Walmart, which has developed one of the most sophisticated retail media networks, advanced its advertising strategy on Tuesday to sell more advertising space across connected TV (CTV).

The retailer on Tuesday announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Vibe.co, a self-serve CTV ad platform that aims to simplify advertising for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs).

Walmart Connect is focused on making commerce media more accessible, more measurable and easier to activate for advertisers of all sizes,” stated Ryan Mayward, general manager and senior vice president, Walmart Connect U.S.

Combining Vibe.co’s self-serve CTV platform with Walmart’s commerce audiences, closed-loop measurement and growing media ecosystem includes Vizio. The goal is for Walmart Connect to help more advertisers launch CTV campaigns and better metrics to measure their business impact.

Walmart's acquisition of Vibe.co demonstrates a major shift and shows how retail media, CTV and small-business advertising converge through self-service advertising options for performance media other than search.

It builds on full-funnel advertising options through Walmart Connect, the company’s commerce media business.

The acquisition should help Walmart compete better with Amazon, which announced a deal this week with Samsung. 

Television remote controls have become the key to shoppable ads.

Brands advertising on Samsung TV Plus will soon be able to use Amazon Ads’ remote-enabled video ad technology on the FAST service and connect their ads to Amazon’s browsing, streaming, and shopping signals to reach consumers, measure engagement and close the gap between discovery and purchase across the funnel.

Walmart's acquisition of Vibe.co will likely attract smaller brands that were previously priced out of TV.

SMBs can now buy TV ads through a self-service type of tool that replaces processes that are sometimes lengthy and complicated.

The deal builds on recent partnerships with Google DV360, Magnite and Yahoo DSP.

The transaction is subject to the typical closing conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal estimates Walmart paid $1.4 billion to purchase the French ad-tech firm, citing people familiar with the deal.

The goal is to compete more effectively with Amazon for new ad revenue. The deal includes a "$1.2 billion cash payout to Vibe.co, in addition to around $180 million paid to Vibe’s top executives after the deal closes that requires them, in part, to stay on at Walmart for four years, the WSJ reported. 

Vibe.co CEO Arthur Querou and CTO Franck Tetzlaff, as well as other staff, will join Walmart’s advertising unit “to help maintain business momentum, support a seamless integration, and continue serving Vibe.co’s advertisers,” Walmart said.