Connect Walmart

Walmart connects differently from the other marketplaces in Channel Hub: there’s no “log in with Walmart” redirect. You paste two API keys you generate yourself in Seller Center, and ILLUMA verifies them before saving. Walmart is also a shared catalog, so you don’t create new listings here; you attach a price-and-availability offer to a Walmart catalog item that already exists. This guide covers generating your keys, connecting, how linking works today, and what syncs once you’re live.

ℹ️ Note: Walmart has no card on the Channel Hub Overview and no entry in the sidebar. You reach it through the CHANNEL bar at the top of any channel (see section 2).

1. Before you connect

You need two things in place on Walmart’s side first:

1. An approved Walmart Marketplace seller account. Walmart must have finished onboarding your business. ILLUMA can’t create or speed this up.
2. A Client ID and Client Secret, generated in Walmart Seller Center under Settings → API Key Management. These are the credentials ILLUMA uses; there is no separate ILLUMA app to authorize.

⚠️ Warning: Treat the Client Secret like a password. Anyone with the pair can push prices and inventory to your Walmart account. Generate it, copy it once, and paste it straight into ILLUMA. Walmart shows the secret only when you create it.

2. Open the Walmart channel

1. Go to any channel. From Channels → Channel Hub, click Manage or Set Up on any channel card to open its console.
2. Use the CHANNEL bar. At the top of the console is a row labelled CHANNEL with one button per marketplace. Click Walmart. A grey dot means Not connected, which is expected before you finish setup.

You land on the Connect Walmart screen.

3. Connect Walmart

Walmart uses API keys, so there’s no consent redirect. You paste your keys and ILLUMA checks them with Walmart before it stores anything.

1. Paste your Client ID into the Client ID field.
2. Paste your Client Secret into the Client Secret field. It’s stored encrypted and, as the hint says, never shown again after saving. To change it later, paste a new pair.
3. Click Connect Account. The button reads Verifying with Walmart… while it works. Nothing is saved unless Walmart accepts the keys. Bad keys show an error on the screen and store nothing.

📸 Screenshot placeholder: Channels → Channel Hub → (any channel) → CHANNEL bar → Walmart: the “Connect Walmart” screen with the empty Client ID and Client Secret fields, the Connect Account button, and the three numbered steps below it. Do not capture real keys.

💡 Tip: If the channel later shows Expired with the banner Walmart rejected your saved API keys, your keys were rotated or revoked in Seller Center. Generate a fresh pair and click Reconnect. Your listings and settings are kept.

Once connected, the tabs Dashboard, Listings, Categories, Settings, and Activity appear. On Settings, Test connection checks that your stored keys still work.

4. How listing works on Walmart

If you haven’t read How listings work, read it first. Walmart adds one hard constraint on top of it.

Walmart is a shared catalog. Every product on Walmart.com is a catalog item that can have offers from many sellers. You don’t own a listing the way you do on eBay. You attach an offer (your price and your available quantity) to a catalog item that already exists.

⚠️ ILLUMA does not create new Walmart catalog items. If a product isn’t already in your Walmart seller catalog, ILLUMA can’t create it. Add the item on Walmart first, then link it. A product that isn’t linked is refused when ILLUMA tries to send it, not silently listed. The reason appears on the channel’s Activity tab.

So on Walmart the meaningful work isn’t “publish a new listing”. It’s linking each ILLUMA product to the Walmart item it corresponds to. Once a product is linked, its price and stock offer are sent automatically (when the sync toggles in section 6 are on).

5. Linking products to Walmart items

Import from Walmart (on the Listings tab) reads the items in your Walmart seller catalog and stages them with a suggested match to your catalog. It runs as a tracked job; follow it in the Active work tray or the Activity tab. Retired Walmart items are skipped, because a retired item can no longer carry an offer.

⚠️ Not self-service yet: the dashboard does not yet have a screen to review and confirm those Walmart matches, or to link a single product to a Walmart item. Until it does, ask ILLUMA support to link your items after an import. Products that aren’t linked can’t be sent.

6. What syncs

After a product is linked, ILLUMA keeps its offer (price and availability) in step with your catalog. Under Settings → Sync to Walmart there are two checkboxes, Sync inventory and Sync price, and both start off. Walmart is offers-only, so there is no product-content toggle. Orders and tracking always flow.

