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Steve Wargalla | QStrat | Managing Director What's the difference between going it alone and having a team of experts behind your M&A process? Join us as we speak with Steve Wargalla, who engaged the WFS platinum sponsor, the Corum Group, to sell his company, QStrat—a provider of quoting and sourcing software for manufacturers and distributors. In this episode, Steve reflects on his journey from a first, unstructured exit to a second, highly organized sale with Corum. He shares the lessons learned, the value of working with experienced dealmakers, and why he believes most software CEOs don't fully understand the M&A process—until they've been through it. You'll hear about the importance of preparation, the impact of a structured approach, and what life looks like after stepping away from the business.
Nos visita la piragüista olímpica, Sara Ouzande. Conocemos con Nuria Delmiro y Carolina Palacios el proyecto de fútbol andando que quiere crear más equipos femeninos en Asturias . Y nos informa sobre la actividad Muyer y Deporte la coordinadora del proyecto ADN Asturies, Loreto Matilla. Para cerrar con un breve resumen del WFS femenino con Celia Álvarez.
Nuevo capítulo de 'Código de Barras Bizkaia' para analizar la situación del consumo y poner encima de esta mesa obligaciones y derechos. Teléfonos abiertos 94 487 21 01 o 02. La Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios nos ayudará a entender nuevas situaciones abusivas y cómo reclamarlas, mientras empresas y sector hostelero nos contarán qué supone para el sector, también comercial, eventos como el WFS, la final de la Europa UEFA League en San Mamés, lugar desde donde hoy realizamos en directo este programa que siempre pueden recuperar en nuestras redes sociales y en la página web de Radio Bilbao
When Building 260 originally appeared in 1962 at Idlewild Airport Cargo (today JFK) in New York the place heralded a new era for air shippers with all the bells and whistles to advance air cargo to an unheard of new plateau. When that very same building empty and unused for decades bit the dust and was removed a while back, air cargo romantics lamented the final chapter in the the rich history of the pioneering all cargo airline, Seaboard World that bought and paid for the original Building 260 whilst based at JFK from the dawn of modern air cargo until SW disappeared into Flying Tiers Line in 1980 and FTL was swallowed up by Fed EX in 1989. Well what goes around comes around and here and now in 2025 Building 260 that pioneered the first all -cargo SW B747Fs in the history of the world is back and maybe better than ever as Worldwide Flight Services (WFS), advances air cargo handling innovation and sustainability at JFK, opening the first new cargo terminal built at the airport in 30 years. Mike Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, Gateway Services, Americas at WFS, is jubilant: “WFS is proud of its 41 years of service to our customers at New York JFK. Building 260 with 350,000 square feet of floor space marks a new era for WFS and air cargo.” “Building 260 sets new standards for efficiency and safety and is a showpiece not just for JFK's aviation ecosystem, but to the air cargo industry worldwide."
“When a child looks at you like, ‘I trust you,' I think that's the most rewarding feeling in the world.” Tracey Quillen Carney '80 recently joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Tracey discusses her experience as a student here at WFS, the inspiration behind writing a children's book, the importance of literacy and how families can help their children develop this skill at an early age, and the most rewarding moments of their Reading Tour at local libraries throughout the First State.
Tim Leiweke is the founder of Oak View Group and a true industry legend. This week, we bring you a conversation with him during WFS in Riyadh in which we discuss the future of "sportainment" and venue experiences. Among other things, we talk about: Enhancing the fan journey and experience We take advantage of his time in the early days of the MLS to share advice with the Saudi Arabian football industry Sustainability, music This was a personal treat for me and I hope you learn from it as much as I did! World Football Summit: The football we want, and need. This podcast is for leaders who want to shape the future of the football (or soccer) industry. On this show, we will bring you closer to the people and the organizations who are driving change in the sports business industry all over the world. You can learn more about us on: Our website LinkedIn X Instagram Facebook Our weekly newsletter Our official YouTube channel
今回は株式会社WFSで働かれているシニアエンジニア、市川将太郎さんにインタビューを行いました。
The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Michael Mosser, VP of Categories at Walmart Marketplace, Sarah Ray CEO or Arbitrage Ave & Charles Leslie CEO or Side Hustle Network.This episode from recorded at the 2024 Walmart Marketplace Seller Summit.Follow Michael Mosser on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmosser/Follow Walmart Marketplace on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/walmart-marketplace/Follow Walmart Marketplace online here: https://marketplace.walmart.com/We asked Michael these questions:Your journey took you through HSN, ebay & walmart - take us through the years after graduation and what led you to be here at Walmart?How different is your category role in the seller marketplace compared to a merchant dealing with 1P vendors? Do you interact with the merchants and share ideas? How does this work?What tactics do you recommend to sellers on the marketplace and how do you help them scale?What is the role of walmart connect and how do you partner with Ryan Mayward's team?How do you quantify success in the marketplace and what metrics do you share back to sellers to help them develop?What are compelling reasons a brand should consider 3P vs 1P and be on your platform?How do you partner with WFS and what role does WFS play in the development of a seller?Finally, give us your view point on what the future holds for sellers on the marketplace - can we dream of a day where it's bigger than 1P?We asked Charles & Sara these questions:Charles - tell us about sidehustlenetwork, how did you and Trista come up with the idea? Does Ebay come to mind?Sarah - let's do the same, tell us all about what Arbitrage Ave is and does. How did you come up with the idea?Sarah - your IG profile says busy mom with an ecomm biz, how did you leverage IG to scale when the largest brands are still shy of social media.Charles - what do you sell on the platform, give us examples, and how to customers find you first on walmart marketplace?Sarah - what tactics do you leverage and recommend for other sellers on the marketplace - does walmart connect play any role?Charles - how do you use data from the platform or other sources to inform your decision on the marketplace?Sarah - what makes a seller elite on the marketplace, not just scale but be a top seller?Charles - how do you leverage tiktok and scale?For the Cornell Retail Media Strategy Executive Education program, click hereCPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.comFMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.comDISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.
How do you balance business operations with the complexities of an M&A process? Join us as we speak to Dan Goerdt, who engaged the WFS platinum sponsor, the Corum Group, to sell his company, Flexagon. Flexagon is the creator of FlexDeploy, a comprehensive DevOps platform designed to accelerate software delivery, improve quality, and manage costs and risks. In this episode, Dan shares his journey of scaling Flexagon from a bootstrapped startup to a company ready for acquisition. He discusses the challenges of managing an M&A process while maintaining business performance, his focus on finding the right fit for his company's values and team, and the importance of education and preparation in navigating the M&A landscape.
How do you recognize when it's the right time to sell? Join us as we speak to Barry Larson, who engaged the WFS platinum sponsor, the Corum Group, to sell his company Trusty Ox Systems, a B2B SaaS business focused on employee safety monitoring solutions. You'll hear his insights on the M&A process, his motivation to sell during market consolidation, and how the experience of working with Corum helped broaden his view of potential buyers. Learn how Barry balanced the demands of running his company with the complexities of the sale, and what life looks like for him after stepping away from the business.
“To go back to the Quaker SPICES… I think the foundation of what Wilmington Friends School is… it turns out good people. Yes, of course, it's about the education, but it's also about the people this place turns out. It turns out good people who will do good.”Lesley Tryon '71, the Assistant Director of Finance at WFS, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Lesley discusses how the business office supports faculty, staff, and students, why she has chosen to serve the school for over 30 years, and the decision to send her children to WFS. Enjoy!
How do you respond when you are bombarded with offers? Join us as we speak to Brian Sweat who engaged the WFS platinum sponsor, the Corum Group, to sell his company Alterity. You'll hear his insights on the M&A process, how to separate the best M&A opportunities from the noise, his commitment to finding the right fit for both himself and his employees, and how the sale has allowed him to focus on what he loves most in the business.
“There's no need to be modest about your ambitions or your hopes. If there is something that you want to do or something that you want to see happen in the world, move toward it one little step at a time, and you can be a part of how things change.” Zach Williams '02, an author and Jones Lecturer in Fiction at Stanford University, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Zach discusses the importance of his WFS teachers and how they inspired him to get into the teaching profession, what he enjoys most about writing, what it's like to get a story published in The New Yorker, and his new book titled, "Beautiful Days.”
Basch & The Brain Recap the First Few Days of Wrestling at the Olympics: Lopez Wins Gold Number 5 Vinesh Stuns 5x World & Olympic Champ Yiu Susaki, then gets DQ'd after not making weight Sarah Hildebrandt Is Into The Finals! Amit Elor is Simply Incredible Previewing Tomorrow's MFS 57kg & 86kg, and WFS 57kg brackets Greco Goes 0-for-5 Micic is Out, Was Weight an Issue? Feel free to tweet us and send us messages with questions and general thoughts! Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the podcast and go through the archives to hear more great stories. Support the show & leave a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and shop some apparel on BASCHAMANIA.com! For all partnership and sponsorship inquiries, email info@baschamania.com.
This episode features Ashley Moore who engaged the WFS platinum sponsor, the Corum Group, to sell his company “Spatialist”, a developer of geographic information systems for the US tax assessment market. Get his advice for living the life you want today.
“It prepares you to be a better citizen of the world, both going out into the world and receiving people into your own world who might not speak English. I also think it gives kids a sense that there is more than one normal in the world; there is more than one way to think about something because language has a big effect on how we perceive the world.”Laura Jersild Pardo '90, who serves as a middle school Spanish teacher at WFS, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Laura discusses the importance of teaching Language at the middle school level, how she uses movement in the classroom each day to engage students, and what the future of Wilmington Friends looks like. Enjoy!
Inspired by their mothers' entrepreneurial spirits, Anya Agarwal '25 and Layla Baynes '25 founded the Entrepreneurship Club at WFS during the 2023-24 school year. They created the club to provide a supportive environment where WFS students could develop and share their business ideas. Anya hoped club members would realize that “no idea is a bad idea if you are passionate about it.”Throughout the school year, with the help of Upper School Math Teacher and Advisor Sarah Stock, the Entrepreneurship Club welcomed professors and employees from the University of Delaware who specialize in entrepreneurship. During these discussions, club members received valuable guidance for their ideas and learned the importance of stepping outside their comfort zones. The common sentiment echoed by each speaker was that if you never take a chance, you'll never know what you might accomplish. As Layla noted, “It's not about making an idea that's going to make you the most profit; it's about making something that you are most passionate about.”
Piper's project, “Connecting with Careers,” focused on helping high school students learn about different careers through interviews with people in various professions. These conversations share personal stories and advice from WFS alumni.
“I think you have to have a knowledge of the Quaker testimonies and the importance of those with being a global citizen because they are important for everyone to know. I think we all as humans strive to follow those types of testimonies, but I think understanding how they play a role in education is really important.” Alex Stan Mellow '01, who currently serves as a Lead 2nd Grade Teacher at WFS, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Alex discusses how she implements the Quaker SPICES into the 2nd grade curriculum, the importance of giving students a voice in their learning, and what sharing the WFS experience with her mother, sisters, and children has been like.
Join us for an insightful episode where we chat with David Milstein, co-founder of SellCord, about the strategies that drive success on Walmart. David shares an inspiring success story of a client who saw their sales surge from $2,000 to $200,000 per month within just two months by leveraging strategic account managers and Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS). We also discuss realistic expectations for Walmart sales growth, suggesting sellers aim for 10% to 20% of their Amazon sales, emphasizing the importance of focusing on Walmart to unlock its full potential. Explore the benefits and intricacies of using virtual multi-packs with Walmart Fulfillment Services in this episode. We discuss how virtual GTINs can create multiple listings for a single unit, like multi-packs of shampoo, without additional physical inventory, reducing storage fees and return orders while lowering WFS fees. David also sheds light on pricing strategies, highlighting the significance of the $10 price point, and the current beta status of virtual packs and their anticipated wider rollout, along with the role of promotions in driving sales on Walmart. Listen in as we navigate the intricacies of Walmart's promotional campaigns and recent updates to their item specifications. We cover different types of promotional campaigns such as category-specific events and flash deals, and the strategic advantages they offer. Learn about accessing these campaigns through the growth opportunities section and the newly introduced Item Spec 5.0, which shifts from category-based to product-type-based listings. David also shares essential tips for managing Walmart accounts, including consolidating multiple accounts, transferring reviews from Shopify, and utilizing Walmart's Review Accelerator Program. In episode 577 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie and David discuss: 00:00 - Walmart Success Stories and Strategies 07:23 - Walmart Virtual Pack and Promotion Strategy 11:08 - New Walmart Promotional and Listing Strategies 11:38 - Accessing Growth Opportunities and New Promo Campaigns 15:55 - Optimizing Attributes for Walmart Ranking 20:36 - Walmart Account Management Strategies 21:01 - Bringing Reviews to Walmart Restrictions 23:58 - Flash Deals for All Sellers 29:05 - PPC and Listing Optimization Strategies ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: Today we're talking with David Milstein from SellCord and he's going to be talking about some Walmart success stories and some strategies to help you to become successful on Walmart. He'll also be talking about the new item, spec 5.0, and Walmart promotions that can help boost sales. Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that's completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies or serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world, and this episode is our monthly live Walmart Wednesday show where we talk about anything and everything Walmart related with different guests, and today's host is going to be Carrie Miller. So, Carrie, take it away. Carrie Miller: Welcome to another Walmart Wednesday. I'm so excited to have a very special guest today. We have David Milstein here, and so we're going to ask him a lot of questions. He is definitely one of the top experts in Walmart. He definitely has taught me a lot of what I know about Walmart, so definitely a privilege to have him here today. I'm going to go ahead and bring on David. Hi David. David: Hey, Carrie, it's great to be on. Thank you for having me. Carrie Miller: Yeah, thanks so much for coming on. So I told them a little bit about you. I mean, you are the co-founder of SellCord and you've been doing Walmart or in the Walmart game for like maybe three or four years now. Definitely an expert in Walmart and very, very knowledgeable about anything. Okay, so let's go ahead. And, David, I don't know if I've done enough justice for you about your background, but can you just tell a little bit about what you do at SellCord and just a little bit about you and your background and anything you want to let us know. David: Of course. Of course, sure, thank you for the opportunity. So, yeah, so I'm one of the co-founders of SellCord. Uh, we are a Walmart focused agency, so we only work on brands, on their Walmart growth, and we've positioned ourselves to just be exclusively focused in this, in this space, as we understand the future and opportunity that Walmart does have to offer. It's always great to be alongside Carrie, a fellow like-minded individual, who is with us on this Walmart train, so we're excited to chat, as always. Carrie Miller: Awesome. Okay. So let's go ahead and we're going to just get into the questions, and I think one of my first questions that I wanted to ask you about is because and I'll kind of give you a little bit of background a lot of people say you know, what kind of sales can I do on Walmart? You know if I'm doing, you know millions on Amazon, what can I do on Walmart? But I just wanted to see if you could give us some stories about, like a client who maybe got on Walmart. Maybe they were struggling with Walmart before they came to you and then you helped them to do certain things and they became successful. So, like you know what was the scenario, how did you help them? Any kind of thoughts you can give us about like client success stories would be kind of cool way to start this out. David: For sure, for sure. Actually, Walmart just did a case study with us on one of our clients. So you go on LinkedIn, you guys could check out like a post on this brand, Simply Magic. Uh, this was a brand you know they have a lot of success just historically, both on Amazon. Actually, they were at Walmart before and they were working with us. They were just trying it out. They were doing about like two thousand dollars a month like really really low business, not really giving it the attention it deserved. They came to us, we met with them and just due to their you know experience, we're able to link them with some really insider people at Walmart to be able to work with like a good Sam, the strategic account manager, and working with like the WFS team, and within two months we're actually able to get their sales to 200k, which is like that's, I don't think that's a normal scenario, like we really did. It went above and beyond with them, but that's just because of the opportunity that they had to offer. Now this is a major, major player the Amazon space. However, we do work with brands of all sizes and we have just general expectations of what you can get from Walmart. We typically like to say you should aim for about 10% to 20% of your Amazon sales. So if you're doing like $2 million, $3 million on Amazon, you should be able to expect $200,000 to $300,000 a year, which is again a very solid opportunity. David: It's obviously all about the long run, but so many accounts are coming to us. We meet these guys at shows all the time. Hey, I'm not even doing 1%, I'm doing 2% and just talking to them. It'll come down to some of the things we'll speak about in this call like different strategies, but it just often comes down to just focus and really giving Walmart the opportunity it deserves, but getting them up within just a few months the 5%, 10% and then it's about can we grow up more from there? And that's really where the opportunities lie, you know, if there's some more strategies to grow further than 10%, how you can do that and we'll speak, I think, a little bit about that more in this talk, in this podcast. Carrie Miller: Yeah, Well, what do you think the top things are that they're not doing beforehand? Because I've definitely experienced this where people aren't necessarily doing. You know all the things they could do possibly, but what are some of the top things? People like they're just totally ignoring that they would never ignore any Amazon that you see with clients. David: So so the same way that you would give the opportunity to, let's see your copy on Walmart compared to, let's say, you know, Amazon, Amazon, you're in there like which keywords do I need where in my title and my description? Specifics, like you're very detailed with it, and then you'll just kind of use the same copy on Walmart. Walmart has a completely different guide. You know like they want to have a very different set of copy. They want to have a shorter title descriptions should be more keyword rich and we've done actually a lot of research also on like the keyword tracking and indexing and we found that if you're lacking your main keywords within your copy, those are the highest scenarios of just not indexing for those keywords. It's so related I could show proof. Like not being not having your keywords in your copy, you're just not gonna index. And indexing is even worse than ranking. That means you just don't show up at all for that keyword. And these are basics. That's just one great example. David: I think another very common one is being in the correct category or product type. We'll speak more about product types a little bit later. Just with Item Spec 5.0. Just being correctly categorized is so important because that determines which keywords you're able to rank for. Just don't make the mistake that Walmart is just some other random marketplace. It's going to be the next big marketplace. You can even see the trajectory of where things have come up thus far and how it compares to Amazon and just the growth it's seeing. And if you're missing that, you're just missing out on the opportunity. Treat it as if it's Amazon right now, you know. Think of it that this is an opportunity that Amazon was seven years ago, five years ago, whatever, whatever specific timeline. But understand that it is an opportunity. And if you had, the chance to do Amazon again now just think of it. What would you just do on Walmart? Carrie Miller: Yeah, that's all good information. The next thing I wanted to talk about was the virtual packs, because I know I saw you post on LinkedIn about virtual packs that they had just come out. So what, you know what are they? You know how have they been doing? Have you seen a lot of success with them so far? David: Yeah, for sure I really love the direction Walmart's going with all their beta programs and the new things that they're rolling out. You know I love that they kind of have like Amazon to kind of like go after. You know they don't have to be the pioneer, they can be like hey, this is something that we like about Amazon and they're going all out. You know there's so many new programs coming out and virtual packs is like the latest and greatest. I just want to make a distinction. It's not a virtual bundle, it's specifically a multi-pack on a single unit, and this really what it allows you to do is to create multiple listings for a single unit. So let's say, you're selling a bottle of shampoo. Instead of having to create a second GTIN to list a second bottle of shampoo with it, you can now create a virtual GTIN and you can do up to as many as you want. And where the real benefits come in is actually through using WFS for the fulfillment. So oftentimes you know you might want to list a three-pack or a four-pack or a five-pack and then when you send it to WFS it doesn't actually sell, and then you have to deal with storage fees, you have to do a return order. It's just such a pain. David: So what this allows you to do is just to have one unit. You just send that into WFS and WFS will just create the virtual packs for you. And what's even nicer is that they will have actually consolidated and lowered WFS fee. Depending on how many units, for two units they reduce it by like a dollar for each one. You can look at the like. There's a great guide about this from Walmart where they give you the specific breakdown of the fees. But it's just a really good opportunity to expand your assortment and offer multi-packs where you might not necessarily have that opportunity. It also works really well when it comes to, let's say, you're in a category where, let's say, if you're under $10, there's an 8% commission break. So you think if you go two pack, if you had a separate two pack listing, you'd be paying that 15% fee because it's above $10. But with with virtual packs, you actually still locked into that eight percent fee as long as, like, the average price is lower. So that's really nice, you know, it's just like an opportunity that people aren't necessarily factoring in I just want to make a really cool point, though, about that is there's also in WFS if your products are under ten dollars. This is something actually people don't really know much about. I'm not sure why if your products are on WFS and your retail is under $10, there's a dollar fee that gets attributed to your product. So if you're selling it under $10, even if it's a multi pack of two and it's selling for $19, you still have to pay that dollar fee twice. So it's very important to factor in your pricing and how that impacts both your WFS and your fee. Carrie Miller: That might actually be a reason to kind of lower your price if you're just at like the 12 or 13 dollar mark, maybe I don't know. I guess you'd have to do the numbers but. David: It's kind of. It's kind of a hack. I like, like, I call, I call like the 10 perfect price. Carrie Miller: Yeah. David: It's exactly 10, because at 10 you don't have the WFS fee for a dollar, but if you're in certain categories you're still in the eight percent. So it's kind of like if you're at ten dollars on one cent, you're at 15% commission, and if you're $9.99, there's that extra dollar WFS fee. Carrie Miller: Wow. So interesting. David: So it's actually if you're around that price. Yeah. Carrie Miller: Very, very good to know. And those virtual packs are in beta, right? So when do you think they're going to roll out to everybody? David: Yeah. So from our information, they have like a virtual pack, a virtual bundle, virtual pack beta that we did months ago that only a limited amount of sellers got in, and other rolling it out across the board. The initial release was two weeks ago, I think on the June 13th, and then they're also going to be doing early sometime in July, I believe that should be the rest of the sellers that should be live for everyone and I'm pretty sure that's what. It's not confirmed, but we'll find out next month. You know, if you don't, you don't have it. It's a great opportunity. You know, open a case, reach out to your strategic account manager if you have one. Ask for these programs. You know they're here to help you and they'll try and get you in wherever you can. Carrie Miller: Okay, so let's move on to another topic, and I want to talk about promotions. So let's go ahead and just talk about, like, what types of promotions does Walmart offer for sellers to participate in? David: Totally. So, I mean promotions is such a great topic on Walmart. I think, after advertising or even combined with advertising, promotions is going to be the best way to grow your listings. Kind of referencing that previous case study we spoke about, the way we were able to see such insane results so quickly is because we enabled these items to go into promotion, that to really grow. And so just to speak about, like, the different types of promotions on Walmart, there's two main categories that exist. There's promo campaigns, which are like category specific and they happen during a specific set amount of time. For example, there's a July event happening throughout the entirety of the month of July and then you have different events here and there. You have some highlighted special events. You know that we just had like Walmart Plus week this past week and you have like Black Friday like, but there's generally more like you know this is allergy season or like some like some random home and cleaning week, like something that they come up with. You know just where they're trying to get some products in and you could automatically enroll in that. If you go to growth opportunities, you'll see promo campaigns. David: If you don't have access to that just open a case and you'll be able to get access to that. You have to be an admin on the Solid Center account, which is pretty obvious, and you'll be able to roll your products in there and just be able to participate in that. And then another type of campaign which is called Flash Deals which is kind of similar to Flash Picks on Amazon, the difference being lightning deals on Amazon are Lightning deals are a single day, versus Flash Deals on Walmart run for a whole week and it's every week, I believe Sunday through Saturday, that it runs through a promo for your product and you can get in there with a basic 10% off and you can really roll through your catalog. You have to get approved for it, but you can't do back-to-back for the same product in two weeks, but you can do it every four weeks per product and it's actually a really, really great way to be able to quickly move your products because you get put into a special flash deal page and if you go to Walmart's home page, there's always a little icon for a lightning symbol. You can click it and, depending on how well your product does, it will fluctuate in its rank amongst the deal. So if you push a lot of ads, you'll actually quickly be able to move up the list just because you have a high conversion rate. Even if they're not clicking on the flash deals page, your listing just moves better. So you'll move up on the ranks and actually able to fly through units. Like that it's interesting. We've seen higher conversion rate. I mean it makes sense at a cheaper rate but very like a 30, 40% increase in sales, dollar wise, not even units specifically dollars. So even at the 10% discount, which is not a lot, you're still able to really kill it over there. Carrie Miller: So do you have to have a strategic account manager for that? I've noticed a lot of accounts don't have access to those Flash Deals or Flash Picks. David: I would say just open up a case. Yeah, I think with Flash Deals, Flash Picks it used to be called Flash Picks. They changed it to Flash Deals. No, that's Walmart, though wuickly changed things on the fly just to sound better, but open up a case. If you don't have a strategic account manager, just that case should be able to get it for you. Carrie Miller: Cool, yeah, let's go ahead and talk about something that I just saw roll out recently, and it's the Item Spec 5.0. Can you just tell everyone what, what the Item Spec 5.0 is and how it can help with the visibility of products, or just any information you have on the Item Spec? David: Yeah. So this is. This is one of the bigger buzzwords you know happening right now in the Walmart space and it's just because of how impactful this is for your listings and really planned forward with Walmart. Uh, Item Spec 4 came out quite a while ago and what they did was they changed the number of categories you were able to list under to like from like 20 something to like 77, and now, with Item Spec 5.0, they're doing it in a different, a different style. It's based on product type. That's how you set up your product, your items, rather than doing it in a general category, you now have to actually select the product type. This is similar to like my experience with Amazon. The minimal experience that I've had in the past with their flat files is you have to select, like, a product type prior to uploading it, so it's not a similar idea on Walmart. So I understand if you have a big assortment and you're trying to come up with how you could quickly list it. It could be a little bit harder now because you can't just generalize it into Home and Kitchen. You have to find your product types. But previously Walmart would automatically select the correct product type for your item and you can change it. But now that it's forced into the product type, as like the initial start, you do have to do a little bit more research on listing. But what's the point, aside from just the change in how you list your product and how you do edits to your product, what's the goal of what they're doing here. David: So this is actually, I expect, 5.0 was previously first released on actually the 1p side. So if you're doing edits through item 360 or supplier one, you should already have familiarity with this and all that was already done by product type for a while. And what it does is it enables a whole bunch of more attributes by product type. So each category has, like its list of predetermined attributes, but it didn't tell you which ones you should fill out for this. Like it could be in sports and like you're selling, you know weights and it's like what sports team is this? It's not applicable to your weights, you know. But then if you have let's say you're selling now with the new product type if you're selling something related to like a sports, like an actual sports team, it'll ask you for the sports team, but if you're selling something that's not relevant, it won't make it a required category for you. So it's basically they make attributes that are dependent on your product type, which is really cool in the flat files they'll gray out certain areas and it'll actually have like recommended attributes that you should be filling out based on your product type. David: So it's a lot more dependent. It's a lot more granular, which helps you fill in the correct detail with mine. This is like the number one thing that people are just what attributes do I fill out? There's just so many and some of them are useless, but like what's important. So now that with 5.0, I think it's only going to get better and better, Walmart's going to keep showing even more information on how to utilize it, but with this it enables you to actually see more attributes that were previously only restricted to one fee, which is interesting, as well as which attributes they recommend that you do fill out in order to rank better. So how does it impact your rank? I think this is like leaning into that Walmart's actually trying to not necessarily focus so much on the. You know, obviously, conversion rate is the number one driver of rank right now, but they want to have attributes actually have a bigger impact on your rank, because discoverability to them is something that's so important. So if you have like a very specified search, they want to be able to show your product, not just because of your relevancy from keywords, but also your relevancy due to attributes. So that's why it's so important to fill them out. David: I want to sort of tip about Amazon Fill out every attribute you can, even if it's just as N/A as long as that's an option, obviously or just type in something basic, even though it's not applicable to your product, just so that you have everything filled out. If anyone ever comes searching for you, you have literally all the information you need there. It might take you some extra time, but it's totally worth it because you're then setting yourself up for future success. It also limits the ability for someone to hijack your listing with content rights issues. Someone could just put your listing in and they could fill out one attribute and now all of a sudden, your listing's content rights restricted for that one thing which could be some miscellaneous attribute. So there is the opportunities for you as a seller and also opportunity for people that might want to try to harm you. Not recommended. But there is so much happening with Item Spec 5.0 and I'm excited to see the great impact because it is it is slowly rolling out for a lot of sellers. It's not fully live for everyone. We're able to see from the UI if there's like an add items or update items feature. You can see from your items page. You'll know if you're like in 4.0 or if you're still in a Harfian 5.0. So a lot of cool stuff there and excited to see what comes. Carrie Miller: So if you download it and still in the 4.0, do you just write a case to ask to get the Item Spec 5.0? Is that? David: I don't think they're going to help you with that. I don't think so. I think it's just going to like they'll just tell you like they might not even know what they're talking about, honestly, in that case, but they'll also just say it's rolling out. You'll get it when you get it. Carrie Miller: Okay. David: Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't push for you to ask your Sam If you have a Sam, maybe it's worth off to pick it up to them but oftentimes they'll also just say, you know, you're you'll get it in in September, you know. Hopefully everyone gets this sooner than later. Carrie Miller: Definitely. Um, somebody in the comments said that the drop downs in spec 5.0 are not working. I don't know if you have any. Have you had any any experience with that, with the drop downs not working or kind of some glitches with this, with the spec sheets? David: Interesting. So the drop downs are possibly for if it's great, look, if it's grayed out, is that what it is? It's something that's grayed out. But if it's grayed out it's not relevant to that product type. And is this specifically in a flat file? Because you'll notice when you go to edit an item and through, like the item page, it will. It will be a whole new layout. It's going to look a lot cleaner, a lot newer and instead of having three different tabs, it's all going to be on one page going down. Are you experiencing the same issues there? There are definitely issues and actually as of today, if you log into SolidSign, you'll see a line on top that says there's issues with files right now. So they are having some issues right now as a whole Walmart, so don't go crazy on them If it's still not working in a couple of days and once that banner goes away, that's something to definitely want to take a look at. See if it's something with the flat file, see if you're able to manually edit it. In that case, I definitely suggest opening a case. But I was just working on a file earlier this week and it seemed to be working just fine. Carrie Miller: Okay, so I'm going gonna go in straight to the questions. We've got a lot of questions up here, so I'm excited about this, a lot of good interaction here. So the first one is we have brands A and B already on Walmart but would like to test B without setting up another account. Can we test list these, these products, on existing account that belongs to A? So I guess like testing products on different. David: Yeah, yeah, I mean there's, there's absolutely no issue with that, the only thing that you might consider is that it's going to say sold on ship by the store name. So if it's brand A, as long as you're okay with saying like brand B product is being sold on the ship by brand A, like that might be something to consider but there's no issue. But another thing you might want to consider is that if you eventually want to have an account added for brand B, it's a bit of a pain to have to transfer the content rights from account one to account B, but it is possible. If you set up brand portal for brand B on account A, I don't recommend that. You're kind of setting yourself up for future failure. But unless you plan to run everything through one account. We've actually worked with a lot of aggregators unless you plan to run everything through one account, we've actually worked with a lot of aggregators and at first a lot of them had one brand, like one account per brand, and they realized it was just such a disaster. Also think of it from like Walmart's perspective like they don't track accounts together, they don't really group them together, so they treat them as like 10 different accounts and it was just too hard for them to deal with Walmart. Too hard for them, like they would have access to beta programs in some accounts but not others, so it actually consolidated all to one account. It can become a little bit of like a billing issue if you have, like, different legal entities, but I would recommend sticking to one account unless you have a fear of really like getting suspended. But I would just recommend staying clear of doing anything that would get you in that in the first place. Carrie Miller: The next question is about the best way to bring reviews from Shopify or Amazon, if that's allowed. David: This is a good question. So there's a few options here. So, firstly, you're not allowed to bring in reviews from Amazon. Amazon officially, according to the terms of service, they own their reviews. You're not allowed to bring them to Walmart. Walmart actually won't even allow you to upload them. Back in the day, you'd be able to get away with it even though it wasn't recommended, but these days you cannot do that. You can, however, bring in organic reviews from Shopify and as well as from other sites as well, just not Amazon specifically. So there is a free version through Walmart. You just go to reviewsindicationwalmart.com. You'll be able to sign up for it. You can work with your Sam to get access to. It is through a company called Aspective. I believe Walmart purchase them. There are other tools as well, like there's the Yotpo, which officially does it. There's also Bizarre Voice, which, if you're like a bigger brand, I want to go that route because it's in the case to many, many platforms. But for most