Walmart | Path to Purchase Institute (2024)

Market Position and Strategy Overview

As the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer celebrated its 60th birthday in 2022, Walmart was looking to the future. After evolving its marketing, product mix, private-label offerings, agency and vendor relationships and strategy while ramping up investments in digital, Walmart has formed a base from which to provide a seamless omnichannel shopping experience and is transitioning from fixing its business to leading the evolution of retail. The retailer is building an increasingly automated workforce that includes robots that scrub floors, unload trucks and gather online grocery orders; and continues to expand various fulfillment options, including curbside grocery pickup.By 2026, the retailer plans for nearly two-thirds of its stores to be automated.

The retailer’s omni-flywheel strategy continues to accelerate with initiatives related to sustainability, workforce, diversity, micro fulfillment, contract delivery, autonomous trucks, retail health, social shopping, digital advertising and many more areas. In 2024, it entered into anagreement to acquire Vizio, a move that would scale its retail media capabilities. (See Retail Media.)

Still, Walmart's self-professed point of differentiation has always come down to four letters — EDLP (Every Day Low Prices) — and that remains true today: The retailer continues investing in price and its Rollback pricing program remains strong. In 2024, in response to lingering inflation, Walmart said it was increasing its Rollbacks on specific items it advertises online or in stores.

But, in recent years, the retailer has noticed that time has also become an important currency and has increasingly emphasized time savings in addition to monetary savings. To win on convenience, Walmart is focusing most on a segment of the U.S. population it calls "the busy family." The company is currently focused on four key objectives:

• Make every day easier for busy families
• Change how the company works to become a more digital enterprise
• Deliver results and operate with discipline
• Be the most trusted retailer

Walmart also was finally topped by Amazon in consumer retail spend in 2021 with data from Pymnts tracking that Amazon got 9.4% of all U.S. retail dollars, compared to Walmart’s 8.6%. The mass merchant has sought to address slowing sales growth by moving to incorporate “quality” and “assortment” into the brand equation while also focusing on simplifying the shopping experience. The tactics appear to be working: According to the National Retail Federation, Walmart was the top global retailer in 2023, with $585.2 billion in revenue, compared to Amazon's $352.7 billion that same year.

The company's tagline changed from “Always Low Prices. Always” to “Save Money. Live Better,” illustrating Walmart’s efforts to move the conversation beyond price to the emotional benefits of shopping at the chain. For price-sensitive shoppers, Walmart wants to be the retailer that helps them feel “smart” and live “better” by delivering unbeatable prices on trusted brands through an easy, fast, one-stop shopping experience.

The strategy also is intending to get more affluent consumers who already are shopping at the chain to get out of the packaged goods department to other areas of the store. That goal is illustrated by such endeavors as the introduction of higher-grade meat, organic foods and higher-end cookware brands, as well as by an expansion of the electronics department and launch of Gap Home in stores and on Walmart.com. Walmart additionally has redesigned several other departments — from baby and beauty to fresh and toys — to better showcase products and enhance navigation.

The retailer also continues to open training academies for its employees to drive changes in processes, decrease turnover, provide better customer service and improve execution of the basics in stores, such as on-shelf availability. The training procedures were established as part of Walmart's $1.7 billion investment in employees, which also included wage increases. Its average hourly pay is up to $16.40 after making three major wage investments since 2020, and it has transitioned more employees to full-time status. Teaching methods include using virtual reality to prepare workers for real-life situations and simulated shopping missions.

In 2022, Walmart also rolled out the Private Fleet Development Program for approximately 12,000 fleet drivers that will offer higher wages and expand benefits, including the opportunity to earn a commercial driver’s license in certain geographic areas, along with the opportunity for new drivers to make up to $110,000 in their first year. Walmart hired a record 4,500 employees in 2021 and plans to keep hiring aggressively company wide to meet shopper demands.

Meanwhile, with advocacy groups, unions, numerous municipal governments and other organizations still regularly targeting Walmart for criticism and even protest, the company has taken strides to present itself as an asset to the country. The retailer’s image-boosting initiatives include apledge to buy more American-made products,a public commitment to its employees and various sustainability initiatives.

Still, in 2022, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit for $3 million in penalties against the retailer for “deceptive green claims” made about two dozen of its textile products, amounting to the largest-ever civil penalty over such product marketing.

Must-Know Terms

• Action Alley:the high-traffic main aisles that form the racetrack in supercenters.
• On Time In Full (OTIF):The initiativeincrementally introducednew rules that ultimately require full-truckload suppliers of fast-turning items, such as groceries and paper goods, to make in-full deliveries on the required date 95% of the time.
• EDLP:Every Day Low Price, Walmart's bottom-line strategy.
• OPD: Online pickup and delivery.
• Rollback:a deep, long-term price discount.
• Retail Link:the retailer’s online data information network, which gives product vendors near real-time access to sales data.
• Store of the Community:Walmart’s strategy of tailoring store layouts and product selection to meet the needs of local shoppers.
• Retail Ready Packaging:a shipping case that doubles as a display package and can be set up at shelf with minimal labor and cost.
• Pro Seller Badge: Walmart continues to update its requirements for merchants to earn the designation. To qualify for the badge, a seller must have a near-perfect delivery, handling and response rate. (See E-Commerce.)
• Store No. 8: Walmart's technology incubator and lab, which it opened in 2017. In 2024, the retailer is closing it down, with the company CFO saying the innovations it obtained from Store No. 8 have been integrated into the organization.

Thought Starters

• Come armed with brand-level and/or category-level insights the retailer can pair with its store-level knowledge to develop strategies. The retailer welcomes help understanding data and what’s informing the decisions that shoppers make and solutions that inspire the customer and make sure her time is well spent.
• Understand what drives trips. If a program doesn’t drive traffic into stores, odds are it won’t see the light of day.
• The offer and the message should always be relevant to the core customer needs: saving time, money or frustration, and providing joy.
• Supply content that can fuel informed communication and pull the shopper across multiple media channels.
• Offer progressive ideas for how the future of retail will look, and help Walmart get there.
• Although exceptions are sometimes made, store-level execution should be simple.
• Exclusives — products, launch windows, package sizes, promotions — still often win out.
• Walmart is seeking to grow both its organic/healthy and indulgent/innovative products, particularly in the snack category.
• Sustainability has become a big part of Walmart's business as it looks to CPG partners to includeproducts, packaging and supply chain processes that align with the retailer'sgoals.

Promotional Strategy

Walmart's historic view of promotion as a distraction to the EDLP focus is long gone. Although "Rollbacks" (see "Ongoing Programs") are still the only exception to the rule as far as price promotions go, the retailer now regularly hosts sweepstakes, incentive offers and other brand-supplied promotions as a way to liven up the shopping experience. (See Promotional Calendar.) In fact, the policy has loosened up so much that even displays communicating national promotions are occasionally finding their way into Action Alley.

Internally, however, Walmart continues to hammer away at the value message, especially during its seasonal campaigns. For example:

• For the 2022 holidays the retailer unveiled a four-day "Rollbacks and More" October savings event to lure shoppers weeks ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• In 2024, to celebrate 30 years in Canada, Walmart Canada is holding a Rollback event, with thousands of SKUs discounted by 30% or more.
• In 2023, Walmart brought back another four-day savings event, its Walmart Deals - Holiday Kickoff from Oct. 9-12, with savings on electronics, home, fashion and toys.
• In 2024, to help consumers concerned about inflation, the retailer offered a meal's worth of curated Easter essentials for less than $8 per person. It's a reprise of previous budget-friendly moves to help families save money on holiday essentials.
• For the 2023 holiday, in response to customers' inflation concerns, Walmart is touting a season of savings, including lowering the cost of Thanksgiving essentials to match 2021's prices. It's also offering deeper savings and more frequent deals on gifts and holiday SKUs, both online and in-store, capping off a year of saving its customers approximately $1 billion over that past 12 months. That includes two "Black Friday Deals" days in November as well as a Cyber Monday event. Walmart+ members get a three-hour head start on each shopping event. It's also adding new online and in-app features, including the ability to "heart" top picks and share with friends and family and create a "top toys" list online. Walmart is also bumping up its fulfillment capabilities with improved curbside pickup, next-day and two-day shipping. It's also offering half-off an annual Walmart+ membership, for a limited time. It's also offering express delivery and same-day curbside through Dec. 24. (See E-Commerce.)

Promotional efforts typically encompass a plethora of custom P-O-P materials, circular features, email blasts, regional radio spots and digital activity. Sampling events sometimes are also included in the seasonal campaigns (and are a staple of major new-product launches), with plans to offer more free samples and demos both digitally and in-store.

Walmart Canada has an online hub where customers can add samples to their order, provided they have an account on Walmart.ca and meet a $35 minimum spend. Participating brands have included Mars Food's Ben's Original, Nestle Global's Fancy Feast and Coca-Cola Co.'s BodyArmor.

Ongoing/Periodic Programs

• Walmart+ Week:After putting its Deals for Days promo on hiatus in 2022 (but holding an inaugural members-only Walmart+ Weekend online sale event earlier that summer), the retailer brought backthe savings event back for 2023, overlapping with Amazon Prime Day.Now dubbed Walmart+Week, the sale features deals acrossseveral shopping categories, including grocery. Anyone can take advantage of deals, butWalmart+ members get early access and exclusive offers. For a limited time, Walmart also offered new memberships at half price. For 2022's sale, only 33% of Walmart.com shoppers knew about the Walmart+ Weekend event, market research firm Numerator found, while 94% of Amazon.com shoppers were aware of Prime Day deals beforehand. Average spend per order, however, was above both the average Walmart.com order size and those made during Amazon Prime Day 2021, the research firm said. Shoppers leaned hard into CPG purchases, with 59% of Walmart+ Weekend spend going toward groceries, followed by 7% on health and beauty products and 6% on household items. Compared to shoppers overall, the typical Walmart+ Weekend shopper was 20% more likely to also be an Amazon Prime member, 42% more likely to be rural, 17% more likely to be a member of Gen X and 16% more likely to be low income, Numerator reported.
• Black Friday Deals for Days: The retailer offers an extendedsavings event throughout most of November with Early Access shopping opportunities for Walmart+ members. For 2022, weekly online sales began on Mondays, touted as giving customers something to anticipate at the start of the work week. The Monday focus also illustrates ashiftfrom the long-practiced notion of packing all the biggest deals into a traditional Black Friday.
• Rollbacks:Deep discounts on select merchandise that remain in place for at least 90 days, most often for six months, and sometimes permanently. Although Rollbacks technically are an exception to EDLP, they often are a key message in ad campaigns. They also are considered to be among the best ROI-driving programs in retail.
• Investing in American Jobs:Annual summertime marketing campaign spotlighting Walmart's pledge to support American manufacturing. Activations have included multiple participating brands but waned in recent years. In 2021, Walmart announced a new 10-year goal to invest $35 billion in the future of U.S. manufacturing that will support more than 750,000 new American jobs.
• Fight Hunger. Spark Change:Annual spring campaign benefitting Feeding America.
• Game Time:Football season platform culminating with the Super Bowl.
• Baby Days:Represents periodic sales events in the baby department. The new platform replaces With You Every Little Step, which was previously activated to spotlight baby products from various partnering brands via in-store signage, circular features and stand-alone inserts. The former platform also served to brand Walmart's baby subscription box for a time.
• Walmart Wellness Day:Positioned as the "largest health fair in America," since 2014 the in-store event offers free health screenings and product samples as well as vaccines and affordable immunizations. Shoppers also receive wellness resources and have an opportunity to talk with pharmacists.
• Walmart Book Club. In August 2022, the retailer selected the inaugural title for its newly formed book club. Merchants will choose five titles annually, based on reading trends, market data, and relevance. Selected books will be available in-store and online.
• Top Toys List: In late summer, the retailer releases its top toy picks for the coming holiday season.

Merchandising Strategy

Walmart pulls in the biggest share of U.S. retail spend on groceries, with shoppers spending ten times more on food and drink at Walmart than anywhere else. In total, Walmart captures 25.2% of U.S. grocery dollars — up approximately 1.5 percentage points since 2021 —while also leading in pharmacy sales and wellness products.

