• by Wayne Friedman , February 14, 2024

Analysts believe Walmart is looking to keep pace with Amazon -- especially with connected TV and video-based media sales -- when it comes to performance-based marketing. 

Performance-based marketing for Walmart could expand to making media deals with advertisers on Vizio's smart TV platform. Those buys can then be tracked to actual retail sales of those products in Walmart stores and via Walmart's online business.

Walmart has already been successful with its retail media platform Walmart Connect -- which made $2.7 billion in 2022 and around $3.5 billion in 2023, and is projected to reach $4 billion in 2024.

Walmart is looking to expand its performance-based business. One analyst believes it could become a major seller of video content.

“It would allow what has become a very large seller of  performance-based media to become an even bigger one,” says Brian Wieser, media and financial analyst for Madison and Wall. “A Walmart (or Amazon, for that matter) is arguably better positioned to sell video-based media as part of a performance budget than a traditional seller of media, in part because marketers generally are more likely to believe Walmart's claims and perceived performance, whether within Walmart or outside of it.”

Wieser says Walmart could meaningfully expand Vizio's annual revenue from advertising sales on its smart TV platform, which he says total around $500 million a year.

Data would be another strong piece of business for Walmart in terms of selling marketplace information to media companies. “Vizio has itself become a critical source to the industry through its Inscape business.”

Tuesday trading of Vizio Holdings stock closed up 25% to $9.75.