of like Amazon sellers, I find this just very expensive for what you're looking for. So I would just check out again that reviews indication the online economy. You can also message them if you have any questions. Just reviewsindication at Walmart.com, we'll go to them. Carrie Miller: All right. So the next one kind of goes with it, and it's about you know, is there a fine program on Walmart. So what is the similar program on Walmart? David: Right. So, Walmart does have what they call the review accelerator program. There is a requirement in order to get into it, which is you do have to have a sale. Recently they did change some things up. It used to be limited to five reviews, now it's up to 10 reviews, and if you work with a service provider. I believe it's up to 20. It's available through growth opportunities. They charge $10 per review. They recently changed the specifics of the program so I don't want to misspeak over here, but if you look in you can see the exact details of like. Walmart is great with their guides, like their guides are amazing and they're typically up to date. Just click on the guides you can read through, like the whole program. But growth opportunities reviews indication, I'm sorry review accelerator program that will give you what you're looking for and you can enroll products. There's even something cool which they say is there, but I've never actually seen it's something called a pre-purchase. So post-purchase is very common, where someone purchases your product. Walmart will accept the buy and then give them a $3 credit to leave a review, you're not guaranteed to get a five-star review. Just keep that in mind. You could get a one-star review through the review accelerator program, but there's something called a pre-purchase, which I'm not sure when it's going to be enabled, but this actually will allow you to discount an item on Walmart in order to get a review up to 100% off. I've never seen it, but it's something that does exist in. Carrie Miller: Wow. David: You can see an option for this. You can enroll your items. Carrie Miller: The next question is is SellCord able to get my Walmart account access to a Sam? Strategic account manager is a Sam. For anyone who doesn't know. David: Right. For sure, we can definitely help with that. We work directly with Walmart. We have our own like agency level Sam and we work with them to in order to get a Sam through Walmart. Also, depending on what category and we work with a lot of categories we can even just reach out directly to other Sam's to try and get someone approved. They typically expect you to have good sales somewhere. We've seen randomly accounts get assigned to Sam. Walmart's trying to do like as much as they can, even for the lower end accounts, but for like. If you're like a smaller account, Walmart might not necessarily go for it, but if you could prove like sales to them, either from Amazon or from like another website, that's kind of the best way to get it. But we've had a lot of success with that. If you guys, if you want to reach out, we could definitely give that a shot. Carrie Miller: All right, here's kind of a follow-up with. The other question Is Flash Deals, are Flash Deals offered to brand owners only? David: No, you know, it's not restricted. Actually, here's a little fun, little fun fact there's sponsored brand ads, which is actually exclusive to brand owners right through advertising. You're not allowed to do if you sell, if you resell. But there's actually something called sponsored product, sponsored brand, like Flash Deals, which you can use, instead of having like the brand logo, to say flash deals and you can list your items that you're reselling. It's exclusively managed through Walmart you have to work with, like your product manager, but you can definitely run Flash Deals on items that you do not own the brand for. Carrie Miller: Someone asked where do I download or where do you download spec 5.0 from? David: It will either be on your account or not when you go to your items page to go ahead and make updates so you have like you have like on the top right Like add items or manage items. You'll just see from there it'll be a little bit of a different UI. Things will look a little bit different than they were before. Previous, it was like it would give you by template. You could update it by category or by g10 match now, just as like by g10 match or like by product or product, something like that. And if you click on like, do by g10 match that's my favorite to do it g10 match, just throwing all your g10s in there and just export the file and you'll see the name of the file will say 5.0, or we'll say something like 4.5. Carrie Miller: Here's another question, should our brand prioritize matching Amazon's prices on Walmart or focus on offering flash deals? David: Wow, this is, that's a great question. So, uh, I want to touch on this earlier with. I just want to talk about couponing, which I think would be something that also a long conversation, generally speaking, for most of you. Amazon is your main business and you shouldn't jeopardize your main business because of Amazon. If you're listing on Amazon is bringing in so much more than Walmart you don't want to risk losing your business there. We have found that Amazon is a little slow sometimes to catch price differences. We've been able to run a 10% flash deals for a week and actually be cheaper than Amazon, and the price on Amazon will. We won't lose the buy box and Amazon won't catch up. What I would just recommend is if you could get away with it for as long as you could and let's say Amazon does give you problems. Just quickly change your price on Amazon, just you got a monitor you gotta be on top of your game. What's cool is that coupons, which is also a beta program, is the only way, as of today, they able to actually offer a cheaper price on Walmart than on Amazon without having to lower your Amazon price at all. So there's a lot of strategy around that you could. Also, if you have a Sam, you can work with your Sam to be like, let's say, you want to get into a bigger program where they request like a 30% discount. You could do like 10% strike through and then a 20% coupon. They'll work with you and because they understand the Walmart damage on Walmart issue, I think that's the biggest issue Walmart's trying to deal with is how do you get a promo on Walmart without impacting Amazon? That's why Walmart loves Walmart-only sellers. They love these guys. They don't care about their Amazon, they're all invested in Walmart and there is maybe a strategy to having a Walmart-specific catalog. If you have a lot of different products develop bundles or even go back to virtual packs. Play around with things and see what you can do to differentiate your Walmart from your Amazon listings. There's also you could have a different UPC that you use on Walmart versus Amazon. I'm not sure that's going to last forever, but it does. It is a good way to keep Amazon from price matching your items. Carrie Miller: Let's see the next question here. Once copy is set up, products are properly categories and PPC is running, other than those two and those three tasks, what? What are other daily, weekly, monthly tasks that SellCord would do to make my Walmart business successful? What could a new customer expect to see SellCord to be working on every month in their account? David: So it's not just the copy on the categorization, there's also attributes. You know it's played a very big role, kind of spoke about, especially with items spec 5.0. And then PPC is really it's not a set end and forget. It's set up with Walmart. You know you want to make sure that you're constantly, you know, revisiting PPC, checking in daily, seeing how things are going, what's doing better, what's doing worse, especially at launch. It's so important to be tweaking things, you know. You see, we didn't really talk PPC strategy much, but learning what's happening, especially if you're new to Walmart, you can't just expect things to be a certain way. Every account, every listing has its own history, which is just so complex. It makes things so much fun just to be able to learn within each account. There's also constant work that you can do just to see like copy as well. It's not a set and I forget it situation. You want to test something out. You want to learn more keywords and implement them into your copy. You want to try out different categories, different product types, to see if you can succeed in different areas as well. There's also just working with brands to discuss promotion strategies, to just continuously work and figure things out. There's also constant audits you have to do on your listings. David: Walmart is like I'm not going to say notorious. It doesn't sound nice, but your images could just revert back. Your variation could split up your copy. If you have multiple paragraphs, it's squished into one paragraph. These things happen all the time. There's constant audits that you have to do just to make sure your things are, your content is good, and then it's just about primarily utilizing PPC as well as just promotional strategies to grow and grow, and there's also a lot of tracking information you know you have many items you want to be able to see. Let's say, keyword tracking. You know how. Am I ranking for my main keywords? Am I doing well overall? Is there more opportunity? Do I need to go more aggressively? Because even in ads like, are you ROAS focused or are you trying to just grow general sales? There's so much to go, depending on your strategy, Just like we deal with many, many different size accounts. We deal with accounts that are doing literally $5,000,10,000 a month. And then there's also nine figure Walmart sellers. You know that are PPC isn't necessarily their larger thing. It's about like having a strong pricing strategy because they have to win by $1. And then, not even having big margins, they just have to just make units sell. So so many different strategies depending on the count types. Carrie Miller: All right. Last question what program is best for keywords on Walmart and for optimizing your listing in general? David: Okay, so I'm a little biased over here, folks. So obviously Helium 10 is a fantastic tool for any keyword research. I live in Cerebro and Magnet. The fact that they're available for Walmart, I love it. It shows you. I mean, the amount of data that's in there is just fascinating. You can learn immediately what your top keywords are for your product. They have a search volume which is so impactful. It shows you historical so you can see, since it's seasonality, you can see one was this product doing well. It gives you the past, like two years or something like that's great. It'll really show you like where and when you can expect to do well. You also have to do the work you can't just like go here's everything. Do the work, make sure you're not hitting branded keywords, make sure they're relevant to your product, obviously. But it is really solid in terms of just keyword research, very, very highly recommended. In terms of optimization auger listings program-wise. I am also biased here, but that's just because this is what we do. We do listing optimization as a company, so obviously I'm going to plug SellCord, Carrie does Helium 10 have some sort of like AI tool to optimize listings for Walmart. Carrie Miller: So we do. We have a Listing Builder and as you, basically, you put the keywords in a keyword bank and then, as you write them into your listing, they get crossed off, so you make sure that they're fully optimized. So yeah, we have a Listing Builder that will help you to optimize using the keywords you find with Cerebro for Walmart. David: I'm sure it's fantastic. I mean, obviously we have a self core strategy, but I mean you guys make amazing tools. Definitely give it a shot. Carrie Miller: All right, that's all we have. Thank you so much, David, for answering all those questions. We had a lot of great questions, and definitely David's the you know the best to ask all these amazing questions too. So thank you so much, David, for being on. And again, if you are interested in SellCord, David, can you say your email address and how they can get in contact with you again? David: For sure. You can send us an email to david@sellcord.com S-E-L-L-C-O-R-D.com. You can do info@sellcord.com. If you want just more general, hit us up. Visit our website. Sign up over there. There's a lot to talk about. Carrie Miller: All right, sounds good. Thank you everyone for joining and we hope you have a great rest of the day. Bye, everyone.
“We always tried to follow the idea that the team concept was more important than the individual and that the student came before the player.”Coach Bob Tattersall, longtime athletic director, teacher, and the winningest high school football coach in the State of Delaware, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Coach T discusses his decision to join the Friends community in 1968, the characteristics of a successful coach and athletic director, what it's been like to share the WFS experience with his children and grandchildren, and why he continues to give his time towards WFS. Enjoy!
“It's the hope that all of us, every kid in that room, has the power to be a genius, to be extraordinary, to make a difference no matter where they are.” Rick Grier Reynolds, a longtime WFS teacher and the creator of the Global Peace and Justice course, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Rick discusses his decision to join the WFS community in 1969, why his trip to Cyprus was life-changing in 1973, creating the Global Peace and Justice Course in 1979, and his current work with the Alternatives to Violence Project. Enjoy!
Guest: Carmen James Randolph, President and CEO of the Women's Foundation of the SouthDiscussion Highlights: Challenges in philanthropy, effective strategies for social change, and success stories from WFS.Key Takeaways: Insights on leadership, the importance of community in philanthropic endeavors, and actionable advice for those looking to make a difference.Call to Action: Learn how to support the Women's Foundation of the South. Visit WFS's website and follow them on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.Engagement: Subscribe to the RISE Urban Nation Podcast, share this episode, and join the movement towards an empowered and equitable South.Tune in for an enlightening discussion that not only highlights the pivotal role of women in leading social change but also inspires each of us to contribute to a more just and equitable society. Join the Movement with RISE Urban Nation Podcast
Guest: Carmen James Randolph, President and CEO of the Women's Foundation of the SouthDiscussion Highlights: Challenges in philanthropy, effective strategies for social change, and success stories from WFS.Key Takeaways: Insights on leadership, the importance of community in philanthropic endeavors, and actionable advice for those looking to make a difference.Call to Action: Learn how to support the Women's Foundation of the South. Visit WFS's website and follow them on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.Engagement: Subscribe to the RISE Urban Nation Podcast, share this episode, and join the movement towards an empowered and equitable South.Tune in for an enlightening discussion that not only highlights the pivotal role of women in leading social change but also inspires each of us to contribute to a more just and equitable society. Join the Movement with RISE Urban Nation Podcast
Carmen's parents were her role models, and through them, she learned early on about the resilience, strength, and struggles embodied by women of color, who encountered constant micro-aggressions and racism, and about the critical role supportive fathers play in raising a budding feminist. Over the course of her 25-year career in philanthropy, she has worked hard to successfully galvanize funders, donors, policymakers, and grassroots activists to forever change lives, systems, and communities for good. She is particularly passionate about building prosperity for women and girls of color and firmly believes in the ineffable power a sisterhood holds to support, nurture, and amplify one another – this is why she always makes a point of collaborating with other women in philanthropy to inspire and guide each other. She is presently a fellow in the Aspen Institute and the Neighborhood Funder's Group Philanthropy Forward initiative, and was recently invited to join Fortune's Most Powerful Women Membership. In August 2021, she was thrilled to take on the role of Founding President and CEO of a ground-breaking new foundation, Women's Foundation of the South. Founded by and created for women and girls of color in the South, WFS boldly revolutionizes gender and racial justice in the Southern U.S. and beyond. WFS is dedicated to building the health and well-being, wealth and legacy, and power of womxn of color and girls in the South. So far, WFS has succeeded beautifully: WFS has already raised over $6M and provided $350k in grants to 52 women-of-color-led nonprofits in the South. She continues to count on sisterhood – womxn who approach philanthropy as a partnership. These networks have expanded her knowledge, connections in the field, and relationships with various players. Given the political divisiveness that now reigns in our country, and the assault on the agency of a womxn's body with Roe v Wade overturned, reproductive rights at risk, and with the social justice movement still cresting, the work of WFS has never been more important. To transform lives - of 2.5 million womxn in the South, at that - Women's Foundation of the South believes that women-of-color-led organizations are where you should place your trust and investment. Carmen is a proud mother of three young adults, and she lives in New Orleans with her husband and family, where they delight in the vibrant culture of the city. She was named one of the Top Women Leaders of Louisiana for 2024.
On this Bonus episode we joined Daisy Byron, Clare Fletcher & 160+ first responders from 31 fire and rescue services across the UK for an adventure in the peak district. hear about how this whole event came about and how to get involved yourself. You can download FREE RESOURCES HEREYou can connect with Daisy at womenwanderers999@outlook.comJoin the Facebook Page for Women Wanderers 999We only feature the latest 200 episodes of the podcast on public platforms so to access our podcast LIBRARY, every Debrief & document CLICK HEREPODCAST GIFT - Get your FREE subscription to essential Firefighting publications HEREA big thanks to our partners for supporting this episode.GORE-TEX Professional ClothingMSA The Safety CompanyPATROL STORE UKHAIX FootwearROAM all Natural Meat SnacksGRENADERIP INTO Podcast ApparelLyfe Linez - Get Functional Hydration FUEL for FIREFIGHTERS, Clean no sugar for daily hydration. 80% of people live dehydrated and for firefighters this costPlease support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew
This episode features Andrew McConnell who engaged the WFS platinum sponsor, the Corum Group, to sell his company “Rented”. Rented provided a premium vacation rental management software-as-a-service. Andrew is a writer and event speaker as well as a CEO and founder. Listen in to hear how he balanced launching his book, “Get Out Of My Head”, at the same time he was selling Rented. Get his advice for living the life you want today. Plus learn about his new health span initiative “Alively”, all on this episode of Tech Exits.
Dick Kittle, who has been working at Wilmington Friends School since 1975 in a variety of roles, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Coach Kittle discusses his decision to work at Friends in 1975, what he enjoyed most about teaching history, coaching his children in lacrosse and football, and why he continues to give his time towards WFS. Enjoy!
The FRL crew is live from Pennsylvania to break down all six men's and women's freestyle weights at the Olympic Trials. Send in user submissions and questions to FRLsubmissions@flosports.tv! (0:00) audio issues hampered the introduction of today's show (0:45) fun and easy banter (5:33) Carter Starocci up at 86 kg (9:40) MFS 57 kg (23:32) MFS 65 kg (35:10) MFS 74 kg (53:20) MFS 86 kg (59:00) MFS 97 kg (1:00:02) MFS 125 kg (1:08:25) WFS 50 kg (1:10:35) WFS 53 kg (1:14:12) WFS 62 kg (1:16:00) WFS 57 kg (1:17:10) WFS 68 kg (1:19:17) WFS 76 kg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sarah Schenck Maheshwari '90, who currently serves as the Executive Director for ChristianaCare's Center for Virtual Health, joined the Quaker Matters Podcast. In this episode, Sarah discusses her time as a student here at Wilmington Friends, her decision to enter the medical field after college, the importance of virtual healthcare, and what it's been like sharing the WFS experience with her four children.
Ever wonder what it takes to turn your Walmart product listings from lackluster to lucrative? Ryan King, the savvy CEO of BlueRyse, joins us on the airwaves to share his expert strategies for maximizing your presence on Walmart's digital shelves. Together, we navigate the intricacies of PPC, the subtleties of listing optimization, and the crucial metrics that could make or break your profits. Ryan's advice, drawn from the cutting-edge tools of Helium 10, affords a masterclass in finessing your financials and leveraging Walmart's ever-growing online platform for unparalleled brand growth and diversification. In the vast sea of selling at Walmart, standing out is an art form, and we've got the brushes and palette to help you paint a masterpiece with your product listings. Our journey reveals how to ensure your offerings are not just indexed, but also scoring high on Walmart's listing quality score. We cover all bases from the precision of backend attributes to the finesse required in product type optimization. We also dissect the importance of competitive pricing and swift delivery, how to ace the A/B testing game, and even how Walmart's fulfillment services can provide a much-needed boost in ranking. As the curtain falls on this episode, we've left no stone unturned in the realm of Walmart PPC and the emerging tactics of brand conquesting. Imagine targeting competitor brand terms, a concept newly possible on Walmart, and the advantage it hands you in the grand chessboard of ecommerce. Wrapping up with a flourish, we dabble in the complexities of SEM strategies and the nuances of bidding wars, closing with a heartfelt word of thanks to Ryan for his insights. So, tune in and equip yourself with the secrets to selling success on one of the world's most formidable marketplaces. In episode 546 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie and Ryan discuss: 00:00 - Walmart Listing Optimization for Increased Sales 01:47 - Expert Insights on Walmart Brand Performance 04:54 - Leveraging Social Proof in E-Commerce 08:58 - Optimizing Search Terms on E-Commerce Platforms 12:48 - Maximizing eCommerce Channel Expansion 18:07 - PPC Strategies & Updates for Walmart 24:19 - Untapped Brand Defense Opportunities 29:42 - Expanding Opportunities in Walmart Marketplace 32:36 - Optimizing Walmart PPC Bidding Strategies 36:26 - Tips for Completing Applications Successfully 40:00 - Secret Strategies Ryan Uses ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: Walmart PPC and Listing Optimization Strategies to increase sales on the Walmart marketplace. This and so much more on today's episode. Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. What was your gross sales yesterday, last week, last year? More importantly, what are your profits after all your cost of selling on Amazon? Did you pay any storage charges to Amazon? How much did you spend on PPC? Find out these key metrics and more by using the Helium 10 tool Profits For more information, go to H10.me/profits. Carrie Miller: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast brought to you by Helium 10. My name is Carrie and I will be your host, and this is our Winning with Walmart Wednesday, where we go over all things Walmart, we tell you the latest and greatest news about Walmart, we answer your questions and we have an amazing Walmart expert guest. I'm going to just tell you a little bit about some Helium 10 tools, because I haven't really mentioned these a lot lately. I wanted to make sure that everyone is aware that Helium 10 does have a lot of amazing tools that support Walmart. So we have X-Ray. It's going to help you with sales estimates and so much more. We have our Cerebro and Magnet tools that help you find amazing keywords for your listings. We also have our Profits tool and our Keyword Tracking tool. In addition to that, we have Adtomic, which is our paper click advertising management software, so that is extremely helpful. We've added day parting and a lot of other amazing things to Adtomic, so it's definitely the best it's ever been and highly recommend checking that out if you haven't checked it out. All right. So today I want to bring on our guest, and I'm really, really excited to have him on today and his name is Ryan King, and so thanks so much for being on. Ryan is a CEO and co-founder of BlueRyse, which is a Walmart agency, and I've actually known Ryan for a few years now. We met at the Billion Dollar Seller Summit and we definitely connected on Walmart stuff, so he's definitely an expert in the field and I'm really excited for him to share all of his knowledge with everyone today. I know he was on last year, but for anyone, Ryan, that doesn't know you, can you go ahead and tell a little bit about yourself to the audience? Ryan: Certainly. Yeah, thanks for having me on here, Carrie. Glad to be on this episode here of the Serious Sellers Podcast, specifically talking about Walmart. So yeah, BlueRyse is a full managed service agency focused specifically on Walmart. We've been operating with third party and first party brands since early 2020. And our focus is on everything from content optimization, ad management, catalog management, interfacing with Walmart personnel, all these other elements with regard to, ultimately, the focus of maximizing Walmart brand's performance on Walmart.com. Carrie Miller: I want to first start out and just ask you, because you've been in this Walmart game for quite some time, what do you think the main advantages are for third party sellers to start selling on Walmart and do you think it's a really good opportunity? Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. It's a great opportunity. I think the advantages have continued to grow over the years. They haven't diminished. One of the reasons we saw the opportunity on Walmart was as brand owners ourselves. We began and launched and grew brands on Amazon back in the day, starting in early 2013. And we were looking for ways to, as brand owners, de-risk a bit, diversify revenues back during the aggregator boom. Part of the factor was how do we increase multiples, all those kind of elements? I think all the principles remain the same as to why those would be advantages. If you're truly building a brand, then you're looking to identify what are the channels that make sense to increase sales, increase profits overall and to de-risk. So that's one advantage of finding other marketplaces, other channels to sell through. Beyond that, there's just the fact that Walmart is pushing heavy and has been pushing heavy into the online marketplace space. They understand that for them as a business, as a retailer, while they're the number one retailer in the world, e-commerce certainly has been a major growth factor for others competitors like Amazon and everybody else, and so Walmart understands that they need to compete in the digital shelf. That means they want more sellers, they want a broader assortment, they want great products so that more shoppers come and have a great experience. So that has led to Walmart heavily focusing on building out their third-party marketplace over the last several years. I would say a couple other that come to mind social proof and reviews and ratings have been always on the forefront of e-commerce sellers' minds, especially in the Amazon space, such large motes. I haven't looked at this example in a while, but earbuds, Bluetooth earbuds. When I looked at it, probably two years ago, the average review count for Bluetooth earbuds on page one for Amazon was somewhere around 40,000. At the time, the average review count for that keyword, which was a high volume keyword, on Walmart was around 800. And so just the opportunity to enter the market. You know, if you had wished you had. You know the buzz for a long time was Walmart is Amazon of 2012 or whatever it may be. Walmart is in its own right of maturing marketplace these days, but the opportunity still exists. In that way, I think, the other ones. There is a bit of a different shopper base, and so if you have a broader assortment, your heroes on Amazon or other marketplaces may also translate to be your heroes on Walmart and you can just get a continued growth of that assortment. However, we also do see because it is a different shopper, a different marketplace, sometimes some other products that may not be performing as well in your catalog on Amazon might be your top performers on Walmart for various reasons, and so it breeds new life into your catalog, potentially. And then, finally, if you really want to identify ways of growing the brand, and maybe brick and mortar retail is a desire of yours at some point, then there is a credible pathway to getting products into brick and mortar. We work with brands all the time. Who that is part of their play, whether they've begun with conversations with merchants first, and it's a let's test and see and let's get it in, or if they're native e-commerce or D to C first, and they're, they're engaging with us in order to optimize and maximize performance planning on that conversation in the future. We see those dots connect quite consistently to at least get a conversation. So all the above and then, for those who have FOMO you know, to kind of trigger the FOMO, that it's, it's a bit of this is the opportunity to get in now, even if it's maybe a mid to longer term play for some brands. Get in now while you, while the opportunity is there, while there's more access to account managers and others who are aligned incentives with you, to get your assortment online on their marketplace. Carrie Miller: Yeah, amazing, yeah, those are all really amazing reasons. The next question I have for you is you know, people are always wanting to know how can I, you know, increase my sales on Walmart. So what are some strategies you have for listing, optimization and just increasing sales on Walmart? Ryan: Yeah, you know, I know a lot of these have probably been covered repeated ways, but it bears repeating again would be step number 1 is making sure you're not just If you're gonna, if it is a secondary or tertiary marketplace in your mindset and strategy and you're not paying attention to the unique ways you need to optimize for Walmart, then unless you're kind of the you hit the trend at the right time in the in the search volume at the right time, Walmart with an optimized listing, you're not gonna see great sales lift. And so Step one would be, know the Walmart marketplace. Understand how the algorithm works, understand what product listing optimization means, understand that it needs to be original for Walmart's marketplace and how that impacts sales. And so if I was looking and we can talk about I know we've talked about this several times in the past to some key things to look at, let's just jump forward and assume you're on the marketplace, you're trying to grow sales in your troubleshooting, first step I go to is on the listing itself. Or actually the first step would be double check search term volumes, and this is easy. Segue into talking more about Helium 10 tools, because that's what we use is look at your category. One simple way to do it you can either start with your own listing or you start with competitive listings. But one way we like to do it is as well as you go to Walmart.com, go to the category and sort by bestseller, you'll probably get a lot of 1P brands, meaning in store brands, those they're popping up at the top list. But go ahead and pull up X-ray if you have Helium 10 X-ray and scrape the Top 10 out of there and then plug those in, analyze them through Cerebral and get that, that search term volume list, and identify where are the search volumes? Are you optimized for those? One thing to call out if you're in a consumable space or anything that might be more related to grocery, for example, Amazon search volumes, you might have found success with different types of search terms. But there might be high volume search terms on Walmart you haven't even optimized for Because Amazon wasn't a grocery first type marketplace or that type of place. So there's, there can be high volume keywords that would not even exist really On the Amazon marketplace that are going to be high drivers on Walmart. So identify, get, make sure you're looking at the right search terms. Secondly is just make sure you're indexing and ranking before you even think about ranking. Are you indexing? And one of the fundamental areas that you've got to look at to make sure you're indexing properly is your category. Are you on the right shelf path? But if you go into growth opportunities and you click on your listing in your kind of table of products that show up there product type widget will show up and look at that product type and I didn't try and identify. Is this the right? Does this fit? Product type determines what the back end attributes are on your listing that you need to fill out and, just as a quick aside, you need to fill those out as exhaustively as possible. It's only getting more and more important to do so. While your listing quality score is not as heavily Impacted by attributes as it used to be, your visibility and relevance are, and they only increase increasingly. Be so. So fill those all out. If, even if it's a not applicable, you know, even if it's saying sports team and you're a toothpaste brand, you know, make sure you just say none are not applicable, whatever is there, and then test the product type. We've talked about this in the past and we can talk about it again if you like. But testing that makes sure your listings are optimized. So the algorithm on Walmart's giving you quantitative feedback Between your content, which is your back end attributes, your title, images of long and short descriptions, and are you at? You get mostly ranking benefits around 80%. But if your long term play is really to be best in class and to open up other doors with potential features and other things, 95% or higher is your goal offer. So price parity with other marketplaces is key, and speed of delivery. So, whether it's using something like a deliver, we heavily recommend just using Walmart fulfillment services. They continue to get broader distribution. You're instantly credited in the score with utilizing theirs and getting 2 day delivery. So use the levers that Walmart's given you on the marketplace, and we can talk further about other ways. If someone's listening saying I've done all that, I'm at 95%. I don't know what else to optimize. We're using WFS. There are other things to continue to do. We could talk about whether that's how do you look at imagery in a way to convert? How do you utilize advertising? How do you drive external traffic to listings? What's its impact? We go a variety of ways. Maybe the last thing I'll say, though, is the first question. The last thing I'll say is maybe the first question you should ask yourself is what's your overall business case? So sometimes we have sellers come to us and they're saying I don't want to do anything, Amazon's my main channel. I would like to sell in Walmart. What can I do? And there's going to be certain limitations. If you're saying I don't, price is going to be determined by my other marketplace, not by Walmart, or something like that, you've got to be aware of those and what you're long, how the impacts, the levers you can pull on Wal-Mart. Now there's some interesting features coming out, like couponing and different things that can maybe allow for greater flexibility there. Carrie Miller: Can you talk a little bit about how to product AB test your product type, because I know you mentioned that In there. Just how to optimize, because I know you know certain product types reach more keywords. So how do you just keep track of the keywords that you? Maybe you Get impressions for an ad or like how do you really determine which one has better keyword reach? Ryan: You can do. There's various methods. It's whether you're doing advertising. You're just saying we're not. We're not getting on to your goal when you're running advertising for any keyword. Really, if you're using search and grid, which is a sponsored product, that's what most people are thinking about when they're leveraging advertising on Walmart, you're competing for Page 1. It makes sense that from a conversion standpoint, most people aren't going to Page 2, Page 3, but literally you're competing for Page 1 because the Top 4 positions are awarded potentially for the keywords in the categories for sponsored product and the next 2 out of every 10. But you've got, on average, around 40 products on Page 1 of the listing of the search results. Those same positions are being repeated across every page. There is no, I didn't get position 1 Page 1. Maybe I'll get position 1, Page 2. Position 1, Page 1 is repeated across every page. You've got to compete for those top positions. In order to do that, keyword relevancy matters. You'll get the signals If I'm showing up and position 200 from my ad reports or whatever. Or if you're using Helium 10 again and Keyword Ranking Tracking and maybe turn on boost for those keywords where it may be and track on a real-time basis best you can, how you're performing on those keywords. Obviously, make sure it's in your title. Title has the highest ranking, has historically had the highest ranking influence on keywords. You can only get about 1 or 2 in there because you don't want keyword stuff. Then in your description both points, all those things as well. Make sure it's in your listing. If it's in description and key features, repeated just a couple of times, make sure it's readable and flows naturally. Once you've made sure it's in there, then track, get your baseline. It's not truly an experiment if you didn't really record ahead of time. Am I running an experiment? Otherwise, we use the word experiment like when we just tried something and failed but we don't know what we learned. Get your baseline, see what your rankings were. Before you try something, use Helium 10's Keyword Tracker. Then go into growth opportunities, go into pick that listing, get to that middle widget that says product type. Make sure you record which one you are right now. I've used this example in the past with you, Carrie, I believe. But one case study we did was involving a client who was in herbal supplements. Their product type it was an herbal supplement and their product type was actually an herbal supplement. The product type was a one-to-one exact match. You would assume this is the best product type to be in, but we weren't indexing for them, no matter what we did for probably 10 to 15 major keywords that we knew they should get. We went to that widget. You pick. I think it's a reporting issue. It doesn't say switch product type or anything. You have to click the link that says reporting issue. It'll give you usually 4 to 5 choices of other product type. You think it is. Basically what it's doing is creating a support ticket for you and you can submit that request of change. It's not a guarantee that it'll happen, but persistence pays off. We recommend making requests of that change once you've been informed that changes happen. Then watch for us. What we saw was in that product, all the keywords we needed were instantly indexing for and began ranking within the first couple of pages of results. That was the beginning of the journey. That's a general standard practice for us in making sure we're in the right product type as well. Carrie Miller: All right, that's really good. Yeah, that's a really good strategy. I've used your example many times because people ask me about that a lot. Usually, when they get in the right product type, they start to see a lot more traction. Thanks for sharing that. I want to get into advertising because we haven't talked a lot about PPC on Walmart, on our podcast here for Walmart. I think a lot of people have questions about it. I wanted to just get your. I know you have some basic strategies or just thoughts about PPC and then also some new things that are coming that you think people should take advantage of. Then, once we're done with that, we'll get into some questions from the audience. Ryan: By way of really brief recap for those that have been around the Walmart space, I've heard of it over the past couple of years. A lot of people were shy about getting into Walmart PPC in the earlier days because it used to be a first bid auction, which meant fundamentally different than how you would be used to utilizing Amazon. Whatever you bid is what you paid. People were just blowing through their entire budget because they were trying to figure out if they could get a keyword to rank and they thought if I just spend more, I'll get placement. In those cases they were bidding $4 a click and they were winning position 40. They were getting the click and they were spending $4 for a click on position 40. The good news is shift to second bid auction. That's been around for quite a bit now. Really, what you're talking about when we're talking about PPC is fundamentally you've got a sponsored product, which is broken down into two types of campaigns: auto and manual. You've got search and grid placement. You've got item carousels that you can get in search results. You can get item carousels on product detail pages as well as next to the buy box placement. You've got on the manual campaigns, you've got exact match, phrase match and broad match, then auto campaign is what it sounds like. You're letting the algorithm do its thing. You've got some placement modifiers. You can do modifiers for app, desktop and mobile. In some other ways you can tweak things. The big thing to know still with Walmart PPC is it's heavily influenced by algorithms. Determination of are you relevant for those keywords, and so that has a. I mean that's common practice and most ad retail media platforms. But it's a heavy influencer on Walmart. So you do need to approach it from an organic signal, cell signals as well as PPC. When you're trying to rank through PPC you just can't spend your way to the top. You need to be in striking distance. The top 256 organic ranking results qualify for placement and searching grid, but you're ultimately trying to outperform