In this article, learn about:
Performance Metrics for Marketplace Sellers
Marketplace Performance Alarms
Best Practices for Staying Compliant
Consequences for Failing to Meet Standards
Walmart Marketplace sellers must adhere to a set of Seller Performance Standards to maintain their business with Walmart and offer their customers a positive shopping experience. These standards cover key metrics like cancellation rate, on time delivery rate, and response rate. Failing to meet Walmart’s standards may result in removal of listings or even termination of selling privileges. In this article, we’ll break down each performance standard and share best practices for staying in good standing with Walmart.
What are Walmart’s Marketplace Performance Standards?
Walmart has five key metrics by which Marketplace sellers are measured:
Cancellation Rate
On-Time Delivery Rate (OTD)
Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)
Refund Rate
Seller Response Rate
Note: Orders that are fulfilled by Walmart are not subject to Seller Performance metrics.
Cancellation Rate
Cancellation rate refers to the percentage of orders that a seller cancels after receiving the order. Sellers are expected to maintain a cancellation rate of less than 2%.
On-Time Delivery Rate (OTD)
On-Time Delivery Rate measures the percentage of orders that are delivered on (or before) the Expected Delivery Date (EDD). A seller’s On-Time Delivery Rate should stay greater than 95%.
What Are Expected Delivery Dates?
Expected Delivery Dates (EDD) are the dates Walmart expects your customer’s order to arrive. They’re not just guesses—they’re calculated using the following factors:
Order cutoff time
Fulfillment lag time
Seller-selected operational days
Previously specified transit time
It’s important to know that the EDD Walmart uses internally might be different from the Estimated Delivery Date that customers see on Walmart.com. The customer-facing date considers the seller’s historical OTD, the carrier’s delivery input, and Walmart’s logistical data.
If orders aren’t moving for several days and are past their EDD by five or more days, Walmart reserves the right to cancel those orders at their discretion, and the seller will be held responsible for the costs. Walmart monitors EDD compliance closely. Repeated delays or missed deliveries can result in a restriction of selling privileges.
Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)
Valid Tracking Rate refers to the quantity of shipments that provide correct tracking information. Walmart requires that sellers hit a VTR of at least 99%—in other words, nearly every order shipped must include valid tracking.
To stay compliant, tracking info must:
Be correctly formatted (no special characters or symbols)
Include a working link so the customer can track their order on the carrier’s site
Have at least one valid scan from the carrier
Be unique (don’t reuse PO or sales order numbers)
Also, orders cannot ship using stamps or pre-paid envelopes, as they won’t generate valid tracking.
Failing to meet the 99% standard—or entering invalid tracking info—can lead to serious consequences, including account restrictions, suspensions, or even termination of business.
Refund Rate
Refund Rate measures the percentage of orders that are refunded due to issues on the seller’s end—such as shipping the wrong item, sending a damaged product, or other avoidable errors.
To stay in good standing, sellers should keep their Refund Rate below 6%. A high refund rate can signal quality control issues and may lead to account actions from Walmart.
Seller Response Rate
Seller Response Rate tracks how quickly you reply to customer messages. Walmart expects sellers to respond to at least 95% of customer inquiries within 48 hours.
Whenever a seller receives a message from a customer or Walmart Customer Care—whether by email, phone, or in your Seller Center inbox—they are required to respond within 48 hours. There are no exceptions for weekends, days off, or operational outage periods.
For more urgent cases, like Better Business Bureau or Attorney General complaints, the seller must send a response within 1 hour of receipt.
Fast, consistent communication builds trust with customers and with Walmart. Falling behind on responses can hurt your performance score and result in serious consequences, including:
Canceled orders (even if they haven’t shipped yet)
Refunds to customers on shipped orders
Seller category restrictions
Account suspension
Note: You can’t dispute any cancellations or refunds that result from a late or missing response. The best practice is to stay proactive with communication—waiting to react until something goes wrong can cost you revenue.
