Walmart Seller Performance Standards (2026): Every Metric and Threshold

Last verified: October 9, 2026, against Walmart's own pages linked below.

Walmart currently evaluates US seller-fulfilled orders against eight named standards: Cancellation Rate, On-Time Delivery Rate, Valid Tracking Rate, Seller Response Rate, Negative Feedback Rate, Return Rate, Item Not Received Rate and Late Shipment Rate. Refund Rate was retired on April 14, 2026. Walmart's US standards pages do not define an 'Order Defect Rate'.

The eight standards and their thresholds

Metric	Standard	What it measures
Cancellation Rate	2% or below	Orders you cancel after receiving them
On-Time Delivery Rate	90% or above	Orders delivered by the promised date
Valid Tracking Rate	99% or above	Orders with valid, scannable tracking
Seller Response Rate	95% or above	Customer inquiries answered within 48 hours
Negative Feedback Rate	2% or below	Orders receiving a 1- or 2-star rating
Return Rate	6% or below (9% or below for resold inventory)	Delivered items returned because of a seller-related issue, measured over 60 days
Item Not Received Rate	2% or below	Orders customers report not receiving because of a seller-related issue, measured over 60 days
Late Shipment Rate	5% or below	Orders shipped after the expected ship date

Evaluation windows differ by metric (30 or 60 days). Each metric has its own page on Walmart's site.

What changed in 2026

• Return Rate and Item Not Received Rate were announced in January 2026 and enforced from April 2026.
• Refund Rate was retired on April 14, 2026. Return Rate and Item Not Received Rate replace it.
• Negative Feedback Rate is a standard at 2% or below.

Walmart states that these standards are subject to change. Confirm the current numbers in your Seller Center Performance dashboard before making decisions.

A note on 'Order Defect Rate'

Some tools, forums and notices use the term. Walmart's US standards pages define the eight named metrics above and no composite with that name. If a notice or dashboard mentions it, check which named metric is failing. Our post on this: What Walmart's Order Defect Rate actually measures.

Sources

• Walmart Seller Performance Standards overview
• Walmart Marketplace release notes
• Walmart developer notice on the Refund Rate retirement
• Walmart Marketplace newsletter, January 2026

FAQ

What are Walmart's seller performance standards?

Named metrics, each with a threshold, that Walmart evaluates for seller-fulfilled orders. The eight current ones are in the table above.

Is Refund Rate still a Walmart standard?

No. It was retired on April 14, 2026 and replaced by Return Rate and Item Not Received Rate.

What is the Return Rate threshold?

6% or below, or 9% or below for resold inventory, measured over 60 days.

Does Walmart have an Order Defect Rate?

Not on its US standards pages. Check which named metric is failing instead.

If you want a plain-English read of where your numbers stand against these standards, Account Advocate's Compliance Audit reviews the metrics you paste in. It is an informational review, not a certification or legal advice.

This article is informational guidance based on Walmart's published policies, not legal advice. Account Advocate provides document preparation, not legal services.