whoever's in position at least 40, or at least position 30. And so it's usually a hand and glove kind of operation of how you're going to drive signals to the platform for purchase intent, showing that relevancy, and then continue increase your PPC so that you're stair stepping your way up to, ideally, somewhere in those first four positions or somewhere on that page 1. Carrie Miller: How do you get to those 200 and it's 256?, like if you're at spot 300, how do you get down to that spot? Ryan: Yeah, it depends. It's really specific on the categories. You know, the one other element when we're talking about keywords and search volumes on Walmart is there's not as many long tail keywords. The keywords just don't go as long. So you're probably going to see a significant drop off on volumes after some of the major keywords in a lot of categories. Maybe long tails, around two to three keywords long, are going to start dropping off significantly. As kind of a frame of reference, we would say, if you can find keywords up over, if you're finding 10 keywords in your category that are relevant to you, up over 7000 in search volume, that's pretty good. There's. There are ones way bigger, but identifying those to go for to get in the top 256, you may pretty quickly already appear there. I would say pick your, maybe not the biggest keyword to put in your title right away, but maybe that second tier keyword to put it in your title and some other places, and then plan on changing it over time as you grow. But some ways to drive traffic you know whether a lot of sellers already have, whether it's influencer traffic, whether it's Google ads traffic, whatever else, if you already have a traffic funnel that's leaning to DTC or anywhere else. Consider splitting a little bit of that traffic over for a period of time to Walmart at least, and you'll be rewarded. A lot of the signals of external traffic are rewarded heavily on Walmart behaviors like certainly purchase, but even behaviors like we've, you know, add to cart purchase. Any of those elements are signals that register with the algorithm and help sending signals of relevancy to get you in that top 256. The biggest one being someone searches, finds your products and purchases. So anything you can do to do that is a big help to get that going. Carrie Miller: All right, that's very interesting. And then also, you've mentioned conquesting as something everyone should be doing. Could you just explain what that is on Walmart and you know how people can start utilizing this? Ryan: Historically you could not do brand cron questing on Walmart. You can't. You obviously can't put trademark terms in your listings. That's just a copyright issue but an advertising. Until just very recently you haven't even been able to brand conquest. Really, there's kind of some ways around that. But now you can kind of the headline. So what we'd recommend is for those brands that are starting to show some relevancy or do things and you know there are heavily branded search terms on Walmart. We've noticed Walmart is leans typically more in a lot of categories towards branded search terms with high volume. So this has been untapped opportunity for a lot of brands. Unless you're running an auto campaign to get you, you get buy box placement, you know, just under their buy box on their PDP. So now you can actually set up a manual search, a manual campaign, and you have to have, you have to use exact match keywords and you can use. Just put in every variation of that brand name in there and you can win. You can't win position 1 or 2 with that brand, but you can get beyond position 2. In most cases you're eligible to actually show up in grid for their terms and so that's one that most brands that have not been playing defense as much may still be asleep on right now. So it's a good opportunity, at least for now, until some of those brands start allocating defensive budget in that way, those brands will be again because of relevancy and how it impacts how much you have to pay to win versus someone else that's more relevant. Brands are going to effectively get a discount for defending themselves because they're the most relevant one, so they're going to have to pay less than you to defend. But if they're not really bidding on it at all, this is a great opportunity. Carrie Miller: I think that's really exciting because I haven't actually done that strategy at all yet. So I'm going to definitely get on that today and see what I can find, because I have found so many branded search terms that I think would be really great to target in the past, but I wasn't able to. So that's really good, okay, so let's go ahead and get into questions from the audience. So I'm going to start with this question here. It says I have two questions. So what type of keywords are better for sponsored and manual campaigns? And I guess that's one. Ryan: I would kind of say what I said earlier probably is it depends on what stage of the lifecycle you're in at Walmart. So if you're trying to build relevancy and it's a new product without much sales history yet, I would probably recommend starting with exact and maybe phrase in a manual campaign of those kind of second tier keywords. Go after the long, the longer tail, build the relevancy there. Every conversion is going to help with relevancy of other keywords in your listings. So begin and stair step up. Another great strategy is at the same time you might want to often will will wait a little bit to do auto campaigns or maybe do it also at the at the same time that we're starting some manuals, but with a low spin threshold, so it doesn't go crazy and pick unirrelevant keywords, irrelevant keywords, but using ultimately gold. Also be using automatic keyword campaigns or automatic campaigns to harvest the performing keywords into your manual and put those into exact match. And then the last tip I would give is using the bid modifiers in manual campaigns to really kind of take over. If you have auto campaigns as well, manual campaigns are going to perform really well in search grid and so you want your manual campaigns really doing the work for those high, high volume keywords in your grid versus maybe your auto. So that'd be a few of the tips I'd give you. Carrie Miller: Let's go to the next one. It says I heard you say that more 1P sellers for more might be moving to 3P. Is that good or bad for other sellers? Ryan: I certainly thought I didn't. I don't recall saying it, but I made up. Yeah, so the Walmart basically is leveraging the third party marketplace for a lot of reasons. One of those is historically with 1P Brands, meaning brands that Walmart has entered into a contract relationship with, where they're owning inventory and setting the retail price, those things. One of the ways that Walmart wanted to test out more of the assortment with a brand, develop a meaningful relationship, would be they would select a small subset of the products, get them in-store and distribute or online and Walmart would manage everything. Then they used to tell brands that they would do. Another program called DSV. I won't go into all of it, but it was still in an owned relationship. What we've seen is a shift more towards merchants, buyers, telling brands to put the remainder of their catalog on the third party marketplace now that it's become more mature. Is it good or bad for sellers? On one hand, good in that as you have more recognizable established brands continue to increase their assortment on the marketplace. That's bringing more shoppers, more eyeballs to the marketplace. That's good for everybody. Bad, meaning more competitive. Advertising on keywords, certainly retail media ad spend we've seen increase year over year as Walmart grows the program. That's the natural life cycle of any platform. It will certainly get more competitive. Margin's may decrease over time. If you maybe have had your business model has been dropshipping and just trying to find those places where 1P brands are there's gaps, where 1P brands aren't really owning the marketplace. I still think there's a lot of opportunity there on the third party marketplace, but they're starting to catch wind of it on Walmart as well. There's challenges there bit of both. I think there's plenty of opportunity as Walmart's marketplace continues to grow. I don't think we need to be worried right now about, are you getting squeezed out of any opportunity? This is still early stages on Walmart's marketplace. Carrie Miller: I agree there's still tons of opportunity. The next thing is is there a way to get your products from WFS or Walmart probably into in-store? Do you have to apply or be invited to have your products in Walmart stores? I think this is a good question because it seems like with open call, it's just US products, but is there a way for products that are made in other countries? If you can expand on just that whole process, I think a lot of people are curious about this. Ryan: Yeah, you mentioned open call, which is for US manufacturers. There's been different times where I think two years ago, two to three years ago, they gave FirstBot at the Apple to Walmart marketplace sellers. They got to apply first and got an opportunity. Outside of that opportunity there is if you're growing an account, if you're seeing sales and showing volume, showing growth. Some of the stepping stones would be identifying if you could get an account manager or a strategic account manager to work with on your account, identifying category manager, somebody else to begin discussions with. That starts with usually getting opportunities turned on and growth opportunities, whether that's seasonal promotions, whether that's flash picks, other elements as you continue to invest and show performance there. Walmart's team they are brick and mortar team and they're a marketplace team or basically one team. A lot of buyers and merchants will look across their whole category, even on the third party marketplace, as they're evaluating opportunity. These conversations could happen and you could ask for an introduction. We've had clients that have just a category manager. Somebody else has reached out and said would you be interested in talking with a merchant about potential opportunity for in-store? There's a lot of pathways. I don't think there's a defined Walmart's probably not going to lay out for you. Here's how every marketplace seller can contact a merchant but continue to invest in sales and growth on Walmart marketplace and those conversations certainly can happen. Carrie Miller: Yeah, that's exactly what I always hear from Walmart directly. They say to prove it on the marketplace, basically All right. Next, this is a good question: Any insights on the new SEM feature? Will that feature help ranking or index on keywords used as a GG search, maybe Google search? Ryan: We've had a few that we've worked, we've tested out. Sem. Vertic is still out right now in the early stages. Any kind of early testing. As far as depending on the goal, if the goal was measured by, do we see direct conversion at a higher row, as than you would for sponsored products, which is lower in the ads funnel, more towards conversion anyway than earlier consideration steps in the funnel. It's a lower conversion at this point but there are potential advantages. I'm still waiting to clarify this element. I believe it's true, but again because we haven't worked with a lot of resellers or people that are competing with others for their own buy box. I did hear in a recent webinar and I haven't been able to go back and fact check again by one of the product developers for SEM that one of the impacts of SEM is that you could run SEM even when you're not presently in the buy box and you could drive traffic to your instance to get the sale. For those who are struggling to win buy box, that may be a pathway to getting more sales and conversions by ads aren't going to serve on marketplace when you don't have buy box but if you're running SEM. It sounded like and again I need to. I try and fact check everything before I say it and I heard it said once and I want to make sure I heard it specifically, but that definitely perked me up and I need to go back and verify. I believe what was communicated was you can run SEM through Walmart when you're not in the buy box and direct to your instance of you owning the buy box when traffic gets there. That's one opportunity. Carrie Miller: Let's see. I've only been selling on Amazon since October. I have 9 reviews and 1 seller feedback. Is this enough to apply to sell on Walmart? Ryan: The exact criteria aren't shared publicly as to what is in that decision factor. There's a lot of factors. I'll see you all next video. What ultimate? I think that the safest thing to say is what Walmart's looking for is that you have established yourself as a company that shows that you're making good products, strong history of seller satisfaction, so customer support, and that you're a legitimate company looking to do business. The other factors they're looking for are your products, a meaningful addition to the marketplace? So are you adding products to the marketplace that makes sense to them? That's a really broad filter and subjective maybe. So I can't tell you what that looks like. If you have 9 reviews, maybe on one product and it hasn't been as long I'd probably have a lot more questions as to why you want to jump to Walmart at the moment. Maybe you see the opportunity and that might be the primary marketplace that you want to pivot to. Those are my initial thoughts. It'd be hard to answer further without knowing more context. Carrie, I don't know if you have any things. Carrie Miller: Well, they said something, too, about that. They have one product with multiple variations, and I actually have seen other sellers that have one product with multiple variations get on there as well because it's a new, interesting product or really something that would work well on Walmart. So it is really dependent on that, and I've seen some people get on very easily, having not sold for very long, and then others have a harder time. So it is kind of interesting how it's a little bit subjective on there. Ryan: And what? Carrie Miller: Definitely want to be established. Make sure all of your stuff is matching. That's the biggest thing. Your address needs to match and everything needs to be tight on your application. But yeah, anything else that you want to add. Ryan: Yeah, no, sorry for stepping on you there. Yeah, no, that was basically what I was going to say too. If you get an initial reject, don't assume that is because a human looked at your application and determined you were not a fit. A lot of the rejections can happen because the bot has looked at, maybe your information, has did not match between what you submitted and what maybe is included in your business documentation. To illustrate the point is we talked about 1P brands coming over to a three P marketplace at the request of merchants. We still get 1P brands that get rejected when they've applied on their own to 3P marketplace after they've been through even more rigorous vetting because they're in a 1P relationship already. So the bots may trip on it and it's worth reaching back out to try and appeal if you need. Even if you get the message of there is no appeal, there are usually ways to find out. Carrie Miller: And I'm going to just take one last question. We've had a lot of amazing questions. We're kind of running out of time here, so this one is what bidding strategies have you found most effective for optimizing Walmart PPC campaigns, and why? Ryan: Big question yeah. Carrie Miller: That's all I'd like to just answer. Ryan: We could do a whole another episode on this one Bidding strategy found most effective optimizing PPC campaigns. So depends again what your goal. What do you mean by optimizing? Do you mean optimizing for growth, which is going to be a lower TACos, ACoS, low RoAS, potentially because you're looking to increase market share and it's a longer play? In that case, that sponsored brand, sponsored video. I didn't talk about sponsored video. If you're looking for what's the quick wins with a higher ROAS, things like look in your category, look at the search terms Our other brands are already using sponsored video. There'll be one placement on mobile or on desktop for that search term on any page, and if you're not seeing those, that's low hanging fruit. I would go for a sponsored brand. You've got to be brand registered first, but once you're brand registered, you can create sponsored video ads. So that's one way out. Optimize I would just make sure that to optimize a PPC campaign, I think that the basics of making sure your listing is relevant and make sure your listing is optimized first, and so that'd be one major factor that we see just a lot of brands miss. They think they've got the bid strategy right and that they've got the campaign architecture correct. But if you don't have high relevancy already for those keywords, you're not going to take a lot of ground. So in general I would say you want to, in any given campaign, not oversaturate your ad groups and not oversaturate with keywords in each ad group. So maybe up to five keywords in an ad group and maybe three to five ad groups in a campaign so that you can be tracking where that spend is really going and tweaking from there. But then I'd also say the biggest level ups we've seen is when you combine really the PPC optimization with organic. So blend consider offsite traffic advertising as well in some way to blend and improve the performance of PPC. So PPC will get cheaper for you when your relevancy grows and you'll be able to maintain it more. So that's often an efficient way to optimize a bit more. No otherwise to that. But I'll end there for now. Carrie Miller: Thank you again so much for joining us. I think this has been a really fantastic episode full of a lot of information for everyone. I'm sure everyone that's listening will want to go back and listen to this again. But thanks again for all of your expertise in sharing the secretive strategies and we really appreciate you and we'll probably hope to have you on again another time soon.
Scott Needham interviews Michael, the CEO and founder of SellCord, a Walmart agency. They discuss the growth and success of Walmart as an e-commerce platform, the reasons for brands to work with Walmart, and the opportunities for success in different categories. Michael shares insights on achieving category success on Walmart, optimizing listings, and using Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS). He also discusses Walmart's future and its competition with Amazon. Episode Notes: 00:30 - Introduction and Evolution of Walmart E-commerce 02:23 - Michael's Insights on Walmart in 202303:56 - Launching and Succeeding on Walmart04:03 - Understanding Walmart's Style Guides and Listing Optimization06:14 - Brand Success Stories and Strategies on Walmart07:40 - The Journey from Online Marketplace to In-Store Presence15:38 - Future Prospects for Walmart as an Online Marketplace18:09 - Key Tactics for Optimizing Walmart Listings19:50 - Walmart Tools and Data Utilization Strategies20:38 - Understanding and Leveraging Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) Website: https://www.sellcord.co/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-lebhar/
Have you heard the latest buzz about Walmart's marketplace? It's time to tune in as we chat with Michael Lebhar of SellCord, the brain behind the surge in sales for countless Walmart sellers. Our discussion is packed with strategies and insights, from exploring the alluring incentives for new sellers to the secrets of wielding the latest metrics to skyrocket your sales. Imagine mastering the art of ad automation or creating a brand shop that takes your visibility to new heights; that's exactly what we're unpacking in this episode. Michael and Carrie dissect Helium 10's Adtomic and its advanced features, designed to empower Walmart sellers with precision ad management. We're also sizing up the impact of Walmart Brand Shops on your sales figures. The conversation then shifts gears to the nitty-gritty of search engine marketing (SEM) and how Walmart's beta coupon program is shaking up the game – a potential goldmine for engaging customers. But wait, there's more! Are your listings primed to pull in buyers, or could they use a tactical tweak? We're laying out a blueprint to boost your presence and sales on Walmart's marketplace, emphasizing the vital role of high-converting keywords and how Walmart's Fulfillment Services (WFS) and flash deals can be your ace in the hole. We wrap up by dishing out pro tips on navigating Walmart's evolving landscape, from optimizing product categories for approval to the influence of title density on your Walmart listing's performance. Walmart sellers, buckle up – this episode is your roadmap to conquering Walmart's bustling bazaar. In episode 537 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie and Michael discuss: 00:00 - Selling on Walmart With Helium 10 00:56 - Winning with Walmart Wednesday: Incentives for New Sellers 03:15 - New Features for Walmart Sellers 04:47 - Walmart Seller Center Updates and Strategies 07:05 - Walmart Brand Shops and Marketing Strategies 08:17 - Success of Search Engine Marketing Strategy 11:28 - Strategies for Boosting Walmart Sales 13:35 - Boosting Sales Strategies on Walmart 14:49 - Optimizing Walmart Marketplace Sales Strategies 19:30 - Effective Keyword Campaign Strategies 21:43 - Walmart Strategies and Tips for Sellers 23:48 - Amazon Seller Approval Guidelines Update 28:53 - Optimizing Walmart Listings for Success ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: In today's episode, we are going to be talking with Michael Lebhar about strategies that sellers can utilize to help grow their sales on Walmart, and we're also going to be talking about some new metrics that Walmart has made available to sellers and how you can use them to your advantage. This and so much more on today's episode. Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. If you guys would like to network with other Walmart sellers, make sure to join our brand new Facebook group called Helium 10 Winning with Walmart. You can actually just search for that on Facebook or you can actually go to h10.me/walmartgroup and you can go directly to that page. So make sure to join. You can tag me and Carrie with questions and ask questions of other Walmart sellers or even share your own experiences in that Facebook group. Carrie Miller: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the serious sellers podcast brought to you by Helium 10. My name is Carrie and I'm going to be your host today, and this is our Walmart Wednesday, where we go over all of the things Walmart and we answer your questions live and we give you any updates that have to do with Walmart. So we'll go ahead and get into it. So today I do have a special guest that I'll announce in just a minute and he is going to be great for answering questions and I will answer some as well. But before I get into that, I wanted to talk about some incentives that Walmart is having for new sellers. So if you have been considering selling on the Walmart platform and you haven't pulled the trigger yet and you want to get into selling on Walmart, there is a really cool incentive right now. I'm going to put the link to this special deal because it's not for everyone. You have to apply through our Helium 10 link. Basically, what it is is, if you apply through this Helium 10 special link, then you can get up to 100% of the referral fees taken off, basically for 90 days. So you won't have to pay referral fees for literally up to 90 days, so actually up to 100% for 90 days. So the way that it works is basically everything that you do kind of unlocks something. So the first 50% off that you get off is you get 50% of the referral fees for just signing up and getting your products up and running, and then the 90 days start. Once you're up and running, then you get another 20% off your referral fees if you start utilizing Walmart Fulfillment Services. So that's WFS and you can enroll in that pretty easily. The next thing is you'll get another 20% off for using Walmart Connect, which is the ads platform, so you can start advertising on Walmart. And then, finally, if you want to start automating with the repricer, you can. You get another 10% if you start using the repress repricer. So that adds up to 100% off of your referral fees. Now, not everybody's going to use the repricer, so at least up to 90% off referral fees, which is absolutely incredible, such a good deal. So I will add that link in. So if you haven't started selling on Walmart and you really want to get started selling on Walmart, definitely click that link and take advantage of that. And this goes for US sellers and international sellers. So they're they're allowing anyone who clicks that link, that is a seller on, or wants to sell on Walmart and gets accepted, you can have that great deal. So that's great. Carrie Miller: And then the next thing helium 10. As you all know, we have Adtomic for Walmart, which is our ads program where we help you to manage your ads. It makes it a lot easier to manage your ads, and so we've added some rules and automations. You can now do day partying so you can advertise at certain parts of the day that are more profitable for you. You can add in bid rules. You can add a target, a cost max, impressions max, or you can create custom bid rules. So the new Add Tomic is absolutely incredible. If you want to book a demo, we'll also put that link below as well, because you can book a demo with one of our Helium 10 Adtomic experts that can help you. Not only you know, show you how it works, but then get you up and running on that. With ads. It's super easy. There's so many automations that will help you to manage your Walmart ads. All right, so I'm going to go ahead and get into our special guest, because I think a lot of you are very excited to have him on and his name is Michael Lebhar, so I'm going to go ahead and bring him on. Hello, Michael. Hey, so Michael Lebhar is from SellCord and many of you have seen him on Walmart Wednesday and a lot of other podcasts. He's been speaking, I pretty much all over the world, haven't you? He's been talking about selling on Walmart. He owns an agency called SellCord and he is doing really, really well on Walmart, has some products in stores, so we have a wealth of information available to us by just chatting with Michael. So thanks so much for joining us. What's up Michael? Michael: Thanks for having me here. It's fun to be back. Carrie Miller: Yeah, yeah, you were on here last. It's been, I think, a year since you've been on, so I'm very excited to have you back so I wanted to talk to you about a few things like new updates, and so we'll talk about some updates with Walmart, and then I'm gonna also ask you about some strategies that you can give to sellers. So the first thing I want to talk about, though, is sales rank, because this is something that's new. In the back of Walmart seller center, under search insights, you can actually see your sales rank for your product, and so I was wondering if you had any insights on how any Walmart sellers could utilize this information, or what you know, what you can do with that, or what you've been using it for for sure. Michael: Yeah, that's a pretty new data that Walmart started adding in and basically, if you go to your growth opportunities and you go into search insights, there's actually a lot of helpful data there conversion rates, click rates, and they rank it kind of high, medium and low select you could have a good idea of how you compare against competitors in your category. But what you're specific specifically regarding is Sales rank, and sales rank is a number that they basically rank how well you're doing Compared to the other. You know your competitors in the space, so it's pretty helpful number. I like seeing when we have also multiple items within certain categories, seeing how they rank against each other, how the search links against each other, and then you could see the difference in sales rank and obviously the difference in sales between those items. You could kind of gauge a little bit more on like the type of sales you should be expecting from other items. So I would definitely make sure to take a look at that. Look, go, look at the data and start getting more comfortable with it. As you know, time goes on, it'll start becoming, you know they'll start there again. It's gonna start being more and more data there. So I would definitely take a look at that data and try to utilize it another thing. Carrie Miller: I mentioned this on our last Walmart Wednesday and that is that brand stores are now available. So I was wondering if you have started utilizing those, because I know you manage a lot of brands. Have you started creating brand stores and how are you utilizing them? What kind of success have you been seeing so far? Michael: great question. Yeah, so brand stores been. You know We've been waiting for them for a while because there's been brand store functionality for years. But you used to have to pay seventy, five thousand dollars, if I'm not mistaken, to get a brand store. Now it's actually free. You just have to apply mom, not all brands get accepted to the most brands kind of that we've been applying. I've been getting accepted to the brand store. It's through Walmart connect. So it's through your Walmart connect account, you apply and you get access to there. There's a few great reasons. Number one like on Walmart, the brand shows pretty prominently on top of the title. A lot of people click on there. They look at your expanded assortment. So you're able to actually you know, you know, utilize it to bring all your items into that one link. A lot of times when you're it's just done by shelf and it's not by your brand store, like you'll see, random items that are you're not your brand show up when you click on your brand. So it's important to. That's one great way. Number two is for advertising. You're able to start sent. You're able to send ads to certain shelves. Now, sending it to a shelf that just has items on it because of a filter and doesn't. It's not like a. A set shelf Through brand shops is way less effective. Also, you can't have any banners and things like that, so we've been using a lot for advertising and that proves to be pretty effective. So, yeah, definitely exciting and there's definitely a lot of Opportunity there. A tap into creating ban shops We've been creating a lot of them for brands over the past. What would say mainly like month and a half, two months. Carrie Miller: Awesome. Yeah, I think a lot of people have started to work on those, so I think that's definitely a huge opportunity as well to not only get your sales for the one item but, you know, showcase all of your items and increase the court order court cart order value. The next thing I wanted to ask you about is the search engine marketing. It's called SEM on the growth opportunities tab. How has that been working for you? What? What kinds of things have you been seeing with with SEM, or I guess they might call it Sem on the back end there. And, yeah, just go ahead and get some insights on that this was an interesting one because you know it's. Michael: If you know in the Amazon space like people use different providers to help send Google traffic to their Amazon listing To build rank, that's essentially what this product is. It's you could run Google ads from within though your Walmart account. So number one, your attribution is gonna be, you know, much more legitimate, obviously because it's first-party data, so they know what converts. So like that's really helpful. You know, I'm trying. I was trying to kind of see if there's a difference in cost running gets through Walmart versus. So I'm trying to see a little bit about that. But yeah, so we long story short. In a lot of cases we haven't seen success that. There's been some cases where we've seen some good success with it. I wouldn't say like any crazy results, but if we're helping boost items that also have like lower ad relevancies and are having a little bit of hard time getting traction, like we've seen some decent success there. I would say, just because they're giving away a lot of promos with that, like check your email, you probably got either like spend a thousand, get a thousand, spend 500, get 500, or even now yesterday I think I saw some clients got like spend 500, get 250 or something along those lines. So there's a lot of you know I'm opportunities, or even you could see from there, like how you know how effective it is and then from there you could decide if you want further in it. I think it's definitely worth what. It depends on the category. So, like I would say, you know, search on Google for, let's say, you sell bikes, or turn Google for bikes and see, like what Google Shopping ads are coming up and if you feel like you're right, fit well there and convert well there, based on your pricing and Based on your product type, like then there's definitely opportunity there. Carrie Miller: What's kind of interesting is. I remember you pointed out to me like two years ago that Walmart was actually doing this for us for free, and so we actually got a lot of traffic to our listings through those kind of Google ads and I noticed my sales picked up with the Google ads that they were doing for me for free. So I do think it's definitely something that's worthwhile to do, because it says Walmart comm under the Google shopping little ad and so people trust Walmart comm and it's just a, I think, a higher conversion rate. For that reason I'm. Coupons can you tell me a little bit about coupons? I know they're in beta and I know you have had access to coupons. What kind of success have you seen with those? And can you tell us just a little bit about the coupons that Walmart is testing out right now? Michael: Yeah, so traditionally there's really been no coupons on Walmart.com. Besides, for some in-store items was through a third-party provider. There was a couponing program that was very expensive for in-store brands and you should spend tens and tens of thousands of dollars to be part of it. That was the only couponing available on Walmart. Walmart recently rolled out couponing through Marketplace beta and it's been in beta I think it's already been a couple months and we've been having a lot of testing with it. I've started to become a really big fan of it. We've started seeing some really strong success there. Now, in some ways, obviously when you have a price cross-off it works better, but obviously with coupons, not everybody redeems, so you save a little bit there. But more importantly, the reason why we've been leveraging coupons is Walmart has these deal shelves that do a lot of volume, and very significant volume, In order to be able to be eligible for those deal shops deal pages that a lot of times want really good pricing, sometimes even better than Amazon. So if you're going to provide pricing that's better than Amazon, or even if it's going to be good pricing but you just don't want to bring down your Amazon, you're okay, get bringing down your Walmart. You just don't want to bring down your Amazon because your Amazon is doing a lot of volume. Whatever the case might be, you don't want to lose your buy box on Amazon. One of the good ways to do that is through couponing, because it depends on who your account manager is and how well your relationship is with Walmart, but they do sometimes accept your items for that. So that's been a one really cool way to leverage coupons and we've been seeing some success there. Carrie Miller: Okay, another one that's in beta is subscribe, not subscribe and save. You said subscribe. So have you had some clients utilizing subscribe on Walmart? Has it been getting good traction? What do you think about subscribe? Michael: I think it's got ways to go. I think it's really cool that there's that functionality there now. I think in the beginning that we're testing out subscribe and save and now it's just unsubscribe. But there's really, if you're selling obviously consumables, anything consumables, but anything people repurchase often, it definitely makes a lot of sense. I think just the Walmart, it's pretty prominent now and a lot of times it's auto selected, so it's like pretty prominent and I'll talk to buy a lot of items. So we have been seeing some traction there. The issue is, I think the Walmart customer isn't used to subscribing yet. So on Amazon they're very used to subscribing. So I think it's going to take some time till the Walmart customer really picks up on that. It doesn't hurt to have it on there, obviously, but I think it's going to take some time till the Walmart customer really picks up on the habit of subscribing and the convenience of it. So I think we got a little bit of time to go there, but it's cool that it's already built out. Carrie Miller: Yeah, sounds like coupons is giving better traction. Okay, so I have had a lot of questions from people recently about, you know, they're starting up on Walmart and they're kind of, you know, getting everything set up but they want to really, you know, be successful on the Walmart marketplace and they want to get sales going. So what are some strategies and what are some things that you would give advice to somebody who's you know maybe just starting out on Walmart, or maybe they're on Walmart and they haven't had enough traction yet? Like, what are some sales strategies that you would recommend to them to boost their visibility and sales on Walmart? Michael: Yeah, so I think there's a few things and obviously it depends a lot on the type of items you sell and a whole bunch of other things, but some things that generally keep in mind is Walmart recently started releasing some data, which is extremely helpful. If you have Pacvue, you could actually see it on search insights on Pacvue. But there's basically Walmart started releasing data through API on the Kinect side where it basically shows you every keyword on Walmart, from 1,000 to 300,000, what the keyword is, how high it ranks, right. So they're not giving you search volume data, they're giving you, if it's one, it's the most searched keyword, right, for example. And then what are the three top items converting getting the click share and the conversion share for those keywords and the way we you know, I think, when you're coming to the platform and you're in a new or seller coming to the platform, I think it's really important to understand the shelves that have volume and the key word is the shelf. But like the shelves that have volume, and then what's converting for those shelves and make sure like your product fits the characteristics of what's currently converting there, because if not, like you're right, you might be successful, but it's hard to know. But if your product has the right features, as at the similar price points and maybe even more competitive, then you know there's good opportunities there and I think you really have to tailor your approach a lot more to understand the shelves and their standards going on. That's number one. Number two is, like, lean into the Walmart programs as fast, as quickly as possible, whether it's WFS, whether it's Walmart Connect, whether it's work incentives working with Walmart, whether it's, you know, flash deals, promotions. Like, really lean into those programs. They drive so much significant volume and it's something that you know is. It's one of the advantages of being a marketplace seller versus selling DSV on you know one P to Walmart. So, like you have a lot of those advantages, you might as well use them to your leverage. Michael: And people always complain about and I hear this all the time the one P seller is in the store items. They're on the top, ranked on the top and they get preference. The reality is that marketplace sellers have a lot of advantages that the one P sellers don't. So if the marketplace sellers really tap into the advantages and I've seen the ones that do it but if they tap into Flash Deals, promotions, a lot more of those placements are marketplace right now. They're not. Flash Deals is basically all marketplace, I think if not I'm not mistaken, it's all marketplace. Mosaic's are, especially during key times and events. It's very heavily marketplace driven. A lot of the data and things you get is a lot more on the marketplace side than on the one-piece side. So there's really a lot of programs that you could really lean into, especially with WFS. There's so many things that if you do them, you put yourself at a better advantage. So yeah, I would just kind of strongly emphasize that. Carrie Miller: So you're saying Walmart Connect is advertising and the Flash Deals not everybody has access to those. Can you maybe give some strategies to get those or what is needed in order to get access to Flash Deals? Michael: So if you're doing volume any decent significant volume it's usually going to be added to your account. If it's not and you're doing a lot of volume, you can reach out to me and I can get it added to your account. But yeah, most cases if your account's doing volume it'll get added to your account. If not, you can open up a case and request that. I'm not sure if that works, but you can email me and I can try to get it added to your account. Carrie Miller: Is there a number of certain amount of volume, a year or a month, or what are they looking for? Michael: So I'm not sure they don't say it. I know there's a number for that specific item to be eligible for Flash Picks. To actually do that it's in the thousands. It's not that much that it has to be doing in sales. It's in the low thousands for it to be eligible for Flash Deals. But for the account itself, I'm not sure Because I have very small accounts that have it and I have sometimes bigger ones that don't have it, that just have to request it. So yeah, I'm not sure exactly what the criteria is. Carrie Miller: All right, yeah, those are some good suggestions. Anything maybe on the optimization side, or like do you think? That the pro seller badge is really needed, like what are some other things people can do and focus on that they can control to get more sales. Michael: Yeah. So I think items if you're already an existing seller or if you're coming on, like I think it's important to pay attention to item spec 5.0. There's been new updates in the Walmart guidelines for how items are listed. I was actually in the Walmart offices in Hoboken a few weeks ago and we were actually looking through listings that we managed and seeing how, like, once item spec 5.0 got implemented for listings that didn't implement the changes, how, like slow performance kind of dropped off in some areas. So definitely learn those, pay attention to some of those, adjust your listings. You know, in Venezuela there's no reason to wait until, like, you're not just starting to not rank to make those changes. So