Walmart overhauls its ad business as it seeks major growth

Walmart Media Group, the retail giant’s ad sales arm, is being renamed Walmart Connect, which is launching new ad technology to enable brands to make better use of Walmart customer data and to connect with consumers in a “closed-loop, omnichannel environment”.

Walmart also plans to sell ad space on checkout and display screens across its 4,500 stores, with the goal of eventually allowing advertisers to buy personalised and targeted ads.

The company said in a statement that Walmart Connect will focus on three strategic areas to move it closer to becoming one of the top ten advertising platforms in the US.

Strategic goals

• Growing offerings across Walmart’s digital properties – Walmart Connect is making use of the reach of its native digital properties, including Walmart.com, pickup & delivery and the Walmart App, to offer ‘holistic’ campaigns, such as search and display media, across the digital shopper experience. “This will put advertiser messages right next to where customers are making purchasing decisions”, it said.
• Introducing innovative in-store experiences – Walmart Connect will offer media activations on in-store TV displays and self-checkout screens with nearly 170,000 digital screens across 4,500+ stores. It means many brand messages can be delivered with date, time and location details. And more opportunities for brands to be included in in-store experiences and sampling opportunities, such as the Walmart Drive-in, will be offered over time.
• Expanding offsite media opportunities, at scale – Walmart Connect will leverage first-party shopper data to drive media performance for advertisers outside of Walmart’s proprietary sites. And it has forged a partnership with adtech company The Trade Desk to launch a demand-side platform (DSP) for suppliers and their media and ad agencies in time for the 2021 holiday season. Walmart said this DSP ultimately will allow “advertisers to drive more effectiveness with their overall media spend”.

Key quote

“We’ve built a substantial business that can serve clients in a way no one else can – as a closed-loop omnichannel media company. By expanding our offerings we’re creating measurable value for our partners and customers alike in our ecosystem and beyond” – Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer at Walmart.