While watching the Winter Olympics this month, I couldn’t help but draw some comparisons to e-commerce sales. Don’t get me wrong– I’m not claiming that running a Walmart Marketplace or Amazon store is as difficult as pulling off a triple axel in figure skating with the whole world watching. But when it comes to selling online or pulling off crazy moves during an Olympic routine, those talented Olympians are graded on specific performance metrics.

To win the gold medal in Turin, American figure skater Alysa Liu’s program was graded on categories like skating skills, transitions, and composition. Walmart Marketplace sellers on the other hand, are graded on the following eight performance metrics:

• Cancellation  Rate: Maintain a rate of less than or equal to 2%.
• On-Time Delivery Rate (OTD): Maintain a rate of greater than or equal to 90%.
• Valid Tracking Rate (VTR): Maintain a rate of greater than or equal to 99%.
• Refund Rate: Maintain a rate of less than or equal to 6%.
• Seller  Response Rate: Maintain a rate of greater than or equal to 95%.
• Negative Feedback Rate: Maintain a rate of less than or equal to 2%.
• Return Rate: Maintain a rate of less than or equal to 6%.
• Item Not Received Rate (INR): Maintain a rate of less than or equal to 2%.

The first five Seller Performance Standards on this list have been around a while, and the Negative Feedback Rate metric was introduced in October of last year. A few weeks ago, Walmart announced that, as of Spring 2026, the two new metrics of Return Rate and Item Not Received Rate would also be factored into your Seller Performance API.

If you haven’t already, be sure to head over to your Walmart Seller Center performance dashboard to see how your store is performing in these new key metrics. There is unfortunately no way to prevent item returns and lost packages from EVER happening, but there are things you can control to improve or maintain your rates:

• Product Listing Audits: We can’t control a buyer changing their mind, but we can help limit confusion or frustration with accurate product descriptions, images, specifications, and bullet points. If you have items in your store with higher-than-average return rates,  look for potential improvements you can make to your listing to provide better clarity.
  
• Product and Packaging Quality Control: If your product listing is top-notch and you are still seeing a high rate of returns, there may be an issue with the item itself or its packaging. Are items getting damaged during transit? Are the instructions for use unclear? Are there problems with the product itself? Pay close attention to the feedback received as you investigate.
  
• Fixing Shipping Issues: If your INR is too high, look for common problems like tracking or delivery confirmation issues, late shipments, and inaccuracies on shipping labels.

If you actively track your metrics and take the action steps needed to fix any problems that you spot, your Walmart store will be worthy of a Gold Medal in no time!

Walmart Review Accelerator Launched!

The Seller Performance Standards aren’t the only thing getting an upgrade on the Walmart Marketplace. Exciting new changes are also coming to the Walmart Review Accelerator program!

Unlike the previous version of Walmart’s copycat of Amazon Vine, which delivered post-purchase incentives, the new Review Accelerator will allow sellers to provide free product samples to a vetted pool of trusted reviewers to generate early reviews for new or low-review listings. Here are some key facts to know:

• Sellers can enroll eligible items directly in the Seller Center.
• It helps accelerate traction and build trust for new product launches.
• It is designed for private label products and to help sellers increase listing visibility.
• The program is completely free to use.
• Sellers can enroll up to 25 products at once.
• Products must have fewer than 10 reviews to be eligible.

If you want to give this new program a try, all you need to do is follow these easy steps:

• Log in to Walmart Seller Center.
• Go to the Growth tab.
• Select Review Accelerator.
• Find and use the new Recognized Reviewer section (distinct from the older post-purchase review incentive tool).
• Search/select eligible products from your catalog and enroll them.

And in case you missed the bolded text above… this new program is COMPLETELY FREE to use. Act now before this free window ends, as we all know it will eventually!

‍