Bigeye's Retail Disrupted study of 1,501 US shoppers found that 61% prefer to buy food and drink in stores. Walmart Connect is Walmart's retail media business, and for a CPG brand it's one of the few ad channels that can reach shoppers on Walmart's site and app, in its stores and on TV, then tie that exposure back to sales in both places. Bigeye, the Orlando agency for consumer brands, plans and runs Walmart Connect programs through its retail media practice.

This guide covers what Walmart Connect sells, who can buy it, and seven steps for a first plan that holds up in a budget review.

Key takeaways

• Bigeye found that 61% of US shoppers prefer to buy food and drink in stores, and 44% prefer stores across categories against 21% online. For most CPG brands, Walmart Connect has to be judged on store sales as well as online orders.

• Bigeye found that 89% of shoppers say being able to see, touch or try a product adds value to shopping in store, which is why store ads and sampling belong in a Walmart plan.

• Walmart reported US Walmart Connect advertising up 43% (excluding VIZIO) in the quarter ended July 31, 2026, with global advertising up 38%.

• Walmart's global advertising business grew 46% to nearly $6.4 billion in fiscal 2026, including VIZIO.

• EMARKETER forecasts that Walmart and Amazon will take more than 89% of the new retail media dollars spent in the US in 2026.

What is Walmart Connect?

Walmart Connect is Walmart's retail media network. It sells ads on Walmart.com and the Walmart app (Sponsored Search and display), across the open web and connected TV through a demand-side platform powered by The Trade Desk and VIZIO, and inside Walmart stores on screens, radio and sampling. Measurement links ad exposure to purchases online and in store.

Both Walmart suppliers and Walmart Marketplace sellers can advertise, through Supplier Center, Seller Center or an approved ad partner.

The numbers to plan around

Step 1: Decide whose budget pays for it

Before the first campaign, agree whether Walmart Connect is paid for from trade dollars, brand marketing dollars or both, and who owns the results. Retail media sits between the sales team and marketing. When nobody owns it, it gets funded as a line in the annual Walmart negotiation and judged on whatever the account team reports.

The answer changes what the money is for. Trade-funded spend tends to chase the next quarter's velocity at Walmart. Marketing-funded spend can reach new households who later buy anywhere.

A split works for most brands: trade funds Sponsored Search on core items, and marketing funds store ads, offsite media and new-item launches. Write the split down before January, when annual plans lock.

Step 2: Confirm how you can buy

Check whether you sell to Walmart as a supplier, as a Marketplace seller or both, then confirm which ad products you're eligible for. Sponsored Products are open to both. Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Videos are limited to brand owners and their authorized representatives, so brand registration matters before creative gets built.

Suppliers sign in through Supplier Center and Marketplace sellers through Seller Center. Both can also run campaigns through an approved ad partner. Walmart doesn't publish a minimum spend for Sponsored Search in the US, and pricing runs on a cost-per-click auction that weighs relevance with your bid.

For a brand selling both ways, keep the item catalog clean. The same product listed twice splits reviews and splits ad data.

Step 3: Fix the item pages before you spend

Fix every item page you plan to advertise first: title, main image, secondary images, description and ratings. Sponsored Products send shoppers straight to the item page, so a weak page pays for the click and loses the sale. Walmart's AI shopping assistant, Sparky, also reads those pages to answer shopper questions.

The rules are close to Amazon's. In Bigeye's IN CLEAR FOCUS episode on the digital shelf, Daniela Bolzmann, founder of Mindful Goods, puts the first one plainly: "It's always a product on white."

Check that the main image reads at thumbnail size on a phone, that the title leads with brand and product type, and that the item has enough ratings to compete before scaling spend behind it.

Step 4: Start with Sponsored Search

Launch with Sponsored Products on the items Walmart stocks most reliably, then add Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Videos once the search terms show what converts. Sponsored Search is where shoppers are already looking for a product, so it's the fastest place to learn what Walmart's audience responds to.

Sponsored Brands carry your logo, a message and up to four products. Sponsored Videos run 5 to 45 seconds and also bill per click. Walmart says Marketplace sellers saw 69% of Sponsored Brands orders come from new-to-brand buyers.

Walmart added negative keywords for Sponsored Products in July 2026. Use them in the first month. Read the search terms weekly and cut the queries that spend without selling, as you would on Amazon or Google.

Step 5: Add store ads and offsite where store sales matter

If most of your sales happen in Walmart stores, add store ads and offsite media after Sponsored Search is running well. Store ads include screens across the store, in-store radio, demos and pickup and delivery sampling. Offsite media reaches Walmart shoppers on the open web and connected TV using Walmart's shopper data.

Walmart says store ads produced up to a 5% sales lift for food suppliers on deli and bakery screens in a proof of concept. It also says offsite display campaigns delivered a median of 52% new-to-brand customers in 2025. Both are Walmart's own figures, so ask for the test design behind them.