I would definitely suggest that is one thing that you could control. I really pay attention to. Carrie Miller: All right. So what about keywords? So you said you know they're basically ranked on there, but I know you know with Helium 10, we have kind of a search volume. You know, what kind of keywords do you recommend going after, like if something has you know 30,000 search volume or it's like a high ranked volume, do you think people should go after those? Or should they go over after low hanging fruit keywords in their advertising, in their listing? Like, what's your keyword strategy for marketplace sellers? Michael: It's a great question. So start off with getting as really figuring out your really high converting keywords and building campaigns around those. Because even though the volumes of those are so low, you really need to build ad relevancy on Walmart and you could try bidding on the main keywords. But it's just so. Even if your item in a situation where your item would convert really well for a high volume keyword, you eventually want to target those because that's where you'll make sales. It's too hard to make sales by the smaller keywords. If it's a situation where the really large keyword, your item, doesn't fit in well there, like then you know that shouldn't be an item you're focusing on. But in order to be able to bid effectively on those keywords, you need to start building some ad relevancy. So what you'd seen work best is like building some campaigns around a lot more targeted keywords and build some relevancy there and then from there, like when you start bidding on the main keywords, you'll start being able to win them much easier and much better. Carrie Miller: Do you mean like long tail keywords, like, for example, like bookshelf, like you would say large green bookshelf and you would target that instead of just bookshelf? Michael: Exactly, yeah, and with Walmart, like you don't have to go even that long tail, like sometimes it's even two words, right. So like a white bookshelf, a bookcase, a green bookcase, but things like that, and you'll already have, you know, some volume there. That already allowed you to start converting. Carrie Miller: Another question for you about ads. Then I noticed whenever I'm shopping on Walmart I haven't seen many people utilizing video ads. Do you know why that would be? You know? Do you think they're really good converting tool for you know? Because I think they're only a dollar and I think that's pretty cheap for a lot of people who are moving over from Amazon, or like just a dollar or something. They're not that expensive comparatively to Amazon. So I'm just curious why you think maybe there's not as many video ads and what you think? You know how well you think they're doing? Michael: Yeah, so we've been having good success with video ads. It's really great if you have good content about your product and there is good video, so to say, do about your product. You're getting so much brand visibility and just for low costs. Like you said, the reason why it's not in a lot of categories is, for the most part, it's usually people not bidding on it. Like you have to accept the video ads and most people are just not doing it. So a lot of times, like we'll see really good success there, then some competitors start the video ads because we're doing it and then it starts becoming not as economical. But in the beginning you could get some good boost out of it. Carrie Miller: Any other strategies or anything that maybe I haven't covered, that you wanted to talk about in this? Michael: I think that's good. I think just pay really close attention to the updates and things that are coming out from Walmart, like if you're pretty quick to jump on those, you know some of those programs could help move the needle. So and just plan a lot around promotions. Like there's a lot of leverage with promotions. Like try to plan properly around how to position your promotions. It's a longer conversation but there's a lot to unpack there. So definitely try to have a better eye for the promotional angle. Carrie Miller: I did see like Black Friday it came up pretty quickly. Is that kind of how Walmart works? Is like the deals come out pretty quickly, you have to move fast and say you want to do them, or is there a planning process for them? Michael: There's a planning process. If you have an account manager, like holiday deals get planned way in advance, but there's also like the prime equivalent event that they do around prime things. So like definitely want to plan ahead with your account manager and ask them if there's any opportunities for your items to fit into any of their promotions and see if there's any opportunities there. Carrie Miller: Okay, all right. So we've got a question from Lady and the Storm. How long is the process to get approved? Michael: To sell on Walmart. It could either happen right away, it could either take a few days, it could either be a denial. So you know it really depends on. But if you really, if you fill out your information properly and you double check it all and you fill out your information properly and all the paperwork and everything matches up and you're, you know it looks like you have a decent Amazon store, like you know, you shouldn't have a problem getting accepted unless you have, like another application before. And most people, by the way, that come to us with like a non accept, like denied accounts, it's usually like they have another, they have another, they have another account they tried opening. It's linked on the email, there's that to like all these bunch of things. But just, I think it's very important to make sure you really think through your application, make sure that you know you have everything filled out and if you already tried applying in the past, like reach out about it rather than opening up another application, it'll just get both your applications, yeah you can reach out to sell cord. Carrie Miller: Michael does has helped some people that have gotten rejected. That I've sent over to him. So reach out to them if you do have some issues with that. And also have they kind of loosened the guidelines on? You know, do you have to be an established seller still? Or I've seen some people who, like maybe started a new brand and then they applied and they got accepted. Is that the kind of the norm or is that just kind of like? They got kind of passed through and they got lucky. Michael: No, so they're starting to accept like newer, smaller sellers. It depends a lot on the products you sell and you know it goes there. It goes under different teams based on the main category that you're under. So you know there's definitely there is there. There changes a little bit but for the most part we started seeing new small applications get approved. Carrie Miller: So it is dependent on the category. So that's a good thing to note. Okay, next one from Lynn how to manage Amazon PPC. Okay, so we're not doing Amazon. See, for example, how to add negative keywords in Walmart. So okay, so I'm going to try to sit rephrase this, maybe in Walmart terms, because this we're not talking about Amazon in this one, but how to manage Amazon or Walmart PPC. The platform is different from Amazon. For example, how to add negative keyword in Walmart Seller Center. Michael: Yeah, so Walmart Seller Center doesn't have negative targeting yet they're adding it so that they're adding that there's new things that came like conquesting ads and stuff like that, so there is newer things for targeting. But, yeah, negative is gonna come soon. Carrie Miller: Yeah they said it was on the road map. So yeah. Alright. Next lady in a storm asks how long do you have to ship your items? Michael: So it depends on how you fill out your shipping template. So you just have to whatever you fill out in your shipping templates, like that's what you have to when you have to meet. So if you fill out two days, you're gonna have to make sure it's two days. It's a fill out one day. So it depends how you manage your shipping templates. I think there's a minimum. There's like a maximum, though I'm not exactly sure what that is. Carrie Miller: But I think it's seven days. This is the max. Can you analyze wholesale for sales data in competition with helium 10? You can with x-ray. So you can, you know, find the products that you want to sell and you can actually Utilize x-ray to look at sales. So that's a great way to do it, mostly. And then also, you know, you can also look at the sales rank as well in the back end of seller center. You can utilize that information and then any information that you get, like if you have Pacvue or using kind of a software To help you to run your ads. You can see some more data in there that way, but I would say mostly x-ray for helium 10, go ahead and go to the, the main page for the price that you're selling, and then pull, pull our Chrome extension and it'll show you the sales data there. Um, okay, is tied? Janak Ranchod said is title density as relevant to Walmart listings compared to Amazon listings? Michael: Yeah, so I'm not sure exactly what it's meant by that, but Title Density on Helium 10 is basically Keyword phrases on Amazon. Carrie Miller: So if you, for example, green bookshelf and you wanted to target green bookshelf but if, like 50 competitors on page one have green bookshelf in their title, it's gonna be really competitive. However, if that phrase you see that maybe only one or two have just that same exact phrase, then you can actually rank for it a lot easier on Amazon. So it's basically like the exact phrase form and how many competitors have that exact phrase in their title. Michael: Yeah. So I have a different approach when it comes to ranking on Walmart and you know everybody's got their own opinions. But my approach for ranking on Walmart is more about you have to find the keywords that have the most volume and then, based on the most volume, you have to then analyze who's taking the conversion share of those keywords and then understand their product, their price points and, if you're on the features around their product, if your product Matches up well enough to their product, meaning you're just as you have just as much features, your item is just as good, if not better, and your price points competitive enough. That's what you want to target because you know if you get there you'll convert and you're gonna have to check their PDP and make sure like your PDP is better and all that kind of stuff. But the problem is, if you're focusing on, if you do all that research, but you're focusing on key on items, on keywords, that the items that converting in the shelf, you're not gonna, you're not gonna match on, you're not gonna match one next to it, doesn't matter if you rank, you're just gonna start de-ranking because Walmart's so heavily based on conversion rates. So I that's kind of our approach to it, and also because the Significant keywords are the only ones that drive legitimate volume, like there is some volume done from other keywords but it's usually not significant enough loose is asking Do you recommend to start Walmart even when just started on Amazon? I would say it depends on their products, your storemen and a little bit of more about your company. But as a whole, usually not usually, I would say like build your brand, build a little bit of your capabilities off of Amazon. It's gonna be hard to tackle both at the same time and then start with that. Carrie Miller: So you think starting on Amazon first is a good idea, and then yeah. Okay, the next one. Jenak asked. I hope I'm saying your name right, Jenak. Jenak, can you simply copy your Amazon listings to create your Walmart listings? Michael: You shouldn't. That's a big no-no. You should Rewrite your listings like you can use the same core of information. You should rewrite your titles, descriptions, key features, to be optimized based on Walmart style guide. So number one, the keywords that you care about, are going to be different. Walmart wants shorter titles, they want different style, descriptions, key features. So for the most part, all that's different. So you really that's kind of the biggest Task is to just make sure you're optimized specifically for Walmart. Carrie Miller: Yeah, I think it actually kind of hinders you on your listing quality score when you do that. So yeah, Lynn asks are you going to host a Walmart PPC management session? We really need it. I think we can arrange that in the in the near future. So we'll definitely work on that and if you haven't joined our one winning with Walmart group, that's probably where we'll do it. So make sure you're in our helium 10 winning with Walmart group if you want to do that. Alright, it looks like we've come to an end of the questions. I think that we had a lot of great information. Oh, we got another question. I will put this one up here. Let's see here. Mr. Kamal says how much revenue Should you have on Amazon to consider yourself to move to Walmart? Michael: So I mean, the revenue number is a hard thing because it depends on your Category and the type of items you sell and how competitive is on Walmart versus how well you're doing on Amazon. A lot of times, if you really started tapping on your Amazon and then definitely make sense to spend one by once, you already have some traction and you have a good hold. You have good products, like you know, I would I mean, we're a big fan of Walmart's a lot of times will tell people to start pretty early on. So it's just, I think, less about revenue numbers because it's so dependable based on different brands. I think what what's important to understand is like do you have good enough products that are? You know? You feel like you know you could move properly on Walmart. Is enough volume for them on Walmart? And what is that? What is what type of a volume are you looking for it to be worthwhile for you to kind of take on the endeavor? And then you know, yeah, and, and based on that you could really analyze, okay, are you ready to move, and what that would look like and just expand not move, but expand. Carrie Miller: All right, it looks like we've come to an end of the questions. Thank you everyone for joining and for just, you know, interacting and asking all these great questions throughout. And thanks again, Michael, for joining us. I know it's been a while since you've been on and I'm really happy that you were able to answer a lot of these questions for us. So thanks again and we will see you all again next month. We'll have another guest for Winning with Walmart Wednesday, and we'll see you then. Bye, everyone.
Carmen Randolph is the Founding President and CEO of Women's Foundation of the South (WFS). WFS raises money and invests it in nonprofits and businesses across 13 states as the only permanent foundation dedicated to centering and investing in the collective health, wealth, and power of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian womxn and girls across the entire American South. Don't miss this fascinating conversation!
Chris Loeffler '00, who serves as our Interim Head of Lower School, joined the Quaker Matters podcast and discussed the following: the importance of LS students having a routine during the school year, numerous ways in which WFS encourages LS students to advocate for themselves, how he supports students and teachers throughout each school day, and his own WFS experience as a student.
Ever wondered what it takes to get your product to the top of Walmart's search results? We've cracked the code and our host, Carrie Miller, is here to share every inside tip and strategy you need to make your Walmart listings shine. In this episode, we discuss everything from the importance of choosing the right product type to mastering the listing quality score without resorting to the pitfalls of title stuffing. Compliance with Walmart's guidelines is key, and we talk about the balance between PPC campaigns and organic search enhancements that could transform your rankings. Plus, we can't forget the tactical use of Walmart's SEM tool to harness the power of Google ads—a game-changer for driving traffic to your listings. As we dive deeper into the ecosystem of Walmart's online presence, one thing is clear: the influence of digital word-of-mouth is not to be underestimated. We explore the emerging role of the Walmart Creator program and how influencers can catapult your products into the social media spotlight. Agencies like SellCord, Blue Ryse, and Ecom Creative Crew get a nod for their expertise in navigating listing challenges, and we remind sellers of the resources available through our Walmart.com tools inside Helium 10. Wrapping up, we send out an invitation to join the Winning with Walmart group—your go-to hub for community support and answers to all your Walmart-related queries. Remember, success at Walmart may be a podcast away, so tune in, get inspired, and let's make those sales numbers soar! In episode 530 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie talks about: 00:00 - Ranking Strategies For Walmart Listings 04:22 - Walmart's SEM Offers Growth Opportunities 12:37 - Walmart Listing Optimization Guide 13:40 - Walmart Traffic, Influencers, Branding, and Agencies 16:54 - Walmart Application and Brand Registry 22:43 - Ranking Strategies For Walmart Products 24:16 - Join The Winning With Walmart Group ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: In today's episode we're going to be talking about how to rank on Walmart, some new tools that Walmart is offering to help you with your sales and ranking, and also just how Helium 10 tools can help you with your PPC and also your listing optimization. Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Carrie Miller: Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of this Serious Sellers podcast by Helium 10. My name is Keri and I'm going to be your host. This is our winning with Walmart episode, where we go live and give you some Walmart information and answer all of your Walmart questions live, alright. Somebody asked this is a great question how do you rank organically in Walmart? Is it the same algorithm as Amazon? There's actually a few different components to ranking on Walmart. The first one is product type. Your product type is really important because the product type is connected to the keywords for your actual product. If you're in the wrong product type, it's going to make it hard for you to actually rank. The first thing you want to do is go to your growth opportunities tab and check your product type. You can click on the details for each product listing and it'll tell you a product type up at the top. If the product type is definitely wrong, then you're going to want to make sure to fix that. Sometimes, what you can do is you can A B test the product types, because some product types include a lot more keywords. That means you're going to be able to rank and show up and basically index for any of those keywords. If you aren't in the right product type though with the most keywords, then it's going to be hard to rank for this. For example, I know someone did for supplements. It was nutritional supplements and herbal supplements or something like that. They changed their product type to nutritional supplements and that encompassed a lot more keywords than herbal supplements. You want to really take a look at those product types. Make sure that you have the right product type. That's first for ranking. The second thing is you want to make sure that you have a high listing score. You want to make sure you're in the 90s at least for your listing quality score. Look on that dashboard and make sure you're doing that. Carrie Miller: Things like stuffing your title. If you use the same titles that you do on Amazon a lot of times they'll suppress you a bit, because Walmart does not like stuffing titles. You want to make sure to follow the guidelines for the titles and just the entire listing. Make sure that you write the keywords that you want to rank for into your listing. If there's a specific phrase, if there's some targeted phrases, you're going to want to write those phrases in the exact form. Maybe there's 15 to 20. You want to write those throughout. Obviously, your most important phrase should be in the title. Those are the first things that you're going to want to do. The next thing is you're going to want to get sales. It is important to get some clicks ads to carts and conversions. I know some people do some search find by. There's some people who do different coupons. Sometimes people send traffic from TikTok and people will search on Walmart. They'll just search for the actual product through the keyword. There's a few different ways to do it, but really you're going to want to click add to cart and conversion. Carrie Miller: That's how you're going to help to rank. PPC is really, really helpful. If you're doing PPC along with that, that is a great way to rank. You really get some good ranking juice with PPC. Definitely try all of those things. Those are all the best combination of things to rank because it all goes together. Make sure that you're also putting in as many attributes in the backend as possible so you can rank for those as well. Those are the basics for ranking, but it's not really the same as Amazon, because Amazon's really giving you a lot of ranking juice for outside traffic. Walmart does have some outside traffic things that they have going on, but it's not necessarily helping with rank. There is something that I wanted to talk about. It's called SEM and it's on your growth opportunities tab. It's the very last one and it's basically Google ads. They used to do this for free and now it's. Unfortunately, you have to pay for it. What they're doing is they're giving you the ability to drive Google ads directly to your Walmart listings. That is a great way to get some outside traffic. That could potentially also help your rank because of the conversions and things like that. Check out the SEM at the very end. Very easy to set up those Google shopping ads and you can start showing it for Google shopping and get more conversions that way. Carrie Miller: I think we have another question Does Walmart take care of the shipping to the client? Can I ship products from China directly to the Walmart warehouse? I've actually never shipped directly from the China warehouse. The thing about it is I don't believe they're going to be receiving large shipments for you as your first starting out. So the best thing would probably be to ship your products to a 3PL and then ship them into the Walmart warehouses. That's what I would recommend in general, and then, if you don't sell out on Walmart, you can use it for Amazon, you can use it for TikTok shop, so that way you have better control over your inventory. So I think someone else said, no, you can't. So yeah, I know you can with Amazon and or used to be able to. You know we were shipping containers directly to Amazon and it's this little harder now. But you know, it sounds like somebody else said you can't ship directly from China, so ship to a 3PL, then ship into WFS, and that is the best way to go. Carrie Miller: I think something else that I wanted to kind of point out to everyone is that we actually do have some tools with Helium 10. And I did have some. I've had some meetings recently with some sellers and they are. You know, I think we're all kind of forgetting some of these tools that Helium 10 has and I wanted to kind of bring it back to your attention. So I'm going to just show you some keyword research tools and like, for example, garlic press. Okay, so we always use the garlic press kind of example. But what we want to do is what we can do here is we can actually pull our x-ray extension. We have x-ray for Walmart here and what we can do is we can copy the product IDs and do a reverse search on Cerebro for keywords. Now I like to look for kind of the main. You know things. Actually, I was looking at decorative pillow. I want to look at decorative pillows, decorative pillows. So I'm going to search for that and we'll see if we can find some. A lot of times these are kind of interesting and diverse. So let's go ahead and pull the Helium 10 extension. So, for anyone who's listening, I'm just pulling our Chrome extension for Helium 10. This is going to show revenue for each product. It's going to show the product IDs, it's going to show reviews. It's going to show a lot of great information to help you kind of better make good decisions, for not only you know what products to start selling on here, but also how to kind of position your own products. Carrie Miller: So what I usually like to do is kind of look for things that are selling pretty well. So it looks like this snow leopard pillow is selling pretty well. So what we can do is we can just paste that into Walmart for Cerebro. Now you have to choose. You have to scroll all the way down to Walmart Marketplace in Cerebro to choose the Walmart Marketplace to do this, and it's basically this product ID. Now, if you don't have, you know, the X-ray pulled up, you can actually find it on the listing page itself in the URL. It's the last digits on the URL, so you can do that as well. So I'll go ahead and actually just do this one search. Let's look at the keywords for this decorative pillow. So we're going to hit, get keywords, and what it's doing is it's basically showing all of the keywords that that particular product is ranking for, sponsored in Organic. So if we take a look, we can see a lot of different, you know, keyword phrases. We've got snow leopard decorative pillows, their organic rank number five, if you wanted. So if there's a competitor that's doing some advertising, what you can also do is you can do this single search product ID and you can sort by sponsored rank. It doesn't look like this one is doing any advertising, but if they were, then you would be able to see all of the keywords that they're advertising for. And with Walmart, a lot of times there's, you know, kind of like a 15 to 20 keyword phrase focus, and so you might be able to see the exact keyword strategy that your competitors have. So that's something that's really cool about doing a single search ascent, but you can see all of the different kind of keywords in here. You can see the search volume and it's going to be compared to the search volume on Amazon. It's a little bit different on Amazon. Carrie Miller: Now, on Walmart, there are a lot of filters that customers do use, so they kind of filter down to find the products that they want. But this is an incredible tool for your, for your listing optimization. So you want to make sure to write all of your most important keywords into your listing. Then you also want to, you know, use this for your pay per click advertising, because I have noticed that there's a little bit different keywords and keyword phrases Then on Amazon. So I always do keyword research separately for Walmart so that I can make sure that my pay per click advertising and my actual listing is optimized for Walmart. So that is one way to do this. We can also search magnet. You can search phrases. So if I put decorative pillow in here, it'll search on Walmart. Actually, you know what? I think? I didn't change the marketplace. Let's go all the way down to the Walmart marketplace here. This is the Walmart marketplace. We're going to hit, get keywords under the Walmart marketplace on magnet and what this will do is it's going to show you similar keywords to you know decorative pillow that you could use and give you. It'll give you more ideas of you know what kinds of keywords to target so you can sort by. Carrie Miller: You know search volume amounts. You can search by search search volume there. You can see it compared to Amazon there, and there's a lot of great keywords that you can focus on. Now, even the lower search volume keywords I've still made sales on those, especially if they're very relevant. So I don't ignore those really low search volume keywords either. So if you are ignoring some of those, I would highly recommend, you know, creating some campaigns for those lower search volume keywords as well. All right, so we've got Cerebro when we've got magnet. We also have a profits tool and I know there are a lot of people who are using profits to maintain just their whole profits view of Walmart and it's been been very, very helpful for a lot of people. So if you haven't started using profits, you want to connect your Walmart token to helium 10, so it'll automatically pull in that data. You can add in your costs of goods, you can add in any other expenses that you have in there and you can get a pretty good overview of your profits on Walmart. So that is something else to think about. Now. Carrie Miller: I did notice that there was kind of an announcement recently about video ads. They're doing some different testing, maybe just on the look of video ads and sponsored brand ads on Walmart. So if you are doing those, you might see that a little bit. But something I did notice is that a lot of brands are not even doing video ads or any kind of sponsored brand ads. So if you, you know, are in a kind of competitive category, you should check on those keywords and see if you can start doing some advertising on those. You know you have to be a registered brand in order to do that, but video ads and sponsored sponsored brand ads are going to be a great way for you to, you know, really get going with some sales, especially because you'll be right at the top and it's not as expensive as it is on on Amazon at this point. So it's really good thing to do. Coupons are still in beta, so I have talked to some people who are using the beta program for coupons and they've had a really good conversion rates for coupons. So I'm really, really hoping to see those come out soon for everyone. Maybe some of you have them, so you might want to check your dashboards, your growth opportunities wherever, to see if something appears about coupons, but I have heard very good things about them. Also, subscribe and save has been in some beta programs, so that those are some things to kind of look forward to. Brand stores are available, so if you are a brand registered seller, go ahead and check it, check that out, get your brand store all registered and ready to go. Carrie Miller: Okay, it looks like we have another question in here. Are there any guides for SEO, titles, description. Is it good to have keyword stuffing in the title? No, so I did mention this at the beginning. There are guides for very, very good guides, actually on Walmart. So if you go to the help center, you can find and search different for different things, and optimization is one of them. You can look for how you should set up your title, how you should set up your description and your bullets, and it's all in there. Now keyword stuffing is going to get your listing suppressed a bit. You want to follow the guidelines that Walmart sets and then, when you actually create your title and your whole listing on your growth opportunities tab. It's going to give you a listing quality score and if your title isn't the way they want it, it'll show you what you need to do to fix it. So that's very, very helpful. So any mistakes that you make on your actual listing, you can go back and fix them on the growth opportunities tab, which is a really, really great thing to utilize. So that's a great question. So thank you for that question. Carrie Miller: Another thing is I just wanted to talk a little bit about traffic to Walmart. So where is the traffic coming from? There are some things again I wanted to reiterate. If you haven't started using the SEM tab on the very end of your growth opportunities tab where you can do those Google ads, that's going to be a great place for traffic. I think a lot of traffic can come from Google. So if you can just get that that advertising going, that would really help help you there. Another thing is I have seen a very large uptick in influencers. Now I follow a lot of kind of female, kind of clothing influencers and I know there's a lot of home decor influencers. There are a lot of influencers that are now promoting Walmart products because there's a Walmart Creator program. They get commissions. Some of them are Walmart partners, so they're finding products on Walmart and promoting them through their Instagram, through their TikToks. So what you can do is, if you wanted to kind of reach out to some of these, you can search you know, walmart partner, walmart sponsored ad, or just search hashtags to see what creators within your space are, you know, basically promoting your types of products, and a lot of times you'll find those. Or if you're just following, you know people in your space and a lot of times they are already promoting Walmart stuff. So I think that's a really good opportunity to help them to not to be successful by, you know, giving them your product and then seeing if they'll promote it on Instagram, tiktok, you know, everywhere on social media. So I highly recommend looking into that. I think it's a great way of getting more traffic there. I also have noticed that you know Walmart is still really pushing for Walmart plus memberships. A lot of credit cards you get it for free, like American Express, platinum, for sure you get. You get it for free for the year. So there's a lot of great credit card perks that you can get Walmart plus memberships for free, which you know will incentivize people to you know shop at Walmart, especially if they see something that's the same thing on Walmart, they're like, oh, I might as well just go to Walmart because I get free shipping anyway. So those are some things about Walmart traffic, all right. So another question Do you know any I think, maybe trustworthy agencies to fix my listing problem for me? Yes, I do know some agencies. There is Michael LaBar at SellCord.co. They do a great job at fixing listing issues. I think they're probably the best for kind of like solving issues. There's also Ryan King from Blue Rise and there's also McCall Chapnick from Ecom Creative Crew. So Ecom Crew so sorry, Ecom Creative Crew team and so you can reach out to all of them. I know McCall has a great Walmart group, so if you haven't joined her group, it's a Walmart Marketplace Sellers group. She's pretty active in there too, so you can you can, you know connect with her there. So there's a lot of great agencies that you could reach out to. Somebody has a very long one here, let's see here, let's see. It's a very long question here. Thank you, my G, michael Thomas, says sorry, I had to step off for a minute so I may have missed this. Carrie Miller: Concerning the application process. What is your experience or anyone that you know who has submitted an application? I've actually been talking to a new seller of business development and Matt Turner said the fiscal year starts at the end of this month, so I think Walmart will start approving applications at that time. Also, how do you get a brand page on Walmart? Okay, so you should be able to apply to Walmart anytime. So if you're, you know, ready to sell on Walmart, I would recommend that you just go ahead and apply. Make sure that you have, you know, make sure that there's a list of countries that are approved. Now, if you don't live in the US and maybe your country is not approved, usually an LLC works and I know Michael from Cell Court can help get around those kinds of issues. But you do just need to have kind of an established business. Make sure that you have all your ducks in a row, you know of all the qualifications that they have listed out for your application and you should be good to go for the application. It takes usually 48 hours. Sometimes it can take a little bit longer, but you should be able to get that application going. The next thing is going to be brand registry. So there is a brand registry portal, so it's brand portal, portalonemarkcom, and you just click on register. You need to have a you know a red, a trademark. It says it right here on this screen here you need to have registered trademark and so make sure that you have that. You know all that in a, all those ducks in a row, basically, before you apply for that, so that you have access, that'll give you access to video ads, sponsor brand ads, the brand stores. A lot of the perks that are coming are going to be basically related to to the brand portal. So hopefully that answers your question. Let's see. Carrie Miller: Another question is it seems like Walmart is looking more for brands. Do you agree? I actually don't agree. What they are looking for and I've actually talked to a lot of these kind of the managers on Walmart they're looking for products that really complement what's already on Walmartcom, so things like accessories to products that are already on Walmart, so things that are complimentary that maybe aren't already on Walmart. They're looking for a well-rounded catalog. So it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a big brand, they just want complimentary products. There is an assortment growth tab on the back end of your Walmart seller center and sometimes you get some good suggestions on how to kind of grow things that might not be available on Walmart, that they want you to sell. But that is a great way to just look for things that are not necessarily available on Walmart but would be good complimentary accessory products to things that they have, and that might be a great way to go. But, yeah, they are accepting third-party sellers. They're really investing a lot of money to get third-party sellers to start selling on Walmart, so they are definitely wanting third-party sellers to come. Carrie Miller: Another thing that I wanted to bring up is that there is some rich media that's available for free and that's kind of like A-plus content If you go to the help and then go to get support when you're logged in to seller center. So go help get support, then click on items and inventory, click on rich media and then you'll see instructions on how you can upload a video or a 365 image and that'll be basically for free. Otherwise you have to pay for each thing to get hosted through an agency. But those are some free modules. If you don't have a video up, that's a great thing to put up there and I highly recommend you do that if you haven't done that yet. So another thing somebody asked is where can we create a brand store? This is going to be when you are registered, a brand registered, you go to your brand portal and that should. That is the place where you're going to be able to see all of that to create your brand store. Another thing I wanted to bring up is the review accelerator program is still going on. You can go do up to 10 reviews and basically how this works is it's not like Vine on Amazon, it's basically your actual customers. So whatever sales you get within a certain amount of time, they will actually send a request to that customer for a review and they'll pay them $3. You pay $10 for the whole review, but it's a great way to get some verified reviews of customers who are actually looking for your product already, not just somebody who's reviewing products. So review accelerator program if you don't have any reviews, you can go up to 10. So once you pass 10, you're no longer eligible for the review accelerator program, but that is a great way to get some reviews going if you don't have them going as well. Carrie Miller: And let's see. Here we have another question. Bradley's asking me what was my December sales? I actually don't know the actual number. I think it was around the 12,000 to 15,000 for my one main product. And I have to go look, I have a few different brands on there, so the one that I've been really focusing on I did about 15,000 for that one product. So not bad, especially since it's only one product. You kind of multiply that by 10, you've got a million dollars a year on Walmart. So that's something to consider. That's the one that I use mostly to kind of test things out and I try to see what's going on with Walmart with that particular product. And I've had the Proseller badge. I've had that for quite a while now and they've actually been giving me refunds on my referral fees and so that's pretty cool. So a lot of great things coming with Walmart. I think the coupons are going to be a really big deal, that we're going to be able to sell a lot more on with those coupons, because people do like deals, and I think that's going to be great. So let's see here Bradley is asking how have you been getting to page one for your Walmart launches? Carrie Miller: Now, I did talk about this a little bit earlier, right at the beginning, because somebody was asking how to rank, and that is basically the first thing obviously is your product type. You have to be in the right product type. First of all, you have to make sure you're listing it has about a 90% or above, and sometimes you'll rank to the top just with that listing quality score. A lot of times we'll just help optimize listings and it goes straight to the top with just the listing quality score. Don't stuff your title, but it's really clicks, adds to carts, conversions. Those are going to help to really get your ranking up, and that includes PPC. So if you're combining doing a search, find by type strategy along with pay-per-click advertising, you're going to get some really good results from that. So I know we talked with Kostin from AZ Rank last I think it was last month that we did and they actually have a whole way to help you rank. So if you do want to use their services, they're doing a good job of helping people to rank to the top. So check them out as well, because they've got some great strategies for ranking on Walmart too. Carrie Miller: All right, another thing that I wanted to point out is WFS. Make sure you have your products in WFS. That's another thing that's going to help you with your listing quality score and your rank. So Walmart fulfillment services are even if you want to just send in like 20 to 30 products at a time just to see how much it's going to how much is going to go, and I would suggest at least trying out WFS, and it's going to help you quite a bit. So if you haven't enrolled in WFS, you should do that. But other than that, I think that is all that I have for today, unless there's any more questions. But thank you all for these questions and if you haven't joined our winning with Walmart group, make sure that you go and join our winning with Walmart group. We have a lot of great sellers in there and people answering questions, and so you can also tag me in any questions that you have. On Facebook. Some people have sent me messages and so I would love to help you with any Walmart issues. So I will see you all on the next episode Next month, we'll have a special guest, so I'm excited for that one, and so stay tuned. Every month, usually on Wednesday. We had to reschedule this week, but usually on Wednesdays we do Winning with Walmart Wednesday and I hope to see you all there again and have a great rest of the day. Bye everyone.
