Google Business Profile is an effective marketing channel for local businesses that meet with customers in person.
But when you run a local business, one of the worst things that can happen to your business is having your Google Business Profile suspended.
When a Google Business Profile is suspended, it either disappears from Google completely (which is often the case) or becomes inaccessible to the profile owner or manager. Neither of which is good news.
For many business owners, this is devastating. (Many of my clients have told me that if they can’t get their Business Profiles reinstated, they would have to close their businesses.)
Because Google typically doesn’t disclose the reason for suspension, it can be frustrating for business owners as they fumble around trying to fix the violation and reinstate their profile.
When your Business Profile gets suspended, the first step is to thoroughly read the Guidelines for Representing Your Business on Google.
In many cases, you can figure out what rule you violated.
But some “unwritten” rules can trigger profile suspensions, which makes things even more complicated.
Determining what caused your suspension is almost like being a detective.
Let’s put on our detective hats and discuss five common reasons why Google Business Profiles get suspended.
Google has extensive rules concerning the types of addresses eligible for Google Business Profiles.
Some of the most violated guidelines involve using:
None of these types of addresses are allowed.
The only rare exception is a co-working space address, given you meet the following criteria:
As you can see in the example below, the co-working space’s address – and even overlapping suite numbers – are used by multiple businesses for Google Business Profiles.
Another address violation is displaying your home address in your Google Business Profile when you don’t have permanent signage at your home and are not seeing customers there.
If you have a service area business (SAB) and run your business out of your home but go out to your customers to do the work, you are not allowed to display your address in your GBP.
A quick look on Google Maps shows that this landscaping company is violating the rule.
When you look up the company’s address on Maps, you can see a photo of the business owner’s residence. Another profile just waiting to get suspended.
Some businesses may get away with violating address guidelines for a while, but it will catch up with them eventually.
Editing core information on GBP (i.e., business name, address, phone number or business categories) can trigger a suspension.
Google may find it suspicious if these key areas get edited.
After all, how often does a business change its name? Their address? Their phone number? The type of business they are?
The answer: not very often.
So think long and hard before you change any of the major fields in your Business Profile. You may inadvertently trigger a suspension.
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Thinking of adding extra words to your company name – like a city name or keywords? Not a good idea. (Yes, you may rank higher but won’t rank at all when your profile gets suspended.)
In the example below, the realtor is considered a “practitioner” and should only use her first and last name as her business name – no other words.
As you can see, she’s keyword-stuffed her business name with “realtor” and “real estate agent.” (Realtors are among the big offenders of the business name guidelines.)
The short-term gains you might get from keyword stuffing your business name are not worth the risk of getting your Google Business Profile suspended.
Google generally doesn’t like it when two businesses share the same address or phone number. (The same address exception would be at office buildings, malls, car dealerships with separate service/car repair businesses, etc.)
This rule primarily prevents:
An example of this was recently seen on the Google Business Profile Help Forum. A landscaper had a GBP set up for his landscaping business, which he ran from his home.
He then set up another Google Business Profile for a “new” business he started – a sod-laying business. (But isn’t laying sod part of landscaping?)
He couldn’t figure out why the new sod-laying Business Profile got suspended.
It was clear to me – and obviously to Google – that this man was trying to game the system by creating two GBPs at the same address to get higher rankings.
What he should’ve done is add “sod supplier” as a category to his existing landscaping Business Profile.
Google doesn’t want people to set up more Business Profiles to try and get higher rankings.
Another way for your Business Profile to get suspended is if someone reports your violations to Google directly.
Have you ever noticed the “Suggest an Edit” link in Google Business Profiles?
If your GBP listing violates guidelines, all someone has to do is make a suggested edit to fix your violation, and that could cause your profile to get suspended.
Think of it like a “neighborhood watch” type of program. This option helps keep everyone on the platform honest.
The Redressal Form can also be used to report GBP violations.
There are probably dozens of reasons why Google can suspend your profile – many of which only Google knows about. So your best bet is to follow the guidelines. All of them.
