Introduction
As order volume increases, the complexity of fulfilling orders across multiple marketplaces also increases. Sellers may receive orders simultaneously from Walmart, Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop, Temu, and even their own e-commerce site - all while managing their inventory in different systems. Copying and pasting orders, validating stock, generating fulfillment requests, and adding tracking details becomes time-consuming and increases the risk of overselling.
Walmart provides Seller Center workflows, APIs, and third-party solution providers that facilitate multichannel ecommerce operations. But sellers can take it a step further by automating processes such as inventory management, order processing, fulfillment, and tracking. This helps create a more centralized workflow for managing orders across multiple sales channels.
What Is Walmart Multichannel Solutions (MCS)?
Walmart Multichannel Solutions extends WFS beyond Walmart.com, allowing sellers to use WFS inventory for order fulfillment from their other ecommerce sales channels, including Amazon, eBay, Temu, Shein, TikTok Shop and sellers' own websites.
Walmart MCS works alongside WFS. Walmart Fulfillment Serives(WFS) fulfills orders through Walmart’s Fulfillment Network, while Walmart MCS allows sellers to use their inventory to fulfill orders from non-Walmart sales channels. Sellers who are currently enrolled in WFS can use Walmart MCS. Multi-box and big-and-bulky products are not eligible for MCS at this time.
Orders will be fulfilled from that WFS inventory pool on a first-come, first-served basis, without reserving units based on channel. This Walmart Multichannel Solutions can be beneficial to sellers looking to use a fulfillment provider to manage multiple storefronts. Rather than managing stock across different marketplaces, sellers can store it within the WFS network.
Walmart Multichannel Solutions (MCS) helps simplify the process by enabling fulfillment of orders from different ecommerce sales channels through Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS).
What Can You Automate With Walmart MCS Integration?
A Walmart MCS integration can automate data flows between sales channels and fulfillment operations. Which data actually gets transferred depends on what systems and integration setup you're using as a seller, but common automation areas include inventory, orders, fulfillment orders, and shipment updates.
1. Walmart MCS Inventory Sync
When items are listed on multiple marketplaces simultaneously, inventory sync becomes essential to multichannel selling. Walmart MCS API allows sellers to access real-time WFS information and use available stock to determine whether a pending order can be fulfilled.
2. Walmart MCS Order Sync
Order details flow from connected sales channels to the relevant fulfillment workflow without requiring sellers to re-enter customer or product information. Walmart offers APIs for creating MCS orders and verifying fulfillment eligibility before confirming order placement.
3. Walmart MCS Tracking Sync
As orders are fulfilled, it is essential to send the shipment information to the marketplace where the order was placed. This streamlines the process of updating order status and keeps all customer purchase details in sync across channels for the brand to access at any time.
4. Walmart MCS Order Cancellation
Walmart MCS automation supports order cancellation and fulfillment workflows to optimize order processes. Using their purchase order administration APIs, sellers can confirm eligibility, generate customer orders, or cancel buyer orders.
Why Should Sellers Automate Walmart MCS Fulfillment?
How to Set Up Walmart MCS Integration
There are several steps in the course of an MCS setup, including using a dependable Walmart Multichannel Solutions integration, to connect your systems. Each phase should be thoroughly tested, and a workflow put in place before orders are processed in high volumes.
Step 1: Identify All Your Sales Channels
Determine all the marketplaces and ecommerce websites that will send orders to Walmart for fulfillment. You can add MCS sales channels through the Sales Channel setup in Seller Center, including channels such as Amazon, eBay, Temu, Shein, TikTok Shop, and your own ecommerce website
Step 2: Set Up WFS and MCS
Walmart MCS requires an established WFS account. Verify that your business is available on WFS, that the desired payment method has been set up, and that the items to be fulfilled meet Walmart’s MCS eligibility criteria. The integration setup can be established through either the Walmart APIs or a third-party solution provider that supports Multichannel solutions.
Step 3: Mapping your SKUs
Map the SKU used by each sales channel to the SKU used for the product in Walmart fulfillment inventory. Verify that each SKU is mapped before your orders go live. An inaccurate mapping can result in the wrong product being sent to fulfillment or an order failing to process; therefore, we will consider SKU mapping a key inventory management control.
Step 4: Set up the Order Sync
Orders are passed from the marketplace to the MCS fulfillment process based on the conditions defined in your system. At a minimum, order information should be accurate and include the SKU, quantity, customer shipping details, sales channel, and order reference.
Step 5: Set up your Fulfillment Workflow
Determine what qualifies an order as ready for fulfillment by Walmart MCS. You need to consider payment confirmation, fraud checks, inventory and cancellations, in addition to anything special for that channel. Walmart APIs evaluate delivery promise options and create fulfillment orders, while connected automation controls when these actions occur.
Step 6: Turn On Tracking Sync
Ensure your integrations are configured to retrieve shipment and tracking information and push it back to the source marketplace. Automated tracking updates help reduce manual administrative tasks and keep your customer-facing shipment information accurate and up to date.
Step 7: Test the Integration
Before deploying your integration to production, test the entire workflow using products and orders. Make sure all parts of the process, including SKU mapping, inventory updates, order creation and fulfillment, order cancellation, and shipment tracking, are working correctly. Walmart also maintains an MCS sandbox environment for testing order and return scenarios against test data.
Step 8: Monitor Orders and Inventory
After you have launched, keep an eye on inventory quantities, fulfillment exceptions, canceled orders, and tracking updates. This can be done with the help of an integrated dashboard in one location when you connect multiple marketplaces. An ongoing evaluation helps you to spot, prior to your customers getting these errors, broken connections, misplaced SKU data, slow inventory feeds, or abnormal orders.
How MapMyChannel Helps Automate Walmart MCS Fulfillment
MapMyChannel integrates Walmart MCS with marketplaces and ecommerce systems to:
- Automate order fulfillment
- Update shipping status
- Sync inventory levels
- Streamline inventory management
MapMyChannel integrates all online sales channels including Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Shopify, TikTok, and Temu on one centralized dashboard. The platform offers real-time inventory accuracy updates, inventory buffer, and multi-location inventory for ecommerce sellers to avoid double data entry and save time.
Additionally, WFS inventory can be sent to internal warehouses, 3PL service providers, or different workflows for distribution. Marketplace and ERP integration enables sellers to track and notify order status seamlessly to increase post-purchase journey transparency to customers. With MapMyChannel, you can have consistent, multichannel ecommerce operations in which inventory, orders, shipping, and tracking is handled by interconnected workflows.
Conclusion
Walmart MCS streamlines multichannel sales by enabling sellers to pick from their WFS catalog when an order is received on any sales channel. Integrate that with automation of inventory, order, fulfillment, tracking workflows, etc. and sellers can eliminate manual intervention and reduce errors drastically. Ensure correctly mapped SKUs, maintain reliable inventory records, create, implement and test order workflows, along with establishing real-time tracking procedures to succeed with Walmart MCS fulfillment. That will add MCS to your eCommerce automation strategy to manage large multichannel enterprises in the blink of an eye.
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