There are more than 4,600 Walmart stores in the U.S., so there’s a good chance that there’s a location near any hotel across the country (except for New York City, where there are none).
Hoteliers, whenever the need arises, have taken trips to their nearby store to pick up necessities when in a pinch. Now, they have the opportunity to have a tailored procurement program through Walmart Business, which launched in early 2023 to serve the needs of businesses in many industries, including hospitality.
“Walmart has had a long history of helping businesses and nonprofits in communities across the U.S. purchase the supplies they need at everyday low prices,” said Robien Christie, director of program management, Walmart Business. “We launched Walmart Business in early 2023 to meet their needs in the way they want us to serve them. Our focus is helping them save time, money and hassle so that they can focus on their missions.”
Walmart Business offers a wide assortment of products for hospitality at its stores and online, including items from third-party sellers that offer products on walmart.com and in the app.
“Those items fit in both the FF&E and OS&E categories,” noted Christie, who comes from a hotelier family. “It’s everything from lamp stands, hair dryers and ironing boards to things like pool supplies, chlorine and shock tabs—and more. There are also all the breakfast items and electronics, like Pro:idiom televisions for hotels to serve their content. We’ve worked to ensure that we have things which are unique to hoteliers’ needs.”
A Walmart Business account is free and offers a number of benefits not afforded to consumers.
“If you’re shopping on the consumer side, you’re shopping for yourself or for your family, and you don’t need a shared account or shared payments,” Christie pointed out. “You also don’t need account organizational functionality. But, if you’re a business owner and you don’t want to have to give a card to every employee, having shared payments makes a lot of sense—or being able to delegate users and purchasing authority. That’s something that’s really crucial for someone to be able to feel like they can enable their employees and still have some level of oversight.”
Other features include bulk purchasing; assembly and installation services through Pros powered by Angi; IT services provided by True Network Solutions; and product protection plans through Allstate.
Similar to the consumer-based Walmart+ account, Walmart Business offers a Walmart Business+ account with additional benefits.
“It’s $98 a year to upgrade and provides free shipping with no minimums and free delivery on orders of $35 or more, which, for a hotel, probably takes care of restocking breakfast,” said Christie. “There’s also 2% rewards of $250 or more on eligible items. That’s another one where, if you’re stocking up your hotel every week, you’re probably going to hit that threshold regularly. We also have access to some limited-time offers similar to what you would see on Walmart+.”
One of the advantages for hoteliers using Walmart Business for fulfilling procurement needs is the speed of service. If they need something immediately, they can just go to a Walmart location and purchase it, or they can buy it online or on the app for pickup at the store.
Christie shared a story about an experience with Walmart when he was working at his parents’ hotels when he was young.
“I think about when my parents ran out of sheets at one of their hotels because the laundry machine broke,” he recalled. “They couldn’t wait two days for it to be fixed. They would go into Walmart and buy out the shelves.”
To ensure it offers the products hoteliers want and need, Walmart Business has forged a relationship with AAHOA. The organization has offered feedback and advice since the business division was being built.
“It’s been great to get that in-person interaction with AAHOA leaders and members and ask them questions about their business and what types of items they want to see from us,” said Christie. “It’s just an opportunity for us to build relationships with those hotel owners and understand how we can meet their needs in a better way.”
