Walmart Connect, the advertising division of retail giant Walmart, is expanding its reach to include small marketers and international suppliers. In addition, it is opening up opportunities for brands that have not traditionally sold their products in Walmart stores, such as automotive and financial marketers. This move aims to incentivize advertisers to fully utilize Walmart Connect and boost ad revenue even further.
Walmart Connect serves as a platform for advertisers to connect with potential customers through various channels, including online, in-store, and sponsored media across the web. The rebranded media group of Walmart offers a range of services for advertisers to reach their target audience effectively.
The recent updates to Walmart Connect include allowing advertisers to place search ads using brand terms, including those targeting competitor brands. This feature provides more flexibility for advertisers to reach customers who are specifically searching for their products or are interested in similar brands. Walmart is also expanding access to measuring in-store sales results from online advertising and enabling the management of in-store campaigns through the self-service Walmart Ad Center platform.
Furthermore, Walmart is broadening recent pilot programs in shoppable advertising with Roku and TikTok, making them available to a wider range of advertisers. This allows brands to connect with customers in interactive and engaging ways through these popular platforms. Additionally, Walmart’s web and mobile platforms will now be accessible through the programmatic Walmart Ads marketplace, opening up opportunities for brands of all sizes.
To support overseas suppliers and smaller advertisers, Walmart is introducing new self-service support tools. It is also implementing machine-learning capabilities for creative development and optimization, which will help boost brand pages for smaller advertisers.
The updates to Walmart Connect are expected to fuel greater competition among marketers using the platform. While this may drive up costs, it also signifies the increasing importance of Walmart Connect as an effective advertising channel.
Rich Lehrfeld, senior VP and general manager of Walmart Connect, has expressed optimism about the testing stages of these updates. He believes that retail media networks have valuable data signals that advertisers are looking for. For example, Walmart’s status as one of the largest auto care centers in the country provides strong signals for travel-related purchases, such as luggage. Advertisers can leverage this aggregated information to target their audience effectively.
Overall, Walmart’s expansion of Walmart Connect to include small and non-endemic advertisers is a significant development in the advertising industry. It opens up new opportunities for brands of all sizes to connect with potential customers through various channels, both online and in-store. With the success of Walmart’s ad division in recent years, it is clear that Walmart Connect is becoming a powerful advertising platform that marketers should consider utilizing to reach their target audience effectively.
