Walmart’s Retail Media Engine Keeps Accelerating—Are You Keeping Up?

Walmart’s ad business just notched another milestone—and it’s sending a clear message to suppliers and sellers: Retail media is no longer an optional investment. It’s a requirement for growth.

According to recent reports, Walmart’s global ad revenue jumped 28% last quarter, with Walmart Connect playing a central role in the company’s broader strategy to build “high-margin, tech-driven” growth engines. The media business is now a pillar of Walmart’s digital transformation—and it’s growing faster than most suppliers are adapting.

Why It Matters

Walmart isn’t just selling media. It’s selling access. Access to first-party data, to top-of-search visibility, and to high-intent shoppers navigating a complex omnichannel path to purchase.

And that path increasingly runs through sponsored placements, on-site display, offsite targeting, in-store activations, and emerging channels like shoppable video and in-app promotions.

Walmart Connect is central to this. And it’s expanding fast—with more tools, more targeting precision, and deeper integration into the full-funnel shopper journey. The scale is impressive. But the opportunity? Even more so.

What This Means for Brands

This rapid growth presents both a challenge and an invitation.

The challenge: Retail media budgets are growing—but so is the pressure to prove ROI. As ad offerings multiply, it’s easy to overspend without a clear plan or measurement strategy.

The invitation: Brands that treat retail media as more than a line item—and instead align spend with category dynamics, item-level performance, and digital shelf visibility—can win big.

The brands that succeed will be the ones who stop asking “How much do I have to spend?” and start asking “How can I get the most out of every dollar?”

How to Win With Walmart Connect

Here are four ways leading brands are evolving their retail media strategies in response to Walmart Connect’s momentum:

• Measure What Matters. Go beyond impressions and clicks. Focus on lift, incrementality, and long-term value. Link ad spend to sell-through, not just share of voice.
• Close the Loop. Integrate media and merchandising. Winning items deserve media support—and winning campaigns need in-store and online alignment.
• Test and Learn. Use Walmart’s evolving toolset—like keyword targeting, performance insights, and offsite DSPs—to experiment, optimize, and scale intelligently.
• Break the Silos. Bridge the gap between media teams and sales teams. The best insights often come from the front lines.

Bottom Line

Walmart’s retail media business is growing—fast. Brands that keep pace, align spend with strategy, and stay laser-focused on performance will not only survive this shift—they’ll lead it.

Winning With Walmart

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