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In late January 2021, Walmart announced the launch of Walmart Connect. This is an extended and revamped version of their former media section: “Walmart Media Group.” 

The main purpose of this new version is to enable brands, selling at Walmart, to scale the connections with their customers more effectively.

In this article, we will show you how Walmart Connect works and how advertisers can leverage its services.

What is Walmart Connect?

Walmart Connect offers advertisers access to a huge database so they can reach a larger audience through different channels.

In an effort to prioritize customer service and retention of its sellers, Walmart will leverage its prestige and recognition to expand its omni-channel presence. As well asthe power of its closed-loop system and its extensive database to meet the needs of its shoppers; regardless of the model they use to acquire their goods.

Walmart Connect Growth Strategy


Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer of Walmart, released the following statement:

“Walmart has always connected customers and the big brands they love, and we now have the ability to offer an easy-to-use platform to enhance those connections at scale… we have built a substantial business that can serve customers in a way that no one else can do it: as a closed-loop omni-channel media company. By expanding our offerings, we are creating measurable value for our partners and customers in our ecosystem and beyond.”

To achieve these results, Walmart will focus on 3 main areas:

1. Constant offerings across Walmart’s digital channels

2. Enriched in-store experiences

3. Offsite advertising opportunities

Let’s take a closer look at what each area is about:

1. Constant offerings across Walmart’s digital channels

Users will be able to launch comprehensive campaigns through their own digital channels.

These campaigns may target display and search media, including Walmart.com, pickup and delivery, and the Walmart app.

Ads will be strategically placed near the “buy now” button to suggest, or prompt, the customer to purchase an additional item.

2. Enriched in-store experiences

Among the new omni capabilities, these in-store experiences will allow advertisers to reach the millions of loyal shoppers who visit their more than 4,500 physical stores each week.

With Walmart Connect, the retailer will be able to display media activations on in-store TV walls and self-checkout screens with specific details such as date, time and geographical area to offer a more personalized prediction.

At a later stage, brands may include sampling opportunities such as Walmart Drive-In, Spooky Street, and more.

3. Offsite advertising opportunities

By partnering with The Trade Desk, the world’s leading ad technology company, Walmart will be able to drive media performance for advertisers outside of Walmart-owned sites.

Together, they will launch an exclusive platform for ad agencies, vendors and their media for the 2021 holiday season. This DSP will feature Walmart’s extensive database of shoppers and easy-to-use technology for advertisers to get the most out of it.

Source: Walmart Connect and Feedvisor

Advertising on Walmart vs Amazon

It is well known that the tech giant, Amazon, sets trends with everything it does, and advertising is no exception.

On January 3, 2021, Walmart launched a new self-service advertising platform for retailers called Walmart Advertising Partners.

This platform seeks to compete directly with Amazon Advertising.

Here’s a list of their differences and similarities:

Ad Campaigns

Amazon offers a wide variety of ad campaigns:

1. Sponsored Products – PPC-based, easy to create, promote individual listings

2. Sponsored Brands – highlight the uniqueness of your brand with personalized ads

3. Sponsored Display – auto generated ads, promote your entire product catalog in different locations and channels

4. Stores – your own landing page within Amazon

Each campaign adapts to various types of vendors and sellers as it has different and wide-ranging capabilities for all types of budgets, styles and needs.


Related content: Sponsored Brands: Which One Do You Need?

The Walmart-version of Amazon’s Sponsored Products it’s called Walmart Performance Ads.

This type of campaign offers a similar service to what Amazon Ads offered in the beginning. These ads are granted to sellers once their products have organically gained relevance, appearing in the search of the top 3 pages.

Watch this webinar to learn more about how Walmart’s Sponsored Products campaign works in more detail:

Targeting and Reporting

Walmart’s targeting capabilities are way more limited than Amazon’s since it only offers keyword-targeting. Whereas Amazon allows manual and automatic targeting based on both keywords and products.

Reporting on Walmart is still in its infancy since more of its sales are done through their brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon’s reporting tools are known to be top class and even through Stores, you get detailed metrics of your sales performance.

Bidding

While Amazon allows you to pay 1 cent above the second-highest bid in the second-price bid auction, Walmart only has a first-price bid auction in which you will pay exactly what you bid. 

Hand-picked content for you: Selling on Amazon vs Walmart and Shopify

Final Thoughts

In short, Walmart Connect seeks to provide advertisers with more efficient ways to attract and retain shoppers through different channels.

They will also seek to provide shoppers with meaningful, personalized, and high-value in-store experiences with the help of algorithm-based predictions that are designed to use a large database to meet shopper needs.


We will be closely monitoring the updates that Walmart Connect reveals in the coming months to keep you informed. Stay tuned!

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