Walmart Connect is moving beyond its traditional retail‑media role toward a performance‑advertising platform that offers self‑service buying, API integration and off‑site ecosystem reach. The shift follows the August 4 2024 acquisition of VIZIO, whose operating system became the leading smart‑TV platform in the United States in the first half of the year.
Advertising margins now exceed 70%, far above Walmart’s core retail margins of roughly 5%. About 70% of ad revenue comes from mid‑market and small‑business advertisers, a share comparable to Google and Meta. The company’s in‑store and connected‑TV (CTV) initiatives target local advertisers such as car dealers and restaurant chains, using VIZIO’s automated optimization and goal‑based setups. Private‑label TVs under the onn brand will run VIZIO OS, while pilot screens in store aisles display inventory‑aware promotions.
Walmart’s audience‑integration hub, Magnite, connects Walmart Connect data to buyers, and the Yahoo DSP is already integrated. Google’s DV360 is slated for launch, and YouTube is in beta as a self‑service channel. Social partnerships with Meta and TikTok are active, and the company is testing agentic commerce integrations with Google and OpenAI to surface Walmart products in external shopping assistants alongside its own Sparky assistant.
Sparky’s performance shows weekly active customers have doubled year‑over‑year, with weekly active use up 60% quarter‑over‑quarter and an average order value 40% higher than non‑Sparky trips. Non‑endemic advertisers—including insurance firms, financial services, quick‑service restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King, and entertainment brands—are now part of the mix.
International rollout and Sam’s Club (rebranded Sam’s Club Connect) are being unified onto a common ad‑tech stack. Walmart’s e‑commerce unit turned profitable in Q1 2025, and the broader ad push aligns with a six‑year journey that lags Amazon’s 15‑year history in the space. At the time of the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference on September 9 2026, Walmart’s stock was trading around $106.79, down 0.66%.