Take my word. Getting your Business Profile listing suspended – and then reinstated – is not a walk in the park.
In many cases, it can devastate businesses. Messing around by trying to skirt the rules is not worth the risk. So read – and follow – the rules.
5 Reasons that can get your Walmart Seller Account Suspended
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Walmart Seller Account Suspended: Words that can almost send a Marketplace seller into a frenzy. In case this unfortunate episode has occurred to you, fear not.
As bad news as it is, it is not impossible to recover your seller account from this event. Although the process is a demanding one and requires dedication from the seller, it is necessary.
Among the largest marketplaces in the US, Walmart continues to be a hot interest for online sellers. In 2022, approximately 230 million customers thronged Walmart each week and paved the way for securing around 73 million USD in online Walmart sales. Thus, selling on the Walmart marketplace is an enormous opportunity for online sellers to tap in.
Walmart offers excellent assistance to sellers in support, content, advertising, and analytics for products.
However, as expected from any World-class online Marketplace, serving and maintaining quality is the number one priority for Walmart. For sellers to maintain such standards, it is crucial to follow the rules pushed by Walmart reverently.
When a seller fails to follow these strict rules, Walmart suspends that seller.
Sometimes, in the case of violation, Walmart puts down the listing rather than suspending the account. It depends upon the seller’s overall Score Card and the degree of the breach.
Walmart suspends sellers’ accounts on various grounds. These are as follows:
1st Reason: Walmart Performance Standards Infringement
2nd Reason: Non-Compliance with Marketplace Retailer Agreement
3rd Reason: Neglecting Walmart Operational Standards
4th Reason: Trust and Safety Standards Violation
5th Reason: Horrendous pricing
To successfully sell at Walmart Marketplace, sellers need to keep up a plan of action that makes sure none of those mentioned above violations take place, ever.
The following sections tackle each of these reasons for the Walmart account Suspension in-depth.
Source: Walmart
Each seller needs to meet the performance standards laid down by Walmart and the sellers can view their performance in the Seller Scorecard provided by Walmart. The Performance metrics on Walmart comprise of the Walmart Performance Standards. These are as follows:
The cancellation rate is the percentage of orders canceled by the sellers after receiving orders from Walmart. It must be less than 2% in 14 days. Cancellations can occur while you sell on Walmart when:
The refund rate determines the percentage of orders the customers refunded because of reasons the seller is responsible for, such as wrong item, damaged item, etc. The refund rate needs to be less than 6% in 90 days.
On-Time Delivery Rate is the percentage of orders you deliver on or before the expected delivery date. It should be greater than 95% in 14 days.
Valid Tracking Rate is the percentage of orders with valid tracking information provided and the delivery scan on or before the Expected Delivery Rate. It should be greater than 99% in 14 days.
Supplying Valid Tracking information is not as simple as it sounds. It is not about just providing a valid tracking number and confirmation of shipment made.
Sellers are required to follow the Walmart Performance Standards concerning the Shipping Policy. They are required to use only one of the following five carriers, which are further classified into two types:
Sellers are required to choose at least one of these as their shipping method. Providing tracking information requires a valid link using which customers can either directly track their order or a link to the website along with a tracking number.
Sellers must provide this information and follow the guidelines for every order they receive to maintain their performance and save their Walmart Account from being suspended.
The Seller Response Rate is the percentage of customer inquiries responded to within 48 hours. Sellers are required to maintain a seller response rate greater than 95%.
Failure to respond to customer inquiries within the set 48 hours limit by Walmart can lead to the auto cancellation of orders that are not shipped by Walmart and a refund for the shipped orders.
Walmart also states certain situations are out of the control of any seller. Thus, it pardons them of any repercussions if the sellers can prove that their inability to meet the stated standards was due to one such reason.
When a violation occurs, Walmart initially delivers a Warning and then proceeds to Walmart Seller Account Suspension.
On receiving one such warning, if the sellers feel that they were not at fault and can supply justification, they need to provide the following details to Walmart:
It is the ratio of total orders with any defect (at least one such order) to the total number of orders during the period when the defect in order occurred.