Response Requirements for Sellers:
To remain compliant, sellers must also meet the following expectations (outlined in the Customer Care Policy) when responding to customers:
Offer customer support in English for U.S. transactions
Provide voicemail when a live agent isn’t available
Play a greeting before placing customers in a call queue
If calls are recorded or monitored, notify customers at the start of the call
Clearly identify your business as separate from Walmart.com
Keep accurate contact information up to date
Regularly check your spam folder and whitelist Walmart emails to ensure you never miss a message
Marketplace Performance Alarms
To help sellers stay ahead of potential issues, Walmart issues performance alarms via email when operational standards are not met. Receiving a performance alarm can negatively impact a seller’s metrics and may lead to the automatic unpublishing of affected listings.
Below lists the potential performance alarms a seller may encounter as well as Walmart's recommendations for avoiding such issues:
At Risk of Auto-Cancellation
The order has passed its ESD. If not updated to “shipped” with valid tracking within four calendar days, Walmart will cancel the order and refund the customer.
Best Practices:
Update orders to “Shipped” and include valid tracking by the ESD, no later than four days after.
If working with a solution provider, confirm they’ve printed labels and updated the status to “Shipped.”
Refresh your orders before shipping to confirm the status hasn’t changed to “Canceled.”
Maintain accurate inventory counts to avoid overselling.
If your integration partner is experiencing issues, manually mark the order as shipped with valid tracking via Seller Center.
Auto-Cancelled Orders
The order was canceled by Walmart due to a lack of valid tracking within four days of the ESD.
Best Practices:
Always provide valid tracking within four calendar days of the ESD.
Reach out to Walmart Support via the Help button in Seller Center if you need clarification or assistance.
Unshipped by ESD
The ESD has passed, and the order has not been confirmed as shipped.
Best Practices:
Confirm orders as “Shipped” as soon as they are handed off to the carrier.
Cancel orders that cannot be fulfilled.
Upgrade to faster shipping methods if necessary.
Late Origin Scan
Walmart has received shipping confirmation, but the carrier has not scanned the package within two business days.
Best Practices:
Avoid relabeling packages after shipping confirmation.
Use approved carriers from Walmart’s list of parcel and freight providers.
Double-check tracking numbers for accuracy.
Ensure the order hasn’t been canceled before marking it as shipped.
Set appropriate lag times for custom or freight items to avoid unrealistic fulfillment windows.
Orders with an ESD Today
A reminder that the order must be shipped the same day to remain compliant.
Best Practices:
Update to “Shipped” promptly once it’s handed to the carrier.
Cancel unfulfillable orders promptly with relevant reason code.
Ensure the order hasn’t been canceled by the customer.
Consider expedited shipping to meet the delivery window.
Sales Velocity
The item was unpublished due to an unexpected spike in sales volume—often caused by a price discrepancy.
Best Practices:
Monitor pricing regularly or enable Walmart’s Repricer tool to stay competitive.
Use promotional pricing features for temporary discounts instead of editing item prices directly.
Keep inventory levels current to avoid overselling popular products.
Related Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Walmart Marketplace Promotions
Cancellations Velocity
The item was unpublished because the number of canceled orders exceeded acceptable limits, usually due to inaccurate pricing or inventory.
Best Practices:
Monitor pricing regularly.
Use temporary discounts instead of editing item prices directly.
Keep inventory levels current to avoid overselling popular products.
Sellers should address these alarms quickly to avoid negative actions against their account.
Consequences for Not Meeting Standards
If a seller fails to meet one or more of these standards and does not take immediate action to correct the issue, the account may be subject to suppression, suspension, or termination. In cases of suppression, seller-fulfilled listings are removed from Walmart.com, while Walmart-fulfilled (WFS) listings remain active. Suspension results in the removal of both seller-fulfilled and Walmart-fulfilled listings. If performance issues persist or are severe, termination may occur, which permanently revokes the seller’s privileges and access to Seller Center.
To remain in good standing on the platform, sellers must regularly monitor their metrics and address any performance issues without delay.
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