Walmart Revamps Ad-Sales Business to Expand Its Reach
January 28 2021 - 8:29AM
Dow Jones News
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)
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