Walmart beefs up third-party marketplace in Amazon challenge, CNBC says

Walmart (WMT) is trying to recruit and retain hundreds of thousands of independent sellers that fill the company’s virtual shelves while also working to coax those sellers into paying Walmart to pack and ship, and even advertise, their products as the world’s largest retailer banks on its third-party online marketplace to boost holiday sales, reported CNBC’s Melissa Repko. Online sales in the U.S. for Walmart have risen sharply recently, while other major retailers such as Macy’s (M) and Target (TGT) reported declines, though Walmart’s e-commerce business is still much smaller than rival Amazon (AMZN), the report noted.