Gregg Miller, who has worked at WFS for over three decades and currently serves as our Director of Technology, joined the Quaker Matters podcast and discussed the new technology that has been introduced to WFS during his time, the importance of the 1-to-1 laptop program, and what it's been like to share the WFS experience with his three children.
Cynthia Stan Mellow, who served as the upper school visual arts teacher for 44 years, joined the Quaker Matters podcast and discussed her love of teaching, her passion for art, and why she dedicated so much of herself to the WFS community.
Get ready to take your Walmart selling game to the next level! Our brilliant guest, Michal Chapnick, a Walmart expert, talks about Walmart's ad certification, the unveiling of innovative beta programs, and the integration of Google ads into promoting your Walmart products. She'll also shed light on Walmart's commitment to third-party sellers through initiatives like fee discounts and personalized product suggestions. This is the inside scoop you need to unlock the potential of Walmart's marketplace and see your sales soar. Discover the power of Google ads in driving traffic to Walmart and how it can work wonders for your brand exposure. Dive into the advantages of Walmart's SEM program and learn why it may be more beneficial than directly sending Google ads to Walmart. Michal reveals the abundant opportunities awaiting sellers at Walmart Canada and uncovers the potential impact of beta programs, such as brand stores, on your sales figures. This Walmart Wednesday episode is packed with insights and advice for those seeking to extend their business reach on Walmart. As we approach Q4, the busiest time for e-commerce, Michal shares her expertise on maximizing your sales during this hectic period. From planning and implementing promotions to optimizing your listings and enhancing customer service, we've got you covered. Uncover the impact of the beta version of coupon codes and the power of video ads in holding customer attention. We wrap up our episode by acknowledging all the diligent sellers out there and remind you to make the most of the opportunities available on Walmart's platform, particularly during the holiday season. Buckle up for a wealth of knowledge, and best wishes for a profitable Q4! In episode 513 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie and Michal discuss: 00:00 - Selling on Walmart Updates and Opportunities 03:13 - BIS Mentor and Customized Suggestions 06:07 - The Growth and Opportunities With Walmart 12:35 - Walmart's Influence on Black Friday Sales 15:23 - Running Ads for Walmart Benefits 19:17 - Opportunities for Selling in Walmart Canada 23:53 - Promoting Walmart Sales With Coupons and Videos 31:56 - Optimizing Keywords With Helium 10 33:24 - Q4 Selling Tactics and Appreciation ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: On today's episode we have Walmart expert Michal Chapnick. She's going to be talking about Walmart ad certification, new beta programs for Walmart, as well as Google ads for Walmart. So this and so much more on today's episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast. Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Carrie Miller: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. My name is Carrie and I'm your host today, and this is our winning with Walmart Wednesday, where we talk about all things Walmart. We answer all of your questions and I'm very, very excited today because I have an amazing guest. We have Michal Chapnick, who is going to be joining me. I'm going to be asking her lots of questions because she's a Walmart expert. She has a Walmart agency and she's had a lot of success on Walmart. I know a lot of you are familiar with her. Hey, Michal, how's it going? Michal: Hello, I'm good and good. How are you doing? Carrie Miller: Very good. Thank you, nice to see you, and thanks so much for coming on. I'm really excited to have you because you're one of the you know Walmart gurus one of the few Walmart gurus. I would say, probably one of the top in the industry here for Walmart. So thank you. Yeah, so I'm really excited because I know that you have a lot of kind of cool updates to share with us. Okay, so I'm going to get into it. I'm going to get into some of the first things. I'm going to ask you just what kind of updates are there that you would like to share with us about Walmart? Do you want to share any updates of anything new for Walmart or what's new? Michal: basically, I think there are so many Recently. You know, every week we do Walmart updates and we have, like you know, 10, 15 slides every week because they're really on top of it, they're working really hard and a lot of them are really exciting because and I'm telling that all the time Walmart really wants you. They want you on Walmart, they want the brand, they want you to sell and a lot of people you know sometimes having a hard time to enter Walmart or when they're on Walmart they're having a hard time to sell. But Walmart really wants you there and they're doing everything they can from their side to help you and, you know, give you help to set up, give you help with fees. There's always some kind of promotion there is doing for sellers that are already on Walmart or new sellers. So right now they're doing a lot of like. They're cutting off fees in different ways. Michal: So either if you have the Pro Seller badge and you can get deep discounts on fees and you can get credit that you can use it for run ads or to use it for the review accelerator program, so you get this credit back. The only thing you need to do is go to your BIS mentor. It's in every account. It's on the, I think, top left and Walmart is giving you customized suggestions so it just specifically for you. Michal: So from things like items that they think you have an opportunity to get more sales if you lower your price and they're willing to cut your sell off fees, so they will cut your sell off fees so you'll be able to take your price lower to sell more. So this is just one example of the second thing they will give you like a customized list of products that they think you should add to your account. So they're basing that, based on the category you're selling or the brand you're selling. So if you're a resale, of wholesale, you will see a lot of opportunities and I know that some of my sellers that I'm working with they're taking really good advantage of those and they're they managed to get a lot of sales because usually Walmart will tell you something that is out of stock or something that the other sellers are not using WFS. Carrie Miller: So once you got this inventory and it's already selling very well and you're the only one selling it or the only one WFS, imagine that is like so much self I actually talked to them about this and they said that they anything in the assortment growth tab, that those are really the best opportunities because they kind of compliment what they already have on Walmart. So they're looking for complimentary products. So I think that's why is they're really going to. If you take those suggestions, they're going to boost you and then you're going to get a lot of exposure and sales. Like I know, I was talking to an account manager and she said that somebody in the toys category had a bunch of assortment growth suggestions for toys and they started manufacturing them and basically have been killing it on Walmart, just making tons and tons of sales. So that's a that's something that is really interesting right now for opportunity for selling products. Michal: It is working. I know that one of our clients that he have an account manager. You know in the past you know they were doing it personally, they know exactly the opportunity so they can do it all and you know he's selling in the category of backpacks. They told him you know what styles right now there is like a lot of demand, for example, clear backpacks and things like that, and the same thing is killing they're. They're making six figures a month. Michal: They're just amazing. So Walmart is there to help you. I think, if you, I don't know I was selling on Amazon for 12 years, but I remember the 10 years ago. I used to get emails from Amazon every day with items to sell. They were like telling me hey, you know these these, you know those items right, and I don't know if they still do that. I have no idea, but I haven't gotten any recently. And but with Walmart is the same thing. They want to know. Michal: For them to get to the same or as close as Amazon sells, their catalog have to grow and that's their focus. They're focused in growing their catalog and they're using the sellers, the third-party sellers, to leverage the catalog. There's still far away in a couple of hundreds of millions of products from Amazon. There is so much place for new sellers and even people that come into Walmart and they're new and they don't know what to sell. I can show them so quickly. So much opportunities. There's endless opportunities. One of the coolest things with the mentor base even if you're a private label, walmart know you're selling, for example, in the toy category or kitchen, and they know exactly what product, have a lot of demand and they will tell you. And then you need to go and manufacture that or source that or there's so many ways you can get your hands on these items. This is one of the things that I really like, that they're really encouraging you and we just talked about it. Michal: Right now they have an update for the category of automotive. They will tell you all the products they're looking for in automotive and they tell you please bring those products, list them. We want you to create the listing. They do not want you to sell something. Yeah, of course you can sell. Something is already on Walmart but what they're trying to do is to get you to create new listings. They want you to not just to create new listing. They also expect to need to create good listings, because when they're good listing, they can be in front of customers. Customer can find them. When customer find it, the content is good, so he will buy it. Michal: Right now they give you the option to upload videos to your listing. Everybody can do that right now. It doesn't cost you anything. You can just go ahead and there's a when you go and open the case. There is one of the section it says upload rich media, upload video, and they will give you an instructions and a file to upload your video. So they're really doing a lot for the sellers and going a little bit back. The most important things that you need to remember is that you have to follow the guidelines, because you're going to have so much benefits coming after that, Getting the processor batch, for example. Now they're offering the SEM, that's the searching agent marketing, and what is that? So let's talk about that for a second, because that's I think this is one of the most exciting updates the last couple of months. Carrie Miller: Yeah, I saw it pop in my account and I took a look at it. I think my biggest question is because this is basically advertising through Google Shopping, through the portal, and they basically do it for you. As long as you're really well optimized, you'll show for the best keywords. But is this now the paid version of what was free? Because I remember my product used to show up a ton on Google Shopping just for free and I hadn't been advertising on Google for Walmart but it would say available on Walmart.com. Is it now kind of paid and not free, or do you see both? Michal: No, it's definitely both. So here's the secret. Walmart is spending millions Even I wish I could see their budget for Google Ads. It's insane, it's really crazy. They know the power of Google Ads. We saw in many, many clients a lot of time when we went deep into the sales and trying to understand where those sales are coming from. Between 30% to 40% of a lot of item sales coming from Google Ads. So Walmart is pushing all the listing to Google Ads. Michal: But there's a couple of criterias, like your listing have to be following the guidelines, you have to have good images, so you have to have not too long title and all the things that are very important, and you can see it in your listing score. There is a tool that show you exactly the score for every little part of your listing and if your score is high, there is no reason why you shouldn't be eligible to show up on Google Ads. So Walmart is not going to put you on Google Ads if you don't have enough images, because then the pain for your item to show up on Google a customer is going to click on that is going to come to Walmart and he's not going to end up buying because there's no information or there's no images. So again, they have to make sure your listing is going to have the chance to convert before they will do that. So the only thing you need to do is make sure your listing is following the guidelines. And so now Walmart is telling you we're giving you the option. We know how powerful is Google, we know how powerful the ads are coming. We are spending a lot of money, but if you want to do some extra, you want to spend more money, you want to put more product. We're giving you the option to start doing campaigns on Google, and I think that's huge and I think whoever is going to take advantage of that is going to see amazing results in their conversion rates. Michal: Because Still, 40 percent of people will start their search on Google. I think 35 percent going to go directly to Amazon, 40 percent on Search and Agent, and then the rest is spread on different things. Some people will go through Pinterest or even social media. They're going to look and stuff in there. Another thing that why you want to be optimized is the same thing as more you optimize and you listen to high quality. Walmart is not just advertising on Google or Bing or Ad. They're advertising with a lot of social media advertising, with a lot of bills website. They're advertising with a lot of really big influencers that they're paying them a lot of money. As more as you're listening is good. They will expose your items to all those channels they're advertising at. Carrie Miller: That's possible. Yeah, I know that. Michal: Yeah, I was talking with one of the account manager and they have the option to pick items and put them on this bucket, this list, and then website deals website like a silk deals, and there's all websites like that or influencers have the option to look at that list and pick the items they want to promote this week because they're getting paid and they get also getting paid affiliates. Yeah, there's things like that. Sometimes, if you follow influencers on Walmart on Instagram, they're doing a lot of Walmart. You can see they're pushing a lot of passion. Yeah, kitchen items. And right now it's crazy because people are waiting for influencers to show them what's the deals on Walmart, because everybody know that Walmart have the best Black Friday deals. Michal: Yeah, we always have the biggest selection, the biggest selection of deals in each category. Because other stores can be just electronics, best buy with Walmart. The Black Friday deals are on home, on outdoor, on Christmas decoration, toys, clothing, jewelry, everything. Walmart is very known in Black Friday. Carrie Miller: We did have a question about SEM. It says do you do Walmart SEM and your own Google ads at the same time? That's a really good question Because if you don't want to cannibalize your own Google ads while doing the SEM Google ads, that is a really good question. Michal: Usually, when you do your own Google ads, you choose where the traffic is going to go. You can run Google ads for your website. It's good because many times I remember I had items that I used to sell in the past. There were not all of people were selling them In the category. I would say it was a kind of a shoes, a specific shoes for kids. When I used to go to Google and I used to write that specific keyword. I get Google ads and I sell my shoes on Walmart. Next to it I saw my shoes on my website and next to it on Amazon. I used to get all the Google ads I could. Now, most likely, the customer will buy my shoes. It doesn't matter where, but he will buy them. Again, you're creating brand awareness. It's more ads you can create. It's more exposure. You can put your brand in a product. It's better for you because the customer remembered that. Carrie Miller: I think that they clarified it. I mean sending Google traffic to Walmart. Maybe not do your own Google ads to Walmart if you're doing SEM, potentially. Michal: Yeah, that's what it's going to do. That's exactly what it's going to drive traffic from Google to your Walmart. So I say you know, try, try, you can put a budget. It's not too complicated to run those campaigns. So I would say, give it a try. And before you do that, also go and search for your item on Google and see if it's really coming up, if Walmart is already promoting your items. And again, the most important thing, make sure your listing is following the guideline. Carrie Miller: Yeah, for my own Google ads. I did do an experiment where I was trying to see if it would help with ranking if I sent outside ads, like from Google, like at U-Kan on Amazon, and I noticed that it did not make a difference when I sent my own Google ads to Walmart. And so I think that probably, if there is going to be a benefit, it's probably going to be through the SEM program doing ads to Walmart. So if if I were to choose between the two, I would probably do the Walmart SEM over Google to my own Google ads to Walmart, whereas I would still obviously do Google ads because I have Google ads to my own sites as well. But that's what I would think because I know that they are kind of looking at their own metrics and the more you convert on their side, I think that the better it is. But that could be just a guess, but I do know for a test that it did not help my rank. So there is that, because I know a lot of us do that for Amazon. We send Google traffic and it does help with rank, but it didn't on Walmart. Michal: Yeah, one more thing I'm thinking of is that it's probably going to be much better because they have better pricing, so it might be going to end up being much cheaper than you spend it yourself. Carrie Miller: Yes, it's Walmart. Michal: It's going for Walmart account. It's not your Google account, it's Walmart account having their own pricing. So you will get that. And the second thing it's known because I can see it. Every time I go to Google I can see Google love Walmart. Google will always place Walmart ads in first five. So this is another thing you will get better exposure and you have better chance to shop in a better ad in a better location Because, again, it's through Walmart. So just that it's worth it. Carrie Miller: We have another question. Actually Bradley asked this one and it says is Walmart Canada worth it yet? Michal: I absolutely think so, absolutely. It is very like with Walmart.com, the same thing with Walmart Canada. Not every product will be a huge success because those marketplaces are still building their customer base, but I think Walmart.com is doing very good. Now for Canada, from a lot of people that I have a lot of friends that live in Canada people online. When they go online they usually will go either to Amazon Canada or Walmart Canada. There is not too many options. Some items people can go to the store and have some problems to find Like there is not always big selection of things. So if you know to find those items that people having a hard time to find in the store or next to their house, you will know that Canada will be very, very good. Michal: So actually, going back to the time when I used to sell kitchens, we had exact same styles on that farm in Canada and actually it was a period of time that we met sales on Canada. Because I guess you know people need, you know everybody needs shoes for their. Yeah, you don't need to do much, it's going to sell. If you have nice shoes with quality, it will sell. And I think the thing is that, again, people when they go online, they don't. There's not too many brands that are selling on Walmart.com or Canada. So again, if you find those opportunities and there is tons of opportunities on Walmart Canada and also in Canada people, the Canadian, are paying high prices on stuff, so you don't have to sell nothing to cheap, you can sell it in your price or even higher and customers are paying and they're also paying shipping as well, so I think the profit is also very nice on Canada. Carrie Miller: All right, let's go into some other things I know. Can you give us some insights to you know, like I think, some beta programs I think coupons, brand stores, any other kind of beta programs that you've seen, and have you been able to use them and what's your experience been with those? Michal: Yeah, so brand stores are available for very selected amount of sellers. Right now it's mostly they started with a lot of sellers that do it fashion, so we do have a couple of our clients that they have the option to do brand stores and right now it looks great. I cannot wait for it to be available to everyone because we need that. You know you want to click on the brand and go to a nice storefront that you can display your. You know what are you selling. I think it's going to help a brand grow really nicely on Walmart and I think the best part is, again we see the people that selling on Walmart. There's not a lot of brands that take Walmart really seriously and doing those extra steps, but the one they do, those that want to see really success on Walmart. So I'm excited to you know, to see some of the brands we're working with, you know, using that feature and growing. The second thing is coupon codes. So coupon codes again are in beta right now. Yes, and it's available from whatever. Michal: Only like 50 sellers got that, yeah, maybe now a little bit more, but I cannot wait for that because, again, this is huge for doing social media marketing, because people love those videos and those ads and everything that you give them. Coupon code is, like, so popular right now with Amazon, and I think it's going to help get so much more traffic and sales to Walmart when you can, you know, and display your items with the coupon code. I think so. Carrie Miller: I think that it's a bummer we don't have it right now because my sales when we started doing a coupon on Amazon have done really, really well, because I just think people are always looking for a deal. So, seeing that coupon, they're like, oh, I might as well just get this item too in here because it's on sale or there's a coupon, whereas you know we don't have it on Walmart yet. I'm kind of antsy to get coupons on Walmart. It would be really cool if they just decided next week to release those, because I'm desperately waiting for those because they work really well on Amazon. We see that they work because people are already shopping on there and they're like, oh, I'm looking, they're looking for deals, right? So the more access we have to give deals, I think, the more sales we're going to make on Walmart. Michal: So, yeah, in beta anymore. It's available to everyone. If you're a brand, you have to be brand and register, but is the video ads. Yes is the most exciting thing I think happened recently for brands is that you can create a video ad and you get your customer attention so fast because you know the minute they search for something, your video is and it's big, it's really big. You saw on Walmart, it's not like tiny. It's like yes, really like the page. It's really nice big deal, and I'm still amazed that so many brands are not using that. There are so many people and sellers that are not using the video ads or even just to upload the video to the listing. So many people are not doing that. So and so, yeah, this is I think the key to this with Walmart is paying attention and doing all this stuff. I agree. Carrie Miller: I think I've talked to some people and because the minimum is a dollar for the video ads, they haven't been utilizing them. Have you started doing video ads and have you seen some good conversion on those, like just better conversion overall? Or what do you see with the video ads Currently? Michal: yeah, we do have one of our clients that is running video ads and their sales are are really going high, Like we're talking about 30% more than before, so that's really nice. They're very happy with that, and so this is one of the things that you know with advertisement usually you should see growth and you know with sales. Carrie Miller: Mm, hmm, that would be. Yeah, that's amazing. Okay, so let's see, there was something else that you mentioned, and it was ad certification. Do you want to talk a little bit about Walmart ad certification? I think this is a completely new program, so yeah, that's a new program that Walmart is. Michal: see that people struggling with ads Like they're trying to run ads and they don't know, they have no clue what they're doing. So they're saying, hey, let's give you a certificate. So I think it's just to make people feel like, oh, if they're going to go through a course, they're going to be certified and they know what they're doing. So this is what they're trying to do. Or they're even offering that to your team. It doesn't have to be you, it's going to be somebody from your team. So if you have a VA, or because Walmart advertisement is not difficult, but you have to take the time and and learn how to create your campaigns correctly, how to optimize them, how to find the right keywords, a check your competition. Michal: If you're running ads and you don't spy on your only competitors to see what they're doing, you're missing out. Because this can be. I always find. When I do, you know, when I look at competitors, when we run ads for customers, we can always see that there is, we have a list of all the relevant keywords and then we look at the competitors and sometimes they're missing one or two, or sometimes even more. And that's your opportunity. So I think it's just to make sure that you're not missing out, and so we can always see that there is. Michal: We have a list of all the relevant keywords and then we look at the competitors and sometimes they're missing one or two or sometimes even more. And that's your opportunity, because nobody's paying for that keywords and you can pay for it and get all the traffic. Or Another thing that I see all the time with the competitors is that they're paying for a lot of phrases but they're not coming out as relevant because they don't have that phrase in the listing. So the ad algorithm is very smart, so he will sometimes place them for these keywords, but only because they don't have somebody that looks more relevant. Once you come and you're more relevant, you're not really competing with him because you will always get the first spot in the first page because the algorithm know you're relevant. So it's easy. Even if somebody in your confederate is advertising sometimes they're not doing such a good job you can always come and find those little holes where you can take advantage of something that your competitor is not doing. Carrie Miller: Very good, very interesting. Well, I think we're pretty much at our time limit, but I was wondering if there's anything else that we didn't talk about that you might want to give advice on or share with the audience. Any final thoughts? Michal: Yes, I think through the end of the year. Right now it's a really good timing for a lot, especially of the new seller, to see the potential of Walmart because a lot of them will be surprised right now with the sales. So I really want a lot of you to catch the momentum of the end of the year. Right now it's the best timing to add new product because there's a lot of traffic. So take the time and add new product. If you have a product they're doing very well, sometimes you can even just create another offer. It can be two-pack, three-pack, it can be a bundle. Again, it's more items you add, more customer can find you, you create more brand awareness. So add as many skills, as I always think is a good strategy to build your brand and stay in stock, even though pay attention, because a lot of people what happened right now? They're getting out of stock because they didn't thought they're going to sell so many, so much on Walmart and they're getting out of stock quickly. So try to stay in stock so you keep your momentum and your ranking. So add, advertise. Now is the best time. Michal: Advertise, pay attention to your budget. Make sure you're running ads during those peak days and peak hours. You don't run out of your budget too early of the day, so take advantage of the Google advertisement promo code. One thing that I wanted to say it's going to be super cool when you run ads. So your item is showing up like write the first thing the customer seat and then you use a promo. Like promo it's mean you're doing something like reduce price. So your item right now instead of $29.99 is $24.99. So you already catching the customer eye because you can see this item is on sale and then they click on your product and then they see there is coupon code. Right, it's going to be like. I think it's going to create a lot of conversion. Carrie Miller: I think so too. Michal: Together, and so I cannot wait for the coupon code to come. But right now you can run ads, you can do promo and that's going to catch some eyes. You will get a lot of sales just by doing that, as well as running ads going to help you get ranked. So this is a really good timing to not just sit back and say, oh, it's too late. No, it's not too late, you have enough time. Continue optimizing. Even right now. I'm telling all our customers please run a new keyword report. Michal: One of the things that people don't do is everybody that listen right now. When the last time you optimize your listening maybe you upload a year ago did you optimize it since then? Keywords is something that change all the time, especially in Q4. Because in Q4 there's a lot of new phrases. So if you sell toy for girls and right now you can add something to one of your key features, it says that toy make a great Christmas gift for girls. Christmas gift for girls is a very high search term at this time of the year and if you don't use it, you're missing out thousands of thousands of customers that potentially can come to your listening because that phrase is in your listening. So it's the perfect time right now, today, or even if you're on vacation or something next week, whenever you listen to that at any time. Michal: Go to Helium 10, run keyword refresh, keyword report to your product and do a couple of adjustments. Go and add those keywords to your description, to your title, even to your key features. Even your attributes can use some refreshment. Go to your listing tool score and see your score and see what you can improve in there. So just by doing that and you know what I love about it, that if you do that, you will see that in the next week or two you will get more traffic. It's working, guys. I think this tip is always working. Carrie Miller: One more question on that Do you use Helium 10, Cerebro and Magnet to find those keywords, or where are you finding those keywords? Is that kind of the best option? Michal: I'm using both. So Magnet, we're always doing searches just to see what's coming up, and I always like to use Cerebro because I will go to my competing items. At least two or three of them will take their item number, go to Cerebro to see what they're ranking for, which keywords, and almost always I will find the phrase that I never got in the other search. So always do both. Carrie Miller: Yeah, we're updating those keywords every week, so you should be able to find new keywords on Helium 10, Cerebro and Magnet. So thank you everyone for listening. Thank you so much, Michal, for coming on. I always love having you on because you are definitely one of the top in the industry, so I appreciate you taking the time and answering questions and giving advice. So good luck to everyone who's selling this Q4. I think we've gotten a lot of really great tactics here from Michal on what to do, from you know, for Q4. So we will see you all next time on Walmart Wednesday. So thank you. Michal: Bye Carrie. Thank you so much. Carrie Miller: Bye.
Lenny, who is from Tasmania, Hobart and attends The Friends' School in Hobart, joined the WFS community for the past two weeks. Throughout his time here, he immersed himself into the school community by taking classes, attending Meeting for Worship, participating in sports, and exploring major U.S. cities with his host family. On this episode, we talk about his favorite class here at WFS, the similarities and differences between each school, and the moments that he enjoyed the most. Enjoy!