Order Cancellation defects occur when the sellers cancel orders on Walmart due to low and insufficient inventory compared to the demands.
Or if sellers realize too late that they have priced the product incorrectly or a particular part of the description sends out the wrong expectation for the product.
These raise questions about the seller’s sincerity and create a negative customer experience.
The order returned post-delivery is perhaps the worst thing that could happen to a seller’s image.
Several reasons could lead to this defect, such as defective or damaged or weak quality orders received by the customer. Customers can demand refunds for missing parts of the order, leading to a gap between the item delivered and the customer’s expectation.
This defect directly falls under the abolition of Walmart Performance Standards, leading to the suspension.
It is not a secret that customers prefer their item to arrive soon once they make payments.
Giving customers an expected delivery time and then failing to deliver within that time limit disappoints the customers greatly. Walmart’s Performance Standards expect sellers to deliver all items in an order on time.
With the guaranteed Next Day and 2-Day Deliveries promised by Walmart, the requirement to reduce delivery defects has increased more than ever.
Some reasons that could lead to this kind of episode involve late shipment in the first place. Or due to items being out of stock or some natural disaster affecting the shipping process or warehouses involved.
Under such circumstances, Walmart pardons the sellers and does not charge a penalty.
If you fail your customers, they will complain. It is just as simple as that. It could be a case where the customers find any defect in the product. Or a gap between the expectation laid down by your listing and what you delivered.
Please note that Walmart will not inform the sellers personally about the complaints they receive against them. Claims, even after settlement, will still be counted as a defect.
For calculating ODR, it is crucial to understand the periods for which scores are calculated and reflected on the Walmart Seller Account Scoreboard:
The sellers must keep Order Defect Rate (ODR) less than 2% to avoid the suspension of their Walmart Seller Account.
It is crucial to ship the orders in the time promised and supply valid confirmation and tracking details to Walmart to avoid the delivery being late.
The two things you can do to deliver the items within the expected delivery date are choosing the right Shipping Services and shipping the item in time.
With the new promise of the next day and 2-day deliveries, missing the expected shipping date can hamper the commitment and reflect poorly upon Walmart itself, which is unacceptable.
The Expected Shipment Date is defined by two shipment-related factors: Order Cutoff Time and Fulfillment Lag Time. Order Cutoff Time is the time limit that determines whether or not the seller needs to ship the order on the same day of placement. This means if the placement of an order occurs before the cutoff time, the seller would have to ship it the same day; otherwise, they can ship it the next day.
Fulfillment Lag Time is the total time required for processing the item for picking, packing, and shipping. The two factors together describe the entire time between order placement and the Expected Shipment Date. Sellers should carefully define these in the Walmart Seller Account Profile Settings page to avoid adverse effects and wrong ESD calculations.
It is effortless to adjust the time you get before shipping. Hence you can control any issue arising from here with little effort.
Hence sellers can get their Walmart Account Suspended if they continue to repeat this practice for a long time.
During the Walmart Seller Account setup process, all sellers are asked to accept an agreement that binds them legally to abide by the Standard Terms and Conditions for Walmart after the account creation step.
The Agreement emphasizes the Terms and Conditions, Policies, and Guidelines, called Retailer Policies that sellers need to follow while selling under the Walmart Marketplace Program.
It is advisable to read the contract carefully. And if you find a clause that your business might fail to adhere to later, consider including that in your business practice. Or don’t agree to the contract in the first place.
There is no escape from this condition, and failing to comply with the terms in the contract will get your Walmart Account Suspended.
To sell at Walmart Marketplace successfully, Sellers cannot fail at any time to maintain top-level operations. For example, on-time shipment and delivery, a refund within the period, and ensuring the best Customer Service. Not following Walmart operational standards can result in a suspended Walmart Seller Account.
Also, keeping the prices competitively low is a hard limit for sellers on Walmart. Specific standards of operation include:
Walmart expects sellers to consistently maintain Performance Standards and strive to excel the best they can. For which sellers are responsible for knowing the risks involved and addressing them to reduce any unforeseen and unfortunate events, comply with all the laws of fair trade and taxation and comply with Walmart policies.