Continually evolving its in-store presentation strategy, Walmart most recently has been testing bringing a sleeker look to high-margin departments such as beauty and apparel in an effort to increase its share of wallet for discretionary spending. The handful of SuperCenters piloting the experience boast brighter lights, fashion-forward mannequins, colorful product displays and more premium products (including MacBook Air laptops with the M1 chip, in 2024). What's more, sales at upgraded Walmarts are outpacing existing stores. Pair that with Placer.ai 2023's findings that 15% of Walmart shoppers had annual household incomes of $100,000 to $150,000 and 18% earned between $50,000 to $75,000, it's hardly surprising that an additional 800 locations are getting a facelift to draw more than the average bargain hunter.

With the goal of being a one-stop shop, Walmart does business in three strategic merchandise categories:

• Groceryconsists of a full line of grocery items, including dry grocery, snacks, dairy, meat, produce, deli, bakery, frozen foods and alcohol and nonalcoholic beverages, along with consumables, such as health and beauty aids, baby products, household chemicals, paper goods and pet supplies. Walmart also has been adding more natural personal care products as part of a heightened focus on self-care that was amplified during the pandemic. In 2024, the retailer said that grocery sales account for nearly 60% of its U.S. business.
• General merchandiseincludes:
  • Entertainment:electronics, toys, seasonal merchandise, wireless, video games, movies, music and books;
  • Hardlines:stationery, automotive accessories, hardware and paint, sporting goods, and outdoor living;
  • Apparel:apparel for women, girls, men, boys and infants, footwear, jewelry and accessories (including nearly 750,000 items of used women's and children's items offered online through a partnership with thredUP); and
  • Home:housewares and small appliances, bed and bath, furniture and home organization, home furnishings, home decor, and fabrics and crafts.
• Health and wellnessincludes pharmacy, over-the-counter drugs and other medical products, optical services and clinical services.

The mass merchant has maintained its value positioning primarily by ensuring its price leadership in core categories. The growth of brick-and-mortar channels, such as dollar stores and the steadily rising e-commerce marketplace have forced the retailer to take additional steps to defend its long-held (though oft-debated) position as low-price leader.

In 2022, for example, the retailer began selling refurbished items through its Walmart Restored program. The following year it implemented Walmart Restored Premium, which includes items that:

• Are like-new (including batteries, which must be at least 90% of the new equivalent) and showno signs of wear-and-tear,
• Have a one-year warranty and aminimum of 30-day free returns, and
• Have been refurbished by the original manufacturer or amanufacturer-authorized third party.

Another avenue used to establish opening price points across the store is private-label products, which Walmart is consistently growing across all categories. (See Private Label.)

Its store brands are a major decision driver for parents aiming to save money without sacrificing quality, as are recurring Baby Days promotions. Walmart also analyzes demographics to better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse populace, with, for example, melanin-rich baby skincare SKUs. The retailer also has put more focus on mothers themselves, including:

• Expanding the in-store moms category,
• Having a dedicated post-partum landing page to help new mothers track down products, and
• A registry on Walmart.com where customers can request abox of post-partum products after their baby arrives.

While opening price points are the mainstay of Walmart’s strategy, it also looks to move shoppers up the price continuum by bringing in more brand names and boosting its assortment of premium products in categories, such as food, cookware, electronics, apparel and home goods.

In addition to price, Walmart stands out in the areas of product assortment and convenience. As part of the “Store of the Community” program, the chain mines its massive database (reputedly second in size only to the Pentagon’s) to tailor product assortment for each individual store. A key to Walmart’s growth strategy, hyper-localization guarantees that the retailer satisfies local shopper tastes and preferences. Individual buyers, rather than committees, make key decisions on which items make it to a particular store.Included in the focus on localization is the retailer's Lead with Local snacks initiative, with 130 Walmart stores giving prominent space to locally made snacks.

In November 2023, nonprofit organization Les Produits du Quebec collaborated with Walmart Canada to make it easier to purchase locally via online filters as well as by giving visibility to local products in stores.

Given the company’s EDLP positioning and its dual focus on national and store-specific marketing, Walmart’s efforts are inextricably connected to its supply chain strategy. The company has invested heavily in developing a distribution network that has been held up as the best in the world, and recent improvements have decreased out-of-stocks while also cutting shipping times.In Canada, Walmart is using Focal Systems’ artificial intelligence to scan for low- or out-of-stock areas in key departments like grocery, pets, health and beauty, frozen and dairy. The platform then alerts employees to set out more merchandise.

The retailer worked withIBM on a food safety blockchain solutionand required that all suppliers of leafy green vegetables for Sam’s and Walmart upload their data to the blockchain. In 2022, the retail giant also invested in Plenty Unlimited Inc., an indoor vertical-farming company, with plans to deliver fresh produce to Walmart retail locations and align with environmentally friendly practices while improving supply chain efficiencies. Fresh is a very important part of Walmart's business.

Continuing down the line of driving innovation, Walmart is investing in small and diverse businesses through a supplier diversity program to offer a wider array of products to elevate its assortment. For example, in 2022 the retailer hosted a Supplier Inclusion Summit for diverse-owned food and beverage suppliers. For 10 consecutive years, Walmart also has hosted an Open Call event for entrepreneurs to pitch their shelf-ready products. More than 1,100 small and mid-sized business owners nationwide took part in 2022, and nearly 60% of them self-identified as a diverse-owned business. For 2023's Open Call, the retailer took the event on the road with its Walmart: Made Local trailer stopping in Atlanta and Dallas before ending the tour in Bentonville.

In 2024, it brought back its Walmart Growth Summit Mexico event, which the retailer holds for products manufactured, grown and assembled in Mexico. In its second year, nearly 350 companies took part for a chance to join Walmart's supplier network. In 2023, more than 800 supplier proposals were submitted, and more than 350 were preselected. Approximately 30% of the inaugural year's finalists were incorporated into Walmart's supplier network, with 18% supplying in self-service stores and 13% selling products online. In Mexico, the retailer has more than 33,000 suppliers, with 3,400 added in 2023.

The retailer continues to develop a more inclusive shopping experience, including its Adaptive at Walmart page on Walmart.com, which features curated items for customers with disabilities, including hearing aids and sound amplifiers, adaptable backpacks for wheelchair users, and adaptive utensils to assist dining. It also works with companies in the disabled community to offer products by the community that are made for the community.

Walmart mandates that some of its vendors provide products including on their merchandise-attached sales tags a small sticker with an electronic product code (EPC), instead of only a traditional barcode. EPC will allow an employee to use a radio frequency identification (RFID) scanner to implement aspects of artificial intelligence and better control inventory and find merchandise. Suppliers of apparel, home goods and some hardlines, entertainment and toy products are required to be RFID-compliant.

It also holds seller summits for those who want to sell on the Walmart Marketplace. The Let's Grow! 2024 event will be held in August in San Francisco. There, sellers can meet Walmart leaders, explore seller solutions and see recent innovations. A virtual option is also being made available.

As part of its at-shelf strategy, Walmart is expanding implementation of SES-imagotag's Vusion platform technology. The platform has been in development for more than a decade, and the retailer plans to add 60 million digital shelf labels at 500 stores through the end of 2024. The Vusion technology includes smart rails that blend connectivity and energy as well as battery-less digital labels.

Secondary merchandising and a complete product assortment are an important element of the retailer’s overall business, which the company learned the hard way when it implemented an ill-fated,clean-aisle Project Impact initiativethat alienated its core customer base as well as vendors. The company has since returned to what it terms meaningful, rather than gratuitous, promotional activity, with Action Alley used to add excitement to stores.

Collaborative Alliances

Walmart likes to refer to its product vendors as “partners,” and it maintains close relationships with many of them. Hundreds of Walmart vendors (and many of their suppliers) have offices near the retailer’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters. Procter & Gamble opened an office in neighboring Fayetteville in 1989. Plano, Texas-based Crossmark has had an office in Bentonville since 1985 and in 2014 also opened a Center for Collaboration designed to facilitate joint business planning between Walmart and vendors.

Because of Walmart's importance to the business of most consumer product manufacturers — who typically derive one-fourth to one-third of their annual sales volume from the retailer — these partnerships extend well beyond basic buyer-seller relationships to include top-to-top collaboration and joint business planning.

Retailer-manufacturer partnerships don't get any closer than the one that has been built between Walmart and P&G, whose marketing alliances in past years even included the co-development of made-for-TV movies and short-run series. Recently, Walmart and P&G’s Old Spice also partnered to mentor high school students via the “School of Swagger” program, aimed to increase high school graduation rates.

Another example of Walmart's alliance with P&G: Leading into Mother's Day 2023, the retailer launched a monthlong "Mother of All Savings Memberships" campaign. For 20,000 patients who give birth that May, they will receive a Pampers Hospital Gift Program bag with samples, coupons, informative literature, and a free one-year Walmart+ membership. The push also included celebrity moms sharing their "hacks" for motherhood.

Considering the hundreds of millions of views home painting projects garner on social media, in 2023 Walmart entered into a multiyear partnership with Glidden Paint by PPG. The collaboration includes a curated palette of 132 grab-and-go options that also can be customized with prices designed to appeal to budget-conscious shoppers.

Walmart has steadily expanded its exclusive and co-created brand strategy, with a primary focus on reaching Gen Zers. Co-created and exclusive brands include Uoma by Sharon C, P&G-brand Nou, skin-care brand DermaGeek and an exclusive collection with Garnier that address scalp concerns. Most recently, Walmart and Unilever co-created another new scalp-focused hair-care brand BHS, which stands for “Beautiful Hair and Scalp.” The retailer is supporting BHS with editorial site stories, ads placed within the Walmart Connect digital ad network, placement in subscriber emails, in-store activations and social media posting across all major platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.

Walmart and Pepsico also launched a joint recognition effort dubbed “Every Day Heroes” to celebrate employees making a difference on their teams. The initiative included QR codes on select Frito-Lay products in Walmart stores that linked to a site where customers could learn about the heroes and how their work makes an impact.

Walmart also partnered with Mondelez International for an ongoing “Create. Share. Give” cause platform that enjoyed multiple activations throughout 2021.

Among other noteworthy joint programs, Walmart has teamed with:

• Mars Inc. for "Say Thank You with M," a cause program.
• Coca-Cola Co. on a multi-channel “Effortless Meals” program that pairs private-label Marketside prepared foods with Coca-Cola beverages.
• Kellogg Co. to periodically leverage the CPG’s “Kellogg’s Family Rewards” loyalty program for an exclusive incentive offer backed by custom packaging.
• Mars Inc.'s Pedigree for periodic promotions under a “Pets Love Walmart” slogan.
• Tyson Foods for exclusive frozen food line.
• Netflix, first to offer a digital storefront, but has since expanded the Netflix Hub to more than 2,400 stores stores, with licensed product assortments and more.

Naturally, Walmart receives (and also often demands) special attention from product marketers of all types. That commonly comes in the form of exclusive launch windows prior to a brand’s national rollout, and even more often through unique SKUs or special packaging. The strategy is a given for major home video and game releases, for which Walmart (typically along with Target and Best Buy) is able to market “bonus content.”

Walmart also frequently partners with a slew of other manufacturers to stage promotional or sampling events, particularly in support of new product launches.

In 2024, Walmart is collaborating on a pilot project with unspun to use the fashion tech company's Vega 3D weaving technology to produce garments that are manufactured locally, with less waste and are more sustainable. The first project will be to make chinos for one of Walmart's private labels.

The retailer also gives customers with a Walmart.com account the opportunity to earn Walmart Cash rewards. Shoppers can load offers — participating manufacturers include Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive — to their account and shop in-store and online, and then redeem Walmart Cash toward future purchases or get cash back.

Meanwhile, the retailer's "On-Time, In-Full" initiative introduced rules requiring full-truckload suppliers of fast-turning items, such as groceries and paper goods, to make in-full deliveries on the required date 95% of the time. For items that are late or missing during a one-month period, suppliers will be fined 3% of the items’ value; suppliers also can be fined for early shipments, which can create overstocks.