If you've ever wanted a peek into the world of Amazon selling, this episode is your golden ticket. We're joined by elite sellers and Amazon specialists, Christine Douheret and Sasha Zubatov, who share invaluable insights and strategies they've used to overcome challenges and achieve incredible success in the E-commerce space. With their unlikely backgrounds - Christine hailing from Hollywood with a degree in interior design and Sasha from New York with a computer science degree - they bring unique perspectives to the table. Our guests reveal their strategies, such as utilizing flat files and Helium 10 Elite training, that have helped them stay ahead of the curve. They divulge how their diligent manual research, constant learning, and strategic use of VAs have been instrumental to their success. Listen in as Christine recounts her staggering 300% sales growth in just a year, and Sasha shares her client's seven-figure sales accomplishment. We also delve into the not-so-pretty side of things, including having listings hijacked and the struggles of facing stiff competition. As we wind down our engaging chat, Sasha shares her take on Walmart's competition and the suitability of products across platforms, offering her top flat file strategy. We also discuss the potential risks and rewards of creating product variations. Christine, always ready to help, extends an invitation to listeners who may need assistance or have questions about their Amazon journey. We wrap up the episode with a look at possible future Amazon and Walmart meetups and the unique challenges these could present. However challenging, the future of e-commerce remains thrilling, and we're here to help you navigate it. Tune in and let Christine and Sasha's success stories inspire you to create your own journey to success. In episode 510 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley, Christine, and Sasha discuss: 01:53 - Sasha's Funny Helium 10 Swag Story 10:35 - Sell on Amazon, Overcoming Challenges 16:25 - Sales Success and Expansion 19:11 - Successful Strategies and Challenges On Their Amazon Journey 25:18 - Organize and Inform for Successful Outcomes 27:26 - Understanding and Protecting Flat File Strategies 33:18 - Profit Margins and Competition 35:01 - Sales Performance: Amazon vs Walmart ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Bradley Sutton: Today we've got a couple of elite sellers and Amazon specialists who have come from completely different backgrounds but now have found success on Amazon, Walmart and what is even going to share his unique flat file strategies with us. How cool is that? Pretty cool. I think we know that getting to page one on keyword search results is one of the most important goals that an Amazon seller might have. So track your progress on the way to page one and even get historical keyword ranking information and even see sponsored ad rank placement with keyword tracker by Helium 10. For more information, go to h10.me/keywordtracker. Bradley Sutton: Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show. That's a completely BS free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. We've got a couple elite sellers on with us from opposite sides of the coast here, if I'm not mistaken or I'm not. Let's find out. Actually, where are you guys actually from? Let's start with Christine. Where are you at right now? Where are you calling in from? Christine: I'm in San Diego California. Bradley Sutton: You're in San Diego, so forget it. You're local to me. I don't know why I thought you were on the east coast for some reason. Where in San Diego are you at? Christine: Carmel Mountain, Carmel Valley area. Bradley Sutton: Okay, about like 30 minutes away from me. You know towards what is it? Towards the stadium down there, right? No, not like about 10, 15 minutes, okay, cool, wow, you're almost my neighbor and Sasha, about the distance south of me, you're north, you're up in like Orange County, California, right? Sasha: Yeah, I'm within like half an hour of any local workshop you guys put on. Bradley Sutton: I love it. I love it. Now here's a funny story about Sasha, like one time our you know, one of our executives, Bojan, he in our private Slack channel he posted a picture and he's like sell and scale summit t-shirt spotted in the wild or something like that, and he had snapped the picture of somebody that he saw in the checkout line in his grocery store up in I don't know somewhere in the OC and I was like wait a minute, that looks amazing. I was like yes, it's Sasha right there. So you're famous inside of Helium 10. There for wearing a Helium 10. Swag out in the wild, love it. Sasha: From now on, every time I go to Costco, I put that on. All right, you never know when a Helium 10 employee might capture you, awesome, awesome. Bradley Sutton: Now, Christine, let's go to your origin story. Is San Diego where you were born and raised, or are you a transplant, or what? Christine: I was actually born and raised in Los Angeles. My parents were transplants. However. They came from Switzerland on the Queen Mary for their honeymoon, and so they landed in Los Angeles, and that's where I grew up. Bradley Sutton: The Queen Mary. That's now like in Long Beach, that one that you can actually. Christine: Wow, nice, that one 1955, that came over. Bradley Sutton: Awesome, awesome, Sasha. What about you? Sasha: I'm originally from Odessa, Ukraine, and so I speak Russian, and I wound up doing a lot of business with Russia, and that's what actually led up to Amazon eventually. Bradley Sutton: Okay now, how long have you been here in the States? Sasha: I grew up here. I grew up in New York in 1980s. Bradley Sutton: Okay, so you must have moved here when you were one or two years old, all right. So growing up in New York, you had emigrated over here. What was your aspirations? Were you just wanting to be a fireman or an astronaut, or what did you think you'd be when you grew up? Quote unquote. Sasha: I had very little choice. My dad was an engineer and my mom was an actress, and all my life isolated between the two. So jump back and forth. Bradley Sutton: What did you end up going to college for then. Sasha: I ended up going. I got my bachelor's in computer science initially, and then, when my business was doing well enough, I went into a theater program. Bradley Sutton: So you still made both of them happy after my goodness, the model son here, Love it. What about you, Christine? What did you think you'd be when you grew up? Christine: I always wanted to be an interior designer and actually that's what my degree is in. So I was an interior design when I lived in LA, in Hollywood, for a big firm and often did a lot of the studio sets with the studio designers and maybe did something for Sasha's mom or there, you never know. Actually Johnny Cochran's office, I did. Bradley Sutton: Oh, okay, all right, wow all right. So now you know what. How many years were you in that field, Christine? Christine: 10 years. Bradley Sutton: 10 years and then after that? Christine: Then I went into nurse recruiting. Bradley Sutton: Nurse recruiting. Christine: Well, yes, recruiting nurses for travel assignments. So a travel nurse assignments across the US in every hospital there's probably 20-30% of travel nurses, so that they can adjust their fluctuations in census, and so they bring in travel nurses when it's high census and reduce the travel nurse population when it's lower census. Bradley Sutton: I'm half Filipino. Is it true that, like 30% of nurses, are Filipinos? Christine: They do bring a lot of Filipinos over, yes. Bradley Sutton: Okay, all right, so you're moving Filipino nurses around all the country, and others as well, and then how long do you do that? Christine: Ten years, at least ten years. Bradley Sutton: Oh, so you stick with stuff. You start. I like that. All right, so well. There's 20 years of work, so you must have started working when you were three, four years old, yourself there, okay, and then after that, did you find e-commerce or what's next in your life? Christine: Yes, and I found e-commerce, so it brought together everything I've learned and I just wanted to be able to do something that I could do from anywhere in the world. Since my family is from Switzerland, as you know, since my parents immigrated, I like to go there frequently and I wanted to be able to do a business I could do from there, if I needed to be there for two, three months, or from anywhere in the world, and I found this. Bradley Sutton: So did you just like Google at the time? Do you remember like where you know things I can do on the road, or something like that? Do you remember what you searched for? Christine: No, no, I um. I always like to buy things on Amazon, and I knew that it was growing, that people would be buying online more frequently, and so I started searching how to do that, and I did several webinars and classes and seminars In fact, I did probably six months of education before I even jumped into selling to make sure it was something that I could do, that I had the skills for, that I had the money for and that I would be able to grow with. See, like in nursing nurses, they can grow, they keep growing in their careers, they do all kinds of different things, they advance, and I wanted something that I could also grow with, so I could become a bigger seller, I could expand selling to different regions, different countries, and so I found this fit the bill. Bradley Sutton: Awesome. What about you, Sasha? How does somebody who studies theater and engineering end up in e-commerce? Sasha: I went to Russia with a suitcase full of computer parts. That's how I started in business, and from then, on, I think one dollar Sounds very shady. Bradley Sutton: Well, I don't know how. Sasha: Listen, I mean nothing with. Russia is a white hat, let's put it this way. So yeah, and so that led eventually to doing a lot of exporting to Russia. I did everything from computer parts to software to eventually slot machines even, and mining equipment, so that kind of led naturally to. Bradley Sutton: Did you say slot machines and mining equipment? Amazingly, yes, never in the history of vocabulary has that, I don't think, been used in the same Both of those things? That's interesting. So you're basically exporting whatever and whatever they wanted there. Huh Okay. Sasha: So it really does depend on relationships there as well, just like here in the States, and so wherever you can find a competitive advantage, that's a good place to go, and so eventually, when that died down as a market and now essentially it's almost entirely out of reach, you look for other opportunities, and by that point I've already had a number of other businesses that I was involved with, and so I started Amazon on a dare with a friend of mine who really did not believe that we could do any sales on Amazon when his website was doing so well. Sasha: So I bet him that we could beat his website sales with Amazon sales, and that's how it was what year are we? Talking about this was just not too long ago, I think it was 2018,. Bradley Sutton: I think it was Okay so that's about five years ago. All right, and then, and did you make that bet without even knowing a lot about Amazon? Or at that point, had you done some studying and research into it, or something? Sasha: I knew very little about Amazon. I did not have any experience selling on Amazon or listing on Amazon, but just simply understanding the marketing and the size of the market and the demand there. It just seemed it was a bet I couldn't lose. Bradley Sutton: So yeah, okay, I took it, Christine. What about you? What year approximately was it that you made this leap into e-commerce? Christine: Well, I launched my first product at the end of 2019. Bradley Sutton: Okay, Around the same time and are you still selling that exact product today? Christine: No Can you tell us what it is, then well, there's still kitchen products, but Well, I am still selling the remainder of that particular Also, somebody is still active. Bradley Sutton: That's pretty impressive for your very Not many people are still selling, like four years later, their very first product. Usually, it's like they just get their feet wet and they're like, oh nope, this was the wrong choice, but that's pretty impressive. You still have some inventory left and still going on that yes. Now how did you learn to how to sell on Amazon? Christine: You know I did a course. I did a course, but I can't say that I really learned how to do it from that course. What I really learned was when I started believe it or not signed up for Helium 10, because they have so many of the courses, you know the get started courses. That's where I really Like I was already on the platform beginning the sales, but there is so much to learn. Bradley Sutton: So in Helium 10? Christine: I did all of the modules you know, from the first set to the second set. I mean literally everything and I would say that, and also being part of the elite meetings, that is where I really learned how to sell, so you joined elite even before you were that big of a seller. Yes. Bradley Sutton: And then that that was me, Like in 2016, 2017, I wasn't even a seller and I was like you know what I just want to, like be a fly on the wall in these trainings and learn, and that's how I like. I probably learned more in six months than I could have, you know, in like two or three years taking a course or something. So I took a very similar path as you, All right, so that's interesting. What about you, Sasha? Did you take a course too? Or you just like got just dove right in? Or how did you learn to do what you were doing in the first? Sasha: year or 18? It was all just manual work, digging into Amazon specs, so really digging in into the specifications of flat files and categories. And I actually started with there are not category listing reports, but with transaction reports. You know those reports that list every transaction and the challenge there is that Amazon doesn't give you a flat file there. It actually is grouped by different categories. It's very, very hard to figure out exactly what the expenses are, so it really makes you work to break it up and clean it up. And that took a lot of time to break up that file and eventually I made it so that every column would be would represent a single type of expense, so it'd be easy to run pivot tables on it and analyze it. Bradley Sutton: There goes your engineering background a little bit there. Now, where are you still selling the very first product that you started with? Sasha: No, and it's not because it wasn't selling well, it's just it became less of a product for the manufacturer. So I don't really sell my own products. I help partners that I have sell products in their accounts typically, and so it depends in a way what they're. Bradley Sutton: So that first one that you launched was that for your friend, who you made that with. Sasha: That's right, that was his products and businesses that have storefronts that are brick and mortar they have other channels, so they have other needs, other interests, so they might have distribution, they might have a retail store, and so Amazon website aren't always their first priority. Bradley Sutton: Yeah, that's another thing that one of you have in common with me is when I first started until I worked at Helium 10, I didn't have any of my own products 100%. I launched over 400 products before I started working at Helium 10. 100% was for other people partners or people who hired me. Just my mindset was like I'm good at what I do, I have a specific thing I'm doing and I like doing this where there's not risk, like I'm not risking my family's savings and it could totally fail, so I'm gonna get. I mean, it's not. Bradley Sutton: Of course, I always try to have success, but I didn't have to stay up at night knowing that I risk my second mortgage or something to do this product launch. Amazon could just close the account down back in those days. Now, if I had things to do over again, now that I know what I know, I would have probably gone ahead and launched on my own products. But in those days I was very happy just getting a paycheck and if they made a million dollars from my $1,000 work, great for them. But then if they lost money, it's like all right, sorry, not sorry. We did it. We did what we could. Sasha: I hear you. I hear you, but for me it's entirely different. I prefer to work with somebody else's product and do the marketing. In a way. For me it's sort of more customer facing for me. To figure out what it is they need, what their needs are, and make it work. Bradley Sutton: What's the biggest success story? Like some projects that you've worked on and now they've scaled up to X number of sales in a year or something like that. Anything stick out in your mind. Sasha: For me. There was a client that had not been on Amazon at all, but their products have for years and years. They're a large manufacturer of beauty products who sold through retail and distribution and when I took them on, they had hundreds and hundreds of listings that were not created by themselves but by other resellers that needed to be on Amazon. So in the end, when we eventually were able to capture that market share, those beauty products wound up being really large, really large numbers for them. Bradley Sutton: Hmm, well, how large we're talking. Well, we're talking about seven figures. I like it all. Right, excellent. Now going back to you, Christine, like you've been selling now for like three years or four years, which year was your peak in sales and approximately how much was it? Christine: I would say this year is the peak in sales. So this year's increased like 300% over last year. Bradley Sutton: Wow. Christine: An increase, and well, we're in the high six figures at this point. Bradley Sutton: Excellent, so this is your full income now. Christine: Yes. Bradley Sutton: And do you have employees, or are you doing this all on your own? Christine: Oh no, I couldn't possibly do it all on my own. Now I have a VA who does all of the reporting and all of the things like that for me, and of course I have a team. I've got the photographer, videographer, social media. Bradley Sutton: So that's in-house, or you just like have somebody on retainer or something. Christine: I just contract out as I need it yeah. Bradley Sutton: Awesome, awesome. Now, what's been your biggest L, your biggest loss, still with you, Christine, like the worst thing that's happened to you since you started selling on Amazon, because that's something that I like to keep it real. Amazon is not all rainbows and unicorns Listings gets shut down, you get hijacked and bad experience with customer service. Let's keep it real here. Let's be vulnerable. What's your biggest loss you've taken, or worst thing? Christine: Well, I had a. It's a product I still sell, so it was actually selling very, very well and it was like top you know top numbers and a new person had designed a similar product and so they came in and cited us as patent infringement. Amazon pulled all the listings down, which, of course, stopped the sales immediately. Now we had authorization to sell, we had a patent, we had everything, and I contacted Amazon with I mean right away and sent that document, sent it to the person that claimed the IP, and it still took over two and a half weeks to bring the listings back up. Of course, by then sales were lost. It had to sort of rebuild its rank and everything, and this person did it which I've learned since in order to launch his product right. Bradley Sutton: So he wanted to clear the way so that he was the only kind of player in the chain. Christine: Exactly, and so that's my first time really realizing the tricks that people play just to get ahead and that was disappointing. It was sad I lost money, but you know what? I wasn't going to let him win, so I just worked hard to get those sales back. Bradley Sutton: I love it. Now let's flip the script. What's the coolest thing that's ever happened? You like something unexpected or something amazing where you went viral, one of your products you sold out of inventory in two weeks or you made ridiculous profit on something. What's one of the coolest things that's happened to you? Christine: Well, yeah, I have sold out of inventory, but I've learned now to keep that in stock in backup. But actually this last prime day was probably one of the most exciting for me because I sold over a thousand units on that day For me that was A thousand units in one day, wow. Yeah, for me that was big, that was a big, exciting moment. Bradley Sutton: How many SKUs? Christine: In that particular product line there were five SKUs. Bradley Sutton: Wow. So how many units did you have in stock to cover that? That's a huge day. Christine: Well, here's what happened is I did run out, but I have a backup over at Deliver. So when it ran out it pulled from Deliver and gave me enough time to get more in. So I had, thank goodness, in the backup warehouse. I had a whole another thousand units ready to ship. And was able to send them in immediately as Deliver was fulfilling the overflow orders. Bradley Sutton: What would you say is the reason you did so well on Prime Day? Did you have some kind of, you know, Prime Exclusive Discount? Did you have a coupon? Did you send some outside traffic? Is there one thing that resulted in that crazy sales day? Christine: Well, I did a Prime Exclusive Discount. I also, prior to that, made sure all my ads were prepped and primed and that I made sure that the listing was 100% perfect and the pictures were perfect all before that Prime Day. So I guess I was just prepared. Bradley Sutton: I like it, Sasha. What about you? You know, sometimes, working with multiple accounts, you get exposed to even more things than the average. You know, seller, what's the worst thing? It doesn't have to be from you, but just like you were part of an account and you heard that something crazy happened. What's? Sasha: on Amazon. I think the most heartbreaking thing is when listings become hijacked. I mean, I've seen policy violations on Amazon and all sorts of difficulties that we have working with Amazon, but when listings get hijacked, that's just. I think. To me that's the toughest part. Bradley Sutton: And so what was one of the worst? Like somebody who had like, was there any? That was like they were selling 100 a day and it went to zero because of it, or something crazy like that. Sasha: They've got an entire product line with something that competitors were able to put Covid-related keywords in there somehow During the time when Covid items were hot and Amazon was blocking sellers, and so their entire list product line was shut down. Bradley Sutton: Yeah, all right. Well, let's not be doom and gloom. Christine talked about her. Great, you know, 1000 sale prime day. What about you? What's a crazy, amazing thing that's, like you know, can't happen, probably in the rain or it's very. It would be very impossible or very difficult for it to happen off of Amazon, but you've seen it happen on Amazon. Sasha: Gosh, I have to think about that, but the thing that comes to mind that the most satisfying thing that I had experienced was when I finally figured out how to put attributes up on Amazon that they don't give you in the category listing report. There are, for some, certain categories, like in the, for example, a grocery category that I work with a lot. When I was finally able to put up the nutrition table to get all the nutrition values up for products when it's not it's not regularly available in your category listing report, that was probably the most satisfying experience. Bradley Sutton: Where is that show on the list? Or does it show on the listing, or is this is only? We're talking about the back end here. Sasha: So it shows on the listing right above the bullet points. It's in that prime space below the title and right above the bullet points it'll show like nutrition information. It'll show ingredients and it will show the nutrition table that you usually see on products in the grocery store. Bradley Sutton: But for most products you don't actually get those attributes even if you download the flat file that you would, you know like it's not going to. It's not going to show up there. Sasha: It's not going to show up, even though it should. Bradley Sutton: So how do you do it? Do you like copy it from another category listing report that it does show up and then just paste those columns or something? Well, at this point, at this point. Sasha: You could probably find it. You could probably find it in some other category. I had to search for those attributes throughout the internet. I found them eventually in a European Amazon catalog. So I had to scrape them off of there and that's how I populated those columns. It didn't exist anywhere. My suspicion and I don't know this for sure, my suspicion is that they were available for products that were sold through Amazon Fresh. You know Amazon Fresh that product line, and so if you were in stores at Amazon Fresh, you had access to those fields, but not if you were in seller central, and so that was a bit of a hack. Bradley Sutton: All right, we're going to come back to you because I know your specialty is like flat files and stuff like that. So we're going to be getting lots of strategies. But going back to Christine, let's talk some strategy. Not anybody can have a thousand sale prime day. Not anybody can scale up on their own to high six figures. So what are some things that you think you're doing that is unique or that you're focusing on? Maybe it's not so unique, but it's like you put a big focus on it and you feel that that's part of the secret to your success. Christine: Well, I have these master files on literally everything that's required. So I think being organized and having all the information in one place is really important for me. For example I have, since I'm on both Amazon and Walmart I have like a spreadsheet that's got you know the UPC, the ASIN, the titles, the bullets, I mean literally everything on it that I can then, you know, adjust before fixing a listing, and I can refer to that sheet at any time I need to when I'm doing something else in Amazon, and also the same with Walmart. They have different IDs, different things, and this sheet goes as far as it has dimensions of the products and the pricing of the products. Bradley Sutton: Now, guys, I don't know if you picked up on this, but something I like to tell people is, no matter what career you come from, there's things that you can take from your previous life and apply to Amazon. You know if you guys picked up. You know Sasha used to be, you know computer science and engineer and stuff, and now he's got this analytical mind and now he just happens to be an expert on you know Excel and flat files and stuff. And listen, Christine, you know being an interior designer. You know she couldn't just like throw stuff together. You know like she probably had. Bradley Sutton: You know this system where she would really plan out her sets and very detailed, and now she's taken that and applied it to the way she manages her interior, designing her Amazon catalog, so you can always take stuff from and then play. You know, plus, sasha, you know being a service provider too. You know he's taking his acting lessons. He's very well spoken and eloquent there and very good looking too, so he's using whatever he can do right there. Sasha, back to you Another, maybe a flat file strategy that you can share with the community. Sasha: So with flat files, I think it's important to know that the category listing report is not necessarily what's live on the product page, and that's a major misconception that people have is that when they receive the category listing report, when they download it, they think that that accurately reflects what's up on the system, and it's not the way I would. The way I think about the CLR is that it is just a suggestion. It's what you've uploaded to Amazon and then Amazon makes a decision about whether they will accept that recommendation and update the data in the system or not. Conversely, the file itself, the category listing report or the category template, that is also Amazon's suggestion to you, what you can upload to the, to the cloud, and you don't necessarily have to follow that recommendation. Sasha: That's why there are a lot of ways to hack the file, the Excel file that comes down from from Amazon, and so one of the first things that you do if you do have a conflict, if you have an issue, you may take a look at what's in your category listing report and then compare it to the, to the UI, to the data fields that you see in your seller central when you click the edit button and take a look at the shaded text and numbers that are right above the field, which shows you what's what's on the cloud live, and very often you'll find that what you've uploaded is not exactly the same as what's on that now, and that could be things like title, it could be bullet points, clearly, product ideas and other other fields that Amazon doesn't think that you have the right to update or you have the priority to update. So that's one check that I would do once in a while to make sure that what you think is being uploaded is actually getting up there. Bradley Sutton: Okay, is it? I mean, I know this was the case years ago, but you know what would happen and how some people would get their listings, you know, shut down. Is you know, like, like, like COVID type keywords, but any adult keywords, drug related keywords, they would go to a marketplace where that seller wasn't in and where there's open spots in their flat file sometimes they would get to, you know, throw some of those keywords in there and then it would stop it. And then you know what was you know one way years ago of how to stop that is like hey, hey, you know, make sure everything in your flat files are filled out and even upload it to different marketplaces. Is that? Can that still help? Or what is the latest protection on how you can stop people from abusing the flat file system? Where, where they can get your listing, you know, shut down? Sasha: That is absolutely the right thing to do is fill out the category list and report with all the fields that are relevant to your product, and there's a couple that that are sort of not part of your product listing unless you're in the adult category that you should also update. But that is the good recommendation to update as much as you can that is relevant to your product, because bad actors can update your listings by doing that in other marketplaces or by virtue of having access to higher level of Amazon account, for example, they can do it through vendor central right. So that is that is a good recommendation. It is getting harder for people to to hijack casually because Amazon is making it more difficult for people to create and modify listings for that are owned by brand registry. But they they could still do it, and so I would. Sasha: I would say don't go overboard and try to complete every single empty field in your listing report, because you really cannot do that. There are many more fields that are related to your product. Then you can actually see when you download your category listing report. So you can't really even contemplate completing every possible field, but you should fill out those fields that are relevant. You should fill out those fields that have to do with compliance has met and so on, and you should fill out the field that has to do with is is this an adult product? To make sure that those don't get in there. Aside from that, you could you could still have bad actors put bad, bad keywords in your product. They'll get you shut down so that yeah, that's that hijacking process still exists out there. Bradley Sutton: Okay, I'm just curious what's your ratio of sales from Amazon to Walmart? Five to one, 10 to one. Amazon more, Would you say it? Christine: for me it's. Let's see, last year it was like Five to one, this year it's more like eight to one on one. Bradley Sutton: It changed so eight to eight. For every eight dollars you sell on Amazon, you sell one dollar on Walmart. Christine: Yes. Bradley Sutton: Okay, are you using WFS? Christine: Yes. Bradley Sutton: Okay, how's your profit margins? You know like after, if you know calculate out what you're you know selling or you know doing for PPC, etc. Is the profit margins similar or you making more money than one platform, than the other? Christine: Well, last year I made more I mean profit margin was better on Walmart. This year the advertising Something's a skew there. So the profit margins not as good On Walmart as it was last year and I'm hoping they fix that and that goes back up. But typically because Walmart doesn't charge as much for delivery, they do still charge the 15%. They don't charge as much delivery. There is room for a better profit margin on Walmart. Bradley Sutton: Okay, interesting, interesting. Do you find that there's less competition for your niche on Walmart compared to Amazon? Are you fighting more competitors on Amazon or is similar to the same ones? You who are there on Amazon are also there on the Walmart. Christine: I think it's less competition. It's less competition, but it's harder to rank up for some reason. But you know, it's a unique client. Each platform has its set of unique clients, right and certain products. Like I, have five different products With many, many skews. So one product does very, very well on Walmart and Not so well on Amazon. Bradley Sutton: So you're doing better on Walmart than you are on Amazon for one product. Christine: Yes, yes. Bradley Sutton: Yeah, I know Kerry's got one or two like that too interesting. Christine: Yeah, and where the other products do better on Amazon. It's interesting. So I I come to where I'm picking out different products for the different platforms. Bradley Sutton: Could you have predicted that, like you know, when you were looking in helium 10 at the search volume or the competitors, like could you have said you know what I think this might be, or it did it just happen, and then now, in retrospect, you know what to look for as far as science about what could be better on Walmart than Amazon? Christine: I think it just happened. But yes, now in retrospect I can look a little bit more, I have a bit more information about what to look for and you know, price is a key it's just a key thing on Walmart. So having good price products so if you have a product that's a little bit higher priced For me I'm putting it on Amazon it just doesn't move as well on Walmart. In my category I'm talking about kitchen now in another category it might work just fine, but in my category the lower priced products that appear to have the best value for the price let's put it that way Move better on Walmart. And yes, now I'm picking out things that fit that category. Bradley Sutton: Sasha you doing anything at all with Walmart, or everything that you do is all on Amazon. Sasha: I help with Walmart as well, but it really varies by client. There are certain products that don't do well on Walmart at all because they are on Walmart shelves and so if it's a, if it's a product that can be purchased from Walmart, in the store and Amazon and Walmart will ship it at their Walmart price, it's very difficult to compete with an Amazon price that includes FBA fees. So it it's really kind of all over the board where some products do Better on Walmart when there's no competitors and there's some products that really don't even have opportunity to compete. Bradley Sutton: Okay, and what's your last strategy for us? If I were to ask you for your 60 second, your 60 second strategy of the of the day for you? I mean, I said flat files because that's your specialty, but it could be about anything. Sasha: I'll stick with flat files. My top recommendation would be to create variations. Create them often and Don't wait until it's too late. You're your ASINs, your, your product listings are your assets on Amazon and they're constantly at risk. They could be taken down for multiple reasons, and so when your product reaches a level of maturity, when you have Thousands of reviews and is doing very well, create a variation, even if you don't think you need one. Create something with small, small modification. Pair it up with your best seller and let that new product gather reviews and that new product becomes a new asset and Then, once are doing well, you have the option of splitting it off from your main parent and take up Amazon real estate. So that's one of the top strategies I use with clients is I create variations with, with new products cool, cool. Bradley Sutton: Now. If people wanted to reach out to you, Sasha, to see if you know to contact you and ask for your you know Russian escapades, or perhaps talk about you know flat files or whatever, how can they find you on the interwebs out there? Sasha: If, if they want, if you want to have, they want to have that beer, I'll tell them the local bar. But if they want to talk about Amazon I'm usually on the Friday calls at 11 o'clock that those are always great case studies, so I'm usually. They are also in the Helium 10 elite Facebook group and of course it. If you want to reach out directly, my email is at amazon@cutterstone.com. Cutterstone spell, just like it sounds. Bradley Sutton: Cool now, Christine, you know, no pressure, you don't have to say your contact information, but if somebody was inspired by something you said and they wanted to reach out to you, dude, would you like anybody to reach out? Christine: Yeah, I'm happy to help. I mean, so many people help me along the way I want to do the same, so I'm happy to help, and my email would be christioinfo@gmail.com. Bradley Sutton: Awesome, all right. Well, you too it's. It's a great, you know, been having you and you know weekly calls and seeing you at the elite events. And Next one, probably neither of you can make it to because I'm doing it, we're probably doing it in Germany, so that'll be a bit of a bit of a drive for you guys who are used to being here in Southern California, but perhaps I'll see you at the next, you know, like online meetup or Next conference. You know be great to see you again. Christine: Thank you. Bradley Sutton: Great to be here.
