DSV Program Requirements & Performance Standards

Updated 4 weeks ago ​by Merch Transformation Change Management

In our ongoing effort to improve customer experience, we’ve implemented DSV standards to help you improve customer satisfaction.

DSV Performance Requirements

DSVs are required to comply with the below program requirements. Failure to comply may result in account suspension or termination.

  • Supplier will fulfill orders by respective Expected Ship Date (ESD) and before carrier pick up cut off. Please review your carrier cut off time and work with the WMT DSV Team if you need to adjust it.
  • Supplier will submit Operational Outages / Holidays (scheduled closures) in Supplier One at least 14 days in advance.
  • Suppliers must communicate accurate capacity levels to ensure On-Time Delivery (OTD). Daily capacity is set for all working days, in units, for each distribution warehouse.
  • Supplier will maintain complete and accurate Distribution Warehouse information in Supplier One. Supplier will provide at least thirty (30) days written notice of Distribution Warehouse modifications, including shutdowns, relocations, new warehouses, and any changes to business contact information.
  • Supplier will only ship orders from the warehouse Walmart.com sent to the order to. Supplier will not internally re-route Walmart.com orders to other warehouses.
  • Supplier will ship with all carrier and shipping methods. Walmart assigns a carrier and ship method to each order. Supplier must ship with the Walmart assigned carrier method. For USPS information, click here. For LTL/Freight information, click here.
  • Supplier will ship in plain, unbranded boxes or poly mailer bags. Please ensure there is no mention of Jet.com on the labeling. This is outdated and should only show Walmart labeling.
  • Supplier will not include packing slips or marketing materials in packages.
  • Supplier will only ship from the contiguous 48 states. Supplier will not ship from Hawaii or Alaska.
  • Supplier will provide an accurate inventory feed at least once per day. Multiple feeds can be sent each day to keep inventory quantities current and prevent POs for out-of-stock items. Please do not submit on-hand quantities for items that are not available to ship. If you are waiting for items to be replenished in your warehouse, please ensure you are feeding a quantity of 0.
  • Orders that are not updated to shipped status in our system will be cancelled 6 calendar days after their ESD. To prevent these cancellations, please ship and update the orders by the ESD. For more information, please see this knowledge base article.
  • Supplier will ensure orders are shipped accurately in order to prevent Virtual Refund/Replacement chargebacks (VR chargebacks)/CSA. For more information on supplier claims and charges, click here.
  • Supplier will keep contact and warehouse information up to date in Supplier One. Failure to provide accurate email addresses means suppliers will not receive pertinent business information.
  • Supplier understands prohibited activities and will adhere to Walmart Supplier Guidelines.
  • Supplier will maintain DSV Performance Standards, outlined below.

DSV Performance Standards

DSVs are required to comply with the below performance standards. Failure to comply may result in suspension or termination.

  • Supplier is responsible for submitting accurate inventory levels to Walmart for each distribution warehouse.
  • Supplier will submit a minimum of one full inventory feed each business day for each distribution warehouse. Walmart recommends submitting multiple feeds per day for high-volume items.
  • All suppliers must send back a Line Level Acknowledgement on all PO lines within 4 business hours.
  • Walmart.com may send various Order Alert Notifications for orders that breached the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) found in your DSV contract. Please respond to any order alerts you may receive. Failure to respond may result in suspension of your account.
We do not send email alerts for new orders.
  • Supplier will ship each order by assigned Expected Ship Date (ESD) and before carrier pick up cut off to make the promised delivery date to the customer. Supplier will incur a $5 Fulfillment chargeback fee per PO for shipping after the ESD.
  • Supplier will adhere to Performance Standards for Rejections, On-Time Delivery (OTD). Please reference this article for more details on Operational settings and OTD reason codes.
    • OTD Definition: OTD is a measure of performance and efficiency that measures the number of units delivered to customers relative to the date we promised during checkout.
    • OTD Calculation: Units delivered on or one day before the Original Expected Delivery Date (OEDD) that is promised to the customer during checkout.

Performance Standards

Walmart Drop Ship Vendors are required to maintain:

  • Rejection Rate (Backorders, Discontinued) < 0.1%
  • On-Time Delivery Rate > 55%
  • Late Deliveries should not exceed 5% of units
  • Early Deliveries should not exceed 10% of units
    • Early Shipments = PO Shipped ≤ 24 hours before PO Creation Expected Ship Date/Time

DSV Compliance Service Level Chargeback Program

Walmart assigns an ESD and an assigned carrier method to each order. Walmart uses an algorithm that chooses the best DSV to ship the order. This takes carrier method, inventory, partner location, and delivery location into consideration to ensure the best possible experience for the customer.

