How to Sell Products in Walmart Stores: A Brand Owner’s Guide to Both Doors

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

To learn how to sell products in Walmart stores, start by separating two doors that are easy to confuse: becoming a supplier that sells to Walmart for its stores, and selling through Walmart Marketplace, where a third-party seller lists on Walmart.com. Getting onto a shelf runs through Walmart’s supplier application, and often through RangeMe or the annual Open Call, while Marketplace has its own requirements and referral fee. This guide takes a brand owner through both doors, what each asks for, and what has to be ready before a buyer says yes. A section further down covers how to sell to Costco, which works differently. Progression is an independent New York marketing agency and has no affiliation with Walmart or Costco.

How to sell products in Walmart stores: the two doors

How do you sell products in Walmart stores? Register through Walmart’s supplier site, then get discovered through RangeMe and the annual Open Call. A Marketplace listing is a different door that puts you on Walmart.com and not on a store shelf. Walmart says it has more than 100,000 suppliers worldwide, and a business in the United States is asked to complete its application process to be considered to sell products in stores or online.

That wording matters. A buyer decides, not a form. Walmart states that self-registering your company does not guarantee that you will be extended an agreement to do business with Walmart or its subsidiaries.

Supplier or Marketplace seller: which door fits your product?

Brand owners who ask how to sell your products in Walmart usually mean one of two things. Selling to Walmart as a first-party supplier means your product can reach stores, Walmart.com and Sam’s Clubs in the United States. Marketplace means you list on Walmart.com as a third-party seller. The table sets them side by side.

The advice row is plain advice. Many packaged goods brands want store supply in the end, and a Marketplace listing can show buyers that shoppers want the product. Neither door is a shortcut around the other.

If you want to sell to Walmart in stores, plan for the supplier route. If you want to test demand first, Marketplace is a way to learn how listings, reviews and fulfillment work before a buyer meeting.

How to become a Walmart supplier, step by step

The supplier route has six steps in a usual order. The flow shows them. Anyone asking how to become a Walmart supplier can follow the first three on their own, and the last three depend on a buyer.

Step one: the Supplier Checklist

Start with the Supplier Checklist on Walmart’s application page. It lists what information is needed, and reading it before you register saves a second attempt. This is the first move for anyone working out how to become a vendor for Walmart.

Step two: Account Creation

On the apply to be a supplier page, Walmart asks you to use Account Creation and choose Create Account to begin the qualification process. Registering is the first step toward being considered, which is the honest answer to how to become a Walmart vendor.

Step three: Supplier Academy

Walmart’s Supplier Academy offers free educational resources for businesses at every stage of their Walmart journey. For a company still learning how to get products in Walmart, it is the cheapest preparation available.

Step four: a RangeMe profile

RangeMe is a product discovery platform that Walmart names for connecting with its buyers year round. Brand owners working out how to sell products to Walmart set up a free account early and keep the portfolio current.

Step five: Open Call or a buyer contact

A pitch can come from Open Call, from a RangeMe connection or from an introduction. If you are learning how to become a supplier to Walmart, treat the pitch as the point where the product, the price and the supply plan all have to hold up together.

Step six: onboarding

If Walmart extends an agreement, onboarding sets you up as a qualified supplier. For a founder asking how to become a vendor at Walmart, this step comes last, and Walmart’s published requirements below apply to it.

What are the Walmart supplier requirements?

Walmart publishes its supplier requirements on its own site, and the page changes, so work from the current version at Walmart’s supplier requirements and not from a summary. The page covers standards and general requirements, insurance, audits, certifications and testing, expectations by compliance area, and packaging.

The Walmart supplier application

The Walmart supplier application starts on Walmart’s suppliers page, where Walmart lets suppliers register through its supplier site. For U.S. suppliers the requirements page says Walmart needs a federal taxpayer identification number on application documents and a Dun & Bradstreet registration, and it requires a GS1 Company Prefix number on application documents so each item has its own GTIN/UPC. GS1 charges an initial fee and a yearly renewal fee based on the number of items.

Compliance, insurance and packaging

The same page says Walmart requires approved product suppliers to carry certain types of insurance and to make products, facilities and records available for audits, inspections and tests. Depending on your product, that can include food safety, general merchandise product safety, health and wellness product safety, responsible sourcing and supply chain security audits. Packaging has its own guide: Walmart asks whether your case packaging can move through its distribution centers on a conveyor belt and whether you can label, palletize and load trailers to its specifications.

A note for the Walmart vendor application

People also search for the Walmart vendor application. It is the same process under another name, so use the pages linked above and ignore any form that is not on a Walmart address.

• Federal taxpayer identification number on application documents.
• Dun & Bradstreet registration.
• GS1 Company Prefix for your GTIN/UPC numbers.
• Insurance as Walmart requires for approved suppliers.
• Audits, certifications and testing that fit your product.
• Case packaging and labels that meet Walmart’s packaging guide.

Walmart Open Call: who can pitch and how it works

Walmart Open Call is the company’s annual sourcing event for Walmart and Sam’s Club. Products must be made, grown or assembled in the United States to be considered. Selected companies get 30-minute one-on-one meetings with a merchant, aimed at deals that range from a handful of local stores to hundreds of stores and Sam’s Clubs as well as Walmart.com and Walmart Marketplace.

Applications run through an exclusive link from RangeMe during the application period, and Walmart says that, subject to space, only items submitted on RangeMe during that period are considered. Companies that submit by the deadline get an email after the period closes with an invitation, if one is extended, naming the category and product selected.

The 2026 Open Call was the 13th annual event and welcomed nearly 150 entrepreneurs from 35 states and Puerto Rico to Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart posted applications for Walmart Open Call 2026 from July 9 to August 3, with the event in October. Repeat attendees may apply again for categories they have not pitched, to merchants they have not met in the last twelve months.

