Requirements
READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS AND PROCESSES: The Supplier Agreement (All Suppliers)Suppliers must sign a legally binding agreement with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Potential suppliers should review the agreement completely with their attorneys, and/or with an attorney who specializes in supplier contracts. It is important for potential suppliers to make sure they understand all terms and conditions, particularly all stipulations relating to allowances, new store discounts, merchandise warranties, defective/return merchandise allowances, warehouse allowances, soft goods allowances, late shipment penalties and markdown dollars or discounts. Execution of this agreement does not, however, create an obligation on the part of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to transact business with a supplier. Retail Link® (Product Suppliers)Retail Link® provides information and an array of products that allows a supplier to impact all aspects of their business. By using the information available in Retail Link®, suppliers can plan, execute and analyze their businesses—thus providing better service to our common customers. Retail Link® is a website that is accessible to any area within your company. Wal-Mart requires all product suppliers to participate in Retail Link® because of the benefits it provides. Should you become a supplier with Wal-Mart, you will be provided with the requirements for accessing Retail Link®. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) (Product Suppliers)EDI has proven to be the most efficient way of conducting business with our product suppliers. This system of exchanging information-purchase orders, invoices, allows us to improve customer service, lower expenses and increase productivity. Wal-Mart/Sam's Club expects its merchandise suppliers to be able to participate in EDI transactions as soon. If you become a Wal-Mart/Sam's Club supplier and do not currently have EDI capability, Wal-Mart will work with you to determine the EDI package that best meets your business needs, while also meeting our EDI requirements. If you already have an EDI system in place when you become a Wal-Mart supplier, Wal-Mart will perform tracking tests to make sure your current system is compatible with Wal-Mart's EDI. This process cannot be started until a nine digit supplier number has been assigned. The supplier will then need to call 479-273-8888 and follow the instructions for starting the EDI setup. Lead-Time Requirements (Product Suppliers)The ability of our suppliers to adapt to Wal-Mart's/Sam's Club lead-time requirements is imperative. Building lines of merchandise for each season is a long-range process that involves much more than simply getting items on store shelves. The amount of time required varies, ranging from a short lead-time of about 60 days to commitments made a year in advance of a selling season. Timely ShippingWe also carefully analyze a new supplier's ability to ship products in a reasonable amount of time. Late shipments can translate into great losses—both monetarily and in customer respect. We expect our suppliers to combine excellent products with on-time deliveries—at the right cost. It all adds up to giving our customers what they want—the right product at the right time at Wal-Mart's Every Day Low Prices.. Quality Assurance Through TestingCustomer service - satisfaction guaranteed - is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s No. 1 goal. As part of our continuing effort to ensure product quality and reliability, we use different independent third party testing labs to provide a safety net test on products such as food, children's products, apparel, home and pharmacy. As a rule, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club test products at our discretion to ensure they comply with the highest safety standards set by state and federal government statutes. For competing products, we perform comparative testing. Often we ask our suppliers to make arrangements with these labs for testing well in advance of shipment to prevent complications. Customer safety is paramount to Wal-Mart, and we are very serious about providing customers a safe quality experience with the products we sell. Gift and Gratuity PolicyNo gifts or gratuities, which have monetary value, are to be given or offered in any way to any Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Associate or potential Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Associate. Suppliers may donate gifts for the purpose of raising funds for charities or non-profit organizations or for resale at Wal-Mart's Associate Store. Gifts or gratuities include, but are not limited to: free goods, tickets to sporting or entertainment events, kickbacks in the form of money or merchandise, special discounts to any Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Associate, discontinued or no-longer-used samples, supplier-paid trips, liquor, food products, meals or personal services. When practical, any such item received must be returned to the sender with an explanation of this policy. Any item not returned shall be considered the property of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Industry Knowledge and IntegrityAt Wal-Mart/Sam's Club we're committed to buying and selling merchandise more efficiently than anyone. We want customers to know that they can trust the quality of our merchandise and know they are receiving their products at Every Day Low Prices. In order to accomplish this, we expect our suppliers to be knowledgeable about their industry and each product or service they provide to Wal-Mart. We require a high level of communication and integrity from each of our suppliers so that we can better serve our customers. Transportation LogisticsThe primary function of our Corporate Traffic Department is to provide for the efficient transportation of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club merchandise that is moving under collect-payment terms from suppliers to distribution centers through the use of private carriers under contract, as well as our own private fleet. Suppliers inform Wal-Mart of ready loads through the "Backhaul Betty" system, which is an interactive telephone voice-response system, via our Internet-based application, Transportation Link or by EDI. All suppliers can access a copy of Wal-Mart's Supplier Information Manual in Retail Link® (once a supplier number is issued), which contains detailed information about purchase order numbering conventions, distribution center locations, shipping requirements and other useful data. It is the supplier's responsibility to abide by the terms and conditions of this document as also specified in the Supplier Agreement. In addition, all suppliers should be prepared to provide detailed load forecast information to Wal-Mart's Corporate Traffic office to facilitate transportation in exceptionally heavy shipping seasons. Corporate Traffic projects nearly one million loads of general merchandise will be moved to Distribution Centers throughout the country in 1999. Equal Opportunity PracticesWal-Mart Stores, Inc., recognizes cultural differences exist and different standards apply in various countries, but we believe all terms and conditions of employment should be based on an individual's ability to do the job, not on the basis of personal characteristics or beliefs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. favors suppliers who have a social and political commitment to basic principles of human rights and who do not discriminate against their employees in hiring practices or any other term or condition of work, on the basis of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, disability, age or political opinion. Office of Regulatory Compliance (ORC)With the growth of Wal-Mart's international markets, our suppliers must be prepared to meet the regulation differentiation among the countries we serve. The Office of Regulatory Compliance (ORC) is dedicated to identifying, interpreting and insuring compliance with each country in which Wal-Mart stores are located and making sure their rules and regulations pertaining to the importation and store presentation of our retail assortment are met. In this capacity, ORC provides a critical link in the international supply chain of merchandise from the supplier's door through to the final Wal-Mart International point of sale. Security Source TaggingWalmart has a strong commitment to shrink reduction through Source Tagging. Source Tagging is the process by which disposable anti-theft labels are incorporated into merchandise at the manufacturing, packaging, or distribution level. These anti-theft labels are called Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) labels. All products must be certified, prior to tagging, by an authorized Source Tagging Lab. For more information on Source Tagging or certification contact one of Walmart's approved EAS label suppliers: ADT/Sensormatic at (877)-258-6424 email: sourcetag@sensormatic.com
TAG Company at (877)TAG-7220 email: sourcetagging-US@tagcompany.com A comprehensive Source Tagging Guide is available through Wal-Mart's Retail Link system.
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