Snap, TikTok Are Among Walmart Connect’s New Innovation Partners

Retail media platform Walmart Connect added an innovation partner category to its service, solution and technology partners, and Snap Inc. and TikTok are part of its initial group of innovation partners. Walmart Media Group became Walmart Connect in January 2021 upon reaching a partnership with The Trade Desk, and the retail giant said at the time that the aim was to grow alternative revenue streams with a business that is “poised to become a top 10 advertising platform.” The partnership with Snap enables advertisers to buy ad units including augmented reality, Collection Ads and Snap Ads through Walmart Connect for the first time and take advantage of the retailer’s platform’s geo-based measurement. Advertisers will be able to serve in-feed ads on TikTok, combining that platform’s sound-on, full-screen video format with measurement and targeting from Walmart Connect. Shoppable video platform Firework, one of the three other new Walmart Connect innovation partners, will bring supplier-funded shoppable livestreams and short shoppable videos to Walmart.com/live from advertisers including Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Walmart becomes the exclusive retailer to enable streamers on Roku to purchase featured products and have the transactions fulfilled by the chain. Walmart Connect will connect brands to customers through the Roku platform, and checkout will be seamless for customers, while advertisers receive insights on effectiveness via Walmart Connect measurement. Finally, TalkShopLive will enable supplier-funded shoppable livestreams on brand sites, publisher sites, Walmart.com/live and across the web, and livestreams using this integration have already been tested with brands including J&J, L’Oreal, P&G and Samsung. Walmart said these strategic partnerships will provide “test and learn” opportunities throughout the holiday shopping season in areas including entertainment, livestreaming and social, adding that Walmart Connect’s expanded offering gives advertisers additional channels and touchpoints to reach consumers where they are. Walmart executive vice president and chief revenue officer Seth Dallaire explained in a blog post, “Consumers who turned to online shopping during the pandemic have chosen to stay there, with those returning to in-store relying on online research to guide their decisions. Consumers realized the importance of ‘connection’ and were forced to adapt and connect in new ways including social feeds, livestreaming, mobile and, more specifically, across video, and connected TV. In fact, the predicted growth of social commerce from 10% of all ecommerce to 17% by 2025 will be driven by Generation Z and millennial consumers, and nearly two-thirds (64%) of social media users—an estimated 2 billion social buyers—said they made a purchase on social media in the past year.