Every year, Walmart Connect continues to be a leader in Retail Media, and 2023 is no different.  Walmart Connect considered partner and consumer feedback as they enhanced their services and platforms in 2023. To prepare you for what to expect in the new year, we’re reviewing the significant advancements made in 2023.  While we already looked at Search Improvements, let’s review Display:

Improved Display Capabilities

Attracting customers to your storefront is critical for any brand’s success. And Walmart’s Sponsored Display platform upgrades make it easier than ever to reach potential audiences, both on and off the marketplace. Just another way Walmart Connect is helping you succeed.

Display Auction Updates

These improvements allow sellers to bid on available Walmart Onsite Display inventory and then quickly and easily launch and manage their campaign, all through Walmart Connect’s Display Self-serve platform.

Display Auction gives you the flexibility to use Walmart Onsite Display more dynamically and the power to control pricing and optimize your campaign investment. Stay more agile by managing budget, pacing, and strategy in real-time while helping to reach scopes of inventory and audience. Walmart Connect empowers brands of all sizes by letting sellers set and control the prices they pay for these display ads.

Deeper Self-Serve Campaign Insights

There are now improved detailed insights and analyses to help advertisers improve Walmart’s Onsite Display campaign performance. Walmart Connect has expanded services to track ROAS by featured item and halo item. There is also enhanced tactic-level and item-level new buyer analysis.

Retargeting with dynamic creative optimization

Reach Walmart customers — while they browse other sites — with ads relevant to items they’ve either clicked to view, placed in their cart, or appeared as top-ten in their search or browse results while shopping Walmart’s site or app.

Dynamic creative optimization helps build relevant and engaging Walmart Offsite Display ads in near real-time. Designed to help increase conversion, incrementality, and ROAS, ads are created efficiently and at scale, with the ad components assembled dynamically.

By keeping your brand top-of-mind, these updates help you increase incrementality and ROAS. You will find it easier to reach customers where they spend their time online and provide more powerful cross-selling and basket-expansion opportunities.

Predictive targeting: Brand affinity and propensity

Walmart Connect has added brand affinity and item propensity options to the custom audience builder on their Display Self-serve and Walmart DSP platforms.

The update uses Walmart’s proprietary omnichannel purchase data and machine learning to build these custom audiences of Walmart customers based on their predicted future purchase behaviors.

These predictive targeting segments are in addition to the rules-based audience segments already available on the custom audience builder.

  • Brand affinity: Customers loyal to your brand, category competitors, or currently uncommitted to any brand
  • Item propensity: High-intent Walmart customers who may be likely to buy your items, or items in relevant categories, during the campaign lifecycle

With a better understanding of these segments, you can increase retention, boost conversions, and attract new buyers without significantly altering your campaign structure or strategy.

A Sneak Peek at Display API

Walmart Connect will begin allowing partners in the Walmart Connect Partner Network to integrate with their Display API. This phased initiative will enable partners to first report, then help advertisers easily launch and manage Walmart Onsite and Offsite Display campaigns.

These advancements make Display campaigns accessible to more advertisers with more efficient campaign setup and management. Advertisers access both Onsite and Offsite Display reporting, ensuring they always have the information needed to succeed.

Brand Shops via Walmart Ad Center

Use Walmart’s Connect’s always-on virtual storefront to tell your brand story, promote items, and help extend your reach. Track Brand Shops views, visitors, and orders through the Walmart Ad Center. Brand Shop can serve as a landing page for Walmart Connect campaigns and other offsite activations. These Sponsored Brands campaigns can drive traffic directly to Brand Shops. It can also link to a Shelf or shelves. A brand can have one Brand Shop.

Brand owners  find this feature powerful as it is simple, easily scalable, and completely free.

Lookalike targeting

Advertisers can target new audiences with similar demographics and search and purchase behaviors as their existing customers to create a new audience pool who may also be interested in their items. Audiences are determined by Walmart demographic data, machine learning and omnichannel shopping and browse behavior, based off a seed audience.

Enriched Insights for the Sales Lift Report

End-of-campaign sales lift reporting will be accessible via self-serve, with enriched campaign insights to give Walmart Onsite and Offsite Display advertisers more options and capabilities to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of their eligible campaigns.