How to Become a Walmart Supplier: The Complete Onboarding Guide

Becoming a Walmart supplier is a structured, multi-stage process that runs through Supplier One, Walmart's supplier gateway. It moves from pitching your product, to registration, to signing two separate agreements, to item setup and EDI, and finally to your first purchase order. Each stage has its own tasks, systems, and approval gates.

The process rewards preparation. Walmart expects suppliers to be compliance-ready from day one, with no grace period on EDI, labeling, insurance, or OTIF performance. This guide walks the entire journey from first pitch to first shipment, and explains what happens after, when compliance and deductions become the daily reality of selling to Walmart.

Walmart Supplier Requirements: What You Need Before Applying

Walmart does not accept every product or supplier. Before touching the application, confirm you meet the baseline expectations.

Operational readiness Walmart expects on day one:

• Production capacity to reliably fulfill large, recurring purchase orders at Walmart's volume

• EDI capability for the 850, 856, and 810 transaction sets, either in-house or through a provider

• GS1 registration with a Company Prefix and valid GTINs for every product

• Product liability insurance, typically $2 million or more per occurrence

• Regulatory compliance with all federal and state labeling and safety standards

Walmart also runs annual Open Call events, where suppliers pitch products made, grown, or assembled in the U.S. directly to merchants. Open Call is a common entry point for small and mid-sized brands, and participation strengthens candidacy. Supplier diversity certifications (minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned) can further support an application, though certification has no bearing on Walmart's final decision to do business with a supplier.

Completing the application does not guarantee approval. Walmart can change qualification criteria at any time, and the process can require significant time and resources before any decision.

Owned vs DSV: Choosing Your Walmart Supplier Path

Before registering, determine how your product will reach customers, because the path shapes your entire setup.

Owned suppliers ship into Walmart's distribution network and let Walmart handle fulfillment. DSVs manage their own inventory, shipping, and carrier relationships under Walmart-assigned carriers. The distinction affects your logistics setup, your EDI configuration, and which compliance programs apply to you.

The 3 Phases of Walmart Supplier Onboarding

Walmart's onboarding runs through three milestone phases in Supplier One. Understanding the full arc prevents surprises, because each phase gates the next.

Phase 1: Pre-Agreement (Registration and Profile)

You register, build your Supplier One profile, and reach "Agreement Ready" status. This is the largest phase by task count and covers company info, tax, contacts, certifications, product catalog, insurance, banking, EDI setup, sourcing profile, logistics, and acknowledgments.

Phase 2: Agreements (MSA and BTA)

You review and accept two separate agreements: the Master Supplier Agreement (MSA) and the Business Terms Agreement (BTA). Internal Walmart teams then review your profile and the BTA before assigning your Supplier Number and Agreement Number.

Phase 3: Post-Agreement (Launch Preparation)

Item setup, EDI finalization, facility mapping, full Retail Link access, transportation ship point setup, and replenishment setup, ending in your first purchase order and first pickup or delivery.

Walmart Supplier IDs Explained: SAP, GSS, Supplier, and Agreement Numbers

Walmart assigns identifiers at specific points, and they are a reliable way to know where you stand in the process.

The moment you receive your 6-digit Supplier Number, you have cleared agreements and moved into post-agreement activation. That number is the one Walmart's systems and your deduction remittances reference going forward.

How to Register and Complete Your Supplier One Profile

The pre-agreement phase is where most of the work happens. It runs through the Registration tile and the profile tiles in Supplier One.

1. User Registration. Create an account in Retail Link to begin. Suppliers enter either through a merchant invitation or self-registration

2. Supplier One access. Log in and begin the pre-agreement process. Your Supplier Admin should have authority to sign documents on behalf of the company

3. Registration. Provide business verification, tax information, and DSV eligibility, then review and accept the Master Supplier Agreement. This step requires a DUNS number, obtained through Dun & Bradstreet

4. My Team. Add contacts, business certifications, and set up multi-factor authentication

5. Sourcing Profile. Provide your company's capabilities, business performance, and customer base

6. Product & Insurance. Submit product proposals and add insurance certifications per Walmart's requirements

7. Agreements. Review and accept the MSA and, once received, the Business Terms Agreement

8. Payment & EDI. Set up banking (updatable only by your Retail Link Administrators) and EDI

9. Shipping & Warehousing. Complete ASN/DEX selection, create transportation ship points (required for Collect shippers before routing), and add warehouse information

10. Acknowledgments. Review and acknowledge Walmart's required policy documents

Direct Import suppliers complete additional Profile, Facility, and Quote tasks beyond the standard flow.