When is the next Walmart Open Call?

Walmart posts the dates for each year on its own pages, and the dates change. Check the Open Call FAQ for the current event, and set up your RangeMe account before the application period opens so the portfolio is ready.

Do you have to be made in the United States?

For Open Call, yes. Walmart says your items must be made, grown or assembled in the U.S. Walmart also states a commitment to invest an additional $350 billion in products made, grown or assembled in the United States, and says more than two-thirds of Walmart U.S. total product spend in FY2024 was on such items.

Before you pitch: what retail readiness actually means

Retail readiness is the set of answers a buyer needs before saying yes. A product can be excellent and still not ready, because the buyer is also judging whether the company can supply it. The cards list the six areas to settle.

Work through them in order and write the answers down. A one-page summary of each is easier to bring to a buyer than a deck that tries to say everything.

• Unit cost, case pack and a price you can sustain.
• A plan to replenish on time as orders grow.
• Barcodes from a GS1 Company Prefix.
• Packaging tested for a distribution center and a store.
• A demand story for one region, not the whole country.
• Insurance, and food safety documents if your product needs them.

Selling on Walmart Marketplace instead, or first

Learning how to sell products on Walmart through Marketplace starts with the requirements. Signing up is free, and you pay a referral fee on each item sold. Walmart’s Marketplace guide lists what a seller needs before selling.

• A copy of a personal ID.
• A business tax ID or business license number; a Social Security number is not accepted.
• Your business entity classification.
• Documents that verify your business name and address, and a history of Marketplace or ecommerce success.
• Products with GTIN/UPC numbers from a GS1 Company Prefix.
• A catalog that complies with Walmart’s Prohibited Products Policy.
• A U.S. warehouse with returns capability, or use of Walmart Fulfillment Services.

Marketplace suits a brand that wants to learn the channel, build reviews and show demand. It is not a substitute for a store buyer’s decision, and it asks you to run listings and fulfillment well.

Grow with US, Supplier Academy and Supplier Inclusion

Walmart runs three programs aimed at smaller brands, and each is described on its own site. Supplier Academy is free and offers nearly 30 e-learning modules across four learning paths. Grow with US is a voluntary four-step program for U.S. small businesses: learn, get discovered, mentorship and financing.

To take part in Grow with US, Walmart says to register as a small business, either with a voluntary SBA certification or by requesting small business verification. See Walmart’s announcement of the program, dated April 2025.

Supplier Inclusion and the small business share

Many brand owners search for Walmart supplier diversity; the program page is titled Supplier Inclusion. Walmart says that in FY2025 more than 60% of Walmart Inc. U.S. suppliers were small businesses meeting U.S. Small Business Administration size standards.

Does any program guarantee a deal?

None of them guarantees a deal. Walmart notes that completing an application on any of its platforms does not guarantee approval or a contract with Walmart or Sam’s Club.

How to sell to Costco, and how a warehouse club differs

How do you sell to Costco? Contact the corporate office if your product is non-food or sundry, contact the appropriate regional division office if it is food and sundry, as listed on Costco’s Vendor Inquiries page, or use the intake form on Costco’s Supplier Inclusion page. Costco’s own pages describe the routes below.

Costco says all suppliers must meet its standards for quality, value and service, and that completing the application does not guarantee a business partnership. Costco supplier requirements as Costco publishes them are those standards and, for large items, the packaging rules below.

How to sell products to Costco through Supplier Inclusion

Costco says it cannot process requests that do not meet the program’s eligibility criteria, so check them before submitting. A member of its merchandising team contacts you if more information is needed.

How to sell at Costco if your product is food

Knowing how to sell products at Costco starts with the right office. Food and sundry items go to the division office for your region instead of the corporate office, and the Vendor Inquiries page lists the offices.

How to become a Costco vendor, and what a buyer decides

To become a Costco supplier, you need a buyer’s yes. Nothing a company submits guarantees a meeting. Prepare for the question a buyer asks first: why would a member choose this item over the one beside it.

What are Costco’s large item packaging rules?

Costco’s packaging letter to suppliers, dated December 1, 2022, says Costco requires standard handling graphics on large item packaging, in the upper left corner on all four sides. It defines large items as 150 pounds or greater, or 165 inches or greater in combined length and girth, or 108 inches or greater in length, or items Costco has approved for its big and bulky delivery network. These rules apply only to large items. A Costco buyer must review and approve all packaging prior to printing.

Brand owners who ask how to sell products in Costco can start with a short first letter built from the cards above: the product, the unit economics, proof it already sells and the production capacity to supply it. Keep it to one page.

What the marketing job is once you are on the shelf

A shelf does not sell a product alone. The marketing work after a yes covers regional demand, brand search, packaging that sells without a clerk and, where it fits, retail media. Walmart Marketplace names advertising solutions such as Sponsored Search, Onsite Display and Brand Shop and Shelf for sellers on Walmart.com.

Our CPG marketing agency page covers packaged goods marketing, and our retail marketing agency page covers retail media and store-side work. For a comparison with another retailer’s path, see selling on Target Plus.

• Regional demand: ads and content for the area where you start.
• Brand search: make it easy to find your product when shoppers look for it by name.
• Packaging and product content that explain the product at a glance.
• Retail media named as an option, with a budget set by your numbers.
• Reviews and product pages that stay accurate.

What getting retail ready costs

Walmart and Costco publish their own costs and terms, and this page states none beyond what each has posted. The marketing and readiness work is quoted after a written scope. The bands below are market ranges from the typical low to the published high.

Related services and guides

Pages that sit beside this guide:

• CPG marketing agency
• Retail marketing agency
• Selling on Target Plus
• Amazon marketing agency
• Ecommerce marketing agency

Frequently asked questions