Walmart continues make more stringent rules for its Pro Seller merchants — Marketplace sellers with the highest performance records on Walmart.com. To qualify for a Pro Seller Badge, within the previous 90 days a seller must:

• Have a minimum 95% on-time delivery rate (typically in less than two days);
• Have a1.5% or lower rate of seller-accountable cancellations;
• Have a handling time of less than one business day;
• Offer weekend delivery;
• Be an active vendor for at least 90 days;
• Have no trust and safety or performance standards violations; and
• Have a response rateof more than 95% in the past 30 days.

Walmart maintains a help center for suppliers onhttps://supplierhelp.walmart.comwhere it offers guides for item setup and management plus other information.

Displays and Signage

Secondary merchandising is vital to Walmart’s in-store strategy and sales volume. The retailer has swung the full gamut in terms of specificity of its rules and regulations, but still retains tight control over its environment. The retailer recently narrowed the number of companies who are able to manage supplier displays and other services down to five, and its latestP-O-P guidecompletely bans floorstands and quarter-pallets displays while demanding clearer in-store communications.

The company charges no slotting fees for accepting displays (which helps efforts to drive down price), but does place restrictions on design, dimensions, packaging, presentation and placement. While corporate buyers approve approximately 80% of pallet displays, final approval is on a store-by-store basis.

The most exacting requirement placed on displays is that they must carry product that will sell through quickly; no amount of planned marketing support will earn space for a product that Walmart’s buyers don’t believe will sell in volume. All displays shipped to Walmart are required to be “store ready,” meaning that they can be moved to the sales floor with minimal time and effort; any product to be placed on endcaps or sidekicks must be packaged and shipped in shelf-ready trays.

The chain prefers displays that are modular and mobile. Action Alley displays are either half-pallet displays, which are allotted one price sign, or full-pallet displays, which are allotted one price sign per shopping side (for as many as four signs).

Additional secondary merchandising techniques include power wings sized to fit standard wire fixtures on uniform endcaps; dump bins; and shelf trays for use on four-ways and endcaps (especially in OTC). A few temporary floorstands still make it into some stores; spectaculars are generally positioned upfront or in the grocery department.

Permanent branded displays are granted to only a handful of key vendors, including Starbucks, electronics manufacturers, such as Apple and Microsoft, and the usual roster of cosmetics brands.

The majority of brand-supplied displays are made exclusively for the chain. Walmart wants displays that:

• communicate a very clear value proposition;
• provide content that make it easy to distinguish the product offering, help the shopper decide what is right for her or otherwise deliver a tangible benefit;
• have improved durability to withstand the rigors of the sales floor; and
• inspire and engage shoppers (rather than disrupting them).

In recent years, shelf signage has been increasing beyond basic price signs to include informational violators and even branded signs. Violators on video game cases will sometimes communicate CPG cross-promotions. Other frequently employed signage includes base wraps, headers, endcap signage kits, shelf strips, side panels, standees and tearpads. Most recently, the retailer has begun using shelf blockers and aisle violators in the liquor department.

The mass merchant is transitioning to wood-grain (instead of black) reusable plastic containers for transporting and merchandising produce. The department will continue to have other merchandising options as well, including cartons and hand-stacked produce.

See the Retailer Receptivity chart below for a rundown of Walmart’s tactical P-O-P preferences.

Smaller in size, Walmart’s Neighborhood Market stores necessarily host fewer secondary displays, with corrugate floorstands playing a larger part in the overall mix. Cut-case stocking is used extensively. Branded shelf signs are extremely rare.

In-Store Media

One of Walmart’s only in-store advertising opportunities (after the Smart Network was dismantled), the TV wall is found in more than 3,900 supercenters. Previously reserved for the entertainment and electronics category, the TV wall is now open to all suppliers whose products and services are sold in stores. Fifty-five million shoppers are drawn to the TV wall area each week, spending an average of 11 minutes in front of over thirty HD televisions continuously running content.

Marketing partners also can secure advertising wraps on the security pedestals at store entrances. The program tends to be dominated by ads for new DVD releases, but also is used periodically for product launches in other categories. Floor decals are used rarely.

Walmart does not formally accept any third-party advertising vehicles, although brands can gain approval for SmartSource shelf vehicles and other media on a program-by-program basis.

Store Formats/Growth

Walmart's once-rapid store opening rate has slowed, but it certainly hasn't paused. For 2024, the retailer plans to finalize construction plans on 12 new projects as well as convert one of its smaller stores to a supercenter format. It also plans tobuild or convert more than 150 stores in the next five years (including to the Neighborhood Market format, below), while simultaneously remodeling existing locations following its Store of the Future concept. (See Store of the Future, below.) For 2024 alone, Walmart plans to remodel 647 store in 47 states and in Puerto Rico.

As of Jan. 31, 2024, Walmart operates 3,560 supercenters, 360 discount stores and 695 Neighborhood Markets other small formats along with 162 distribution facilities located strategically throughout the U.S. and 30dedicated e-commerce fulfillment centers. The retailer (under its Walmart International segment) also operates in 19 countries outside of the U.S., including 403 retail locations in Canada and 3,006 in Mexico.

In 2020, Walmart Canada announced it would invest $3.5 billion over five years toward store infrastructure and customer service experience transformation. Besides expanding Walmart Canada's fulfillment network, for 2023 the investment included developing the Square One Walmart Supercenter in Mississauga, Ontario, its Store of the Future flagship location. The retailer celebrated its grand reopening (and 30th anniversary) in 2024. The store includes:

• 223,000 square feet, making it Canada's largest store by footprint,
• The first Walmart Health hub in Canada, which centralizes the pharmacy, vision center and medical clinic into a one-stop shop, supported by the company's digital pharmacy app which lets customers schedule appointments and find health and wellness products,
• A boutique-style apparel area with updated lighting and digital screens,
• Expanded fresh grocery, global foods and hot to-go meal options,
• Updated lighting, new signage and digital wayfinding,
• An electronics department that is hands-on and frictionless, with dedicated brand areas. Customers can also scan QR codes to place orders, which are then fulfilled through an automated system,
• An in-store pickup kiosk for customers without a vehicle,
• Showroom shopping experiences for large-scale items such as patio furniture, barbecues and more, also shoppable via QR codes,
• A SmartShelf Platform, which Walmart Canada is testing, which includes a 28-foot fixture with an LCD screen at each shelf that links physical and digital shopping by allowing customers to see product reviews and ratings and more easily discover discounts and promotions, and
• Expanded omnichannel operations for processing orders.

Other 2023 plans include modernizing 55 stores throughout Canada, with significant refurbishments planned for 20 locations, including a more modern look with clearer navigation and enhanced customer-facing signage; a focus on sustainability; updated and expanded produce departments; and more space for order fulfillment.

In 2022, the retailer said that it would invest $57 million to upgrade its 25 namesake and Sam's Club stores in Puerto Rico. Planned improvements include new checkout stations and cash registers, enhanced store pick-up facilities, and upgraded infrastructure. Walmart is also selling its 12-store Amigo Supermarkets chain to Pueblo Supermarkets.

In 2021, Walmart rolled out a new, digitally inspired concept to its Supercenters that had reached close to 1,000 renovated stores by the beginning of 2022. The retailer expects to remodel another 600 stores in 2022. Included in the wayfinding-focused remodels is new signage meant to encourage shoppers to download and use the Walmart app in stores, and help them navigate through the store. Modeled off airports, the first phase of the remodels additionally includes improved directional signage (including bold dimensional typeface to identify fresh, beef, dairy and other departments), self-checkout kiosks and contactless payment systems, and Scan & Go self-directed checkout in select stores.

Special Departments/Services

Special departments generally operated by third parties found at most supercenters (and many traditional discount stores) include vision centers, automobile service centers, portrait studios and one-hour photos centers, hair salons, banks, employment agencies and a growing variety of quick-serve restaurants.

Tech Services Initiative

Walmart in 2021 quietly launched a technology support service at select stores in Northwest Arkansas and the Dallas area that provides a variety of remote, in-home and in-store technology assistance for an annual fee of $89.99. As part of the offering, security solutions provider McAfee and retail service delivery platform True Network Solutions are partnering to provide members with one year of the McAfee Total Protection service to defend 10 devices against viruses and other online threats.

Care Clinics

Dubbed Walmart Care Clinic and staffed by QuadMed, the in-store, primary care clinics offer a broader range of services than the 100 or so acute care clinics leased by hospital operators at stores across the U.S. Walmart operates several of the Care Clinics in states including Texas, Georgia and South Carolina.

Testing & Treatment

Walmart launched pharmacy clinical services in 12 states in the latter half of 2023. Customers can make walk-in appointments or schedule a consultation online or via the mobile app. A pharmacist reviews symptoms, may perform diagnostic tests, and either prescribe treatment or suggest products to alleviate symptoms. Test & Treat services do not take insurance, and the pricing varies. (A strep throat test, for example, costs $59 or a flu test runs $88.) The service is available in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington.

Tax Kiosks

During tax season, many stores allocate space for tax-preparation kiosks operated by Jackson-Hewitt or H&R Block.

Gas Stations

Nearly 1,000 stores have adjacent convenience stores operated by Murphy Oil USA.

Electronic Vehicle Charging Stations

Walmart offers more than 1,300electronic vehicle charging station sitesat select stores (including Sam’s Clubs) across 41 states. The retailer plans to keep adding EV charging stations at thousands of Walmart and Sam's Club locations through 2030.

MoneyCenter

Walmart offers such financial services and related products as payroll check cashing, domestic and global wire transfers, money orders, bill payment and checking accounts (through Green Dot Bank's GoBank mobile banking platform) at dedicated upfront counters (or digital kiosks). These services total less than 1% of annual net sales.

In 2021, the retailer added Western Union money transfer services available at all 4,700-plus U.S. locations.

In 2022, the retailer brought back its Walmart2Walmart money transfer program to Mexico. Walmart2Walmart initially launched in 2014 and added service to Mexico in 2016, but it paused services to Mexico in 2018 while it invested in infrastructure to lower costs. For example, Walmart is charging as little as $2.50 per transaction for money transfers from a U.S. Walmart store to a Mexican Walmart store. Walmart2Walmart is supported by electronic payment and transaction processing solutions provider Ria which offers national pricing in all Walmart stores, and prices may vary by location.

Coinstar

The in-store kiosks turn coins into cash, e-gift cards or donations. At 200 Walmart stores, shoppers can also use the kiosks to purchase bitcoin as part of a pilot enabled by Coinme.

CarSaver

The program in 2018 was rolled out nationally on Walmart.com and expanded to a total of 250 Walmart locations. The partnership lets buyers select their desired new or used vehicle and apply for financing and insurance. After this initial stage, CarSaver links the customer to a local dealership so they can complete the transaction.

Due to car inventory shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the nationwide microchip supply shortage, some CarSaver locations have had to temporarily close.

FedEx

There are hundreds of FedEx Office locations inside Walmart stores.

Pet Care Services

Walmart offers in-store veterinary clinics at 11 locations through Essential PetCare and dozens of locations through VetIQ. The retailer plans to open more clinics.

Walmart Insurance also offers Fetch by The Dodo's (formerly Petplan) pet insurance plans.

Dog-walking and pet sitting are also available through Rover. (See E-commerce Strategy.)

Walmart PetRx, both in-store and online, provides pharmacy services for pet prescriptions.

In 2022, Walmart introduced Best Friends daycare and grooming services at 10 locations, including private rental space for dog birthday parties. Pet owners can shop while their pets play and get groomed.

Claire’s

Teen accessories retailer Claire’s appears as small format stores (around 650 square feet) in more than 30 Walmart locations. Claire's jewelry and accessories are available at more than 2,500 Walmart locations across the U.S., as well as online.

Mayvenn’s Beauty Lounges

The beauty tech company focuses on inclusivity. It sells wigs and hair extensions, and offers consultations and virtual booking services. The program is being piloted in five Walmart stores in Texas.

Foodservice

The majority of Walmart's food concessions tend to be McDonald's and other inexpensive fare, but the mass merchant increasingly is exploring "fast-casual" options, such as Grown, which sells cold-pressed juices and avocado toast.

In 2021, the retailer added more than 400 new restaurants as part of its redesign efforts (see Store Formats/Growth), including 30-plus new-to-Walmart brands, most of them local or regional offerings.

