WMT Walmart Inc

By Alexandra Bruell 

Walmart Inc. is revamping its ad-sales group, adding new advertising technology for brands and selling ad space on its in-store checkout and display screens to reach consumers in stores.

The changes at Walmart Media Group, which will be renamed Walmart Connect, signal the company's growing ambitions to diversify revenue and become a top 10 ad company in the next few years, said Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer at Walmart.

"We built a pretty substantial media business and are investing in new capabilities and products that allow us to pivot from a traditional media business to a closed-loop omnichannel media company," Ms. Whiteside said. The group has doubled its advertisers and revenue in the past year, she added.

Walmart declined to discuss revenue figures.

The company worked with advertising technology company Trade Desk Inc. to create a so-called demand-side platform that will let brands use Walmart data to send targeted digital ads to consumers across the web. Previously, most advertisers used the company's data to show ads to shoppers on Walmart properties such as its website and app.

Large retailers such as Walmart, Kroger Co. and Target Corp. have been investing in digital ad offerings to generate new revenue and help their suppliers reach a fast-growing crowd of online shoppers.

While Walmart has a tiny share of ad revenue compared with giants like Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., its access to in-store and online shopper data will set its demand-side platform apart from some rival ad sellers and help it compete for a larger slice of marketers' dollars.

The company will also start selling ad space on the many checkout and display screens across its 4,500 stores, with the goal of eventually letting advertisers buy personalized ads that target shoppers.

It's an expansion of Walmart's previous in-store ad offerings, which revolved around traditional vehicles like signs, said Ms. Whiteside.

The global pandemic, and the rise of e-commerce, have only accelerated the need for better ad tools, she said.

Walmart's U.S. e-commerce sales in the most recent quarter increased 79%, accounting for much of the company's gains. Target's digital sales grew more than twofold during the most recent quarter, while Kroger said its digital sales in the quarter more than doubled compared with the previous year.

The leader of Walmart Media Group, Stefanie Jay, left last year and was replaced on an interim basis by general manager Richard Lehrfeld.

Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2021 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.