DSVs are required to ship on the ESD to meet the promised delivery date with the assigned carrier method. Failure to comply will result in a Fulfillment Performance (Late and Reject) Chargeback, Carrier Switch Chargebacks (TP), and may result in suspension from the DSV program.

Service Level

Definition

Performance Chargebacks:

 

Failure to comply with On-Time Ship Standard

$5 per incident per PO for each late order in violation of any component of the On-Time Ship Standard. With an allowance of 1% of the total number of POs shipped in chargeback period.

Exceeding Backorder & Discontinued

$5 per quantity backordered and/or discontinued status, with an allowance of 0.1% of the total number of units shipped in the chargeback period.

Transportation and Carrier Chargebacks:

 

Failure to comply with Shipment Accuracy Standard

$5 or cost difference between the Walmart-selected carrier method and the vendor-selected (non-compliant) carrier method per incident fulfilled by Supplier. With an allowance of 1% of the total number of POs shipped in a chargeback period.

For additional chargeback questions or information, please see DSV Fulfillment Performance Chargebacks or DSV Transportation Chargebacks.

Performance Reviews and Suspensions

Walmart’s Partner Performance team regularly reviews DSV performance and will notify you if your DSV account does not meet the DSV standards. Notifications are sent to contacts provided at Supplier One > Account > Supplier Profile > My Team > Contacts. It is your responsibility to ensure your contacts remain up to date in Supplier One. 

Accounts that fall below the performance standards may be suspended or terminated. Walmart will provide at least one warning before action is taken against your DSV account.

Circumstances Beyond Your Control

We understand that things don’t always go as planned. The only exception to enforcing these standards is if your performance has dropped significantly due to a massive problem for which you are not at fault (e.g., failure of API update, mass cancellation due to pricing problem, severe inclement weather that affected carriers' ability to pick up, natural disasters, etc.). If this type of event occurs, please set an Operational Outage / Holiday in Supplier One for the impacted days to mitigate the customer impact. If the event impacts your DSV Chargeback Scorecard, submit a ticket by clicking Help > Manage Tickets within Supplier One. When reporting a problem for which you are not at fault, we require:

  • The reason for the problem
  • Proof of your claim that you are not at fault (e.g., a case number regarding an API failure where it was validated that you were not at fault, a list of the warehouse addresses that have been impacted by a severe storm, etc.)
  • The date range in which purchase orders were impacted
  • The affected purchase order numbers

If we can verify your claim, we will take no action against you.

Suspended DSV Accounts

In our ongoing effort to improve the customer experience, we have reinstated the DSV Suspension and Appeals program.

Performance warnings will be sent on a monthly basis to non-compliant vendors based on their DSV Fulfillment Performance Chargebacks. Vendors who receive multiple warnings will be subject to a suspension review. If your account is suspended, you will receive a warning via email explaining why.

Suspensions will be for a duration of 14 days before the vendor is allowed to submit an appeal for review. If you have been suspended, you must demonstrate a commitment to improvement by submitting an appeal with a Business Plan of Action in order for your selling privileges to be reinstated.

The DSV Team will need to approve all DSV Business action plans before reactivation. Permanent suspensions will take place if the vendor receives 3 suspensions within 12 months.

DSV Appeals Process

To submit an appeal, click Help > Manage Tickets within Supplier One and select 'Performance & Suspension Appeals' for the issue. Attach your Business Plan of Action that details the steps you will take to prevent further Walmart DSV Policy violations.

The Business Plan of Action is an appeal to have your selling privileges reinstated as a DSV Supplier and should always include the following:

  • Identify the issues with your operations or business management practices that caused the violations.
  • Clearly address how proper changes were made to these practices.
  • Provide actionable steps to resolve them and prevent further violations in the future.
  • Provide the type of monitoring in place to ensure the issue does not affect performance going forward.

The Walmart DSV Performance team will need to approval all DSV Business action plans before reactivation. If your selling privileges are termination, Walmart is not required to provide a reason for the decision and appeals will not be granted.

Submitting a Business Plan of Action does not guarantee that selling privileges will be reinstated.


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