In 2023, Walmart partnered with Uncle Sharkii Poke Bar. The Hawaiian franchise offers healthy fast-food options including poke bowls, boba milk teas and Dole soft-serve treats. The first Walmart location opened in October 2023 in Vacaville, California. More poke bars are planned for California Walmarts in 2024.

In 2024, a Wonder food hall opened inside a Quakertown, Pennsylvania, Walmart. It features eight restaurants, including Limesalt, Yasas, Alanza Pizza, Tejas, Wing Trip, Burger Baby, Fred's Meat & Bread, and Room for Dessert. The store has limited seating, and delivery is available to select zip codes. Walmart plans to open additional Wonder food halls at several East Coast locations.

Holiday Decoration Installation

Walmart has a partnership with internet services company Angi, whose professionals can be hired to set up and take down holiday decor. Customers can visit a dedicated holiday landing page at Walmart.com and choose from several services, including help with holiday lighting installation (and removal), Christmas decor and tree assembly. Customers also can select an installation package by scanning a QR code on store shelves or on product packaging, or they can opt to add the service while shopping online or through the Walmart mobile app.

Other Specialty Offerings

In terms of special departments, a small number of stores have a large-appliance department occupying about 900 square feet. Depending on the store location, some have large, distinct departments dedicated to hunting gear, fishing supplies or other such products.

Reusable Bag Services

The discount retailer has been testing several ways to phase out single-use plastic bags, including some services that incorporate mobile technology. A store in Mountain View, California, piloted a mobile app-enabled solution called GOATOTE that allows customers to borrow reusable bags. The bags are free if returned to the store within 30 days. If customers decide to keep their bag, they will be charged $2.

Walmart Canada installed in-store GOATOTE kiosks in its Guelph, Ontario stores, where customers can check out bags for $1 per use or $3 per month.

A Walmart store in Santa Clara, California, piloted a solution called Fill It Forward, a mobile app and tag that connected to a reusable bag customers already own, and, with each use, customers accumulated points, which convert to a dollar amount that went back to a local organization. Walmart reported that the Fill It Forward pilot caused a 31% increase in adoption of reusable bags during its run.

Walmart also has been testing the complete removal of plastic bags from stores in New England, and after a pilot in Vermont, Walmart stores there have transitioned entirely to reusable bags. Pilots in Maine and New Jersey have resulted in the same transition. In early 2023 Walmart stores in Colorado and New York state planned to stop providing single-use plastic bags at checkout or for delivery. Instead the retailer would offer customers the option to purchase reusable bags and containers.

Customer Segments

Walmart has simplified the way it understands its shoppers, encompassing all of them in one broad category:The Busy Family

• Multi-person families
• Middle income
• Millennial and Gen-X parents
• Have college or post-college degrees
• 37% are multicultural

Digital attributes:

• 88% have Internet access
• 72% have a smartphone
• 60% use digital when shopping

Psychographic attributes:

• Saving money has an impact
• Life is a juggling act
• Want their time back
• Attention span is dwindling

Walmart is continuously learning about its increasingly shifting shoppers base. In 2017, for example, the retailerpartnered with market researcher Quid to learn how and why families' behaviors are changing.

Previously, the mass merchant further segmented the U.S. population into seven shopper groups. They were:

• Price-Value Shoppers(16% of U.S. consumers): These are the Walmart loyalists: lower-income consumers for whom shopping on price is more necessity than choice. They are almost always (80%) women, have a strong family focus, and skew rural. The chain solves nearly all of the Price-Value Shoppers’ everyday shopping needs.
• Brand Aspirationals(29%): These consumers are frequent Walmart shoppers but have less emotional connection to the store. They have below-average household incomes, but often base purchase decisions on brands rather than price because of the perceived status it gives them. They skew urban, and are just as likely to be males as females.
• Price-Sensitive Affluents(11%): These consumers have average median income, although nearly one in five make more than $100,000 annually. They feel empowered by finding bargains on quality products. Members of this group often shop packaged goods categories, but would never think of buying apparel at Walmart. They typically are male (56%), older than 45 (54%) and live in the suburbs.
• Conscientious Objectors(14%): Members of this group refuse to shop Walmart based on personal conviction, whether it be the general stigma of the mass-merchant channel, the perception of Walmart stores as cluttered and overcrowded, or a belief that the chain violates ethical standards regarding compensation, fair trade or other issues.
• Social Shoppers(7%)
• One-Stop Shoppers(11%)
• Trendy Quality Seekers(12%)

Cultural Fluency

Named the top culturally-fluent brand for Black consumers by Collage Group, Walmart performs well among Black shoppers, driven in part by its approach of focusing on affordability and its overall commitment to uplifting the Black community.

Internet Marketing Strategy

Walmart.com is one of the top five retail websites in the U.S.

The retailer in 2020 integrated its standalone Walmart Grocery website experience into its main Walmart.com website in the name of a more unified customer experience, and in 2021 further consolidated its retail app by rolling out universal search and checkout, allowing users to make one basket and transaction for items that will get fulfilled from different locations.

Walmart Business

Targeting a larger share of business transactions, Walmart quietly launched a website tailored to the needs of small and midsize companies as well as nonprofits in 2022. The one-stop shop offers more than 100,000 office supplies, furniture, food and electronics. (See Mobile Marketing for more.)

Review Services

Seller Central users can enroll items in a Review Accelerator Program launched in 2023. The retailer then encourages customers to share feedback after making a purchase for $3 toward their next purchase. Marketplace sellers pay a $10 service fee for every incentivized review that is submitted, with the program allowing a maximum of five such reviews per enrolled item.

The older Spark Reviewer program is run by Bazaarvoice and dangles free items for reviews.

Digital Coupons

Walmart Canada is partnering with Inmar Intelligence, a technology and data company, to provide digital coupons from several CPG brands. Walmart Canada customers will be able to use the coupons online or in-store at all locations beginning in October.

Retail Media

Walmart Connect

Walmart Connect is the conduit for all brand advertising on Walmart-owned and external sites, as well as for brand placements during live streaming through Walmart Live. The ad platform generated $2.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2022. In 2021, the number of brand partners using the service grew 136% year over year.

The retailer’s online media program delivers 1 billion ad impressions per month and is considered by many CPGs to be a media channel on par with a TV network. The average click-through rate for a Walmart.com display ad is 0.03% to 0.04%.

Walmart Connect solutions include sponsored videos,Sponsored Products and Search Brand Amplifier ads, which boost relevant products to higher positions within or above search results. Sponsored search placements allow suppliers to target contextually, promote and measure product listings across Walmart.com, including online pickup and delivery inventory. Sponsored Product ads also appear in prominent positions on other high-traffic pages. Meanwhile, the audience targeting and measurement features use past shopper behavior to predict, target and measure digital campaigns both in-store and online.

To further extend Walmart Connect's reach, in 2024 the retailer entered into anagreement to acquire Vizio, a TV manufacturer and advertising business and frequent supplier partner. Vizio and its smart TV operating system would position Walmart and its advertisers to reach shoppers in new ways, including through in-home entertainment and media.

Walmart routinely evolves its search capabilities and relevancy enhancements. Among them:

• Item Recommendations identify unadvertised items with the potential to perform well in a search or Sponsored Products campaign.
• Simplified ad-serving criteria make all qualifying Sponsored Products ads eligible for relevant in-grid results on search and browse pages. Ads qualifying factors include the advertised item’s contextual relevancy, customer intent and the item’s historical performance.
• An advanced second-price auction aims to reduce advertisers’ risk of overpaying for cost-per-click bids by enabling the most relevant product — combined with the best bid — to win the auction. The winner pays the amount necessary to win based on relevant competing bids, which may be less than the winner’s maximum bid.
• Expanded Sponsored Products inventory delivers new ad placements in the search grid.
• Spanish Language Search. In 2022, Walmart expanded its Spanish language search capability on its website and app.

In 2023, Walmart Connect introduced Academy Ad Certification, which allows advertisers, brands and agencies to take courses on retail media, sponsored products, sponsored brands and sponsored videos and receive a LinkedIn-enabled digital credential that's valid for 12 months.

Walmart’s plans to grow its advertisers and ad revenue include an increased focus on premium ad experiences, such as on-site video ads on Walmart.com and new formats for connected TV and digital video, including with NBCUniversal and Roku. (In 2023, the retailer carried out a multifaceted Roku platform takeover that included playlists and shoppable ads.) The platform is expected to continue to scale during the next few years and become a top-10 ad business.

Walmart and NBCUniversal are partnering to launch MustShopTV. Several shoppable episodes of Bravo's "Below Deck Mediterranean" are airing on Peaco*ck, and during ad breaks, customers will be able to press the arrows on their remotes, which will take them to an interactive product carousel. From there they can a QR code and check out on Walmart.com.

Inspired by Americans' love of holiday movies, in 2023 Walmart launched "Add to Heart," a 23-part shoppable holiday romantic comedy it has dubbed "RomCommerce." The series is airing on TikTok, Roku, YouTube and the retailer's social media, and viewers can shop more than 330 products, ranging from clothing and accessories to Nestle's Coffee-Mate creamers and L'Oreal cosmetics.

In 2024, Walmart Connect and Disney Advertising are partnering to bring Walmart's data to Disney's streaming portfolio, allowing advertisers to reach targeted audiences and measure campaigns via closed-loop attribution.

The retailer also continues to double down on ways to create more customer connections in both physical and digital settings. Two new beta ad formats Walmart is utilizing to further this along include in-store demos and in-store audio.

Walmart Luminate

Walmart Luminate is a suite of data products built for Walmart’s internal merchants and outside vendors in partnership with Dunnhumby. It mines info on Walmart’s 150 million online and in-store shopper visits per week. Primary users are Walmart merchandising, account and brand/shopper marketing teams, which can use the data and insights generated for category reviews, assortment optimization and planning across channels. Merchants and suppliers have the same view of data surrounding, for example, packaging redesigns, line extensions and distribution changes that may affect a brand’s performance across Walmart’s sales channels. Merchants and suppliers can also survey customers about what drove their purchase decisions. Beginning in October 2023, Walmart began requiring all its suppliers to move over to the service as it phases out its Decision Support System app — which suppliers used to track store sales, survey inventory and predict demand in stores — in early 2024.

Also in early 2024, the retailertook the platform global, beginning with Walmex in Mexico, following with plans to launch it at Walmart Canada later that year.

Demand Side Platform (DSP)

A partnership with The Trade Desk helps power a fledgling automated solution for purchasing off-site inventory, letting marketers design customized, measurable ad solutions that leverage Walmart’s first-party data to engage shoppers wherever they are.

Advertisers gain full access to The Trade Desk’s inventory and integrated private marketplaces, including display, video, mobile, connected TV and audio.

In 2023, Walmart partnered with independent advertising platform Innovid, which will integrate its dynamic creative optimization technology into the retailer's DSP to optimize ad reach.

Advertising Partners Program

Walmart’s ecosystem of vetted API partners steps up the retailer’s omnichannel ad targeting and measurement capabilities. The retailer is consistently growing its list of partners to introduce new functionality, while continually expanding partners’ access to its ad inventory and features. See Solution Providers for a list of partners.

Innovation Partners Program

In 2022 the retailer added a number of top social media platforms – TikTok, Snapchat, Firework, Roku and TalkShopLive – to its Walmart Connect solution provider mix.

Service Partners

Omnicom Media Group is the retailer’s first strategic agency partner. Encompassing pricing, agency support, ongoing product feedback and ground-floor opportunities, the partnership delivers a spectrum of strategic and commercial benefits. Most significantly, the agreement enables cross-screen planning against Walmart audiences in Omni (Omnicom's open operating system).

The effort continues the collaboration between Walmart Connect and Omnicom that began in 2021 with Omnicom Media Group's participation in beta tests for the Walmart DSP's frequency cap function.

Evolution Milestones

Walmart routinely evolves its media arm and its core offerings, including search capabilities and relevancy enhancements.

