Walmart Connect: Walmart's retail media network, explained

Walmart owns a television maker. In December 2024 it closed its $2.3 billion purchase of VIZIO, which reports inside the Walmart U.S. segment. No other US retailer controls a TV operating system, so Walmart can place an ad on a living-room screen and match it to a purchase in a store the same week. That closed loop between connected TV and shelf is the network's clearest edge over most rivals.

The second difference is how Walmart now sells its data off its own sites. From 2021 its offsite buying ran through a single partner, a Walmart-branded demand-side platform (DSP) built on The Trade Desk. That exclusivity ended in fall 2025. On 28 May 2026 Walmart Connect opened VIZIO inventory to its audiences through Yahoo DSP, using the supply-side platform Magnite (Walmart Connect, 28 May 2026). It is a closed proof of concept, with wider access promised later. Two weeks later Google's Display & Video 360 followed, starting with YouTube campaigns, with sales measurement online and in stores (Walmart Connect, 11 June 2026). For buyers this means Walmart data can follow their existing DSP choices rather than forcing a new seat.

Growth is the third point. Walmart's global advertising grew 46% in fiscal 2026, and Walmart Connect in the US grew 43% in the second quarter of fiscal 2027 excluding VIZIO (Walmart, 20 August 2026). Those rates are well above the 11.5% that WARC forecasts for global retail media in 2027 (The Desk on WARC, August 2026).

Onsite. Sponsored products, sponsored brands and sponsored videos appear in search results and product pages on Walmart.com and in the app. Onsite display and Brand Shop and Shelf pages add awareness formats on the same surfaces.

Offsite. Display and video run on the open web and on connected TV through the Walmart DSP. A closed proof of concept adds VIZIO inventory through Yahoo DSP and Magnite. The VIZIO home screen is sold as a separate premium placement. Walmart also completed its purchase of Vibe.co, a self-serve streaming TV buying platform, on 4 August 2026 (Walmart via Vibe.co, 4 August 2026).

In-store. Walmart Connect lists "store ads" among its enterprise solutions. The 2021 relaunch described in-store screens as one of the largest digital out-of-home platforms in the US (Walmart, 28 January 2021). Walmart has not published a current screen count. The onsite, offsite and in-store comparison explains how the three surfaces differ in price and measurement.

Targeting draws on what Walmart customers buy online and in stores, what they search for, and, through VIZIO, what they watch. In 2021 Walmart put its reach at 150 million weekly US customers (Walmart, 28 January 2021).

Advertisers receive audiences and reports, not customer records. Offsite, Walmart activates its segments inside partner platforms. Brands never take possession of shopper identities. This is the same data model most large networks use; the retail media network platforms comparison shows how other operators handle it.

Walmart Connect reports closed-loop sales: it ties an ad exposure to a later purchase on Walmart.com or in a store. In October 2025 the Media Rating Council accredited its first-party click and impression metrics for Sponsored Search across desktop, mobile web and app, including invalid traffic filtering (Walmart Connect, 16 October 2025). The accreditation covers search only. It does not yet cover display, VIZIO or in-store metrics.

Walmart says offsite display campaigns delivered a median 52% new-to-brand customers in 2025 (company claim, Marketing Dive, 1 June 2026). The IAB and MRC guidelines that frame these numbers are covered in retail media measurement standards explained.

1. Choose the route. Sellers and small brands start in the self-serve Ad Center. Large suppliers and agencies usually work with the Walmart Connect sales team for managed campaigns.
2. Set up search first. Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands are the entry point, because they are accredited and tie directly to product pages.
3. Add onsite display once you have product-page traffic to retarget or category pages to defend.
4. Extend offsite. Run Walmart audiences in the Walmart DSP on The Trade Desk, ask about the Yahoo DSP and Magnite proof of concept on VIZIO inventory (Yahoo DSP), or activate them in Google DV360 for YouTube if those are your existing seats.
5. Agree measurement before launch. Define the attribution window, the new-to-brand metric and any incrementality test, and confirm which metrics fall under the MRC accreditation.

It suits:

• brands with broad distribution in Walmart stores;
• categories people buy every week, such as grocery, household and health;
• advertisers who want to connect connected TV exposure to shelf sales through VIZIO;
• agencies that already buy on The Trade Desk or Yahoo DSP.

It suits less:

• brands with little Walmart distribution, because closed-loop measurement needs Walmart sales to measure;
• advertisers who need exposure-level data in their own warehouse;
• teams that cannot fund a test large enough to read results across stores and online.

• Minimum spend for managed campaigns and for the Walmart DSP. Agency guides quote figures, but Walmart does not publish them.
• A current count of in-store screens.
• Whether Walmart audiences in DV360 extend beyond YouTube inventory, and when.
• Walmart Connect revenue in dollars for any quarter of fiscal 2027.

1. Walmart, "Walmart Announces Expanded Vision and New Name for Its Media Business" (28 January 2021). https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2021/01/28/walmart-announces-expanded-vision-and-new-name-for-its-media-business
2. Business Wire, "Walmart Completes Acquisition of VIZIO" (3 December 2024). https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241203633675/en/Walmart-Completes-Acquisition-of-VIZIO
3. Walmart Connect, "Walmart Connect's Sponsored Search Earns MRC Accreditation" (16 October 2025). https://www.walmartconnect.com/resources/articles/2025/walmart-connects-sponsored-search-earns-mrc-accreditation
4. PPC Land, "Walmart Connect hits 41% growth as ad business nears $6.4B" (February 2026, on results released 19 February 2026). https://ppc.land/walmart-connect-hits-41-growth-as-ad-business-nears-6-4b/
5. Marketing Dive, "Walmart Connect expands offsite advertising ambitions with Yahoo, Magnite" (1 June 2026). https://www.marketingdive.com/news/walmart-connect-expands-offsite-advertising-ambitions-with-yahoo-magnite/821575/
6. Walmart, "Walmart Releases Q2 FY27 Earnings" (20 August 2026). https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2026/08/20/walmart-releases-q2-fy27-earnings
7. Walmart Connect, "Bringing first-party audiences and measurement to Google's Display & Video 360 for YouTube campaigns" (11 June 2026). https://www.walmartconnect.com/resources/articles/2026/bringing-walmart-connects-first-party-audiences-to-googles-display-video-360
8. The Desk, "WARC: retail media ad market to top $200 billion as growth slows" (August 2026). https://thedesk.net/2026/08/warc-retail-media-ad-market-to-top-200-billion-as-growth-slows/
9. Walmart Connect, "Expanding access to Walmart first-party data across leading platforms" (28 May 2026). https://www.walmartconnect.com/resources/articles/2026/expanding-access-to-walmart-first-party-data-across-leading-platforms
10. Walmart, "Walmart Completes Acquisition of Vibe.co", republished by Vibe.co (4 August 2026). https://www.vibe.co/blog/whats-new/walmart-completes-acquisition-of-vibeco