Walmart Connect Grew 43 Percent Last Quarter. Walmart U.S. Comp Grew 2.6 Percent.

Walmart reported global advertising growth of 38 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2027. Walmart U.S. advertising also grew 38 percent, including a 43 percent increase in Walmart Connect excluding VIZIO. Membership fee revenue grew 17 percent globally.

In the same quarter, Walmart U.S. net sales grew 3.5 percent and comparable sales excluding fuel grew 2.6 percent.

Connect’s Growth Rate Rose From 31 Percent to the Low Forties While Comp Fell to 2.6

Walmart discloses Walmart Connect growth excluding VIZIO in each quarterly release, alongside the Walmart U.S. comp:

Comp held between 4.1 and 4.6 percent for five of those six quarters and then fell to 2.6 percent. Connect accelerated through the same period.

The two rows measure different things and the gap between them is not a ratio. Connect growth is total revenue growth for that business. Comp is same-store sales growth excluding fuel and including eCommerce, and it excludes stores open less than twelve months. The closest single comparison to Connect’s 43 percent is Walmart U.S. net sales growth of 3.5 percent. The table pairs Connect against comp because Walmart discloses both every quarter in the same document, which makes the trend readable over time.

The Global Advertising Figure and the Connect Figure Move Differently

Walmart reports advertising on two bases, and conflating them produces the wrong conclusion.

Global advertising figures generally include VIZIO, which Walmart acquired in December 2024, and include international markets. Walmart Connect U.S. figures are reported excluding VIZIO.

Global advertising grew 37 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, 37 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, and 38 percent in the second. Walmart Connect U.S. excluding VIZIO grew 41, 44, and 43 percent across those same three quarters. The U.S. platform has been running several points ahead of the global figure it sits inside.

Walmart Has Published a Dollar Figure for Advertising Once, at Nearly $6.4 Billion

For fiscal 2026, Walmart reported that its global advertising business grew 46 percent to nearly $6.4 billion, including VIZIO. That is one of the few occasions Walmart has put a dollar figure on the business instead of a growth rate.

On the fourth quarter earnings call in February, John David Rainey said advertising income and membership fees together represented nearly one third of Walmart’s operating income in that quarter. Nine months earlier, discussing first quarter fiscal 2026 results, Rainey put the same combination at a quarter of company profits, as reported by Marketing Dive. Walmart has not published an equivalent figure for the second quarter of fiscal 2027.

Walmart notes in every release that its advertising business is recorded either in net sales or as a reduction to cost of sales, depending on the arrangement. Advertising is not a single line in the financial statements.

Walmart Reorganized the Advertising Business in June and Renamed Sam’s Club MAP

On June 22, Walmart announced a global commerce media vision under Seth Dallaire, chief growth officer of Walmart Inc., spanning Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club.

Sam’s Club Member Access Platform was renamed Sam’s Club Connect. Walmart describes the rebrand as reflecting an expanded business and closer alignment with the Sam’s Club master brand and the broader commerce media vision.

Walmart said it is increasing alignment across Walmart Connect U.S., Walmart Connect International, and Sam’s Club through shared technology, tools, platforms, and capabilities, while the three continue to operate separately to serve their markets. No timeline was published for that convergence.

Per the company, Walmart Connect U.S. reaches more than 150 million weekly customers through omnichannel solutions. Walmart Connect International extends the capability into Mexico, Canada, and Chile.

Sam’s Club has been expanding the in-club side in parallel. In April, Walmart announced that Sam’s Club MAP was adding enhanced omni experiences, fuel screen ads, and in-club audio ads to its in-club channel.

Marketplace Sales Grew 52 Percent, and Sellers Buy the Same Placements Suppliers Do

Marketplace sales in Walmart U.S. grew 52 percent in the second quarter, with growth above 40 percent in categories including hardlines and home. Nearly 50 percent of the marketplace business flowed through Walmart’s fulfillment services.

Walmart Connect offers sponsored ads products to third party sellers as well as to first party suppliers. Walmart does not disclose advertiser counts or the split of advertising revenue between the two groups.

What the Disclosures Do Not Contain

Walmart publishes advertising revenue growth. It does not publish cost per thousand impressions, auction density, share of voice, or advertiser counts. Revenue growing 43 percent is consistent with more advertisers, more inventory, higher clearing prices, or any combination. The disclosures do not distinguish among them.

Walmart Marketplace publishes an average return on ad spend figure for sponsored products campaigns. That is Walmart’s own claim about its own product and has not been independently verified.

Questions the Disclosures Leave Open

A Connect commitment set as a percentage of a brand’s Walmart sales is anchored to a base that grew 3.5 percent last quarter, inside a platform that grew 43 percent. The disclosures do not establish whether that relationship should hold, widen, or narrow for any individual brand, because they contain nothing about incrementality at the brand level.

Walmart’s aggregate advertising growth carries no information about whether a given campaign produced sales that would not otherwise have occurred. That measurement does not exist in any public Walmart document.

The convergence announced in June has no published timeline, and Walmart has not said whether buying, measurement, or reporting will unify first. For suppliers operating across Walmart U.S., Sam’s Club, and international markets, the sequencing determines whether current planning assumptions hold.

The Sam’s Club Connect rename is administrative. MAP language persists in joint business plans, media authorizations, and internal budget lines across the supplier base, and administrative changes are the kind that sit unaddressed between a June announcement and a fiscal year planning cycle.

The Next Reading Arrives With Third Quarter Results

Membership fee revenue grew 17 percent globally in the second quarter and 17.4 percent in the first. Advertising and membership are the two businesses Rainey identified in February as approaching a third of operating income together.

Walmart’s third quarter comparable sales period ends October 30. Walmart Connect growth excluding VIZIO and the Walmart U.S. comp appear in the same release, which is where the six-quarter series above extends to seven.

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