How to Do Product Research for Walmart Marketplace
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One of the most important (and often overlooked) skills in eCommerce is product research. Whether you're a seasoned Amazon seller expanding to Walmart, or just starting out, knowing how to do product research for Walmart Marketplace can be the difference between success and failure.
Walmart is growing fast as an eCommerce platform, and third-party sellers are gaining more visibility than ever. But with that opportunity comes competition—and the need to pick the right products backed by data, not just instinct.
In this article, we'll walk you through a step-by-step guide to doing smart product research on Walmart, plus recommend powerful tools to make the process easier and more accurate.
Why Product Research Matters on Walmart
Walmart's algorithm and customer behavior are different from Amazon's. The traffic patterns, pricing sensitivity, and product saturation vary greatly. That's why using the same strategy you use elsewhere won't always work on Walmart.
Doing strong product research helps you:
•  Choose profitable products with consistent demand
•  Avoid categories that are too competitive or oversaturated
•  Understand seasonality and pricing history
•  Reduce the risk of launching a product that won't sell
Step 1: Find Winning Products Faster with Sourcing Software
One of the best ways to start your Walmart product research journey is by using a dedicated product sourcing software built for the Walmart Marketplace. Tools like MOA (Market Opportunity Analyzer) are specifically designed to help you discover profitable products with full data, including ROI, profit, supplier links, and more.
MOA simplifies the most time-consuming part of product research—finding opportunities. It analyzes market demand, pricing behavior, competition level, and margins, while also providing verified suppliers for each suggested product. This means you can go from idea to sourcing in minutes, not weeks.
MOA is particularly helpful if:
• You don't know what to sell yet
• You want to validate ideas before you spend on inventory
• You're looking for products with built-in supplier access and profit breakdowns
This is a perfect starting point before diving deeper with historical and profitability analysis.
Step 2: Analyze Existing Listings on Walmart
Once you've identified some product ideas through MOA or your own research, your next move is to dig into the live listings on Walmart.com. Pay attention to:
• Number of reviews (a high count often means an established listing)
• Price points and volatility
• Number of sellers on each listing
• Buy Box ownership patterns
A product with low competition and steady pricing may indicate an underserved niche. Cross-referencing what you see on MOA with what's live on Walmart gives you a more complete picture.
Step 3: Evaluate Historical Performance for Long-Term Potential
This is where product research truly levels up. Looking at a product's historical data can help you predict whether it's a smart investment. It tells you:
• When the product sells best (seasonality)
• If it's growing or declining in popularity
• Whether prices and demand are stable or erratic
The best tool available for this is Marter—a Chrome extension that includes comprehensive historical insights for Walmart products. Marter shows you past sales patterns, pricing changes, stock availability, and more—all within your sourcing and research workflow.
This helps you avoid investing in short-lived trends and instead focus on products with sustainable demand.
Step 4: Run Profitability Checks with Precision
After identifying strong product candidates and analyzing their historical behavior, it's essential to run the numbers. A product that sells well is useless if your profit is razor-thin after fees, shipping, and taxes.
Use Marter to calculate:
• Cost of goods
• Shipping and logistics
• Walmart referral and fulfillment fees
• ROI and total profit
Marter makes this easy and accurate, combining both real-time profit potential and long-term product performance in one place. This data-driven approach significantly reduces the risk of investing in unprofitable products.
Step 5: Factor in Fulfillment Strategy
As part of your product research, don't ignore fulfillment. Whether you choose Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) or self-fulfillment, it affects your margins, Buy Box eligibility, and overall scalability.
When evaluating products, consider:
• Can the product be fulfilled through WFS efficiently?
• Will shipping costs eat into margins if fulfilled yourself?
• What are your competitors using for fulfillment in this niche?
WFS can help increase visibility and customer trust, but it comes with added costs. Be sure to calculate and compare both fulfillment models before choosing your product.
Step 6: Track Competitor Activity and Test in Small Batches
Even with great tools and data, there's always some level of risk when entering a new product category. That's why it's smart to track competitor movement and test small quantities before fully committing.
Marter can help you monitor:
• Changes in pricing and stock levels
• How many sellers are active on the listing
• When reviews increase or drop
• Buy Box shifts and sales velocity
This allows you to make fast, informed decisions based on real market behavior—not assumptions.
Final Thoughts: Do Research Like a Pro with the Right Stack
The most successful Walmart sellers are not just picking random products—they're following a structured, data-driven process supported by smart software. With tools like:
• MOA for discovering profitable products with built-in supplier access
• Marter for analyzing historical sales and pricing trends plus calculating precise profit margins
you have everything you need to make confident, profitable decisions.
By combining sourcing, research, and profitability tracking into one streamlined workflow, you can move faster, reduce risk, and scale smarter in the competitive Walmart Marketplace.
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