We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's Sr. Brand Evangelist and Walmart Expert, Carrie Miller. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, interview someone you need to hear from, and provide a training tip for the week. Amazon announces the launch of Amazon.co.za in South Africa in 2024 https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-south-africa-store-launch Amazon makes it easier for brands to join Amazon Transparency through new interoperability features https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/policy-news-views/amazon-makes-it-easier-for-brands-to-join-amazon-transparency-through-new-interoperability-features The internet is littered with fake reviews. Amazon, Glassdoor and others are trying to fight back https://apnews.com/article/fake-reviews-amazon-glassdoor-expedia-trustpilot-43a478ac0b27d6bb773a3bbdba1858b1 Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days Was the Company's Largest Two-Day October Holiday Kick-off Event Ever https://press.aboutamazon.com/2023/10/amazons-prime-big-deal-days-was-the-companys-largest-two-day-october-holiday-kick-off-event-ever We'll also introduce you to the game-changing tool, Market Tracker 360 - your trustworthy guide in navigating a rapidly changing market. Get a demo of the MT360 tool here. Lastly, maximize your holiday profits with Helium 10's Q4 Strategy Guide – a step-by-step roadmap to unlocking the full potential of Amazon's peak sales season. h10.me/q4guide In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Carrie covers: 00:47 - New Amazon Marketplace 01:52 - Amazon Transparency Update 04:30 - Fake Reviews 06:26 - Prime Big Deal Days 07:39 - Walmart Listing Update 09:18- Return Policy Change 10:16 - ProTraining Tip: Market Tracker 360 Demo 16:30 - Download The Q4 Strategy Guide ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: Amazon is opening up a brand new marketplace. The Walmart marketplace has created a brand new program to help sellers save on their referral fees, and Amazon is making it easier for brands to join Amazon transparency this and so much more on this week's episode of the Weekly Buzz. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Welcome back to another episode of the Serious Sellers podcast by Helium 10. My name is Keri Miller and I will be your host, and this is our weekly buzz episode, where we bring you the latest and greatest news related to Amazon, Walmart and the e-commerce space. We'll also give you a tip or strategy for serious sellers at any level. Let's go ahead and see what's buzzing. Okay, so let's start off with one of the most exciting stories of the day today, and that is that Amazon is opening up a brand new marketplace. This marketplace is going to be in South Africa. So if you are a seller in South Africa, this marketplace is going to be opening in 2024 and it's open to currently local South Africans. So they basically announced that you can start applying for this marketplace now at seller.amazon.com/southafrica and that's going to be where you're going to apply, and it's already set up and ready to go for you to do that. It's a very, very exciting opportunity for anyone who lives in South Africa, because a lot of sellers are in that area and you're selling in Europe and you're selling in the U? S and other parts of the world, but now you can sell locally to your neighbors, and so it's a very, very cool time to be able to bring your brand to Amazon with that fast shipping in South Africa. So let us know below if you're a South African seller and you are planning on applying and selling in this marketplace. Carrie Miller: All right, next up, we have another amazing announcement by Amazon, and that is that they are making Amazon transparency a lot easier for brands to join. Before, they had a basically a 2D data matrix barcode that they would put on products and you had to label your products physically with this with your packaging. So this meant that if you wanted to join the Amazon transparency, it would take quite a bit of time to get that all set up and going, because you have to wait till the next run of your packaging and get it on your packaging, or you would basically have to repackage all of your products if you wanted it on your current inventory, which would be very expensive. What's really exciting about this is that they are making it easier for brands through new interoperability features. So, again, you know they had it available to a lot of brands, but they had to do their packaging with that special barcode on it and as of 2020, I believe they said as of 2020, there were more than 10,000 brands that did Amazon transparency, and now 33,000 brands are actually enrolled. So I think that that number is going to jump up dramatically and this is really good for sellers and for consumers because of the fact that you know, when you have that assurance that you're not going to get counterfeit products, it makes the whole process better for sellers, for their account, health and for consumers. They're getting the product that they paid for. Carrie Miller: So you know, I can imagine that it's going to be very, very easy, and so what's going to, what's going to happen is you can take codes that are already on your packaging and they can use those codes to verify whether or not your product is not a counterfeit. So, if we take a look, there's an example down here and Logitech actually has done this. So Logitech started out with this kind of using their own codes and what they did is they used the serial numbers that were used for warranty purposes, so those were the codes that they were able to use for this transparency and able to validate these. And so what they do when they, when Amazon's shipping is out, they scan these codes before shipping it out to verify that this particular product is the original and not a counterfeit, and then they can send it out. If it's not, if it's not anywhere to scan, or they're you know something is wrong, then they'll put it to the site because it's counterfeit, and that saves you a lot of hassle. Now this is going to be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US, so that's pretty exciting that they're really trying to roll this out worldwide. I think it's going to be an amazing thing to be able to roll this out quickly. I know I'm very interested in getting this going on my, you know, on my brand as well, because I don't have to go back and repackage everything. Are you going to start enrolling in brand transparency and do you think this is a good thing, or do you think it's going to be a hassle? Let us know. Whatever it is that you think below. Okay, going into our next article. Carrie Miller: The next thing is about reviews. Now, this goes to you know kind of with the theme of counterfeit and whether or not they're real, and, as you can see here that you know, this article is saying that the internet is littered with fake reviews, and we do know that this is true on Amazon, on Glassdoor, on TripAdvisor. I know for myself, I went and looked at reviews for a restaurant that I just opened and it had so many great reviews and I was like, oh my gosh, this place is going to be so amazing. And I went there and it was absolutely terrible. And what I realized, it was a lot of friends and family that were making, you know, these reviews go, you know, to five stars and they were putting these glowing reviews for it. And it was literally not the customers, because later on the actual reviews started rolling in and I could see that it wasn't the truth. So there is a lot of that that's going on, and so I think that this could be potentially a really good thing. Carrie Miller: It says in this article that they are, these big companies are actually teaming up now. So we've got Glassdoor, trustpilot, expedia, bookingcom and TripAdvisor. They're saying they're all launching a coalition to protect, you know, the consumer reviews, and so what they're going to do is they said that they are going to be sharing methods on how to detect fake reviews. This, I think, is going to be great, you know, for all of us to make sure that you know, when we're buying something, that we're seeing the actual reviews of actual customers, and then also just for those brands, because it's going to help consumers to know exactly what they're getting. So I think this is going to be good on all friends, for everyone. They're probably going to come up with some really great technology to really, you know, detect those fake reviews. So those competitors that you have that you know that are putting up those fake reviews. We're going to hopefully stop that, and so we'll see what happens with that. And let us know if you've had any issues with reviews. I know I've had some issues with fake reviews from competitors on my own listing. I'm curious to know if you've had any issues with fake reviews, so let us know in the comments below. Carrie Miller: All right, this next article is actually something that I was a little bit surprised by, and the reason for that is it's talking about Amazon Prime Day, big deal days, and I you know the economy is kind of struggling right now and I didn't feel as much momentum going into this day as I think a lot of other people probably did. And so it shows, because Amazon's big Prime Day deal day was the company's largest two day October holiday kickoff event ever. So that definitely tells me that I was wrong in my thinking. I thought it was kind of, you know, not that much excitement going on, but there clearly was. They had a billion dollars across in savings across all the Prime members. They also had 25 million items that were delivered either same day or next day delivery, which is incredible. They were busy delivering packages. Let me tell you, one package was even delivered within 54 minutes. So really, really interesting that this is, you know, kicking off so strong, especially with the economy the way that is. I think that this is a really good indication that we're going to have a really big Q4. I'm very excited for Black Friday and Cyber Monday and just the whole holiday season. This is always my biggest time of year. So really, really great exciting news to see that it's still going strong in sales on Amazon. Carrie Miller: All right, the next piece of news is from Walmart. So if you're a Walmart seller, I wanna see if you are seeing the same thing that I see in my dashboard. So I basically kind of logged in today and saw this in my dashboard it's the pro listing savings. Now it looks like what happened. Is I qualified for a pro listing savings? I think you'll have to be a pro seller in order to be eligible for this, but what I'm gathering is they choose listings that are doing very, very well, selling quite a bit, and you actually get refunds on your referral fees. So I have, as of today, this just starting about $3.12 in savings. So that's pretty cool. I know it says over the last 90 days, but I know this just started, so it's definitely not over the last 90 days. I think this is gonna be bigger and bigger as time goes on, and it's very, very cool to see this kind of thing because Walmart's really incentivizing sellers to join the Walmart marketplace and I think this is another incentive. As fees go up on other marketplaces, Walmart's giving discounts and you can see on the next screen here this is. Carrie Miller: I kind of looked more into it and it's based on competitive pricing and fast and free shipping. So I use WFS and I also have, you know, the same pricing that I do on Amazon. So I think that's what helps me with that, and so you get 10% commission savings. That's pretty amazing. So I'm curious to know if any of you have seen this in your dashboard. Let me know in the comments. Let me know if you have any other additional things to add about that. I think it's a very, very exciting thing for Walmart sellers to just save money. You can put that money either towards more ads or just it'll add up over time. So we'll see how long they keep this going for, and I wanna make sure I can get all of my products eligible for it. Carrie Miller: Okay, last piece of news, but not the least for sure, this is just an announcement about the return timeframe, and this happens every single year on Amazon. This is really nothing new, and so they're basically extending the holiday returns policy for consumers that purchase items between November 1st and December 31st, so they're returnable all the way through January 31st of 2024, except for Apple branded products, which are returnable only through January 15th. Now this policy applies to seller fulfilled FBM, fba and Amazon retail orders, and basically this happens every year. So it's something that I know a lot of us are very used to, and it's just another kind of added benefit for people to buy products during the holiday season on Amazon, and I think it does help us all in the long run. So just so that you're aware that's what's going on with returns. If you get some returns from November all the way into January, you'll know exactly why. Okay, so up next we have an amazing demo by Shevali. She's gonna be talking about Market Tracker 360 and how it can benefit you. So take a look at this demo. Shivali Patel: The tool I'm about to share with you is a great way for you to gain insights into niches, regardless of if you are a scaling seller, large brand or business that has been in the industry for years. When it comes to dominating sales, monitoring, tracking and staying on top of any rapidly changing market is important, and so, yes, you could go into Amazon and try to keep up with all the new competitors flowing in and out of your market, but wouldn't it be easier if you just had a tool that allows you to market create, curate and understand dynamic markets in one place? Well, that, my friends, is exactly what I'm about to share with you. Let's jump into market tracker 360. So, with market tracker 360, we do have logic in place. If it's your first time inside of this tool, you will be taken directly to market creation. However, once you've created markets, you'll be funneled directly to market list, which is this page right here. But what exactly is market create? Well, let's talk about it. When you click create market in the top right hand corner, you have access to four choices. We'll talk about these three in this video. For the custom market that is based on products, the system will pull in products that are adjacent to the ASINs you select. You can add in products from your list that you build inside of helium 10, type or paste them in directly into the search field box. Or, if you are a token connected user and your account is connected to your seller central, just click select my products to add and checkmark any of the ones that you want before clicking add. The only thing to note for ASIN markets is there is no filtering step. Let's click back and going back. As you can see, you can also define your market based on up to 15 keywords, either from your curated keywords list inside of helium 10, just by typing them in, or using our integrated Cerebro and magnet tools for relevant keywords without having to leave the tool. So if I were to type in matcha kit, I could click this auto complete, which, by the way, is simply what people are typing in on Cerebro, magnet and black box inside of helium 10. Click analyze keywords to receive this output of additional keywords. Use the information given to figure out which keywords you want as part of your market. You can also use this option to create hybrid markets of keywords and ASINs, though you don't see any ASIN additions. Shivali Patel: On the second stage of this process. You will see it in the third where it says optional set custom rules. Let's go ahead and jump into the next example for a full walkthrough. Now, if you do have your token connected, we are also offering what we're calling the auto magic creation, which simply means we will create your market. For you to do this, you just need to select up to five of your product lists based on their category, and we will find associated keywords to base your market on, though you can still enhance the market with keywords of your own choosing after the fact. You'll notice in the first step of this particular choice, our product pool is already grouped based on the lowest shared subcategory node, so we want to create one based on, let's say, coffin shelves. I'm going to select these two product pools. Select next to receive a prompt that asks if we want to set any custom rules for our market or simply go ahead and review and create our market. I'm going to click yes. Take me to custom rules. Shivali Patel: The third step we're looking at is the filtering step I mentioned before. You'll see this step on three of the four choices of market creation, with the exception being ASIN only creations. Now, if you wish to have a very granular view of your product markets. Setting custom rules is a good idea, as it allows you to generate a default viewing criteria. This is a feature for every market creation option, except for product only or ASIN only markets, as I mentioned, and just think of it as a top level filter. So when we do automatic market updates, only the selections that apply to these filter sets will show. You will always have the capability to add individual ASINs to your market at this level. So if there are any specific ASINs you want in your market view, go ahead and add them here, be it from your list or from your own products, we'll click next. That brings us to review and create, which is the fourth step in this process. Give your market a name. I'm going to call this auto magic coffin shelf market. We can set a default date range. Perhaps I'm only interested in seeing the last 12 months. Give it a default currency. I'm going to select USD. Choose your method of market updates. If you want products to be directly injected into the market without needing any approval, then you could select automatic how we relay the keywords to the products after. Shivali Patel: Market creation is typically modeled based on a fusion of the best seller rank, sales volume and search volume Controlled is similar to our original market tracker. It will give you the opportunity to refine by showing you new products under the suggested products tab to add or remove from your market, and the disabled option is just a static market, which would direct all the products that we receive to the removed products and suggestions section within market settings. From here, you can then review all the information that we just discussed, be it adjusting your product list, fine tuning your category, subcategory information or your additional filters. I'm going to click create market. That's going to take us back into our market view. We'll see the new market reflected on our market list page in about 10 to 15 minutes. Hopefully now you know how to create markets inside of market tracker 360 using keywords, keywords and asins, asins only, or even auto creating that market, as long as you have that token connected. Of course, you can gain a lot of insights and analytics with market tracker 360, but it all starts with this first step, so make sure you go and do that first step. Carrie Miller: Thank you so much, Shivali. That was amazing. I know that this is such an incredible tool, especially for larger sellers, to really help view the market overall. So check it out. If you haven't already, we'll put a link below to where you can schedule a demo in the market tracker 360 arena so you can get more information about it if you're really interested in it. And the final thing I want to leave you with is we've actually made a queue for checklists for sellers to get ready and prepare their listings and their business for hopefully the biggest queue for ever. Carrie Miller: And I basically put this together along with a bunch of resources that we have and it's things that you can use. You know Helium 10 for, and then also just tools on Amazon that are going to help boost your business during the holidays. So it's, it's in a checklist. There are videos to go with a lot of these particular items to show you how to do them, and I think it's a very, very beneficial thing for you to. You know, implement a lot of these strategies. It's still not too late to implement them. Carrie Miller: So take a look at the checklist. You can download it, you can print it out, look at some of those videos and I promise you, if you implement some of those, you'll see some positive results from this checklist. I think it'll be a great, great resource for you that you can use this year and in the years to come. So we'll put the link below and so that you can check that out too. Thanks again for joining me this week on the weekly buzz. I think Bradley will be back again next week, but thank you for letting me kind of step in for him this week. I hope you all enjoyed the news articles that we have. I think we have some great exciting stuff going on in e-commerce, and so we'll see you again next week to see what's buzzing. Bye everyone.
Listen in as we tackle all your burning questions about selling on the Walmart marketplace, from gaining access to coupons and utilizing brand stores to handling comp errors and deactivations. Discover why it's critical to get your inventory to Walmart as soon as possible before the end of October and learn the ropes on what metrics you need to focus on when aiming for the Pro Seller badge. We also tackle your questions straight from our Winning with Walmart Facebook group, so tune in for those insights. Interested in the Walmart Influencer Program? We've got you covered! This episode also explores the ins and outs of the Walmart Influencer Program and provides key updates on when brand stores and video ads will be available to sellers. Listen in as we discuss the approval process for pesticide products on Walmart, the steps to register your trademarks on the platform to get the Walmart brand registry, and whether there is a request a review button in Walmart. Did you know that Helium 10 has tools for the Walmart marketplace? We explore the nitty-gritty of product listings, coupon availability, and how to compete against first-party brands on Walmart. Plus, how to join the Helium 10 Winning with Walmart Facebook Group. Don't miss out on this Serious Sellers Podcast episode to make the most out of your Walmart selling experience! In episode 501 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie talks about: 02:13 - Access to Coupons for Walmart Sellers 06:24 - Walmart's Review Programs and Opportunities 09:48 - Prohibited Items Approval 12:58 - Walmart Image Guidelines and External Traffic 17:39 - Solving Comp Errors on Walmart.com 19:27 - Seller Badge and Rich Media Guide ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: Today, we're going to be answering all of your burning Walmart questions. In this Ask Me Anything episode. We're going to be answering things such as when are coupons going to be available for everyone? When can I start utilizing brand stores, how can I deal with comp errors and deactivations? This and so much more. Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. If you guys would like to network with other Walmart sellers, make sure to join our brand new Facebook group called Helium 10 Winning with Walmart. You can actually just search for that on Facebook or you can actually go to h10.me forward slash Walmart group and you can go directly to that page. So make sure to join. You can tag me and carry with questions and ask questions of other Walmart sellers or even share your own experiences in that Facebook group. Carrie Miller: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of this Serious Sellers podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Carrie Miller, and this is our Winning with Walmart Wednesday episode, where we answer all of your Walmart questions and we give you all of the latest and greatest information about selling on a Walmart. In this episode I'm going to answer quite a few questions that we've had in the Facebook groups. I asked quite a while ago if you had any burning Walmart questions, so I'm going to go over those questions for everyone today and give you some great answers. In addition to that, I wanted to remind everyone that we are in Q4 already, which is kind of crazy that we're already in the last quarter of the year. But start sending in your inventory now to Walmart, because WFS is already starting to take kind of a longer time to check in products and it's going to just get worse and worse as the holidays keep coming closer. So, just like Amazon, try to get your inventory in by the end of this October and just kind of do more than you're used to sending in. I know last year I actually ran out during the peak season of inventory to forever to get checked in and so I missed like three weeks of December, so it was kind of a bummer. So if you haven't done that, make sure to send in that inventory. Carrie Miller: I want to start answering some of these Walmart questions that everyone had and I think they're really good questions. I think they're going to be very helpful for just looking at these answers for all of you. So the first one is that I had on my list is that someone in the groups asked because they really wanted to know this from Walmart, and these are not official Walmart answers. By the way, this is just some research that I've done. It's no way connected to Walmart, but I did do the best that I could to find answers for all of you that had really important questions for Walmart. So the first question was Amazon allows access to all deals and coupons to every seller, regardless of their sales volume. Carrie Miller: When will Walmart give equal access to things like flash picks to Walmart sellers, equivalent to best deals seven days, and what they said is that deal parity right now does not exist on the Walmart marketplace. However, if you do have an account manager, then they actually can submit those coupons for you. So for those of you who are lucky enough to have an account manager and usually you have to have a certain number, a volume of sales per month in order to get one of these account managers. They actually can help you and they'll be able to submit based on the fact that if you have a you know good seller response rate, if you have good WFS metrics and you know a low number of refunds kind of use it basically in the pro seller range they'll be able to help you with coupons if you're not a one piece seller. So that is something to kind of keep a thought in the back of your mind If you, you know, do have an account manager, ask them about coupons, if you can get into those flash picks and they potentially could help you with that. So sorry, I don't have a better answer, unfortunately, but I think that is a good way, you know, at least for some of you, to get access to some of those coupons. All right, so I'll go to the next question. Carrie Miller: Let's see here when can you tell us more about the Walmart influencer program? So the Walmart influencer program is called the Walmart creator program and they are actually trying to do similar to what Amazon has done and they're recruiting a lot of influencers and I don't know if you've seen this, but I know I've seen this on Instagram because I follow a lot of the fashion deals pages, and they are promoting Walmart products in terms of clothing. Right now. There's a lot of cute stuff that you know Amazon sellers are now putting on Walmart, so these influencers are also promoting it on Walmart and they're getting commissions for it. They get a specific commission based on the category, just like Amazon, and so that is something that's really up and coming and something to keep an eye on. If you are in certain categories like home decor, fashion I think those are really good. You know areas to really utilize those influencers because they already have kind of the right audience for you, and so I would highly recommend kind of checking out. Go on to Instagram and search hashtag Walmart influencer or hashtag Walmart partner and you'll see a bunch of videos come up and you'll see you know whose accounts are really Walmart partners so that you can partner with them. Carrie Miller: Okay, so the next question is I saw that brand stores and video ads are in beta. When will these be available to sellers? Now? This is a question a while ago. Video ads are actually available now to brand registered sellers, which is really, really exciting. So if you have your brand registry all set up in the brand portal on Walmart, you have access, so you should be able to see on Walmart connect the video ads so you can do that. In terms of brand stores, they there isn't an ETA for brand stores, but I do know I've seen some sellers who are in the beta and they are testing it out. So I imagine it's the same as what happened with the videos. The videos were in beta not too long ago and they're going to start rolling out. You know the brand stores probably in a similar way. So that's pretty exciting and I hope it's soon. Carrie Miller: But they encouraged everyone in the meantime to take advantage of rich media. Rich media is like A plus content on Amazon and you can go on to the into the help section for rich media and you can actually get free hosting of videos and 360 images currently. So I would check that out. Otherwise, there are a bunch of agencies that do host rich media and you can get different modules that are really I think they're really great modules that you can utilize on Walmart. You just have to pay per skew, so it's a little expensive but worth it if you can see that conversion All right. Carrie Miller: The next question was Amazon has a request to review button that allows Amazon sellers to press a button on an order and Amazon sends a review request email to the to the customer on the seller's behalf. Will Walmart do something similar to help us get more reviews? So the answer of this is that there isn't something that's currently available but and there isn't a timeline for it to be able to get it to be available. However, Walmart actually does send a review request automatically after seven days to the customers on Walmart to request a review, so that's kind of an automatic thing that they already do. They wanted to also encourage all of the you know Walmart sellers to utilize the review accelerator program. So the review accelerator program if you have on your product five reviews or less, then you can pay $10 to ask your current customers for review. So it's actually, I think, different than Vine, because what it what it happens is that people are already buying your product and they'll send them an email and say, hey, we'll pay you $3 if you'll send in a review and then we pay. We pay Walmart $10 for this service, so it's actually really worth it. Up to five reviews, you can get verified reviews from your actual customers. So review accelerator it's in the growth opportunities tab, so check it out there If you have less than five reviews. There's also a review syndication where you can get your reviews copied and pasted, basically over from your website. So a lot of really cool opportunities for reviews, but they don't have any kind of timeframe for that request review button like Amazon has. However, I do think it's pretty encouraging that they're already sending those emails for us, so that's something that's that's great to see. Carrie Miller: So someone just asked how do you register a trademark on Walmart? So basically, you would take the same trademark that you have as an Amazon seller and you're going to go to the Walmart brand registry portal. It's a whole different website, so you can just Google Walmart brand registry portal and then you're going to apply there. It's very simple. You just put in your information there and you can. You can get accepted pretty quickly. So I would recommend go ahead and Google that and it should be pretty straightforward. Carrie Miller: What is the approval process for pesticide products on Walmart? We have 10 bestselling products on Amazon that we are simply not allowed to list on Walmart. The products have all the required government approvals with the EPA, et cetera. So the answer that I found on this is that there's an item report in Seller's Center and it's gonna have the reason code for why an item isn't published and so you can actually open up a partner support case, for all you know, for the web with whatever the reason code is. And then also, if the item status is on says item on hold, then the seller needs to either submit the required documents or provide the missing attributes to complete the submission. So it'll say what attributes are missing or what documents are missing, and you should be able to submit those. I will say I did kind of a case today you can find it on YouTube and we were uploading a hemp product onto Walmart and it has been quite a challenging process and you can actually see part of the process on YouTube. But I'm gonna give an update soon. But the update really is that they really don't want hemp products in WFS right now and I was able to get it approved to sell on Walmart. But it's been quite a challenging process so I'll go more into details about it. But the good news is we can sell seller fulfilled, just not WFS. So there is hope for any of you who are having an issue to get around that and do seller fulfilled if possible. Carrie Miller: Okay, so the next question is some of my products are not approved to sell via Walmart WFS but they are approved for seller fulfilled. So this is kind of similar to what I was just talking about in regards to the hemp. Is there any special program that I can apply for to get these hazmat products approved for WFS? And it says Amazon has something similar and we are part of the Amazon hazmat program. So the answer was that internally, wfs has recently actually launched an updated prohibited items handling solution across their fulfillment network, which this is actually very new. So, depending on the category, prohibited items are handled in three different teams under the specialty compliance organization hazmat, food safety and non-chemical hazmat. So this is going to hopefully help reduce the time where these products are actually just stuck and unable to be fulfilled with WFS. So definitely inquire about those if you're writing a ticket to kind of be directed to those teams and hopefully we can get some progress on some of those Cause. I know I've seen quite a few questions about this, so I would definitely want to continue to try to get you all more answers about this. So that's the amount of information I have right now. So keep messaging me on Facebook or sending those questions in on the Facebook group winning with Walmart, so that we can help you get those questions answered. Carrie Miller: The next one is my account was denied. What can I do to get approved after I was initially denied? So sometimes well, actually most of the time they don't provide a reason, but there's soft denials and then you can do an appeals process and then there's like termination, which is much harder. So you'll have to kind of usually I think sellcord.co. They are an agency. They have helped a lot of people who have been kind of denied. You can reach out to them. That's kind of the best answer I have. Or you can kind of reach out yourself, but I would kind of suggest contacting somebody who's really good at this, and I do believe SellCord does do a good job of helping people get their accounts. You know out of that status. So if you have had that issue, I would say contact sellcord.co. And that also includes you know if your account is suspended or termination is very hard. So you will definitely need you know, inside access. So I would definitely recommend contacting SellCord for that as well. Carrie Miller: What is Walmart doing to attract more customers to their online marketplace? And so this is a great question and I can definitely answer that they are doing quite a bit. So they have Walmart Plus, which is kind of like Prime, and if you go into the stores they have it advertised everywhere. They're giving discounts on gas, they're giving discounts on just all a bunch of different things within the Walmart programs, like just in store discounts and also delivery and groceries. You get those for free. So they're really pushing for, you know, just getting more customers into Walmart Plus. Now I also saw when I was looking at applying for an American Express Platinum card, that they have a free opportunity for free Walmart Plus If you have that card. So if any of you have that American Express Platinum card, you get free Walmart Plus. So something else to it's basically like a free Prime membership. So I definitely recommend taking advantage of it. But they're doing things like that to really increase the customer reach. Also, if you notice and I've talked about this in other presentations I've done they are doing a lot of external traffic through Google Shopping and they're also doing Bing Shopping. So you'll see your Walmart products show up in Google Shopping and Bing Shopping without even doing any ads. So they are really doing a lot of work to try to drive traffic that way. So hopefully that answers that question. So this might be college. Carrie Miller: This is another question from somebody. This might be common knowledge. But what are the best performing aspect ratios for images on Walmart? Should mean image and secondary images be the same aspect ratios? Is the answer category dependent, and there is definitely some. There are some differences on the different categories. So I would recommend that you go into the Walmart guides and you can look for image guidelines and you're going to be able to find exactly what the image guidelines are for your category. So go ahead and check those out. Carrie Miller: The next question I would like to know why the payment schedule for reporting is every two weeks and then why it sometimes I have to wait a third or fourth week. Now I've seen this question quite a bit in the groups and I don't know exactly what's happening, but it's just a common thread, like I've seen it quite a bit. So if you, if you've had this, you can put it in the in the chat or the comments, because I'd love to know. But basically, the payment should be every two weeks, but something if you're not getting it every two weeks, it should. It's probably an error and I think you should open up a support ticket to see what's going on with that, because that shouldn't be happening. So make sure you kind of figure out what the problem is so that it doesn't continue on. So that's what I would recommend. I don't think that that's part of the process. So it is supposed to be every two weeks. I have confirmed that. So take a look at that. And, yeah, just go into the support and ask what's going on with your particular account. And personally, I did see this actually happen, so it did get fixed. Additionally, when see when removing, when doing removal orders, when it shows on the payment summary, can we get a detail of what the removal order consisted of? So if you want to understand what the removal order maybe consisted of, you can go to the WFS dashboard and that will give you a breakdown and it's going to highlight what was in the removal order. Carrie Miller: Okay, so next one is it possible to allow for multiple SKUs to the same UPC code? Amazon allows this, albeit in one UPC code to one ASIN. So no, this is definitely no. Walmart uses UPCs as their unique identifiers for products. So you cannot have multiple SKUs associated with the same UPC, otherwise you're going to get a lot of errors. So this is really important to make sure you have you own your UPCs and then also that you have an individual UPC for each product. I know back in the day in Amazon you were buying second. You know basically barcodes from other you know third parties because they were more expensive but you can buy individual barcodes from GS1. And I highly recommend doing that to show that you own the UPC codes. Because if you do have somebody hijacking your listing or taking over the content, you can prove with owning UPC code as well as your trademark, that you own that product and the listing so you can get it back. I had a problem with this because one of our products for our Project X did not have a UPC code that was GS1 registered. It was kind of a bot as a third party thing a long time ago and I was unable to get that content back. So it was really kind of frustrating. So I know this from firsthand experience my own business. Carrie Miller: I've always had UPCs for each product because you want to kind of think when you're starting out with these products with the end in mind and growing your brand and business. Each product should have a UPC. We've always been wanting to know if Walmart has a honeymoon period similar to Amazon. Now I haven't had an answer to this. I do not think that it's as intense as it is on Amazon. So what I would recommend is to do your best to optimize start ads. Do whatever you do for Amazon on Walmart and I think that you will be successful. Carrie Miller: The thing about all of this is I noticed people. What they do is they'll open up and start a listing on Walmart and literally just copy and paste what they have on Amazon and they're not doing Walmart PPC or anything like that to help promote their product and they're like why am I not making any sales? Well, you would never launch on Amazon without doing PPC or optimizing for Amazon. Walmart has different guidelines to optimize their listings. So you know, make sure to follow those guidelines and I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised. The next one is what advice do you have to third party sellers to help them compete against first party brands on Walmart? So the answer to this is Walmart really isn't viewing the two as competitive against each other, but they recommend that you find kind of holes where first party sellers are not really, you know, filling in the gap and finding opportunities on Walmart where you can provide products that are not available via 1P. Carrie Miller: When I've gotten a comp error, it feels impossible to get help for this. What is the best way to solve issues dealing with comp errors and how can we find out what the error is so that we can fix it? So then the comp errors are very difficult, I will say, and sometimes what they're saying is that you can actually go into the item report and check the columns. When you upload via flat file or anything like that, you can check the columns, the life cycle status, and then it's going to say published, unpublished or system error, and then on the adjacent column for the, it's going to have an error code and it's going to say things like enhanced vetting, IP infringement, shipping or etc. And you can open up a ticket to get help with this. But in my experience I've noticed that it's usually a pesticide word like antibacterial, antimicrobial. So if you make sure that you don't use any of those illegal words that are, you know, banned on Amazon, then you should be fine, and usually if you kind of delete your listing and rewrite it again. Without those words it'll come up within 15 minutes. So that's been my experience with that. Carrie Miller: So another question here is when some someone first starts selling on Walmart, what can they do to get their products ranked? Is it all based on clicks and sales or is there a lot more weight given to the listing quality score? So they did. You know Walmart doesn't really give me a lot of information about ranking, but I do know, for example, if you get a high listing quality score, that does help with your ranking. So make sure you fill in all those attributes in the back end. You know you enroll in WFS, you have reviews to start out with, get your listing quality score 90% or above, and I think that that will definitely help you. You also want to start running pay-per-click advertising to get some sales and I think you'll start to see yourself ranking as that goes. But in terms of like you know state, you know something that they actually say. It's really quite challenging to really say. Carrie Miller: And then the pro seller was another question. How can a seller become a pro seller and get the pro seller tag on their listing? So you want to make sure that your products are delivered on time. So I recommend using WFS because it takes care of most of the categories that are required for a pro seller. The thing about pro seller badges is you can actually filter on Walmart for pro seller so customers can say I want to only buy from a pro seller. And I noticed when I got the pro seller badge that I was starting to get more and more sales. Carrie Miller: So I will say it isn't an important thing. So you've got. You know, at least you've got an on time delivery rate of 95% or above in the last 90 days. You have less than 1.5% cancellation in the last 90 days. You have a really good seller response rate, higher than 95% in the last 30 days. And then basically it's, you know, fast delivery. And you also have to have over 250 orders in the last 90 days and you have to have at least been active for 90 days. So when you launch your products, you know, do your best to get those 250 orders and get those fast delivery times in and you can get the pro seller badge within 90 days. I think it's really, you know, worth it. Carrie Miller: So I would say WFS is probably the most important thing to make sure that you get that and yeah, so, and then the next thing is what? Will rich media eventually be free to Walmart sellers, like it is on Amazon? So there are some modules that are free, and that is the video and also the 360 image views. You can go into the help center and click on rich media. You can find it there. So otherwise, if you wanted to pay for some in the meantime, you can contact an agency and they can help you with that. Carrie Miller: So let's see if I have any questions. All right, Nelson, hello. Nelson says I'm a new to Walmart, in the process of onboarding and we already established our stores at Amazon. Is the procedures from Amazon to Walmart going to be similar when it comes to brand name products? If we are able to get wholesalers offline in our city to sell as branded products so we can sell online, are we still allowed to sell them? Yes, you are allowed to sell wholesale products on Walmart and I actually met at the Walmart conference quite a few sellers who have done very well selling wholesale products on Walmart. I think it's a lot less competitive right now in Walmart. So I highly recommend you get in there and start going for those, those products and, you know, make sure that you get in the game now? Great question. All right, let's see. Carrie Miller: It looks like I think someone was asking about tools for Walmart. Helium 10 has some incredible tools and I would recommend that you check those out. We have cerebral, which is our keyword research tool for Walmart. Another tool for Walmart called magnet it's another keyword research tool. We have x ray, which shows you sales volumes for Walmart it's our Chrome extension. We also have profits for one, one to help you, Walmart, to help you manage your profits. And we have our ranked tracker. And for pay per click advertising, we have add atomic for Walmart to help you manage your pay per click advertising. So we have all those great tools to help you and support you on your way to selling on Walmart. Carrie Miller: Also, if you're a helium 10 member, we have freedom to get Walmart where we should. We walk you through a to z on how to sell on Walmart, so that's available to you free if you are a helium 10 member. So check it out. If you haven't yet checked it out, alright, so it looks like I don't have any more questions, so hopefully, if that was very helpful, thank you to everyone who submitted their questions. Carrie Miller: For me to answer it was really, you know took a little while to get the answers to some of those questions and maybe some of them. I still need to do a little more research and hopefully maybe digging to get some more details on some of those answers, but hopefully that helps you in the meantime, and if you have any questions, join our group. Helium 10 Winning with Walmart. All you have to really do is search in the Facebook groups Helium 10 Winning with Walmart and you can join our Facebook group and ask questions there. You can tag me, you have questions, or other sellers are in there answering questions as well, so love to see you there and we will see you then. Have a great rest of the day.
