Walmart’s Media Group Launches Demand-Side Platform

In an effort to make it easier for brands and advertising agencies to partner with Walmart, the retailer’s media group, Walmart Connect, is expanding its off-site media opportunities at scale by introducing a new demand-side platform (DSP) called Walmart DSP.

According to the retailer, Walmart DSP is a first-of-its kind demand-side platform, built in partnership with independent DSP The Trade Desk.

“As the world’s leading retailer, we are thrilled to be partnering with such a prominent figure in the adtech space to pioneer a new frontier in digital advertising and give advertisers an open, transparent and objective platform while upholding privacy standards,” said Rich Lehrfeld, SVP of Walmart Connect.

"Unlike other DSP products in the market, our stand-alone platform combines the best-in-class technology and performance of The Trade Desk with the robust scale of Walmart’s unparalleled first-party omnichannel data, allowing advertisers to be more effective with their overall media spend," continued Lehrfeld. "Because inspiration, discovery and purchase can happen anywhere, suppliers can broaden their reach and engage with customers wherever they are and bring them back to the Walmart ecosystem."

The Trade Desk recently released its financial results for its second quarter ended June 30. According to Jeff Green, founder and CEO of the Ventura, Calif.-based tech company, its revenue more than doubled year over year to $280 million in the second quarter. “Our growth speaks to The Trade Desk’s position as the default DSP for the open internet,” he said.

Walmart DSP will be available for select suppliers by the end of October. When it launches, marketers and advertisers will be able to access numerous industry-leading platform capabilities, including:

• Connecting with the right customers at the right time: Reach specific audiences with increased precision by leveraging Walmart’s past purchase and predictive audience segments, as well as brand-level shopping behavior data from across the entire Walmart ecosystem, including its website, app and 4,700 physical stores. 
• Full access to The Trade Desk’s inventory across multiple channels: Display, streaming video, mobile, audio and CTV capabilities allow advertisers to manage multiple campaigns within the same platform.
• Closing the measurement loop across digital and in-store sales: Connect online-to-offline sales by leveraging Walmart’s purchase data to measure both online and in-store transactions, and link these to specific media tactics to make campaign optimizations and inform future strategies.

By connecting and measuring both online and in-store performance, the Walmart DSP claims to offer targeting, reporting and omnichannel insights down to a granular level.

Walmart reported that customer traffic rebounded in its second quarter ended July 31, from a prior-year decline. The retailer said that it gained market share in grocery during the second quarter as same-store sales at its U.S. stores division advanced 5.2% and in-store traffic increased over the past quarter. Total revenues at the Walmart U.S. division increased 5.3% to $98.2 billion, while operating profits increased 20.4% to $6 billion.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart operates more than 10,500 stores under 48 banners in 24 countries, and e-commerce websites, employing 2.2 million-plus associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while Walmart-owned Sam’s Club ranks No. 9 on the list.