Walmart Extends Shopper Data to Live Linear TV

Walmart Connect, the company's advertising arm, announced during its annual Partner Connect event that advertisers are now able for the first time to use Walmart audiences for addressable targeting on live linear TV. Transactions are executed through a private marketplace within the Walmart DSP platform powered by FreeWheel technology, as reported by Business Insider.

Ad inventory spans across TBS, TLC, truTV, HLN, and Food Network channels under a partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, combining the company's streaming portfolio with select live linear inventory, with additional inventory expected to be added later. Advertisers also gain closed-loop sales measurement linking ad views to online and in-store purchases.

The announcement itself, according to the report, covers an integration with Spotify for audio, video, and display ads, as well as another Connected TV integration with Yahoo DSP powered by Magnite, with the latter moving from proof-of-concept to a limited alpha test.

Extending shopper data to linear TV is a step that expands the reach of retail media beyond streaming, which is one of the fastest-growing advertising segments. However, the audience, inventory, and measurement tools in this step are all US-based, limiting its direct impact on advertisers in the region for now, although it points to the direction similar platforms are heading.

What Do These Terms Mean?

Retail Media: Advertising networks operated by retail chains that leverage actual customer purchase data to target ads on and off their properties.

Addressable Advertising: Ads targeted to a specific household or device rather than broadcast to all viewers simultaneously, based on audience data.

Closed-Loop Measurement: Linking an ad view to an actual purchase made online or in-store, to prove campaign impact through figures rather than estimates.