Walmart, in a blog post, promoted ways it can support small and medium-size businesses while also suggesting how participation in the company’s marketplace could give such businesses a boost.
Ashley Hubka, senior vice president and general manager, Walmart Business, wrote that the company can provide tools, insights and solutions to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) operate efficiently and grow. To help the company better understand SMB needs, Walmart Business commissioned a survey of almost 500 SMB decision makers, and the results were clear: Growth is the priority, but operational challenges are holding them back. The survey indicated sales and marketing are the top 2025 concerns for SMBs, and they anticipate spending almost 40% of their workweeks on administrative tasks, managing, in order, spend and cash flow (selected by 79%), inventory (65%) and payroll (51%).
One-in-three SMBs surveyed rely on out-of-stock triggers to reorder, rather than using structured monitoring or automation. Then, a majority of those surveyed planned to maintain or increase their purchasing mix from marketplaces in 2025, as an alternative to managing multiple direct supplier relationships. Some 75% of SMBs surveyed actively looked for membership rewards and discounts when making routine purchases. Fulfillment is another concern, with bulk orders and same-day delivery must-haves for routine purchases such as tech, supplies and workplace food needs, according to the Walmart Business SBM survey.
Walmart Business is offering ways to make it easier for businesses to streamline operations, Hubka said, with features designed to cut costs and simplify purchasing, such as multi-user accounts, shared payments and subscriptions that help SMBs manage spending more effectively. Walmart also offers access to its 1P and marketplace assortments, offering tens of millions of business-relevant products at competitive prices with pick-up and delivery options, including same-day. Also, Walmart Business Plus perks provide spend analytics and management tools, free shipping and 2% rewards on orders of $250 or more.
Hubka added Walmart Marketplace gives SMBs opportunities to grow by selling to consumers and businesses. Walmart Marketplace is expanding quarter over quarter, which means more opportunity for sellers on the platform, she asserted. The support ecosystem the company offers include the Walmart Marketplace Seller Center, featuring tools to elevate search engine marketing to help SMBs reach a broader audience. With the centralized platform, sellers can advertise product listings with Google Shopping Ads, reaching beyond Walmart to millions of Google users as well as maximise return on ad spend through seller-funded SEM, Hubka maintained.
