PLANO, Texas — Sales and marketing specialist Crossmark Inc. has been selected by Walmart as a preferred service provider.

With the Walmart preferred service provider designation, Crossmark said it’s one of five companies allowed to execute merchandising activity on behalf of suppliers in about 5,000 Walmart stores nationwide.

Crossmark noted that, with the Walmart agreement and several other recent contracts, it plans to hire thousands of associates in the coming months to augment its field resources. That effort is under way, as Crossmark has already started recruiting team members across the country.

Walmart is positioning preferred service provider agreements pillars of its “Merchandising Services Program,” developed to centralize the retail giant’s merchandising activity planning process and set standard operating procedures for in-store service providers, according to Crossmark.

“Crossmark is committed to delivering smarter solutions to our clients for faster growth in today’s marketplace, and we are honored that Walmart has selected us as a partner on this key initiative,” stated Steve Schuckenbrock, chief executive officer of Crossmark. “We recognize this will be a major transition for Walmart’s product suppliers, and we are committed to providing them with the same exemplary service that we are known for in the industry.”

Crossmark added that it has a number of significant new and expanded client relationships, including companies in chocolate and confectionery, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, among others. The company said it has signed more than 35 contracts with companies in the U.S. alone since the end of the first quarter.

Serving consumer product retailers and suppliers, Crossmark provides a wide range of sales and marketing services, including headquarter sales, retail merchandising, retailer solutions, in-store events, experiential marketing, shopper marketing, consumer engagement, in-store data collection and field intelligence, and analytics and insights.