2018

• WMX ad platform is rebranded as Walmart Media Group

2020

• Launch of Walmart Advertising Partners program
• Integration of 360-degree product imagery supported by a new partnership between Salsify and Snap36
• The number of paid search ads available on Walmart.com more than doubles, with an average of 4.1 paid search ads appearing on the first page of search results

2021

• Another rebrandhas the media arm dubbed Walmart Connect
• Launch of Walmart Luminate
• Soft launch of the Walmart DSP with ad-tech partner The Trade Desk
• Walmart Connect reaches $2.1 billion in revenue, and in the U.S., active advertisers using the service increase 136%

2022

• Openinga self-service portal for display ads to select advertisers
• Beginningtesting on-site video ads on Walmart.com
• Developing new ad formats for connected TV and video, and omni-experiences across self-checkout screens, TV walls, in-store events and sampling (includingFreeosk samplekiosks at some Walmart locations)
• Expanding targeting, search and measurement capabilities
• Moving to a second-price auction model that is common in programmatic bidding

Walmart continues to work with agencies to create LED connected stores, offering brands more retail media opportunities via interactive media displays, connected mobile content, touch screens, video ads, radio spots, and learn-and-lift technology to spark discovery and engage shoppers. So far, approximately 50 stores are LED connected, with plans to add more.

In 2024,Walmart plans to offer more options for more types of advertisers, explore new offsite frontiers, improve targeting and full-funnel measurement, and grow its creative capabilities.

Trends Report

For the past five years, brand marketers were asked to rate various retail media platforms forthe Path to Purchase Institute’s annual Trends Report. The respondents for the 2024 survey, who have worked with Walmart Connect, gave targeting effectiveness an "excellent/very good" or “good” score. Overall, the platform performed well in all other metrics, save for slightly more than one-third of respondents deeming creative freedom as “fair/poor.” (See chart below.)

Key Facts

The chart below has information compiled by The Mars Agency. It is published as part of THE AGENCY'S quarterly Retail Media Report Card, with input provided by the retail media networks

Mobile Marketing Strategy

Mobile Application and Website

Walmart's app is among the top three apps in retail. At 4.1 seconds per download, it boasts the fastest download times, according to a study of 15 retail apps from mobile content delivery network PacketZoom. Customers using the Walmart app make between two and four more trips to Walmart per month and spend between 40% and 70% more compared to those not using the app.

Social Media Strategy

Walmart's overall social strategy is centered around engaging with customers on their terms and understanding how to fit into their lives. The focus is on showcasing Walmart's broad assortment of products in ways that are fun and engaging, and that improve the perception of the retailer.

Walmart regularly partners with influencers and publishers to create content that promotes its products and services, and embraces every opportunity it has to make the items easily shoppable, whether that’s including a link to purchase in a fashion influencer’s Instagram post, building a basket of items to make a meal from a recipe shared via Facebook, or charting new territory by being the first-ever retailer to host a shoppable TikTok event.

Walmart has staged a number of livestream shopping events since it initially tried the tactic in fall of 2020, and the retailer was first to leverage livestream commerce capabilities on TikTok, YouTube and Twitter. During the 2021 holiday season alone, Walmart staged more than 30 shoppable livestream events viewable across multiple social and media platforms, including BuzzFeed. The events often incorporate celebrities and offer virtual attendees exclusive prizes and shoppable content.

In 2024, the retailer brought back its "Mother of All Savings Memberships" campaign. People could submit questions through Walmart's TikTok. Then celebrity moms Paris Hilton, Whitney Cummings, Tia Mowry, Kat Stickler, Aislinn Derbez and Barbara "Babs" Costello respond with personalized video answers, sharing their perspectives on common hurdles that parents face. Customers can also claim a free 30-day trial of Walmart+ (see Loyalty Programs).

It is worth noting that Walmart does not link to its social media platforms from Walmart.com, as many other retailers do. This indicates that the retailer’s primary goal is to bring consumers to Walmart.com, and its social media presence is meant to send them there.

The retailer looks at social media posts (along with search terms on Walmart.com, among other cues) to help refine what it sells by measuring interest and analyzing sentiment around a product.

Facebook: 33M followers(as of April 2024)

Walmart generally posts numerous daily updates to its Facebook page to engage fans with tips and questions, tout community programs, promote incentives and support seasonal initiatives. It also posts reels where brands might give a bit of back story and product information, associates might offer advice, or influencers might post how-tos and everyday hacks.

• Walmart also customizes communication on this platform with occasional attempts to tweet funny one-liner jokes, but they are not consistent. The retailer also uses the platform to conduct polls about specific products.
• During the 2021 holiday season, Walmart was the first brand in the U.S. to leverage a shoppable livestream. The company kicked off cyber week with singer Jason Derulo hosting a variety show highlighting electronics, home goods, apparel, seasonal decor, surprise special guests and more. Customers could watch and shop from Walmart’s own site, (then) Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.

E-Commerce Strategy

Walmart is the second-largest U.S. online retailer by revenue (following Amazon.com) and one of the top three online retailers by traffic. The retailer is the most popular grocer, according to advertising platform Chicory’s Online Grocery Shopping 2023 survey. Walmart also continues to enhance its online and mobile shopping experience.

In 2024, Walmart introduced several tech-forward features, including GenAI Search, which allows users to search by specific use cases (see Mobile Marketing), and Shop with Friends, where shoppers can choose or be their own model, virtually try on fashions, and then share with friends for feedback.

In early 2023 it debuted a new app and website designed to be both more engaging and easier to shop. It also introduced a subscription service where customers can add participating products to their shopping cart on Walmart.com or the app and opt to have it auto-delivered anywhere from one week to every six months. Walmart Canada also unveiled a "subscribe to save" option that lets pet owners save 15% on many pet products purchased through the Walmart.ca site.

In fiscal year 2022, the retailer experienced 11% growth in e-commerce,which was up 90% over two years. Walmart operatesapproximately 4,600 pickup locations andfacilitatessame-day delivery from the majority its U.S. stores along with shipping from 158 distribution facilities, including 34 dedicated e-commerce fulfillment centers. (See Market Fulfillment Centers below.)

The number of digital orders coming from stores increased by 170% while store pickup and delivery capacity grew by 40% in 2022. By the fourth quarter of 2022, the retailer's store-fulfilled delivery sales exceeded $1 billion per month.While reporting the results of the first quarter of 2025, the retailer said for the first time, Walmart's delivery business exceeded its store pickup in terms of volume. The retailer also disclosed that e-commerce sales surged 22% year over year for Walmart U.S., fueled by store pickup, online orders and its third-party marketplace.

By the end of 2026, the retailer plans to have 65% of stores serviced by automation and 55% of fulfillment center volume moving through automated facilities.

Walmart also has increased the number of general merchandise items available for these services, which started out as grocery-focused propositions. In turn, Walmart U.S. e-commerce sales positively contributed approximately 0.7%,5.4% and 2.1% to comparable sales for fiscal 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Walmart’s digital order substitution policy lets shoppers approve or reject substitutions when an item is out of stock. Customers, if they choose the offered substitute, will pay the list price for the replacement item.

The retailer's third-party marketplace has ballooned to 100,000 sellers as of July 2021, buoyed by Walmart's concerted effort to expand the assortment of products it offers on Walmart.com with moves, such as:

• partnering with e-commerce platform Shopify,
• offering warehousing and shipping services with the launch of Walmart Fulfillment Services (including shipping big, bulky and/or multi-box items); Walmart Fulfillment Services also became available to Marketplace sellers in Canada in late 2022,
• removing its U.S.-only seller limitation (and continuing to expand into new marketplaces, including Chile in 2024)and most recently
• dangling a 50% discount on commissions for 90 days, while also extending savings on low-cost fulfillment options.

Continuing to add to its third-party marketplace with small and medium businesses offering an assortment that complements what Walmart already sells is a strategic priority for the retailer. Walmart charges sellers only for referral fees, which reportedly range from 6% to 20%, depending on the product, but takes an aggressive stance on pricing, requiring sellers to offer products at their cheapest prices.

Walmart Pickup

More than half of Walmart.com purchases are picked up at stores. Of the various e-commerce fulfillment options Walmart offers, the retailer's drive-up pickup service is the most popular. It was first piloted in 2014 when the retailer opened a stand-alone, drive-through pick-up center dubbed Walmart Pickup Grocery for online grocery orders in its hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, a concept which it abandoned in 2023. Free curbside service at its brick-and-mortar stores, however, has continued to expand– including in Puerto Rico –and had reached 3,750 pickup spots by the end of fiscal year 2021.

Since 2020, curbside pharmacy pickup also is available at some Walmart locations with specified pharmacy pickup spots. Shoppers can pay for prescriptions in the Walmart app or pay a Walmart employee via credit card at pickup.

In 2023, for the holidays, Walmart expanded its curbside pickup and delivery time slots as well as making more gifts available for pickup and delivery on short notice. Customers could order by noon Dec. 24 to have pickup or delivery by 4 p.m.

Delivery

The retailer offersfree two-day shipping— andnext-day shipping— with a minimum $35 purchase. Walmart also offers same-day grocery delivery, from thousands of stores, reaching nearly 70% of the U.S. population, with the retailer typically charging $7.95 or $9.95 for delivery, depending on the time of day. (Most recently it began offering its rotisserie chickens for home delivery.) Same-day delivery is also a key part ofWalmart+(See Loyalty Programs.), which launched in 2021. Shoppers, who sign up for the $98-a-year membership program, get unlimited no-fee deliveries on orders more than $35 from stores and no $35 order minimum required from Walmart.com (excludes most third-party Marketplace items). An express option is available as well, with delivery in 90 minutes or less (sometimes as little as 30 minutes) as well as three-hour fulfillment windows.

For the 2023 holidays, it offered customers express delivery (from store to front door in less than two hours) for $10. Walmart+ members also could take advantage of one free express delivery in December.

As record usage of grocery delivery services during the COVID-19 pandemic led to difficulties booking a delivery time slot, Walmart also accelerated the development of a new Express Delivery service that lets shoppers pay to get in front of the delivery line and promises delivery in two hours or less for an extra $10 on top of the usual fee.

The retailer also offersultra late-night delivery at 4,000 locations. Initially available until 10 p.m., it has since extended that time window to midnight. (Orders must be placed by 10:30 p.m.) The retailer also offers express early morning delivery, starting at 6 a.m., including selling and delivering live bait from more than 3,000 stores.

Walmart is using local delivery partners for the service, and the retailer also operates its own last-mile delivery service, Spark (See Walmart GoLocal below.), which uses self-employed drivers in nearly 40 states. As part of its effort to bring its delivery program under one roof, Walmart acquired gig-labor management company Delivery Drivers, Inc.

Walmart also added a Live Shopper feature that allows real-time texting with a personal shopper. Customers can discuss substitutions or add last-minute items.

The retailer continues to grow its alcohol delivery options. Customers can use Walmart.com or the app to order beer and wine (and sometimes spirits, depending on local laws) from nearly 2,500 Walmart stores in 23 states.

Parcel Stations

Walmart continues to grow its omnichannel fulfillment capabilities, most recently by adding parcel stations to its delivery hubs. Packages move from fulfillment centers to sortation centers or stores, which are then delivered using Walmart's Private Fleet for the last-mile delivery.The retailer likens them to mini post offices that receive and deliver packages. Approximately 40 parcel stations will be operational in stores by the end of 2023, with plans to add more.

Delivery Pass

Walmart Canada is offering a new subscription program, Delivery Pass. The cost is $8.97 a month, or $89 a year. Subscribers can shop more than 65,000 SKUs and receive unlimited next-day delivery at no added cost, or upgrade for same-day or express delivery at a reduced cost. Delivery Pass was first made available in the Ottawa area, and is rolling out to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver next, before going countrywide.

InHome Delivery

Launched in 2019, the retailer’s InHome service delivers fresh groceries, everyday essentials and other products directly into customers’ homes, including placing items straight into their kitchen or garage refrigerators. Walmart continues to expand the service into new markets, making it available to an additional 10 million U.S. households in five states — specifically, metro areas in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. The expansion brings InHome to more than 50 markets and more than 45 million homes.

Where available, Walmart+ members can add the InHome option for an additional $7 a month or $40 a year, amounting to $138 a year or $19.95 monthly. (Walmart+ on its own costs $12.95 a month or $98 annually.)

The service also provides pickup for Walmart.com returns.

In August 2022, Walmart expanded its in-garage delivery of groceries, everyday essentials and other products. The growth is powered by “smart garage” provider myQ. Walmart+ InHome customers can use the myQ app to monitor, control, and secure their garage door for InHome deliveries and returns.

