought weeks earlier on a bulk PO; for a Drop Ship Vendor it is still on your shelf, and the customer's order becomes a purchase order routed to your warehouse in real time. That one distinction drives everything below.
Side by side
| Walmart Marketplace (3P) | Walmart DSV (1P dropship) | 1P warehouse supplier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merchant of record | You | Walmart | Walmart |
| Who sets the retail price | You | Walmart (you set wholesale cost) | Walmart (you set wholesale cost) |
| Who owns inventory at sale | You (your warehouse or WFS) | You, until it ships | Walmart, in its DC |
| How orders arrive | Customer orders via Marketplace API or Seller Center | One PO per customer order via Supplier One, EDI, or DSV API | Bulk POs by SKU and quantity via Retail Link / Supplier One or EDI |
| Who ships to the customer | You, or Walmart Fulfillment Services | You, on Walmart’s designated carrier; or to a store for pickup | Walmart, from its DC or store |
| Labels and carrier | Your account, or WFS | Walmart’s carrier account and method; Site to Store labels | Collect or prepaid freight to the DC on routing instructions |
| Acknowledgment clock | Promptly after order creation | 4 hours, line level | PO confirmation per supplier agreement |
| Core metrics | On-time delivery, valid tracking, cancellation, refund rate | On-time shipment above 99%, rejection below 0.1%, ODR below 2% | OTIF (On Time In Full) against the delivery window |
| Fees and penalties | Referral fee by category, WFS fees | Wholesale margin; per-order late fee; performance penalties | Wholesale margin; OTIF fines as a percentage of cost |
| How you get paid | Settlements on the marketplace cycle | Invoice per order on supplier terms | Invoice per PO on supplier terms |
| Customer service and returns | You | Walmart front line; returns per DSV terms | Walmart |
| Entry | Application with sales history and US business | Merchandising relationship; onboarding through Walmart supplier program | Buyer relationship; supplier agreement |
| Daily warehouse work | Pick, pack, ship parcels | Pick, pack, ship parcels by ESD on Walmart’s labels | Pack POs to routing and ASN rules |
Walmart's own guide to the two InfiPlex connections, Marketplace vs DSV, covers the connection side; the DSV rules guide has the DSV standards in full.
Walmart Marketplace
Marketplace is the open door and the program with control: you set price, own the listing, and decide whether to ship from your own warehouse or from Walmart Fulfillment Services. The cost is a referral fee on every unit and the work of running a marketplace channel to Walmart's seller standards. It is where most brands start and where the price-control argument lives; the Walmart Marketplace integration covers the connection.
Walmart DSV
DSV is Walmart's answer for catalog it wants to sell but not stock: long tails, bulky items, wide assortments. Walmart owns the price and the customer; you keep the inventory and ship every order on Walmart's carrier by the Expected Ship Date, inside a four-hour acknowledgment window and a rejection ceiling of one in a thousand. It is the most operationally demanding of the three per unit and the one where an OMS earns its keep, because the same shelf usually also serves Marketplace, Amazon, and your own store. The Walmart DSV integration covers the connection; the chargebacks guide covers what it costs to get it wrong.
1P warehouse supplier
The warehouse supplier relationship is wholesale in the traditional sense: Walmart forecasts, issues bulk purchase orders, receives into distribution centers, and sells in stores and online. Your job becomes compliance with routing, ASN, and the OTIF scorecard, and your payment terms lengthen. It suits steady replenishment volume on a manageable SKU count and requires EDI through Walmart's approved providers. It is the Walmart parallel to Amazon's Vendor Central retail program, and brands that run one usually understand the other quickly.
In practice
The common pattern is Marketplace plus DSV: core SKUs on Marketplace where you hold price, long tail on DSV where Walmart lists what it will not stock, and sometimes a 1P supplier relationship for the handful of items Walmart wants in stores. Each program has its own portal (Seller Center, Supplier One, Retail Link), its own order shape, its own clocks, and its own API or EDI. They draw from the same physical inventory, which is the argument for one order management system underneath: Marketplace orders, DSV purchase orders, and supplier POs in one queue, inventory as one pool so a Marketplace sale reduces what DSV is offered, labels and tracking flowing to the right program automatically.
| If you... | Lean toward |
|---|---|
| Need to control price and listing content | Marketplace |
| Have catalog Walmart wants to list but not stock, and can ship parcels by ESD | DSV |
| Have steady volume Walmart will forecast and stock | 1P warehouse supplier |
| Sell the same SKUs on Amazon, your own store, and Walmart | Marketplace or DSV, with one shared inventory pool underneath |
| Were offered DSV and already sell on Marketplace | Keep Marketplace for price control; add DSV for the SKUs Walmart asks for |
InfiPlex connects Walmart Marketplace, DSV, and 1P supplier EDI alongside Amazon and 130+ other channels on one queue and one inventory pool. Walmart DSV in particular: InfiPlex was Walmart's first approved DSV channel partner solution.
Frequently asked
The questions brands ask when a Walmart buyer or the DSV team reaches out.
On Marketplace you are the seller: you set the price, pay a referral fee, and ship on your own account or through WFS. In DSV Walmart is the seller: it sets the price and pays you wholesale, and you ship each customer order from your warehouse on Walmart's designated carrier within the DSV clocks.
Both are first-party, but a warehouse supplier ships pallets to Walmart's distribution centers on bulk purchase orders and lives under OTIF, while a Drop Ship Vendor ships individual customer orders from its own warehouse under the DSV standards.
You do on Marketplace. Walmart does in DSV and as a 1P supplier; in both you set the wholesale cost.
Yes, and many brands are: core SKUs on Marketplace for price control, long tail on DSV for catalog Walmart lists but will not stock. They draw from the same inventory, which is why one OMS underneath both matters.
Through a merchandising relationship: Walmart's DSV team or a buyer brings you into the supplier program, and you onboard through Walmart's supplier process and Supplier One. Marketplace, by contrast, is an application.
DSV, per unit: four-hour acknowledgment, ship by Expected Ship Date on Walmart's carrier, rejection rate below 0.1%, on-time shipment above 99%. Marketplace has seller standards on delivery and cancellation; suppliers live under OTIF windows.
On Time In Full is Walmart's scorecard for warehouse suppliers shipping to distribution centers, measuring whether POs arrive inside the window and complete, with fines as a percentage of cost. It applies to the 1P supplier relationship, not to DSV, which has its own standards.
Marketplace runs in Seller Center with the Marketplace API. DSV runs in Supplier One with EDI or the Drop Ship Vendor APIs. Warehouse suppliers use Retail Link and Supplier One with EDI. InfiPlex connects all three.
Resources
Marketplace orders, DSV purchase orders, and supplier POs in one system, with the right API or EDI behind each. Live in 1–3 business days.
We connect all three Walmart programs every week and can walk through which SKUs belong where, based on how you sell today. Contact us, email info@infiplex.com, or call 888‑770‑0857.
InfiPlex™ is a trademark of InfiPlex. Walmart, Walmart Marketplace, Supplier One, Retail Link, and Walmart Fulfillment Services are trademarks of Walmart Apollo, LLC. InfiPlex is an independent integration provider and is not endorsed by or affiliated with Walmart. Program rules, deadlines, and chargeback amounts are set by Walmart and change; verify current terms in your supplier agreement and Supplier One before relying on them. ©2026 InfiPlex. All rights reserved.
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