Amazon invites Walmart product sellers to use its warehouses for orders

Driving the news: Amazon will begin shipping orders for Walmart Marketplace merchants that choose to use the Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) logistics network.

• It will also begin handling orders for merchants on Shopify and Chinese shopping site Shein.

State of play: Amazon MCF already handles orders from a variety of other major sites, including eBay, Etsy, Temu and TikTop Shop.

• "This has been growing like a weed for the past number of years," Peter Larsen, Amazon's VP of multichannel commerce and fulfillment, tells Axios.

How it works: If a consumer buys a product on the Walmart app or website from a merchant that houses its inventory with Amazon, that order will be routed to the Amazon MCF system for shipment.

• "We don't necessarily even know which channel the order is coming in from," Larsen tells Axios. "We just get an order that says, 'Hey, ship this thing to this person,' and we do it as fast and reliably as we can."
• Amazon makes money on fees, including for product storage and shipping.

What we're watching: Given that Amazon and Walmart are supposed to be competitors, will federal antitrust regulators raise an eyebrow at the two working together?

• Larsen tells Axios that the two companies have coordinated to ensure the process is seamless, but he said there's no collaboration on pricing.
• "We definitely had to talk to them. We basically made the same case I'm making to you here, which is, hey, this is a good thing for your sellers," Larsen says. "What's good for sellers and what's good for shoppers is good for both Walmart and Amazon."