What Is a Walmart Broker? Pros/Cons of Hiring One

Ever wondered what a Walmart broker does and if those services would help you? Find out what a Walmart broker offers, the pluses and minuses of working with one, how to go about finding a broker who is right for you, options other than hiring a broker, and more.

What Is a Walmart Broker?

At Walmart, a broker is hired by a supplier and acts as the middleman between that supplier and Walmart, taking on some of the planning, execution, or analysis the supplier would ordinarily do.

What Is a Walmart Broker’s Job?

The specifics of what the Walmart broker does vary widely. Suppliers hire brokers to do anything from getting their product on the Walmart shelf to improving Walmart sales to reducing environmental waste. Some suppliers hire a broker to do just one or two specific tasks. Others want full service from their brokers.

A broker can perform any or all of these functions:

Analyze and manage sales data
Provide category insights
Take a supplier’s product from concept to the Walmart shelf
Offer negotiation guidance
Manage communication between the supplier and Walmart staff (buyers, merchandisers, etc.)
Provide item setup and maintenance
Run weekly reports
Select/advise on packaging decisions
Train staff
Develop and execute advertising campaigns for Walmart Connect
Oversee shelf placement of product
Improve a supplier’s supply chain: streamline operations, optimize logistics, drive efficiency
Set up/ attend/ present at line reviews
Plan promotions and analyze their results
Follow/report trends within a supplier’s category

Naturally, the more brokers do, the more money they get from the supplier.

What Are the Benefits of Working With a Walmart Broker?

Retail is complex. Hiring a broker can provide advantages in a variety of areas.

A broker’s specialized knowledge can help a client navigate intricate processes and make better decisions.
Experience makes brokers aware of options that new suppliers couldn’t know, allowing them to get better deals for the supplier.
Brokers save clients time and reduce their stress so they can focus on their products.
For entrepreneurs unfamiliar with retail or with Walmart, a broker can mean the difference between rejection and acceptance. A good broker who is familiar with Walmart’s expectations, requirements, and forms will speed up the process and eliminate errors.
For a supplier team that is short-staffed or has limited funds, a broker may be able to fill in important gaps at a cost lower than hiring a full-time employee.
When time is critical and in short supply, a broker can often get results more quickly.
In complex situations, a broker can apply years of experience to keep things going swiftly, accurately, and efficiently.
When things are in a state of flux at Walmart, a broker can dedicate time and resources to staying abreast of all the changes, allowing the client to concentrate on other aspects of the business

What Are the Disadvantages of Working With a Walmart Broker?

While hiring a broker can offer many benefits, there are also significant disadvantages:

Cost. Brokers typically charge fees or commissions. Those expenses usually are substantial and can eat into profits dramatically.
Bad advice. Some brokers have very limited experience, some have poor judgment, and some disregard deadlines. Not all brokers are what they say they are.
No learning. By relying on a broker, a supplier becomes less involved in decision-making, which ultimately prevents them from learning how to manage their Walmart business effectively.
The brand’s story is lost. When brokers represent multiple products, the uniqueness of each can be lost to the Walmart buyer. Nothing conveys the excitement and value of a product as well as the company founder or owner.
Isolation If you are not in the meetings at Walmart, you never get to know your buyer. You yourself have no relationship with that person or other decision-makers at Walmart.
Conflicts of interest. A broker may serve two competing suppliers. They may be more interested in what they earn than in a supplier’s product, sales, or growth at Walmart. A broker may have too many clients to serve each well or may cater to a bigger client while giving an upstart less time and attention.
Hard to stop. Without a plan to step away from a broker, a supplier may be in a never-ending cycle with costs that will escalate in time. Helping you build an exit plan from them so you can stand on your own is something brokers do not want to do.

How Should a Supplier Select a Broker?

If you decide to hire a broker to help you manage and grow your Walmart business, you will want to work with someone who is honest as well as experienced. But how can you tell someone is a good fit for you?