Walmart EDI Requirements for New Suppliers

There is no manual alternative to EDI at Walmart. Every purchase order, shipping notice, and invoice moves electronically, and failed EDI means product does not ship.

Core requirements:

• AS2 protocol for transmitting documents, or connection through an approved EDI provider

• Required transaction sets: EDI 850 (Purchase Order), 856 (ASN), and 810 (Invoice) at minimum

• GDSN participation through the Global Data Synchronization Network, so product data syncs automatically with Walmart

• Certification testing of every transaction set before going live

Most suppliers work with an EDI provider rather than managing AS2 in-house, since the configuration, testing, and maintenance are technically demanding. EDI is finalized during the post-agreement phase but should be established or contracted well before then.

Walmart Item Setup and Content Quality Standards

Once agreements are signed, you create your items in Supplier One using the new item setup workflow for Owned or DSV. Item attributes come from your merchant and must be incorporated accurately during setup.

Attributes provided by the merchant include: item fulfillment type (store, online, DSD, DSV), product type, selling price, unit cost, Walmart department number, segregation code, fineline number, replenishment type, warehouse alignment code, and item effective date.

Content quality matters beyond setup. Complete, accurate product content (titles, images, descriptions, GTINs) drives product visibility and customer trust, and Walmart holds suppliers to defined content standards through Content Quality Enhancements in Supplier One.

Packaging and Labeling Requirements Before Your First Shipment

Before your first PO ships, your operations need to meet Walmart's supply chain requirements. This is enforced from the first shipment, not phased in.

Key readiness areas:

• Packaging per Walmart's Supply Chain Packaging Guide, including secondary packaging standards and category-specific rules for food, consumables, and health and wellness

• Labeling with correct GS1-128 barcodes, SSCC labels, and case markings

• Facility-to-agreement mapping, assigning your facility to your 9-digit agreement number

• Audits and certifications for ethics, responsible sourcing, and product safety

Working closely with your merchant to confirm compliance requirements are met is the difference between a clean launch and immediate chargebacks.

Managing Your Business in Supplier One After Onboarding

Getting your first PO is not the finish line. It is the start of the operational phase, where Walmart measures your performance continuously and deducts against your payments when you fall short.

The post-agreement Operational Excellence phase in Supplier One brings together the tools you will use every week:

• Orders and Payments: view POs and payment history

• Disputes and Deductions: handle claims, deductions, and chargebacks through the Accounts Payable Dispute Portal (APDP)

• Performance scorecards: monitor your OTIF trends and charges, and your Claims and Returns scorecard

• Reports: access consolidated reporting and Scintilla omnichannel data

• Demand and Forecast: track daily demand and inventory

This is where the compliance programs you prepared for during onboarding become daily realities: OTIF penalties for late or incomplete deliveries, SQEP fines for quality and documentation defects, ASN accuracy requirements, and post-audit claims.

Walmart Supplier Deductions: The Compliance Reality to Plan For

Every new Walmart supplier eventually meets the same challenge: Walmart's automated systems generate deductions faster than a manual AR process can dispute them.

The programs that drive most supplier deductions:

• OTIF (On-Time In-Full): 3 percent of cost of goods on non-compliant cases for late or short deliveries

• SQEP (Supplier Quality Excellence Program): $200 per PO plus $1 per case for packaging, labeling, ASN, and receiving defects

• Shortage and pricing claims: disputed through APDP with proof of delivery and invoice documentation

• Post-audit claims: surfacing months after the transaction

A meaningful share of these deductions are invalid and recoverable, but only if disputed inside each program's window with the right documentation. For a supplier shipping millions annually into Walmart, that recoverable revenue adds up quickly, and it is the reason experienced suppliers treat deduction management as a core function rather than an afterthought.

Get Ahead of Walmart Deductions With iNymbus

Onboarding gets you to your first PO. Deductions start with your first shipment. Walmart's OTIF, SQEP, and APDP programs generate chargebacks automatically, and disputing them one at a time across Retail Link is more work than most new AR teams can absorb.

iNymbus automates it. The platform pulls deduction and chargeback data from Walmart, matches each claim to the right proof of delivery, BOL, invoice, and EDI record, and files disputes through APDP and EIPP inside the window.

Suppliers using iNymbus dispute Walmart deductions up to 30 times faster than manual processes, recovering revenue that new suppliers most often write off simply because they lack the bandwidth to fight it.

Schedule a free demo.