During the pandemic, the retailer temporarily paused InHome Delivery service directly to kitchen or garage fridges or countertops, and instead launched HomeValet’s Smart Box, a doorstep smart cooler delivery service, in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2021. Offering a secure, temperature-controlled and internet-connected outdoor receptacle, the Smart Box enables unattended delivery of fresh groceries and packages to consumers’ front doors. It is currently available in select Florida markets.

In 2022, the retailer delivered more than 2.25 million packages to InHome members and customers. Walmart also said it would be using BrightDrop electric vans to bolster its InHome delivery options.

In 2024, Walmart is introducing InHome Replenishment, an AI-powered feature that uses algorithms to anticipate customer needs, place orders and deliver directly to a customer's pantry and fridge. Customers can skip items that aren't needed or wanted, add extra items to their orders, and adjust their delivery day and time as needed.

Walmart GoLocal

Walmart GoLocal is the name of a white-label, crowd-sourced delivery service Walmart made available to all types of retailers in 2021. Those capabilities involve access to an on-demand, crowdsourced labor pool, similar to what other service providers offer, that Walmart has branded as Spark. The Home Depot became its first customer making select Home Depot products, such as fasteners, paint and other items that can fit in a car, eligible for GoLocal delivery in select markets with a scheduled delivery option. Chico’s FAS, with brands Chico’s, White House Black Market and Soma, became the first fashion client for the delivery service, which offers delivery in select markets in as quickly as two hours. Sur La Table is also working with Walmart GoLocal to offer same- and next-day delivery. Books-A-Million also uses GoLocal for same-day delivery at all its locations.

Walmart has steadily grown its GoLocal offerings, including delivering bulkier orders and handling transfers from store to store as well as from fulfillment centers.

Walmart-owned Sam’s Club also offers the GoLocal service.

In 2022, Walmart GoLocal and Cognetry Labs Inc. partnered to expand the Walmart GoLocal delivery solution to midsize and independent grocery retailers. Additionally, in 2022, the retailer made GoLocal last-mile delivery available to users of Delivery Solutions, a network of same-day delivery providers, including independent contractors and major parcel delivery services, in its end-to-end white-label solution. The delivery network covers 18,000 zip codes, and in fiscal 2023, the retailer made more than 3.5 million deliveries through the service.

In 2023, the retailer partnered with Salesforce in a move that allows it to sell more of its technology and services to other companies. Teaming with the cloud-based software company lets Walmart grow GoLocal's reach as well as its Store Assist Software as a Service (SaaS) technology, a buy online and pickup-in-store platform used by the retailer's employees. The turnkey, white-label solution allows other retailers to use their local Walmarts as fulfillment centers. The service is offered through Salesforce's AppExchange.

In 2024, Walmart added a second turnkey, white-label option: Route Optimization, a tool designed to boost "middle mile" efficiency. Available as a SaaS solution through Walmart Commerce Technologies, the feature helps businesses

• Better optimize driving routes, made possible by AI-driven route mapping that considers factors such as time, location and store delivery windows.
• Pack trailers more efficiently for best use of space and to ensure temperature-controlled items remain fresh.
• Leverage weather and traffic patterns (and pivoting as needed) to assure deliveries arrive on time.
• Plan strategically for inventory pickup/backhauls so trailers aren't empty on return trips, ensuring more efficiency and a greener footprint.
• Get at-a-glance insights on trailer usage, trip time and travel distance without cargo to help operations management make quicker, more informed decisions.

Also, in 2022 Walmart shared plans to purchase 4,500 Canoo electric delivery vehicles, with the potential to increase that amount to 10,000. The Canoos will be used for last-mile delivery of online orders, and could expand into the Walmart GoLocal market. Walmart began testing the vehicles in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as part of its InHome service. The retailer continued to grow the range in 2023 as part of its goal to achieve zero emissions by 2040. The terms of the Canoo deal include that the startup cannot sell EVs to, or design or manufacture them for Amazon.

Third-Party Delivery

Walmart continues to build its in-house delivery services.

Instacart offers same-day delivery from Walmart in select U.S. markets, and in Canada offers delivery in as fast as an hour from more than 250 Walmart locations. In 2022, Walmart Canada partnered with Instacart to launch Walmart Now, the first virtual convenience store pilot in Canada using the Instacart platform and facilitated through existing Walmart stores. Walmart customers within the pilot area in Toronto have access to an assortment of fresh groceries, pantry and household essentials, snacks and more for delivery in as fast as 30 minutes.

In 2023, Walmart Canada partnered with Canadian food delivery network SkipTheDishes to pilot a quick delivery program in Western Canada. Walmart Now customers can use the Skip app and website to place orders for grocery and household items. Transactions totaling $40 or more receive free delivery.

Walmart also has partnered with Point Pickup since 2019 for same-day delivery options in metro areas.

Autonomous Delivery Vehicles

Walmart continues to expand its efforts to fulfill online orders with self-driving delivery vehicles. Autonomous vehicles from Gatik provide “middle mile” transport of grocery products between stores in Bentonville, Arkansas. In 2022, the retailer worked with Gatik to help autonomous vehicle operations come to Kansas with Walmart's use of the technology in the state still to be announced. The discount giant also is working with Ford and autonomous vehicle technology platform Argo AI to launch an autonomous vehicle delivery service in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Washington, D.C., marking Walmart’s first multi-city autonomous delivery collaboration in the U.S. Other self-driving delivery vehicle pilots include:

• An autonomous delivery test with Cruise, the self-driving car unit of General Motors, expanded to shoppers of two Walmart stores in Chandler, Arizona, in 2022, after initially piloting from a store near Scottsdale, Arizona. Cruise will offer delivery from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in its service area, which is constantly evolving, and will use Chevy Bolt EVs, which will be chaperoned by a human safety driver. Walmart shoppers are told that they’ll save money by opting to have their orders delivered by Cruise. In 2021, Walmart became an investor in Cruise to aid the development of its autonomous delivery system.
• A grocery delivery pilot with autonomous vehicle company Udelv in Surprise, Arizona.
• A 2018 collaboration with Ford and Postmates to test self-driving vehicles to deliver fresh groceries in Florida’s Miami-Dade County.

Market Fulfillment Centers

The retailer is scaling its use of automated systems to pick-and-pack shoppers’ online grocery orders and turning dozens of stores into fulfillment centers by converting some of their existing footprint or adding to the building. These stores are equipped with a compact, modular warehouse to store fresh, frozen and frequently purchased items ranging from consumables to electronics. Automated bots retrieve the warehouse items, which are then brought to a picking workstation where orders are assembled. Employees still handpick fresh items like produce and meat, as well as large merchandise, directly from the sales floor. Some participating locations also include automated drive-up pickup points. Walmart says orders can be picked up or delivered within an hour. Technology partners include Alert Innovation (which Walmart acquired in 2022), Dematic and Fabric.Walmart first tested the concept with Alphabotin Salem, New Hampshire, in 2019.

Walmart has several new high-tech fulfillment centers planned, opening in 2023 and beyond. Its second in-store fulfillment center opened in mid-2023 in its home state.The new fulfillment centers aim to provide shoppers and Walmart+ members in those regions with access to next- or two-day shipping on more items.

Other notable fulfillment efforts include:

• In June 2023, a2.2-million-square foot "next generation" fulfillment center northeast of Indianapolis, the retailer's largest to date. In time for the 2023 holidays Walmart has three next-generation centers (the aforementioned in Indiana as well as ones in Joliet, Illinois, and Lancaster, Texas)of four such planned facilities. These are designed to grow next- and two-day shipping capabilities, and enable Walmartto reach 95% of the U.S. population.
• A new 300,000-square foot fulfillment center in Surrey, British Columbia, outside of Vancouver, which is Walmart Canada’s most technologically advanced facility, including vertical picking technology from WITRON, allowing as many as 150,000 orders per day to be picked for 45 Walmart stores. Key sustainability features of the fulfillment center include:
  • LED lighting and intelligent controls, which can reduce energy consumption by 70%;
  • efficient refrigeration systems using environmentally preferable CFC free carbon dioxide; and
  • HVAC system designed to reclaim heat reflected from the refrigeration system and leverage it in radiant under floor heating.

The fulfillment center, which opened in 2022, also will be the hub of Walmart Canada’s future electric fleet. (Its first electric semi-trucks hit the road in late 2023.) Walmart Canada also opened a fulfillment center in Rocky View County, Alberta, outside of Calgary, to serve shoppers in western Canada. It's also piloting an automated receiving solution at its Calgary distribution center, which will reduce manual lifting and strain on associates as it gets products from trailers into the facility 90% faster. It also will enhance data and analytics as it boosts shipping accuracy.

• Patenting technologythat manages more than 7 million Internet of Things (IoT) points across its U.S. stores. The network of connected devices sends approximately 1.5 billion messages daily regarding temperature, operating functions and energy use.
• Automated technology to support a broader digital transformation in its supply chain aimed at increasing the speed, efficiency and safety. In 2022, the retailer completed renovating all 42 regional distribution centers with the tech.
• Pickup Lockers, physical lockers that streamline in-store pick-up of larger items at select stores.
• A completelyautomated dispensing systemfor online orders was tested in Oklahoma and then decommissioned. Originally a stand-alone proof of concept, an updated version that is instead integrated into the fabric of a store is open in Texas. The updated concept is bigger and can serve up to five shoppers simultaneously.
• Walmart Pickup Point, a 40,000-square-foot prototype opened in 2019 outside of Chicago, dedicated to catering to online pickup and delivery orders. Customers drive up to have their orders loaded into their car, but cannot go inside this location. Walmart also had a similar model near its hometown. In 2023, the retailer announced it would shutter the concept stores.
• A “Pay with Cash” option that lets customers order online and pay with cash at stores when they pick up the order. This program is for consumers who may not have a debit or credit card, or may not want to share financial information online.
• Pickup Towers, which were in more than 1,500 locations, were phased out in 2021 as customers increasingly chose curbside service to collect online orders. Walmart had equipped some of the towers with anadjacent beverage center.

In 2022, Walmart Canada revealed plans to invest more than $100 million for a new, high-tech fulfillment center near Montreal, but by January 2024 it had scrapped that effort. Instead it will redirect the monies to upgrade eight Quebec stores.

Drone Service

In 2021, the retail giant invested in Virginia Beach, Virginia-based drone service provider DroneUp, and began delivering eligible online orders from three Walmart stores in Northwest Arkansas via drone to customers’ homes in as quickly as 30 minutes.

In 2022,Walmart expanded its DroneUp network, and by August 2023 ithad made more than 10,000 deliveries through DroneUp and fellow delivery partners Flytrex and Zipline (see below) via 36 hubs in seven states– Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Walmart is also teaming with on-demand drone delivery provider Wing, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, to offer drone delivery from two stores in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, starting in the second half of 2023. In January 2024, Walmart expanded its drone service, offering delivery to approximately 75% of the Dallas-Fort Worth population. The deliveries are powered by Wing and Zipline.

The retailer said it was positioned to expand that to 4,700 stores in the years to come, making the service available to 90% of the U.S. population.

Drone delivery is available daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Shoppers are able to order from tens of thousands of eligible items, such as Tylenol, diapers and hot dog buns, totaling up to 10 pounds for a delivery fee of $3.99.

Zipline

In 2021, the retailer began testing Zipline, a slingshot plane that drops pharmacy items at customer homes via disposable parachutes from a Walmart Supercenter near the company’s headquarters. The unmanned aircraft delivery service is testing on-demand deliveries of select health and wellness products with the potential to expand to general merchandise. Customers need to download Zipline’s app to order eligible items, and no designated landing zone is needed as with drone deliveries.

Flytrex

In 2020, Walmart partnered with Israel-based Flytrex on testing daytime drone delivery of select grocery and household essential items in North Carolina. The pilot program’s drones can fly at speeds of 32 mph, travel distances of 6.2 miles round trip and carry up to 6.6 pounds.

