Walmart Connect Pivots to Open Ecosystem: A New Era for Retail Media

By Jessica Hammers | June 1, 2026

In a strategic shift that signals the maturation of the retail media landscape, Walmart Connect—the advertising arm of the world’s largest retailer—is officially dismantling the silos that defined its early years. Following the conclusion of its four-year exclusive partnership with The Trade Desk last autumn, Walmart is now aggressively diversifying its programmatic footprint. By integrating its robust first-party audience data and closed-loop measurement capabilities into platforms like Yahoo DSP and Magnite, Walmart is moving beyond the "walled garden" approach to meet advertisers exactly where they operate.

This expansion, particularly focused on the high-growth Connected TV (CTV) space, marks a definitive turning point for the industry. As retail media networks (RMNs) evolve from experimental marketing channels into essential components of a brand’s full-funnel strategy, Walmart’s move reflects a broader industry consensus: the future of advertising lies in portability, interoperability, and precise measurement.

The Strategic Pivot: From Exclusivity to Open Access

For four years, Walmart’s advertising engine was tethered to a singular programmatic partner, The Trade Desk. While that partnership was instrumental in building the initial infrastructure for Walmart’s standalone DSP, the retail giant has clearly outgrown the limitations of a single-channel ecosystem.

The transition to a multi-DSP model—starting with the integration of Yahoo’s Demand-Side Platform and Magnite’s supply-side technology—is designed to capture a larger share of the $17 billion projected to be spent on offsite retail media in 2026. By making its audience insights available through more platforms, Walmart is effectively reducing the friction for agencies and brands that prefer their own established media buying stacks.

Walmart Connect expands offsite advertising ambitions with Yahoo, Magnite

"We are meeting advertisers where they already live," said a spokesperson for the company, noting that the goal is to bridge the gap between retail intent and programmatic execution.

Chronology of a Retail Media Giant

To understand the scale of this shift, one must look at the rapid acceleration of Walmart’s ad business over the last half-decade:

2021: The Genesis. Walmart announces a major overhaul of its advertising business, forming an extensive partnership with The Trade Desk to power its proprietary DSP. This established Walmart Connect as a serious contender in the programmatic space.
2024: The Vizio Acquisition. In a move that sent shockwaves through the streaming and advertising sectors, Walmart acquired Vizio for $2.3 billion. This gave the retailer unprecedented access to living-room viewing habits and CTV inventory, cementing its status as a powerhouse in the streaming wars.
Fall 2025: The Expiration. The four-year exclusivity deal with The Trade Desk concludes. While the relationship continues, the exclusivity shackles are removed, paving the way for the current diversification strategy.
Early 2026: The Launch of ‘Connect Select.’ Walmart introduces a curated media inventory marketplace designed to streamline omnichannel buying, with a primary focus on CTV.
June 2026: The Open Ecosystem. Walmart officially expands its first-party data and measurement integration to Yahoo DSP and Magnite, signaling the move to a truly agnostic, multi-platform programmatic model.

The CTV Imperative: Why Screens Matter

The primary driver of this recent expansion is the explosive demand for CTV inventory. Advertisers are increasingly skeptical of fragmented streaming environments and are desperate for the kind of granular, identity-based targeting that retail media provides.

By leveraging its Vizio asset alongside these new DSP partnerships, Walmart is positioning itself as a "must-buy" for advertisers looking to connect streaming ad exposures to tangible, in-store or online sales. Unlike traditional TV advertising, which often relies on probabilistic modeling, Walmart’s closed-loop measurement offers deterministic data. Advertisers can now track the customer journey from a 30-second ad on a Vizio television screen to the final purchase of a household product at a Walmart checkout lane.

This is not merely a convenience; it is a competitive necessity. As privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies crumble, first-party data—such as that held by Walmart—becomes the "gold standard" for audience targeting.

Supporting Data: The Growth of Offsite Retail Media

The numbers behind the retail media boom are staggering. According to EMarketer, offsite retail media ad spending in the U.S. is forecast to reach $17 billion in 2026, representing a 29.5% year-over-year increase. This growth is being fueled by brands that are moving beyond "sponsored products" on retailer websites and into the broader internet via offsite display and video ads.

Walmart’s own performance data provides the best evidence for this shift. In its fiscal 2027 Q1 earnings statement, Walmart reported a 44% year-over-year revenue increase for Walmart Connect (excluding Vizio). Even more impressive, its global advertising business as a whole saw a 37% revenue jump.

Perhaps most compelling for brand managers is the effectiveness of these offsite campaigns. Internal data from 2025 indicates that Walmart Connect’s offsite display campaigns delivered a median of 52% new-to-brand customers. This statistic is critical: it proves that retail media is not just for converting existing shoppers, but is a powerful tool for customer acquisition.

Implications for the Competitive Landscape

Walmart is far from alone in this pursuit. The "Retail Media 2.0" wave is characterized by an industry-wide push to reach audiences on third-party platforms.

Dollar General has been busy bridging the gap between onsite and offsite media with new, targeted solutions.
Home Depot is aggressively helping advertisers reach DIY audiences on platforms like Reddit and Pinterest, proving that retail data can be highly effective when applied to niche interests.
Albertsons has made significant strides in injecting its fresh retail media data into YouTube advertising, further proof that the biggest retailers are aiming for total omnichannel dominance.

The implication for the industry is clear: The retailer with the most effective data, the easiest-to-use tech stack, and the most robust measurement will win the lion’s share of the digital ad budget. Walmart’s recent partnerships with Yahoo and Magnite are a direct challenge to the status quo, pressuring competitors to open their own ecosystems or risk becoming isolated.

Looking Ahead: The Future of ‘Connect Select’

While the new partnerships with Yahoo and Magnite capture the headlines, Walmart’s internal efforts remain equally vital. The launch of Connect Select—a curated marketplace for omnichannel inventory—is a calculated move to ensure that even as the company expands its partnerships, it maintains control over the quality and relevance of the inventory being sold.

For the advertiser, this means a more flexible experience. A brand can choose to buy through Walmart’s proprietary interface for maximum control, or tap into the Yahoo DSP for an integrated approach that pulls in other inventory sources simultaneously.

As the retail media sector matures, the distinction between "retailer" and "media company" continues to blur. Walmart is no longer just a store that sells ads; it is a technology platform that happens to have a retail footprint. As the company continues to refine its measurement capabilities and expand its reach into new programmatic environments, it is setting a high bar for the rest of the industry. The era of the open retail media ecosystem has arrived, and for brands, the opportunities for precision and scale have never been greater.