These guidelines apply to all third-party sellers aiming to sell at Walmart Marketplace, and failing to comply with each one of them may result in a suspended Walmart Account.
Sellers at Walmart need to ensure the goal of maintaining Customers’ trust by ensuring their safety. They should ensure a legal business practice is fulfilled and not challenged by any violation.
While they sell at Walmart marketplace, sellers are strictly asked to keep up with the Trust and Safety Standards, failing to which get their Walmart Account Suspended instantly.
These standards have the following clauses:
A breach of this standard occurs when you sell at Walmart marketplace, such as a banned product, on the grounds of risk to the product and food safety regulations. This involves prescription drugs, gambling or surveillance products, baby equipment which have not been certified and tested, etc.
Items that can be offensive to customers include products that encourage discrimination, encourage violence, or display profanity.
Articles that might violate someone’s Intellectual rights on their creations or something that might break the Copyright Policy on their intellectual property. Such as selling a painting without giving the proper courtesy and taking permission and right to distribution.
Competitive product pricing is crucial for selling successfully on the Walmart marketplace. When you list your catalog at unreasonable prices, Walmart delists your products from the marketplace. Additionally, when your product prices depict horrendous pricing or abusive pricing practices, Walmart can warrant your account suspension too.
Remember, when the items you sell on Walmart are also available on other websites for purchase, either by you or some other seller, your product prices on Walmart should not be more than those offered on the other sites. If such a thing occurs, the outcome will be the product de-listing or, worse, can cause the Walmart Seller account to be suspended.
While violation of any of these can lead to Walmart Seller Account Suspension, the process is intricate. Walmart reviews the Performance of sellers on Walmart through a team of experts.
Any time the ODR limit of 2% increases to a significant amount, Walmart can temporarily terminate or temporarily block seller accounts of the respective store. They will issue at least one warning before the suspension by Walmart. Only the sellers who have spent at least three months on Walmart will be susceptible to suspension.
Walmart gives plenty of opportunities for sellers to improve their ODR before taking action against them.
The team bases observation on past 90-day ODR, and for sellers with 50 or more transactions over 120 days, it judges them for the recent three months. Also, once the limit is crossed for a particular seller, Walmart will check the changes in the latest 30 days ODR to see improvements.
If the sellers still cross the ODR limit after everything, Walmart will suspend the seller’s privileges to sell at Walmart Marketplace. However, it is good that Walmart follows a very fair process. It provides the reason for the suspension. It also provides additional requirements or advice to change the issue.
Walmart can also take additional actions, such as terminating all open orders for your account, but they will inform you about it just as well. Sellers will receive a notice of the suspension with the most recent date on which they can appeal to Walmart to re-establish their account.
Depending upon the type of violation that resulted in a suspended Walmart Seller Account, they provide the time to test your performance.
Sellers will receive a warning once or twice before the suspension. If the ODR remains unimproved, the suspension of the sellers’ Walmart Accounts will occur, and they will have to go through the Appeal Process.
In case the breach of the marketplace agreement causes the suspension, sellers will be informed about the specific clause that was offended and exactly how. The sellers can reinstate their selling privileges by creating an action plan that promises to comply with the said clause.
If you violate the community’s trust and safety, you will receive a notice from Walmart, and depending upon the degree of a breach, the team will take action.
Whereas, a Termination of Walmart Seller account, Walmart reserves the right to give no explanations, and you would not be eligible for any appeals.
Walmart reserves the right to de-list some of your products. They do it if they find it violates some standards, with or without giving the reasons. When it happens to the sellers at Walmart, they sometimes find it bewildering. Some of these reasons can be:
If Walmart finds a violation in any of your listings and decides to delist it, sellers on Walmart will receive a message along with reasons and the type of breach. If something like that happens, sellers can recover the listing by immediately removing the cause of the breach or any other issue behind delisting and re-upload it to Walmart.