Third-Party Partnerships

Among third-party partnerships:

• Google launched aWalmart-specific action for the Google Assistantin 2019. (See below.)
• Verizon Media launched a "Groceries from Walmart" service that enables Yahoo Mail users to fill a shopping cart and complete transactions straight from their email inbox. Users also get personalized grocery recommendations from Walmart based on their Yahoo profiles.
• FedEx partnered with the retailer to launch Carrier Pickup by FedEx, a free service where FedEx provides Small Parcel Pickup service, that allows shoppers to return purchases made on Walmart.com by scheduling a pickup directly from their home.

Blue Apron

In 2022, New York-based meal-kit company Blue Apron began offering meals without a subscription to online shoppers at Walmart.com. Blue Apron is the only meal-kit provider on the Walmart Marketplace platform, and the boxes will be directly fulfilled by Blue Apron. The meal-kit company promoted the concept during a Walmart+ Weekend, an online savings event exclusive to Walmart+ members. (See Loyalty.)

Conversational Commerce

The discount giant acquired select technology assets of Botmock, a startup that built tools to design, prototype, test and deploy conversational applications across multiple platforms. Botmock’s non-code platform features an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that automatically develops code in the background as conversation flows are created. For example, by giving non-technical employees, such as customer service agents, access to these tools, Walmart hopes to enable them to interact with customers more easily across voice, chat and intelligent assistant platforms. The retailer wants the ability to build natural voice and chat interfaces for its customers and employees faster. Additionally, Botmock technology builds upon several conversational commerce services the retailer already offers, including with Google voice shopping via Google Assistant.

Walmart Global Tech

In recent years, Walmart has made a significant commitment to expanding its global technology operation, which is also its fastest-growing corporate team and in charge of such technologies used in last-mile delivery, virtual fitting rooms and interactive store designs. In 2022, the Walmart Global Tech division added hubs in Toronto and Atlanta, and also plans to hire more than 5,000 technology associates globally during fiscal 2022. The retailer plans to make Toronto one of its major global technology hubs and Walmart Canada also is investing $1 billion in technology and other areas, such as refurbishing local stores.

With the addition of Atlanta and Toronto, Walmart Global Tech now has 16 hubs, including Silicon Valley, Northwest Arkansas, Dallas, and India. The company is continuing to build technology teams in two locations it entered in 2021: Seattle and Chennai, India.

TrendGetter

In time for the 2022 holiday season, Walmart unveiled TrendGetter, a new visual search tool. Shoppers snap a photo of an item or upload an image to TrendGetter.com, which then searches for similar items on Walmart.com. The platform is powered by Google’s Vision image recognition technology.

Buy Now, Pay Later

Walmart Canada now offers a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) online and via its app. The service is powered by Klarna; users have six weeks to pay off the balance to avoid interest charges.

Circulars and Publications

Unlike most other packaged goods purveyors, Walmart does not distribute circulars weekly and does not even maintain a set calendar. Distribution varies widely, intensifies during key selling seasons, can occur any time during the week and varies by market.

The chain’s circulars are generally 12 to 16 pages in length. The focus is lifestyle oriented, moving the focus beyond just price (though that is still a major selling point) to instead emphasize the "Live Better" portion of the retailer's tagline.

Feature space is not sold and placement is solely at the discretion of category buyers. The chain rarely uses the circular to advertise vendor promotions, although it will occasionally plug multi-vendor in-store events.

Walmart Business+

The corporate counterpart to the retailer's main loyalty program, Walmart Business+ offers small businesses and nonprofit organizations free shipping, 2% rewards on orders of at least $250, and savings of up to 5% on certain items in subscription orders. It's priced at $98 per year.

In May 2023, for National Small Business Month, the retailer offered new Walmart Business+ members a $50 e-gift card for signing up.

Private Label

Historically the mass merchant maintained it is primarily a brand retailer that uses private labels to fill in holes where a value gap exists, but Walmart's shifting strategy has now made private brands a pillar of its growth plans.

A study by market research firm Numerator found Walmart owns four of the five top private label brands. U.S. consumers regularly add Walmart private label brands to their carts, including

• Great Value products: Purchased by 72.7% of U.S. consumers
• Equate, 51%
• Marketside, 44.2%
• Freshness Guaranteed, 40%

Close to 40% of the products sold at the retailer are private label brands, such as Allswell, Athletic Works, Equate, Freshness Guaranteed, George, Great Value, Holiday Time, Hyper Tough, Mainstays, Marketside, No Boundaries, Onn, Ozark Trail, Parent’s Choice, Sam’s Choice, Scoop, Spring Valley, Time and Tru, Way to Celebrate and Wonder Nation. The retailer also markets lines of merchandise under licensed brands, including Avia, Better Homes & Gardens, Pioneer Woman and Sofia Jeans by Sofia Vergara.

In 2024, Walmart introduced Bettergoods, the largest private label food launch in 20 years. The brand includes 300 items, including frozen, dairy, snacks, beverages, pasta, soups, coffee, chocolate and more. SKUs range from $2 to under $15, with most priced under $5. Bettergoods products fall into three categories:

• Culinary experiences: Food-trend forward offerings such as speciality salts and seasonings.
• Plant-based: Packaging is green, with dairy- and meat-free options.
• "Made Without": Designed for different dietary lifestyles and needs, including gluten-free.

The chain devotes an increasing amount of marketing resources to its private labels. In stores, Equate OTC products often earn secondary merchandising space on dedicated endcaps and pallet displays in the pharmacy department. The retailer's Parent's Choice private label baby brand (which was relaunched in 2017, benefitting from the addition of its first-ever premium diaper plus a 53-piece bedding line) often gets stocked on endcaps and pallets. Walmart's Great Value coffee products also regularly get the spotlight in Action Alley via dump bins, and the retailer committed to purchasing all of itsprivate-brand coffee sustainably as transparency becomes increasingly important.

In response to customers seeking more sustainable products and packaging, Walmart launched Great Value Compostable Cutlery, which is 100 percent commercially compostable.

It also launched Karün in December 2023, its first eyewear brand made from traceable recycled materials. The brand is found at 1,400 Walmart Vision Center locations.

Other single-department, multiple-SKU brands at Walmart include Ol’ Roy pet food, Equate OTC/HBA products, Prima Della deli meat, Spring Valley vitamins, Marketside ready-to-cook meals, Mainstays home fashions and EverStart batteries.

The company has occasionally acquired the rights to discontinued national brands to add to its own portfolio (as it did with Procter & Gamble’s White Cloud toilet paper before that product expanded nationally). It also markets exclusive lines of merchandise licensed from third parties, including such brands as Disney, Starter, Faded Glory, White Stag and Catalina in apparel and General Electric in home electronics. The chain’s licensing deals additionally span non-exclusive agreements with properties such as NASCAR.

Grocery

The grocery business is a big private label focus. The mass merchant operates a 12,000-square-foot culinary and innovation center at its headquarters as a place where it can both develop its own food items and work with major suppliers to come up with new food ideas. Walmart’s portfolio ranges from single product knock-offs of national brands (such as Dr Thunder cherry cola) to umbrella brands that cover scores of categories, and in recent years has expanded to include many organic and gluten-free options that would have only been found in health stores in years past. The retailer is introducing nearly 1,000 offerings in 2022, with Great Value and Marketside overwhelmingly bringing a steady stream of product introductions to market.

The chain's tiered private-label grocery strategy includes Sam's Choice as the premium brand that in 2017 was expanded to include a line of Italian products dubbedSam's Choice Italia. Great Value serves as a national-brand equivalent that in recent yearsexpanded into organics (replacing Wild Oats). The retailer phased out extreme value brand Price First in 2016.

In 2018, Walmart even entered the private-label wine market with the launch of its own wine brand:Winemakers Selection.

Cause/Community Programs

Through its Walmart Foundation, the retailer supports many different charitable efforts on both the national and local levels. National charities that benefit include Children’s Miracle Network (in the U.S. and Canada), Boys & Girls Clubs of America, The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross.

The retailer’s own efforts include multiple in-house umbrella programs geared toward causes, such as hunger and veteran aid, for which the retailer typically recruits a slew of manufacturers for support. Examples include:

• Fight Hunger. Spark Change:An annual fundraising campaign benefitting Feeding America since 2006. Participating manufacturers often supply custom packaging. Online donations launched in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2023, Walmart and Sam's Club's campaigninghelped raise more than $165 million and donate more than 7 million pounds of food.
• Investing in American Jobs:Many major U.S. manufacturers are part of this marketing and merchandising program supporting Walmart’s pledge to buy more than $250 billion worth of American-made products. Custom P-O-P materials, a “Made in America” logo for manufacturer partners and digital activity typically drop in time with patriotic holidays.
• Veterans Welcome Home Commitment (VWHC):The goal of hiring 250,000 new veteran employees by 2020 is a milestone the retailer surpassed in the first half of 2020. The VWHC guarantees a job offer to any eligible, honorably discharged U.S. veteran. In 2018, Walmart also introduced the Military Spouses Career Connection, and has since hired 31,000 military spouses. Since 2011, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have invested more than $40 million in programs that support job training, education and innovative public/private community-based initiatives for veterans and military families.

Among additional retailer-led, customer-facing cause initiatives:

• Spark Good initiative: Introduced in 2022, the program can help in two ways:
  • Spark Good Round Up: Customers can round up their purchase amounts and donate the change to a charity of their choice when they checkout at Walmart.com or on the Walmart app.
  • Spark Good Registry: Nonprofits can create and manage registries for products they need, and they can send charitable receipts and thank donors through the Spark Good program.
• Walmart wasone of several retailers that workedwith the USDA on a program designed to enable Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to purchase their groceries online using their electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. Online filters allow shoppers to search for SNAP- and EBT-eligible items.SNAP EBT cards are accepted in 48 states. In 2023, the retailer offered Walmart+ Assist, where customers on government assistance received 50% off a monthly or annual Walmart+ membership.
• In 2022, Walmart Canada invited customers to help the Breakfast Club of Canada by donating at the checkout line in store and online. The retailer also contributed $1 million to school breakfast programs across Canada.

Employee Development

As part of its commitment to employee development, Walmart pledged in 2021 $1 billion during the next five years in career-driven training. In turn, Walmart has launched several programs to draw in, retain and benefit employees:

• Live Better U:In 2021, the retailer began offering to pay for 100% of employees’ college tuition and books through its Live Better U education program.
• College2Career:Walmart in 2021 started giving recent college graduates and current college students the opportunity to go through classroom training, hands-on experience and one-on-one mentoring with the goal of becoming a salaried member of management at a local store.
• One Global Walmart Academy:The retailer launched One Global Walmart Academy in 2022 to serve its employees globally through a mix of digital and in-person job-specific retail training along with well-being and leadership courses.
• Mental Health First Aid Action Plan:In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the retailer in 2022 launched a program to spread awareness among its associates about mental health issues and also teach them the skills necessary to aid or even save a life, including implementing a Mental Health First Aid Action Plan.

Supplier Inclusion

• In 2020, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation also committed $100 million over the next five years to create a new Center on Racial Equity to address systemic racism in society and accelerate change by supporting philanthropic initiatives focused on advancing economic opportunity and healthier living; strengthening workforce development and related educational systems; and promoting criminal justice change.
  • In 2022, the Walmart Center for Racial Equity donated $9.5 million in grants to help seed economic development and make healthier food options more accessible.
• Internally, Walmart in 2020 began releasing its previously-annual Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Report bi-annually, with expanded data and new company initiatives to advance the careers of women and members of minority groups, in an effort to become a more inclusive and transparent organization.

