Walmart Marketplace Adds DoorDash, UniUni to Approved Carriers

What changed

Walmart has opened its marketplace to more of the newer parcel carriers. On Oct. 13 the retailer said third-party sellers who ship their own orders may now use eight more parcel carriers: UniUni, SpeedX, Exelot, SwiftX, TForce Final Mile, Gofo, OSM Worldwide and DoorDash.1 It also approved Metropolitan Warehouse & Delivery for freight.1 Walmart's official parcel carrier guide, last updated the same day, now lists all of the new names next to older entries such as OnTrac, DHL Express, Canada Post and GLS.12

The change matters more than a typical policy update because Walmart's approved list works as a gate. The company says that shipping with a carrier not on the list is discouraged and can lead to listings being suppressed, or to the seller being suspended or removed, because Walmart cannot check the tracking data.113 Sellers must also supply valid tracking on more than 99% of marketplace orders under Walmart's performance standards.12 In practice, a carrier that isn't approved isn't a real option for a Walmart seller, however cheap it is.

Why Walmart is doing this now

The timing follows Walmart's e-commerce growth. Marketplace net sales rose more than 50% in the second quarter, according to the company.1 CFO John David Rainey said on the August earnings call that e-commerce now makes up more than 23% of Walmart's U.S. business, about double its share five years ago.1 Industry guides put the marketplace at more than 200,000 active sellers.6 Coverage of Walmart's April comments describes the seller count as having roughly tripled in a year.16

The carrier market has changed as well. Total U.S. parcel volume grew just 0.4% to 23.9 billion packages, according to one industry tally. Alternative carriers, including UniUni, Gofo, SpeedX, Veho and OnTrac, grew volume 13% to 2.6 billion units and revenue 15.4%.3334 The same analysis points to steady price pressure from the incumbents. Both major integrated carriers took a 5.9% general rate increase for 2026, and ground fuel surcharges rose 26% year over year.34

The newer carriers have also grown in size. UniUni says it handles more than 1 million parcels a day and reported a 1,073% jump in domestic volume from 2024 to 2025.32 Gofo reported more than 100 million U.S. deliveries in 2025 and said it planned to expand from about 70% of the U.S. population to roughly 82% by late summer 2026.3132 SpeedX has been investing heavily to reach more than 15,000 ZIP codes.36 Walmart's approval treats these carriers as mainstream options. It doesn't create them.

The catch: approval and protection are separate

The announcement leaves out an important detail. Walmart still names USPS, FedEx and UPS as its top preferred carriers, even after the additions.112 That preference has real consequences for sellers.

Walmart's "Ship with Walmart" label program gives discounted rates. For U.S. domestic orders that ship on time and are lost in transit or after delivery, it also offers up to $100 in protection, and Walmart handles the carrier claim and keeps the seller's performance metrics clean.1720 Domestically, though, the program runs only on USPS, FedEx and UPS. Cross-border shipments from China use Yanwen and SF Express.20 Walmart also says the protections are a discretionary benefit and not insurance, and that they can be changed or withdrawn.20

Walmart is putting more weight behind that program. ShipStation has built Ship with Walmart directly into its platform. It advertises Walmart-negotiated rates, the $100 lost-item coverage and carrier recommendations matched to each seller's delivery promise.5 Walmart's own guide says eligible Pro, Rising and Advanced sellers can get up to 15% off three-day labels and up to 35% off two-day labels when their delivery promise matches their shipping speed.17

This means sellers now face two tiers. A seller can save money by sending orders through UniUni or Gofo, and those orders will pass Walmart's tracking checks. But that seller takes on the risk of lost packages and late deliveries. Under Walmart's shipping policy, sellers must keep an on-time delivery rate of at least 90%, and Walmart's estimate of a seller's delivery date affects search ranking.15 Staying with the big three through Walmart's label program costs more on some lanes but comes with protection. Walmart has widened the list of allowed carriers while keeping the subsidized option on its incumbent partners. My read is that the expansion is mostly about keeping sellers compliant. It is not meant to steer sellers toward the new carriers.

There is also a reason to doubt how much this changes Walmart's overall mix. Nearly half of marketplace business ran through Walmart Fulfillment Services in Q2, up almost 400 basis points from 2025.1 The new carriers only matter for the shrinking share of sellers who still ship orders themselves.

What it means for Amazon and TikTok Shop sellers

For sellers who started on Amazon or TikTok Shop, the change makes it easier to run Walmart from the same warehouse. Many of these merchants already manage Walmart orders next to Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shopify and eBay in one shipping dashboard.5 If a carrier is already on contract for other channels, a seller no longer needs a separate setup just for Walmart.

Walmart still draws one line. It doesn't allow Amazon Logistics as a carrier on Walmart orders. Sellers using Amazon's Multi-Channel Fulfillment have to choose a non-Amazon carrier such as UPS, FedEx or USPS.6 Walmart's policy also requires plain, unbranded packaging and vehicles when sellers use another retailer's fulfillment service.15 Walmart is happy to approve gig and regional networks that compete with Amazon, but not Amazon's own delivery network.

The cost of shipping ties into the wider fight over marketplace fees. Amazon charges most categories a 15% referral fee, plus a $39.99 monthly Professional plan and FBA fees.2325 Walmart charges referral fees of roughly 6% to 15% and no monthly subscription.23 TikTok Shop's rate is harder to pin down. Some guides cite a 6% baseline for most U.S. categories. Others report a move to 8% from Aug. 4, 2026, so sellers are told to check their own Seller Center.2224 Several analyses also note that creator commissions, often 10% to 20%, can make TikTok Shop more expensive than Amazon per order.2228

With referral fees fixed by the platforms, shipping is one of the few big costs a seller can still negotiate. ShipStation's own release calls shipping one of the largest levers sellers have for protecting margins.5 For sellers whose margins are being squeezed by commissions, a cheaper approved carrier on dense urban routes can make a real difference.

The regulatory angle

The reason Walmart limits sellers to approved carriers is the same reason regulators are paying closer attention to marketplaces: platforms are expected to know who is selling and what happens to each order. The INFORM Consumers Act requires marketplaces to collect and verify identity, bank and tax information from high-volume sellers. That means 200 or more sales and $5,000 in revenue in any 12-month period.43 The FTC brought its first case under the law in September 2025, a $2 million penalty against Temu's parent. Penalties can now reach $53,088 per violation.4344 Europe has gone further, fining AliExpress €550 million and Temu €200 million under the Digital Services Act in 2026.44 On Oct. 1, the FTC proposed a rulemaking aimed at impersonation scams on digital marketplace platforms. It noted that the INFORM Act doesn't require marketplaces to investigate suspicious sellers or cut them off.4547

None of this directly governs carrier lists. Still, the direction is clear: regulators increasingly expect platforms to be able to verify what happens on their sites. Requiring validated tracking for every order fits that expectation.

The new carriers also bring their own scrutiny. UniUni, SpeedX and Gofo rely heavily on gig drivers, and reporting has raised claims about UniUni's pay practices. In New York, proposed legislation would require last-mile companies using gig labor to classify those workers as employees.39 If rules like that spread, the cost advantage behind these carriers could shrink.

What to watch

The key question is whether Walmart eventually brings any of the newer carriers into Ship with Walmart. Until it does, the eight additions mainly give sellers who already use these networks a way to stay compliant. They don't move Walmart away from the incumbent carriers. Peak season will test the change. Lost and late packages rise during the holidays, and Walmart's protections only apply to labels bought through its program.1620