It is advisable to create outstanding listings that fall in line with the Walmart Performance Standards and ensure that the listings are safe in the first place.
If the reason for your Walmart Account Suspension is other than Trust and Safety Standards violations, you can follow the Walmart Appeal Process. The following process can help you out in re-establishing your privileges to sell at the Walmart marketplace:
1st Step: Analyze Seller Performance Standards
2nd Step: Develop a new Strategy for Business.
3rd Step: Send this strategy to Walmart
4th Step: Do everything possible not to keep up but excel beyond Seller Performance.
Analyze the reasons for which your Walmart Account was suspended and re-examine your scorecard as well as ODR. First, establish the specific course of actions and factors that led to a violation of Walmart Performance Standard or Walmart Retailer Agreement Policies.
If necessary, consult an expert and figure out what caused the defects that contributed to high ODR. Make a list of different types of Order Defects and track their reasons. List them all.
If it was a violation of the Retailer Agreement, quickly go ahead and figure out Why, How, and What caused this violation.
Based on your observations in step one, devise a strategy. Make it one that would ensure that your performance will be optimum while you sell at Walmart marketplace in the future. It should also ensure that your trade practices remain in line with Walmart Performance Standards and Walmart Retailer Agreement.
Ensure that your action plan reflects your understanding of the issue, its cause, and its root. Do it such that Walmart can conclude that you understand how and why the violation occurred and that you seek a chance to do a better job.
For a violation of Walmart Performance Standards, attempt to focus on the standard type. For example, what will you do to maintain all deliveries on time if you fail the in-time delivery? Will you change the shipping service you have been using so far, or will you re-evaluate the ESD to avoid false expectations? Clearly, state it with the justification of why this is the best solution.
If your Customer Service was below acceptable standards, draft a relevant strategy. Focus on how you will improve and assist the customers in the shortest time possible.
If the suspension was due to a lack of keeping up with the demand and maintaining the inventory, then put up a well-formulated action plan for that. It should ensure that the supply is maintained at all times to satisfy the market better.
Make sure you consult an expert if the need arises. Share your action plan with them to see if it is an excellent, low-risk one that will resolve the issue.
Follow the steps below to submit your plan of Action on Walmart Seller Center:
Merely submitting the Plan does not reinstate your selling rights at the Walmart marketplace. After submitting your case, Walmart will contact you within two days with their decision. Neither all suspended sellers are eligible to appeal for reinstatement. For example, in violation of Trust and Safety Standards, you may or may not be eligible for the appeal. Whether or not you can appeal, the mail notifying the suspension also notifies sellers of this.
Also, in the case of Trust and Safety violations, the method of appeal is different. The mail also describes the process if the seller is eligible for appeal.
Once Walmart revokes the suspension on the account, sellers are expected to strictly follow the Business Plan of Action submitted in the appeal for restoration. Also, they must strictly improve their ODRs to avoid future violations and comply with the Standards and Retailer Agreements. If the performance remains unchanged, sellers might face a suspension the second time or termination eventually.
After restoring your account, you can focus on creating a strategy to increase your sales and performance on Walmart.
Thus Walmart experts intensely monitor the performance of a seller on Walmart. Based on certain factors, Walmart creates a Scorecard for its sellers, reflecting the performance of the respective sellers.
Walmart is committed to ensuring all its customers’ and sellers’ privacy and safety and maintaining fair trade practices. Therefore, in case of any violation of the standards and guidelines laid down by Walmart, Sellers are warned off. If this continues, Walmart reserves the right to suspend or terminate the seller’s right to sell at the Walmart marketplace.
It is the sellers’ responsibility to comply with Performance and Operational standards and the Retailer Agreement. Sellers should endeavor to maintain fair and safe selling practices for the customers and fellow sellers to avoid getting their Walmart Seller account suspended. If Walmart’s selling process is getting too much or you want to start selling today, let Automated listings and marketplace integrations solve your problems.
For a better understanding of how to successfully sell at Walmart Marketplace and avoid getting Walmart Account suspended, check out:
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