Sustainability

• Walmart joined the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment in 2022, and committed to reducing and preventing food waste by 50% along the West Coast of the U.S. by 2030. Reducing waste has been a point of focus for many years. Since 2019, the retailer has sold 862 million food units through food discount programs. In 2020, Walmart donated more than 745 million pounds of food globally.
• Walmart in 2023 renewed its partnership with Denali, a full-service recycler of organics, to provide food waste recycling at 4,700 U.S. stores. Inedible food products will be used to create compost, feed animals and generate renewable energy.
• In 2023, Walmart, Sam's Club and General Mills partnered to help accelerateregenerative agriculture practices on 600,000 acres across seven states by 2030. The acreage represents the approximate amount of land General Mills uses to source ingredients such as wheat for the products it sells through the retailer and warehouse club. The project is receiving additional support through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grants.
• In 2017, Walmart introducedProject Gigaton, an initiative that recognizes manufacturer partners (including those of private label products) for reducing emissions with the goal of avoiding 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gasses from the global value chain by 2030. In 2024, the retailer revealed it would reach that goal six years early, with more than 5,900 suppliers involved. With that goal achieved, Walmart says it will continue to improve and expand Project Gigaton toward its goal of zero operational emissions by 2040.
• In 2018, theretailer promoted several food brandsin its stores as supporters of sustainable farming practices. Walmart has a goal to source 20 commodities, including apparel, home textiles, bananas, coffee and tea along with fresh and frozen seafood, more sustainably by 2025.
• With Walmart’s goal to achieve 100% recyclable, reusable or industrially compostable packaging by 2025, the retailer in 2022 launched Walmart’s Circular Connector, an online tool available on WalmartSustainabilityHub.com to connect suppliers searching for more sustainable packaging ideas and companies that offer them.
• In 2020, Walmart pledged to help protect, manage or restore a minimum of 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030 to conserve nature while declaring its goal to become a "regenerative" company by focusing on plans to use wind, solar and other renewable sources of power as it works to cut emissions from its global operations to zero by 2040, and to use only renewable sources for power at all of its facilities by 2035. Walmart currently powers about 47% of its operations with renewable energy and diverts around 80% of its waste from landfills and incineration worldwide.
• In 2022, Thermo King, a provider of transport temperature-controlled solutions, completed an initial testing of its evolve refrigeratedelectric trailer withthe retailer.
• In 2020, Walmart also updated its forest goals with several global initiatives. The discount giant is working to source 100%-verified deforestation-free beef and soy from critical landscapes in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Walmart is also expanding efforts in sourcing sustainable palm oil and continuing efforts to source private brand pulp and paper (adding timber) from suppliers using Forest Stewardship Council, Programme for the Endorsem*nt of Forest Certification or Sustainable Forestry Initiative certifications, or recycled content.
• The Walmart Foundation has also invested in initiatives, such as improvements to the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch tool, a publicly-accessible global platform for monitoring deforestation; and funded the Map Biomas project through a grant to the Institute for Climate and Society to produce more accurate estimations of land use-related greenhouse gas emissions. And in an effort to work collaboratively to stop forest loss with other retailers, manufacturers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Walmart has joined 16 of the world’s largest manufacturers and retailers as a member of the Consumer Good Forum’s Forest Positive Coalition. Through this effort, Walmart is part of a group of companies taking action to help reduce deforestation and forest degradation from key supply chains and drive transformative change across the industry.
• Walmart is a founding partner of theCenter for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, which formed in 2020 to reinvent the single-use plastic retail bag, with the goal of identifying, piloting and implementing innovative alternative designs. The Center's Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag's first six-week pilot — occurring through the fall in nine CVS, Target and Walmart stores — will refine solutions from the Consortium's global Beyond the Bag innovation challenge to learn more about their technical feasibility and desirability.
• Meanwhile, the retailer also started a “bagless” pilot in Vermont stores in 2021, asking customers to bring their own reusable bags or containers. The outcome of the pilot will help guide the company’s future bagless efforts.
• In 2021, Walmart introduced apollinator health policy, pledging to source 100% of the fresh produce and floral items it sells from suppliers that adopt Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices, as verified by a third-party certifier, by 2025. Walmart also began encouraging fresh produce suppliers to:
  • phase out use of chlorpyrifos and nitroguanidine neonicotinoids pesticides (where applicable unless mandated otherwise by law), avoid replacing them with other products with a level I bee precaution rating, and assess and report annual progress.
  • protect, restore or establish pollinator habitats by 2025 on at least 3% of land they own, operate, and/or invest in.
  • report annual progress through Walmart’s annual sustainability surveys.
  • label pollinator-friendly plants for sale in Walmart’s retail stores.
• Further, Walmart has partnered with solar developers to establish pollinator habitats around solar panel arrays similar to the one at its distribution center in Laurens, South Carolina, and through the chain’s lead participation on community solar farms across Minnesota. Walmart also maintains at least 21 pollinator gardens at retail locations throughout Oregon, Washington and North Carolina.
• In 2022, Walmart partnered with Loop, a circular reuse platform developed by TerraCycle, to enable InHome users in select areas to purchase a limited assortment of items in refillable, reusable containers.
• In 2021, Walmart added a "Built for Better - For the Planet" landing page to spotlight particularly sustainable products on its website.
• In 2022, Walmart Canada became the first major retailer in Canada to offer carbon-neutral last mile delivery for e-commerce purchases sold and shipped by Walmart, including Walmart’s own brand grocery items. Additionally, in 2021 Walmart Canada’s Your Market Fresh beef products became certified sustainable. Walmart Canada is also testing reusable containers in Ottawa.
• In 2024, Walmart Canadapiloted a reusable bag recycling program.
• Among collaborative efforts:
  • PepsiCo, Walmart and Sam’s Club are piloting a program to inspire recycling awareness and participation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At select store locations, shoppers can bring their beverage containers to be recycled for the chance to earn rewards and prizes. The intent is to support a circular economy and help advance the shared mission of PepsiCo, Sam’s Club and Walmart to achieve 100 percent recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.
  • Walmart, Procter & Gamble and TerraCycle are partnering to offer free in-store recycling of empty hair care, skincare and cosmetics packaging at 25 Walmart stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
  • Intimates manufacturer Gelmart's Kindly underwear brand, which launched exclusively at Walmart, aims to offer affordable, comfortable, inclusive and sustainable undergarments.

Additionally, Walmart is heavily involved in multiple manufacturer-led cause initiatives. Among the exclusive activity:

• A version of General Mills’ evergreen “Box Tops for Education” program that regularly fills Action Alley with custom packaging awarding bonus credits.
• Period poverty initiativeswith the likes of Procter & Gamble's Always/Tampax and Kimberly-Clark's U by Kotex.
• Periodic custom programs around the “Self-Esteem Project” platform conducted by Unilever’s Dove.

In a move to be more inclusive for its neuro-divergent customers, for 2023 back-to-school shopping season, Walmart offered sensory-friendly in-store shopping times, to make the experience more tolerable for those who are sensitive to light, sound and moving images. Positive customer feedback resulted in the retailer expanding the program, offering daily sensory-friendly hours from 8-10 a.m. at all U.S. and Puerto Rico stores.

Advertising Strategy

Tagline:“Save Money. Live Better”

Primary media:National and local TV, ROP newspaper ads, local radio, consumer magazines, co-op FSIs, online ads/videos (including a significant investment in Hispanic media).

Advertising costs were $3.9 billion, $3.2 billion, $3.7 billion, $3.5 billion and $3.1 billion for fiscal 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Walmart’s media advertising has come a long way from the old days, when the retailer's old Smiley Face logo zipped through stores “slashing” theoretical prices, Zorro-style. In recent years, the retailer was still heavily emphasizing the price equation, adding a tangible, local flavor by running a barrage of regional TV spots starring real customers as they compared Walmart’s prices to those of other local retailers. Today, the focus is on more lifestyle-oriented spots that move the focus beyond price to instead emphasize the "Live Better" portion of the retailer's tagline.

One notable recent cause campaign touts Walmart’s pledge to buy more American-made products with messaging and visuals intended to celebrate “work.” The effort is the latest in many programs that emphasize the benefits the chain provides to local communities, employees and customers as the company seeks to combat the many negative opinions about its business practices.

Walmart’s major advertising campaigns are typically integrated across all relevant communication channels, with themes and graphics carrying through from TV to circulars and P-O-P materials to mobile messaging. Walmart has a channel-agnostic approach: The retailer focuses first on building content that educates, informs or entertains, and then lets that content define which channels should be used.

The goal is to leverage today’s large network of media channels together with its own targeted distribution capabilities to not only offer solutions, but to actually create a demand for content that it will use to pull consumers across various channels. The retailer wants brand partners to help source that content.Walmart's advertising strategy also includes partnering with various publishers for sponsored content.

Media advertising often prominently features leading brands. National vendor events and promotions can earn a presence, although they most often also include account-specific elements. Celebrity endorsem*nts and entertainment tie-ins are a standard part of the program. For 2023's Black Friday push, Walmart reunited several cast members from the movie "Mean Girls," recreating several scenes from the film.

Solution Providers:

• Advertising, Marketing & Communications Services (Agency of Record): The Mars Agency, Detroit
• U.S. Media (strategy, planning, buying, partnerships, etc.): Publicis Groupe, Paris, France
• Advertising, In-Store Creative: Publicis Groupe, Paris, France
• Marketing: Deutsch LA
• Marketing: FCB
• Shopper Marketing: Saatchi & Saatchi X, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Shoptology, Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Store Environment: Miller Zell, Atlanta
• Private Label Packaging Design: SGK (Schawk), Des Plaines, Illinois; Sun Branding, Concord, California
• Merchandising: Anderson Merchandisers; Premium; Acosta; SAS Retail Services
• Merchandising, Data Collection, Modular Resets: Crossmark, Plano, Texas
• Event Marketing and Demos: Advantage Solutions, Bentonville, Arkansas
• POP Production: Pratt Visual Solutions, Indianapolis
• POP Displays: TPH Global Solutions, Skokie, Illinois
• POP Displays: The Royal Group, Cicero, Illinois
• POS advertising: Neptune Retail Solutions, Jersey City, New Jersey
• Shroud Program: New Creature, Rogers, Arkansas
• Digital Media: KSC Kreate, Hollywood, Florida
• Walmart.com brand showcase development: Mirum, Los Angeles
• Segmentation research: GfK’s, Palo Alto, California
• Product content management network: Shotfarm, Chicago
• TV wall: Tilt Creative+Production, Richmond, Virginia
• Affiliate marketing: Impact Radius, Santa Barbara, California
• RFID inventory:Auburn University RFID Lab
• Omnichannel retail service agency: Bluebird Group, Minneapolis
• Digital Audio Advertising, Walmart Canada: Stingray, Montreal
• Work management: Wrike, Santa Clara, California
• Demand Side Platforms (DSP): The Trade Desk, Los Angeles
• Autonomous vehicles: Gatik, Mountain View, California
• Artificial intelligence and robotics: Symbotic, Wilmington, Massachusetts

Walmart Connect Advertising Partners

• Managed services: Flywheel Digital
• Data insights, reporting, advertising optimization and services enablement: Pacvue
• Data science and analysis: Teikametrics
• E-commerce management, analytics and marketing automation: Stackline
• Integration and insights: Skai
• E-commerce platform and managed services: ChannelAdvisor
• Search, social, mobile apps, CRM and email marketing: Tinuiti
• Omnichannel agency: Harvest Group
• Automation and insights: Downstream from Jungle Scout
• Optimization: CommerceIQ
• Recommendations, automation and analytics: Intentwise
• Optimization and intelligence software: Perpetua
• Cross-channel ad platform: Quartile
• Ad optimization: Sellozo

Walmart Connect Service Partners

• Pricing, agency support, product feedback: Omnicom Media Group

Walmart Canada

• Artificial intelligence, retail automation: Focal Systems, Burlingame, California

Sponsorships

Major title sponsorships come into direct conflict with the retailer’s commitment to EDLP. In turn, Walmart has not historically been a big player in sports marketing.

Professional Fishing:For decades Walmart was the title sponsor of this competitive fishing tournament series, but stepped down to a partnership role in 2017. The partnership includes in-store product marketing and promotions along with retailtainment at fishing tournaments. Walmart Pro Days, weigh-ins, registrations, etc., continue at select Walmart locations.

LGPA:Walmart is the official sponsor of the Northwest Arkansas Championship, which in 2021 was presented by P&G.

Red Bull Racing:In 2021, Walmart inked a one-year deal with Red Bull Racing that lets the retailer sell merchandise from the Formula One team and have the retailer's branding featured on a Red Bull Racing F1 car.

Elsewhere, the retailer generally prefers to leverage the sponsorships of its manufacturer partners. The retailer’s media schedule also includes very aggressive advertising during professional sports events.

Marketing Expenditures

Walmart is one of the largest single advertisers. Total company advertising expenses increased again to $4.4 billion for fiscal 2024, up from 2023's $4.1 billion spend.

Advertising costs consist primarily of digital, television and print advertisem*nts.