Ready to catapult your Walmart selling journey to a whole new level of success? For today's special Walmart Wednesday episode, buckle up for an exciting chat where our host, Carrie Miller, sheds light on the latest developments that were revealed during the recent Walmart conference. You'll discover how the launch of new international marketplaces like Chile, same-day pickup, brand stores, and more, could potentially revolutionize your E-commerce business in Walmart.com. Additionally, we'll tackle the complexities of COMP errors, and most importantly, how to fix them - a game-changer for every Walmart seller! Shifting gears, we delve into the art of optimizing pay-per-click advertising on Walmart. Strategies revolve around using Helium 10's Cerebro for Walmart, listing optimization, grouping keywords into campaigns, and using attributes effectively. Can't wrap your head around it? Don't worry, we've got you covered! Listen in as we break down these concepts and tips on finding the right keywords, and using Cerebro to save on advertising costs. These concepts are helpful if you're selling on Walmart.com and if you're brand is on Walmart WFS. Now is the time to sell on Walmart.com! Are you ready to take your selling journey to dizzying new heights? Let's get started! In episode 492 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie talks about: 01:14 - Updates From The First-Ever Walmart Conference 01:57 - New International Walmart Marketplaces 02:08 - Walmart Brand Stores 02:42 - Same-Day Pick up 04:21 - Add Credit Or Debit Cards For Walmart Ads Payment 05:10 - Common Issues On Walmart.com Right Now 05:23 - Navigating Through Walmart's COMP Errors 11:19 - Finding Keywords For Your Walmart PPC Campaigns 16:20 - PPC Ads In Walmart Is Important ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Carrie Miller: Today we're going to be discussing all the updates that were given at the recent Walmart conference. We'll also be talking about a new payment method option that you have on the Walmart marketplace and I'll show you some techniques and strategies for your pay-per-click advertising on Walmart. Bradley Sutton: How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Want to enter in an Amazon keyword and then within seconds get up to thousands of potentially related keywords that you could research? Then you need Magnet by Helium 10. For more information, go to h10.me/magnet. Magnet works in most Amazon marketplaces, including USA, Mexico, Australia, Germany, UK, India and much more. Carrie Miller: Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers podcast by Helium 10. I'm going to be your host today. My name is Carrie Miller and this is our Walmart Wednesday, where we talk about all things Walmart. I answer questions we have. Sometimes we have guests, we do demos about how to utilize Walmart and how to sell on Walmart. Let's go ahead and get into it. I'm going to go ahead and get into some interesting information. Carrie Miller: Today I actually went to the Walmart conference. I think it was about two weeks ago. There were some interesting updates there and I wanted to share them with you, just in case you weren't there. There were about 1,500 sellers there. It wasn't invite only, but hopefully in the future it'll be open to more sellers, because that would be, I think it's a really great opportunity not only to learn from Walmart, but also to meet other Walmart sellers and get encouraged and see how everyone else is doing. Carrie Miller: The first thing that I want to talk about is that they're actually opening another marketplace, which is really exciting, because that means more opportunity for sellers. The first marketplace is obviously the US. We also have Canada, Mexico and now Chile. If you ever had any interest in selling in South America, they are opening a marketplace up in Chile. That's a great opportunity there if you're able to do that. Another thing I wanted to share is that they actually mentioned that they are still rolling out brand stores. If you haven't gotten access to it, don't fret, because they should be giving access to everyone soon. They're slowly rolling it out, just like they did with WFS, and they slowly just added people to those. Just keep an eye on that so that you can start creating your store just like they have on Amazon. You can put all of your products in there and showcase your brand. All they have to do customer has to do is click on your brand name on your actual listings. Carrie Miller: The next thing that I have on my agenda here is that they also mentioned that they are going to allow same day pickup. The same day pickup basically means for anyone who is a local store owner, If you have a brick and mortar store, that means that you can actually offer your products for pickup and people can actually come to your store and pick it up. Or if somebody wants same day delivery, then Walmart has a last mile pickup service that you can utilize to get same day delivery. That's pretty cool for anyone who owns a brick and mortar store in any location. It would be mostly for wherever people are local to that brick and mortar, but a really good opportunity for anyone who is local with a brick and mortar. Carrie Miller: Another thing is that large items are now available to be fulfilled through WFS. Before it was only up to 150 pounds, but now you can actually ship big things like multi-boxes, like maybe a patio set or trampolines or canoes or anything like that. Very exciting, especially because you get a lot more visibility and it helps your ranking when you're utilizing WFS. Now you can use WFS if you have big products. Another thing is that and I actually posted this in our winning with Walmart group Side note, if you're not in our winning with Walmart group by helium 10, go ahead and join that so that you can get access to other sellers and ask questions and we can answer them for you. Video ads are now available if you're a brand registered owner. If you are brand registered on Walmart, go ahead and check it out. You should be able to get access on ads because you have brand registry, but if not, you would probably want to open up a ticket. If you can't find access to that, Then this is one of my favorite updates and I actually got an email about this, I think, two days ago and that is that you can actually put a credit card or a debit card on your ads now, before it. Carrie Miller: Just they basically Always take out the amount out of your total sales, but I like using a credit card because I like to use travel points and so. On Amazon, I use you know, you know those travel credit cards to get a bunch of points and by the end of the year I have, you know, tons of points. I know a lot of other sellers like to do that too, but it was such a bummer that you couldn't do it on. On Walmart, too, but now you can actually add a credit card on there or a debit card so you can pay for your ads that way, which is really awesome. So that's something, to you know, look forward to if you are one of those people who likes to take advantage of the opportunity for travel points, All right. Carrie Miller: So I'm gonna go and get some into some discussion about just some issues that people have had. I have been looking in the group and I noticed a lot of people talking about so different situations and one of the things is comp errors. So comp errors are Basically kind of like the pesticide errors that you get on that you get on on Amazon. So if you ever get those pesticide notices where you get your product taken down, Comp error is similar but they don't really actually tell you. Usually when you get a comp error it just says comp error and your listing is seen down. You've no idea how to fix it. But usually it's because you use a product, a word that is, you know, forbidden. So what I would recommend is kind of going through those words that you know you can't use on Amazon. If you used any of them, a Walmart, delete them from your listing. A lot of times your listing will literally just come Pop back up within 15 minutes. So I think that's a really good, you know, A good thing to just try if you have the comp errors, and so I mean I've been seeing a lot of these comp errors. So that is something to take a look at and you know kind of refine that if you really have to delete the whole thing and start from scratch, I would recommend doing that too. Carrie Miller: Another question that somebody had is that they wanted to know why they weren't, you know, seeing any spend their ads and they had budget in there and they've set it up. And I have a few thoughts about this. Number one is that you're probably not targeting the right keywords and maybe your bids aren't high enough because you need to get those impressions. So I'm gonna actually, towards the end, I'm gonna talk to you a little bit about Cerebro and how you can do some exact campaigns for your PPC. But it's really important to make sure that you do keyword research and helium 10. We do have our Cerebro tool, which is literally the best keyword research tool. There's nothing else like it for Walmart and you can find, you know, all the best keywords by using Cerebro. So how they recommend doing that. Carrie Miller: And then another question that people have been asking is that if they Add an ace, if they should add an ace in on their product when they're actually uploading a product. So when you upload your product, you know it'll say you know what is your Amazon ace in? I don't recommend putting it there. I don't see why you would want to do it. I know there's one way to upload where you can literally just connect all of your Accounts, like you can just upload to Walmart via Amazon or Target or Etsy or eBay. I really don't recommend that method. My best suggestion for you to get your products and listings up properly is to use the flat file or bulk Uploads. Okay, it's a little bit harder, but once you learn the flat files, you have more control, the update faster, you can add variations in there, you just have a lot more control over your listing in there. So I highly recommend just uploading your listing with the flat file instead of these other ways, and you do not need to add an ace in there. There's really no reason for that. So I would suggest not doing that. Carrie Miller: I have a question. You said someone said I have nothing on Amazon. I still have comp errors. Okay, so somebody has saying they've compared. So what I would suggest doing is maybe kind of looking through your listing and seeing if there are any kind of Comp errors type errors maybe something like maybe you use antibacterial. There's lists on some forums about Amazon words. That's kind of what I have looked at is those words that are forbidden on Amazon and just kind of see if you have any of those. Or you could delete your listing completely and see if you can start over and just kind of slowly see if there are some trigger words in there. Another thing is I definitely recommend, you know, opening up a case for that If you still have issues. SellCord they've actually been on our podcast and Jake was on last month, sellcord.co if you contact them they always are able to help with. You know, account deactivations and compares. So if you really can't solve it on your own, I would just contacting them because they can help you expedite that whole scenario. Carrie Miller: Okay, and then another thing you know with all of that is it just has Matt in general. So I've kind of run into this issue. I was doing some, you know work on getting up a hemp cream and it was very difficult experience. You need to. You know, for any liquids you always have to submit a safety data sheet if you want to get your product in WFS. So if you're selling like a shampoo or a lotion or something like that, you always need to do that and submit that. When I first uploaded the hemp cream, it was denied, denied, denied, and then I got it approved. So I had, you know, the product up enlisted because there are other hemp products on Wal-Mart. However, apparently it's actually not. You're not really supposed to sell this product, even though there are some on Walmart and it's for sure forbidden from WFS. So some kind of has Matt type products you can sell on Walmart but you have to ship them yourself. So just keep that in mind. If you sell anything like hemp or you know any liquid issue products, you could have these kinds of issues and you might have to ship them yourself. It's kind of a stressful thing, but you know, I think it'll change in the future where you can send these things in, but for now you can still get on there for the most part and do F fulfilled by merchant. So that is what I recommend on that. Carrie Miller: So let's go ahead and get into what I wanted to talk about. To show you just I get a lot of PPC questions and so I wanted to share with you some strategies about just PPC in general. So we have a reverse product ID lookup on cerebral for Wal-Mart. So when you go into helium 10, you're going to want to go over to Cerebro and what you'll do is you will put in product ID. So the product ID is actually in the URL. So if you go to a product so I actually looked at men's genes as an example here and let's just go with the George. Okay. So George Sheens, and what you do is you basically find the product ID up in the URL or, if you have the X-ray extension, you actually can pull up the X-ray extension and then oh, I'm having issues there you can actually pull up the product ID there and just copy it straight from the extension. So that is one way to find it. So this is what we have here and we're just doing a reverse product ID and just to see what that product is ranking for. Carrie Miller: So this particular product is ranking for quite a few things sponsored and organic. You can sort by sponsored ranks so you can see, when you put these things in, if they are even advertising. It looks like this person isn't or this brand isn't even advertising. But you can also sort by search volume and look through things. So a lot of people like to go for these main keywords, but I recommend kind of looking for the lower search volume as well, and I don't necessarily think you should look at brand names. But you can find a lot of keywords in here. That would be very profitable, but maybe they're only 1,000. Carrie Miller: Let's see big and tall. If you have big and tall jeans that's a good one to kind of look for. Men's Baggy jeans is only 94. I have some literal keywords that have only 17, such as a month, and I've made multiple sales on those. The more relevant keywords, the better Work. Jeans for men it's only 200 search volume, but again, if you have really good work jeans, then you can use this and what you can do is find a bunch of these little search volume keywords and they actually add up to a lot. So what I would suggest doing is putting five to 10 keywords in campaign of the lower search volume. If you have higher search volume keywords, you really should put those in their own campaign. I recommend doing exact sponsored product ads because I've really had a hard time making sure that I'm staying profitable. Carrie Miller: Maybe some of you are different, but the broadened phrase I've not been able to get control of as much. So what I've been doing is I've been going to Cerebro often and I'm looking for keywords and what I do is I find those keywords and I kind of group them into the lower search volume together, the high search volume. They're gonna be in their own campaign and that's how you're gonna do this. Okay, so that is what I recommend for your PPC and because we have access to these keywords, you actually can sort through, like, if you wanted to find phrases containing genes, you can find anything that has something to do with genes. So all of these keywords are genes related, but they're just kind of iterations of the phrases that you can find all kinds of great potential keywords to target if you're selling something like that. So what I would say is kind of go around bigger keywords as well. Make sure that you're also capitalizing on those smaller keywords. Carrie Miller: Another thing is attributes. So in your actual listing there are places where you need to put color and size. Put the color and size into your actual title where they say it Usually, if it says men's jeans, is there a certain color? Are they black denim or regular denim? And put that in the actual title so that people can find you. Put it in the back end on the attributes. Put all the colors, all the sizing, everything that you can possibly do, so that you will show up in these searches. So that's what I would recommend Make sure that you have everything fully optimized and look for a bunch of these keywords to target. Now you can do the video ads. If you're brand registered, you can do the headline ads. So it's really, really a great time to utilize this feature. Carrie Miller: If you're not doing pay-per-click advertising, you're definitely leaving money on the table. So pay-per-click advertising is the best thing that you need to do to start on Walmart, other than optimizing your listings. I actually talked to a lot of people that they basically they say I'm not having much success on Walmart and I asked did you optimize your listing? Well, I just copied it over from Amazon. That's no, no, number one. You should definitely not just copy over from Amazon, because Walmart does not like that. They will suppress your listing and not put you in the search. And then also then I'll ask hey, have you started doing advertising? And people will say, no, I have not done any advertising. So if you haven't started advertising, that's really, really important to get some exposure for your products, get some ranking for your products. So if you haven't done that, I mean I don't actually don't know one seller who would say, oh, I launched a new product on Amazon, but I didn't optimize it and I didn't do any ads. It just unheard of. Carrie Miller: So think, keep the same energy that you have for Amazon from Walmart, so that you can, you know, just be successful. I talked to a lot of people at the Walmart conference and there were a lot of very successful Walmart sellers. I think the top was, you know they were doing about 700,000 a day in sales a day. So there is a lot of opportunity and a lot of possibility for Walmart. You just have to really push through and figure it out and just put that effort in to you know, making sure you optimize your listing and start the PPC campaigns. If you don't have, you know something to help you manage your campaigns. We do have Adtomic for Walmart. We also have a sister company, Pacvue. That is also has some Walmart advertising tools. So lots of great you know opportunities to find, you know software to help support you in the PPC journey. Carrie Miller: So I highly, you know, encourage you to go ahead. Make sure you start advertising. If you haven't started advertising, get your ads going. If you need help, you can always go into the Walmart winning with Walmart group and just get some assistance there. And also make sure you use Cerebro to find the keywords that I you're going to save so much money by finding these exact words. I did some auto campaigns at first and it was just out of control, not even helping me at all. So once I started using Cerebro I started becoming very profitable, so highly recommend doing that and good luck with everything. Let me know if you have any issues with anything and in the Walmart group, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. But hope you all have a great rest of the day and happy selling. Bye.
Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/485 Presented By: Waters West, Angler's Coffee, Dette Flies, Smitty's Fly Box Sponsors: https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors Step into the world of fly fishing and outdoor exploration with Ed, an experienced angler and writer, as he shares his journey in this episode. We start by learning about Ed's involvement with the Cape Piscatorial Society and his contributions to the Piscator Journals. He offers his thoughts on Tenkara rods, providing a fresh perspective on their use. Ed also discusses his book, "The Delicate Fly Fisher," giving us a sneak peek into its various chapters that cover everything from fly tying to embracing the approach of small stream fishing. Amid the angling discussions, Ed opens up about the challenges posed by a health condition that affected his balance and limited his fishing activities. He provides valuable tips for successful fishing trips, stressing the significance of appropriate gear, staying hydrated, and maintaining a stealthy approach. Beyond fishing, Ed takes us through his broadcasting career and even touches on historical figures like Nelson Mandela. Along the way, he recommends several books, reflects on notable anglers like Joe Humphreys, and explores intriguing concepts such as Gary LaFontaine's theory of attraction. This episode offers a well-rounded blend of angling insights, personal stories, and outdoor wisdom. Show Notes with Ed Herbst on The Delicate Fly Fisher 05:00 - Ed joined the Cape Piscatorial Society in his mid-30s. He also wrote for Piscator Journals. 09:45 - Ed talks about what he thinks about Tenkara rods 12:00 - Ed wrote a book called, The Delicate Fly Fisher. He talks about its chapters. 20:25 - Gary Borger was on the podcast in episode 045 21:45 - Ed noted how Sage came up with the Ought-wt fly rod. 26:15 - "Small stream Ethos is a visual form of fly fishing". Ed explains how and why. 37:30 - Ed talks about the disease he has that took away his balance, which also is one of the reasons why he couldn't fish anymore. 41:40 - Jeff Morgan wrote a book about Small-Stream Fly Fishing. Jeff Morgan was on the podcast at WFS 120. 42:00 - Ed also noted Jeff's book, Productive Trout Flies for Unorthodox Prey: The Oddballs. Ed tells us what he loves most about that book. 46:00 - Ed breaks down the stuff to keep in mind when going on a fishing trip. 53:45 - Ed talks about his broadcasting career being a reporter. 56:00 - We talk about Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa. 1:04:30 - Ed noted the book, Trout From Small Streams by Dave Hughes. 1:07:15 - Ed noted the book, Fly Fishing Outside the Box: Emerging Heresies 1:10:15 - We recently had Geri Meyer out of the Driftless Anglers at WFS 468. 1:14:30 - The main species they target in Cape Town are browns and rainbows. 1:17:00 - Ed's go-to fly rod is a 7-foot 2-wt/3-wt. 1:17:30 - Ed noted that video of Joe Humphreys fishing small streams. 1:29:45 - Ed talks about Gary LaFontaine's theory of attraction. Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/485
Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/482 Presented By: Jackson Hole Fly Company, Daiichi, Togens Fly Shop Sponsors: https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors Join us for an awesome episode as we catch up with Riverhorse - an angler, writer, filmmaker, musician, surfer, and Patagonia Fly Fish Ambassador. Having been on our podcast twice before, we'll delve into his recent film projects with Patagonia and his other exciting ventures. We discover how you can contribute to preserving the Boundary Waters through SaveTheBoundaryWaters.org. Beyond his wilderness pursuits, Riverhorse talks about how he leads the Editorial of a magazine called, ToneQuest Report Magazine, featuring contributions from rockstars and musicians. Riverhorse talks about his upcoming fly fishing book filled with essays and adventure stories and also talks about the impact of music on people's lives. Plus, a bonus poetry read at the end! Stay tuned for that! Show Notes with Riverhorse Nakadate 03:00 - Riverhorse had been on the podcast twice at WFS 80 and WFS 266. We talked about saving the Boundary Waters. 03:10 - Riverhorse talks about his most recent film projects with Patagonia and others. 06:50 - He noted a project he did with Patagonia called, It's All Home Water - A Northern Light which resulted in a mining ban for 20 years. 08:45 - We encourage people to explore SaveTheBoundaryWaters.org for the latest updates and discover ways you can contribute to preserving the Boundary Waters. 11:50 - Riverhorse is now running the ToneQuest Report Magazine after his friend who used to run it passed away. A lot of other rockstars and musicians contribute to the magazine. Check out their editorial board here. 13:30 - We noted the song, You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive by Darrell Scott. 18:40 - Riverhorse has been stories for Fly Fish Journal. They just issued a recent one called, HEARTLAND DRIFTING: A MINNESOTA PICARESQUE. 19:15 - Riverhorse is writing a fly fishing book with essays and adventure stories that he's been saving up. 20:45 - We had John Gierach on the podcast twice. His recent one is WFS 434. 25:00 - He noted Erin Block who's a female angler and fly fishing writer. Check out her stuff here. 28:00 - Riverhorse talks about how his mom taught him to communicate his feelings honestly. 30:10 - We talk about how to stay optimistic when it comes to conservation. 37:30 - Riverhorse talks about Jeff Liskay and their adventures together. 39:10 - Jeff Liskay is now part of our podcast with his own series The Great Lakes Dude. 46:00 - We hear the story of when Yvon Chouinard wrote Riverhorse a touching letter of appreciation. 47:00 - We had Craig Matthews on the podcast at WFS 427. 52:30 - Riverhorse talks about his poem, Cloud Burst. Listen to his poetry read starting at 55:10. Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/482
Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/480 Presented By: Yellowstone Teton Territory Sponsors: https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors Get ready for an epic adventure at the Lodge At Palisades Creek on the South Fork of the Snake River! Justin's got an awesome story to tell—from chef to fly fishing guide to running the lodge. We find out how they won the Orvis Fly Fishing Lodge of the Year and how Orvis has supported them along the way. We explore the river's stunning five sections, each stretchin' about 12 miles. We dive into the wild world of Yellowstone cutthroat and those rowdy rainbows, causing a stir in Idaho with bounties on their heads! We've got the lowdown on the Salmon fly, Goldenstone, and Caddis fly hatches—nature's showtime! Justin also shares valuable tips for all the DIY anglers out there and discusses the importance of river etiquette. Plus, a crazy story involving Dick Cheney's bodyguards and a sketchy civilian that came so close to a river shootout! Show Notes with Justin Hays on Lodge At Palisades Creek 03:00 - Justin tells the story of how he transitioned from being a chef to being a fly fishing guide to managing a lodge. 06:50 - Justin talks about how partnering with Orvis has provided so much support to them in every aspect along the way. 08:20 - We talk about Yellowstone cutthroat decreasing in numbers and the rainbows increasing, almost being considered invasive. As a result, the Idaho Fishing Game made it legal to catch and kill rainbows, making it a controversial topic in Idaho. IFG even put a bounty on rainbows. 12:50 - We are coming to the Southfork in Fall for Euro Nymphing School with Pete Erickson. 20:20 - We had an episode about the Henry's Fork Foundation with Brandon Hoffner at WFS 414. 23:15 - Trivia: Henry's Fork was originally called the North Fork. 27:40 - They divide the river into 5 sections. Each section is roughly 12 miles long. The 1st section has 5 access points. The 2nd and 3rd sections are the Canyon sections - Justin talks about the amazing campsites in these sections and how amazing it is to fish there. The 4th section begins in the town of Ririe. Read about these sections in detail here. 35:45 - You can visit MillerDriftBoats.com to rent a raft or a drift boat. 36:15 - Stonefly hatch lasts about 2 weeks. Justin talks about the Goldenstone hatch. In the summer they have a hopper season which ends in August. He also noted the Mutant Stonefly hatch - stoneflies that can't fly. And then they have some Dunns as September progresses. 41:50 - "The trick to the Salmon fly thing is throwing a large dry fly on 2x underneath a bush or a tree and twitching out and try to mimic the real lifecycle of an adult Salmonfly...", Justin explains in detail. 46:20 - Perdigons has been a game-changer for them in the last 2 years. 48:20 - Caddis fly hatch starts in mid-October. 48:55 - Pro tip for DIY anglers: "This river empties at 5 pm. You can have that river to yourself at 5 pm and it doesn't get dark until 10 pm." 52:30 - Justin is turning 55 this year. He started fishing in the Snake River when he was about 19 years old. 55:45 - We talk about river etiquette. 1:00:50 - Justin talks about how they won Orvis Fly Fishing Lodge of the Year. 1:06:55 - We noted that video by The New Fly Fisher highlighting the Lodge At Palisades Creek. Scroll down to watch the trailer.
In this episode, we speak with two Walmart sellers about their listing optimization tips, getting the Pro Seller Badge, and how to get your inventory checked in to WFS faster.
Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/474 Presented By: Daiichi, Waters West, Angler's Coffee, Trxstle Sponsors: https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors Monte Burke, author of Lords of the Fly, shares his journey of becoming a renowned writer and author. He shares the pivotal moment that transformed his life as he recounts how his first fly fishing story caught the attention of the editor at Sporting Classics, propelling him to become a full-time writer. Discover the dedicated tarpon fishing enthusiasts of the Homosassa club and the current challenges faced by Florida's waters. Explore the stories of fly fishing legends like Tom Evans and Andy Mill, who pushed the sport's boundaries. Monte also recounts his encounter with Nick Saban, one of college football's greatest coaches, resulting in a historic feature in Forbes Magazine. Learn about Monte's other books, including Leaper, Sowbelly, and 4th & Goal, and get a preview of his upcoming book on the Southwest's water crisis. We talk a lot about writing and noted some renowned authors such as John Gierach and Thomas McGuane, and the fascinating intersection of passion, storytelling, and fly fishing. This episode is a must-listen for both avid anglers and literature enthusiasts. Show Notes with Monte Burke on Lords of the Fly 03:00 - We noted his book, Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World Record Tarpon, which is a pretty popular fly fishing book. 03:45 - We had John Gierach on the podcast in episode 047 who's arguably the best fly fishing writer of all time. 04:00 - Most of the males in Monte's family fly-fished - his grandfather, his uncle, and his dad. Monte caught his first Atlantic salmon with his uncle on Margaree River in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. 08:30 - Monte tells the story of when he wrote his first fly fishing story about Ed Shenk from LeTort Spring Run that he sent to different magazine companies. He then got a letter from the Editor of Sporting Classics, Chuck Wexler offering to buy his story for $200. That was his turning point from going to business school to being a fly fishing writer. 10:25 - Topher Browne mentioned Monte on a recent episode at WFS 464. 12:00 - Monte also did a story about Andy Mill who's like a Tigerwoods of Tarpon fly fishing tournament. Andy was on the podcast in episode 330. Andy gave him Tom Evan's number so he could write a story about him. He also noted names of the world's best fly anglers in the 70s and 80s. 19:20 - We talk about how Florida is being ruined nowadays and gets worst each year. 21:10 - We noted Bonefish & Tarpon Trust are doing a great job in researching about the problems in the waters of Florida. Captains For Clean Waters are also fighting hard for Florida waters conservation. And also VoteWater Florida. 24:30 - Monte talks about the rockstars of the Homosassa club who were obsessed with tarpon fishing and made it possible for future generations to catch tarpon. 30:23 - The biggest tarpon ever caught was over 200 pounds on a 20-pound test which was caught by a non-regular guy who was just fishing with his dad. Tom Evans holds the record for the 16-pound test which was 190-pound tarpon. He also holds the record for the 12-pound which was 194-pound tarpon. 44:30 - We talk about Nick Saban who's arguably the best college football of all time. 46:30 - Monte tells the story of when he got a phone call from Nick Saban agreeing to write a story about him. The story was then published in Forbes Magazine (2008) which also became the highest single issue of the magazine ever. Read that story here. 49:20 - Monte talks about his process of writing. 54:25 - We dig into his book, The Making of a Coach which was a story about Nick Saban's life and incredible coaching career. 54:45 - Monte talks about his book, Leaper: The Wonderful World of Atlantic Salmon Fishing, which was a collection of Atlantic salmon stories. 55:15 - Monte did another fishing book called, Sowbelly: The Obsessive Quest for the World-Record Largemouth Bass. 55:50 - We also noted his book, 4th & Goal: One Man's Quest to Recapture His Dream which was about Joe Moglia's legendary career transition from head football coach at Coastal Carolina University to the CEO of TD Ameritrade 56:55 - Monte is writing a new book about the water crisis in South West looking through the lens of Lake Mead. 58:30 - We talk about what makes John Gierach a great writer. Monte says "he's a great lyricist" and explains why. 59:45 - We also noted Thomas McGuane. Monte tells us what makes McGuane's writing special. 1:03:30 - Monte tells the story of when he went to Labrador with Yvon Chouinard and other anglers. 1:07:30 - I asked Monte the question "Are you a writer or a fly fisherman first?". Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/474
Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/467 Presented By: Togens Fly Shop, Dette Flies, Drifthook Fly Fishing, Yellowstone Teton Sponsors: https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors George Daniel, the Director of the Joe Humphreys Teaching Program at Penn State University and a former member of Fly Fishing Team USA, returns to the podcast with exciting updates. Currently teaching multiple sections at Penn State, George explains why he doesn't include euro nymphing in his basic class. He also dives into his fly fishing clinics and provides detailed information about his popular book, Dynamic Nymphing. George reveals valuable tips for fishing pools using a euro nymph setup and highlights the advantages of using an ultra-thin monofilament system. Prepare to be captivated by George's fascinating stories and extensive expertise as he immerses you in the dynamic world of fly fishing! Show Notes with George Daniel on Dynamic Nymphing 03:00 - George was on the podcast for the first time at WFS 055 where we mainly talked about his teaching philosophy, guiding, Joe Humphries, and a number of other great topics including fishing Musky. 03:50 - George now teaches full-time at Penn State University. He is now the Director of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program. He teaches a total of 7 sections there with about 25 students in each section. 09:20 - George talks about how he teaches fly fishing clinics. 11:00 - We dig into one of the books he wrote, Dynamic Nymphing: Tactics, Techniques, and Flies from Around the World. 13:20 - George states that "80% of the problems people have with euro nymphing is lack of line control". He explains why. 17:05 - We talk about how he fishes pools with a euro nymph setup. 21:00 - George talks about how an ultra-thin monofilament system takes a lot of the guessing work out when hooking a fish. 22:30 - George describes how euro nymphing rods eliminated the need for tapered leaders. 27:20 - We talk about Joe Humphreys, who was already Czech nymphing before the Czech Republic was a country. He also noted Frank Sawyer, the guy who created Pheasant Tail Nymph and was fishing 12-foot cane poles back in the day. 29:55 - George doesn't teach Euro nymphing with his basic class because his students lose interest in dry fly and streamer fishing. 33:00 - We noted Joe Humphreys's book on Trout Tactics where George learned his foundations in nymphing until he joined the US Fly Fishing Team. 34:00 - Lance Egan and Jeff Currier were already on the team when George joined. 36:20 - George tells the story of when he went to Northern Italy for a year and he was the Captain of the team. 37:45 - George talks about trail running every day for 10 years straight and only missing 3 days. 43:00 - George talks about how Devin Olsen has immensely evolved throughout the years. 43:44 - George talks about how his book, Dynamic Nymphing came to be with the help of Jay Nichols from Stackpole Books. 45:10 - George has a YouTube channel. Check out his videos here. 46:10 - George also wrote 2 other books called, Strip-Set: Fly-Fishing Techniques, Tactics, & Patterns for Streamers, and Nymph Fishing: New Angles, Tactics, and Techniques. He's working on his 4th book called, Fly Fishing Evolution which is expected to be published in October 2023. 49:20 - George has a Masterclass Series on Vimeo that you can stream. 50:17 - He talks about one of his favorite patterns, the Sunburst Sulfur which is a perdigon pattern, and describes how he fishes it. 53:00 - George talks about Karst Geology and Limestone Stream in Central PA. 56:55 - George noted some of the conservation groups in Central PA like the Clearwater Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and others. 1:02:10 - George tells the story of when he unintentionally kicked a musky when he was snorkeling. 1:07:20 - George talks about playing basketball in high school and getting a scholarship for it. Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/467
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