Data	Direction	How	Notes
Inventory (quantity)	ILLUMA → Walmart	Offer update	Sum of your stock across your locations (not vendor stock); never below 0
Price (single item)	ILLUMA → Walmart	Offer update	Walmart limits single-item price updates to about 100 per hour. Fine for edits, too slow for a whole catalog
Price and stock (bulk)	ILLUMA → Walmart	Bulk Push to Walmart (Settings)	Uses Walmart’s bulk feed to send many at once
Orders	Walmart → ILLUMA	Checked about every 2 minutes	See section 7
Tracking	ILLUMA → Walmart	When the order ships	Sent against the right order lines
Returns	Walmart → ILLUMA	Automatic, or Sync returns now	Only returns for orders ILLUMA imported

For a big price change, open Settings → Bulk Push to Walmart and click Push price + stock, Stock only, or Price only. It sends every listed product in one go and skips items Walmart fulfills.

📸 Screenshot placeholder: Channels → Channel Hub → Walmart → Settings, showing the Sync to Walmart card and the Bulk Push to Walmart card with its three buttons.

ℹ️ Walmart-fulfilled (WFS) items are managed by Walmart. If an item is fulfilled by Walmart Fulfillment Services, Walmart owns its availability, just like Amazon FBA. ILLUMA never sends your merchant quantity for a WFS item. That’s by design, not a sync failure.

7. Orders & fulfillment

ILLUMA checks Walmart for new orders about every two minutes and imports them with the buyer’s shipping details. Only orders from the time you connect on are picked up; for older orders use Settings → Pull Historical Orders (pick a From date and an optional To date; Walmart keeps 180 days).

⚠️ Walmart cancels orders you don’t acknowledge within about 4 hours, and it counts against your seller scorecard. This is the biggest Walmart fulfillment risk.

To protect you, ILLUMA acknowledges every Walmart order as it imports it. You don’t have to do anything to keep orders alive.

From there fulfillment works like any other channel:

1. Fulfill the order. Pick, pack, and ship through your normal flow, including ShipStation.
2. Tracking goes back automatically. When the shipment is recorded, ILLUMA sends the carrier and tracking number to Walmart.

💡 Tip: If an order is cancelled shortly after it appears, check the Activity tab for a failed acknowledgement before assuming the buyer cancelled.

8. Removing a product

Removing a product from the Walmart channel does not destroy the Walmart item. ILLUMA sets the item’s available quantity to zero so it stops selling, and leaves the catalog item intact so you can restore it.

⚠️ Warning: Walmart’s real “retire” is permanent. A retired item can’t be brought back. ILLUMA does not retire items by default, and there is no dashboard setting for it. If you need an item retired for good, retire it in Seller Center.

9. Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
A product is refused with an “unlinked SKU” reason on Activity	The product isn’t linked to a Walmart item	Ask ILLUMA support to link it (section 5)
You can’t offer on an item you found on Walmart.com	It’s in Walmart’s catalog but not in your seller catalog	Add the item to your Walmart seller catalog first. ILLUMA can’t create it
A removed product can still be restored	Removal zeroes the quantity; it doesn’t retire the item	Expected. Retire in Seller Center if you want it gone for good
Many price changes arrive slowly	Walmart limits single-item price updates to about 100 per hour	Use Settings → Bulk Push to Walmart
Stock isn’t sent for some items	Those are Walmart-fulfilled (WFS) items	Expected; Walmart manages their stock
Nothing is sent after linking	Sync inventory and Sync price are off	Turn them on under Settings → Sync to Walmart
Order cancelled right after it was placed	It wasn’t acknowledged within about 4 hours	ILLUMA acknowledges automatically; check Activity for a failed acknowledgement
Channel shows Expired	Keys rotated or revoked in Seller Center	Click Reconnect and enter a fresh Client ID and Client Secret (section 3)
A return isn’t showing	The return is for an order ILLUMA never imported	Only returns for imported orders sync
No past orders after connecting	Only new orders are picked up	Use Settings → Pull Historical Orders

Next: How listings work.