Here are a few questions to start a conversation with a broker you’re thinking of hiring:

Do they value my business, my product, and my knowledge? How do I know?
How do they structure their fees or commissions? Transparency around their pricing model is essential to ensure there are no hidden costs.
What is their experience with Walmart? How long have they been learning about Walmart? How long have they been advising about Walmart? Were they ever Walmart suppliers themselves?
Which suppliers are they currently working with and in which categories? How long have they been with each? Who can I speak with about the work with these other suppliers?
Does their area of expertise match the sort of help you need? Being an expert in item management is wonderful — unless you really need an inventory expert!
How big is their team? Who else works with them? For how long? What are their qualifications?
Who specifically will my team work with? How often will we connect?
What services does this broker provide? You, the supplier, must understand the scope of services they offer, whether it’s just connecting you with clients or managing logistics, negotiations, etc.
What kind of market insights can they provide? Do they provide ongoing analysis or advice on trends that could affect your business?
How do they handle potential conflicts of interest? It’s important to know how they balance representing multiple clients and avoid favoritism or conflicts.

What Are the Options Besides Hiring a Broker?

If you know you need some help but hiring a broker doesn’t seem right for you, you still have three options to consider.

1. Become a Student Yourself

- Learn more. Take classes, dig deep, ask questions, go to coffee with suppliers who are experienced with Walmart and in the know.
- Spend time in the Walmart Academy. There is a wealth of information there. It may take time to find what you need to know but explore it fully.
- Take notes when you talk with your buyer. Ask questions when you don’t understand. Find out WHY and HOW things are done.
- Spend time in Walmart stores. Walk the aisles. Talk with staff. Study what your competitors are doing, how they have packaged their products, the colors they are using, where they are on the shelf.
- Visit Walmart.com and search for a variety of products. Note in detail what is happening as you scroll through the product description. Read details, look at product photos, read reviews. Place orders and be aware of each of the steps to completion.

Attend conferences and meetings that will help you learn. Talk with other conference attendees.

(8th & Walton has a slate of courses that will help you learn if you decide to take this route.)

2. Hire a Person to Fulfill a Broker’s Role

Adding a person to your staff is costly both in money and in time, but often it is the right solution in the long run. How do you know if you should replace your broker by hiring someone for your team?

If you are unhappy with your results, have fines or deductions that are the result of errors, have missed deadlines, or simply don’t trust your broker.
If your broker is costing more than he/she is worth. This happens when a product is doing great due to nothing the broker has done, but the broker gets escalating payment because of the commission structure. (Suppliers often are displeased with brokers because of this.)
If you now have the resources (time and talent) to onboard someone properly and without losing ground with Walmart.
If someone on your existing team has expressed interest in or shown aptitude for the role.

3. Turn to 8th & Walton

We at 8th & Walton provide many of the services of a broker with two significant distinctions.

First, we believe YOU need to be the face of your brand, and, for that reason, it is you who meets with Walmart. Our team will coach you before any meeting or line review so that you make the best presentation and the best impression possible. But after all, you are the brand and you will always be the brand. That’s why it is important that you develop the relationship with Walmart, not us.

Second, suppliers know exactly what our service will cost. It is not based on a sliding scale or a commission. We make our rates public, so if you work with us, you will know in advance what your cost will be each month.

Our team of experts truly helps suppliers. They built PathFinders and the services it offers around what suppliers need and what they can afford. It helps them grow. Helps them reduce costs. Helps them eliminate fines. Helps them learn. Helps them improve their relationship with Walmart. This team has expertise in a full range of skills and has been accumulating Walmart knowledge and wisdom for decades.

One last thought — Some Walmart suppliers have hired a person to interface with Walmart and had 8th & Walton get that person up to speed. It has worked well, and costs have been predictable and contained throughout the process.

Get your free consultation today and take your Walmart strategy to the next level!

The Bottom Line on Walmart Brokers

Deciding to hire a broker or deciding not to hire a broker. Both are daunting decisions because there is so much to consider and so much at stake.

Your finances if you do or if you don’t. Your needs today, your needs tomorrow. How to manage the time needed to learn the Walmart business or the time it will take to interview and hire.

These are decisions that deserve your full consideration because being a Walmart supplier is an incredible opportunity.

Next steps:

Determine both your short-term and long-term needs.
Decide what kind of cost you can bear.
Prepare to learn or prepare to interview (a broker, a candidate to hire, 8th & Walton’s team).
Decide.

If having a predictable cost is important to you and working with a team of experts located in Northwest Arkansas feels right, please contact 8th & Walton. We will be happy to hear what you need and describe our services to determine if working together would be a good fit.