Offsite buys run through Walmart's demand-side platform, powered by The Trade Desk, and VIZIO home screen ads reach viewers when they turn on the TV. Bigeye's retail media strategy playbook covers how to split on-site and off-site spend across networks.

Step 6: Judge it on incrementality, not ROAS

Set the measure of success before launch: incremental sales, online and in store, not platform-reported return on ad spend. ROAS counts sales from shoppers who would have bought anyway. Incrementality asks what the ads added, and that's the number finance will ask about.

Walmart made Search Incrementality generally available in early 2026, and its closed-loop measurement links ad exposure to purchases online and in store. Ask for both, and agree on the attribution window before the campaign starts so the results can be compared month to month.

Bigeye's guide to retail media ROI for CMOs covers how to set up those tests and read them.

Step 7: Plan around the calendar and the shelf

Build the Walmart Connect plan around the retail calendar and inventory, not an even monthly budget. Spend should rise ahead of the moments shoppers buy your category, such as holiday, back to school or Walmart's deal events, and only when stock is in place in stores and in fulfillment.

An ad that sends a shopper to an out-of-stock item wastes the click and hurts the item's ranking. Check in-stock rates by store region before turning up spend, especially for store ads and offsite media that drive store visits.

Pickup and delivery change the timing too. Walmart reported store-fulfilled delivery up 40% in its latest quarter, so online orders now draw on the same store inventory your shelf depends on.

Which Walmart Connect format does which job

What it looks like in practice

Florida Crystals shows the full-funnel version. Bigeye ran media across social, digital and retail media networks and tracked outcomes from "Get Ingredient" clicks through add-to-cart. The Florida Crystals case study reports triple-digit growth as the brand moved from regional favorite to national contender.

Cat's Pride shows why Walmart planning starts with distribution. The litter brand sells nationally across Walmart, Target and Amazon, as its case study notes, so every plan has to work on three different shelves.

Bigeye's read

Bigeye's view is that Walmart Connect should be treated as a store-sales channel that happens to have a website, and judged that way.

Most brands set up Walmart Connect the way they set up Amazon Ads: search campaigns, a ROAS target, a weekly dashboard. That catches the online orders and misses most of the business. Most food and drink shoppers still prefer to buy in stores, and Walmart's advantage over every other network is the store.

So the rule is simple. Run Sponsored Search to learn and to capture demand. But before scaling past a test, get in-store sales measurement in place. If a brand can't see what its Walmart ads did in stores, it's buying half a picture.

Frequently asked questions

What is Walmart Connect?

Walmart Connect is Walmart's retail media network. It sells Sponsored Search and display ads on Walmart.com and the Walmart app, offsite ads on the open web and connected TV, and in-store ads on screens, radio and sampling. Its closed-loop measurement ties ad exposure to purchases online and in Walmart stores.

How much does Walmart Connect cost?

Walmart doesn't publish a minimum spend for Sponsored Search in the US. Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Videos run on cost-per-click bidding. Store ads and offsite media are usually planned as larger campaigns. Most CPG brands start with a Sponsored Search test on core items, then add channels.

Can Walmart Marketplace sellers use Walmart Connect?

Yes. Marketplace sellers sign in through Seller Center and suppliers through Supplier Center, and both can also work through an approved ad partner. Sponsored Products are open to both. Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Videos require brand ownership or authorization from the brand owner.

How is Walmart Connect different from Amazon Ads?

The biggest difference is the store. Walmart serves about 150 million US customers a week across more than 4,600 US stores and online. Bigeye's Retail Disrupted study found 61% of shoppers prefer to buy food and drink in stores, so Walmart's in-store media and measurement matter more for grocery and household brands.

Does Walmart Connect measure in-store sales?

Yes. Walmart's closed-loop measurement links ad exposure to purchases online and in its stores, and Search Incrementality became generally available in 2026. Store ads campaigns can be measured for brand lift and sales lift. Agree on the measure and the attribution window with your Walmart team before launch.

How does Bigeye run Walmart Connect for CPG brands?

Bigeye starts from where the brand's sales happen, using research such as its Retail Disrupted study of 1,501 US shoppers, then builds the item pages, Sponsored Search, store and offsite plan. Bigeye works across more than 50 retail media networks, so Walmart is planned alongside Amazon, Target, Instacart and Kroger.

Plan your Walmart Connect program

If Walmart is a top account for your brand in 2027, Bigeye's retail media team can build the plan, from budget sourcing and item pages to Sponsored Search, store ads and measurement. For the wider plan, see the CPG marketing strategy playbook. Start the conversation.

Sources: Bigeye, Retail Disrupted (2021); Bigeye, IN CLEAR FOCUS podcast (Sep 2026); Walmart Q2 FY27 earnings release (Aug 2026); Walmart Q4 FY26 earnings release (Feb 2026); Walmart Connect product pages and articles (Jan to May 2026); Walmart FY2026 ESG report (Jul 2026); EMARKETER (Nov 2025, Aug 2026); NIQ and FMI (Apr 2026).