"Back in 2018, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon felt that Walmart's ad business was " tiny." "Our data has never been monetized," McMillon told analysts at the time. "[The ad business] could be bigger." Fast forward to 2025, and Walmart's advertising business has now become a multi-billion-dollar behemoth. In 2024, Walmart's advertising business brought in $4.4 billion in advertising revenue, up 27% year-over-year. While it still pales in comparison to Amazon's $56 billion advertising business, Walmart's advertising business is growing at a slightly faster clip."
"And, perhaps most importantly, it's become a significant profit driver for Walmart. Last year, Walmart CFO John David Rainey said that almost a third of Walmart's profit comes from selling ads. And McMillion has said that having an advertising business has been helpful as Walmart - like every retailer - is trying to figure out how much of the costs it can absorb from tariffs before passing on price increases to consumers."
Walmart's ad business expanded from an unmonetized operation in 2018 into a multi-billion-dollar unit by 2024, generating $4.4 billion and growing 27% year-over-year. The unit grows slightly faster than Amazon's much larger ad business and supplies nearly a third of Walmart's profit, helping absorb costs such as tariffs. The retail media market now includes more than 200 networks with mixed performance. Macy's Media Network generated $34 million in a recent quarter, flat year-over-year. Industry forecasts show commerce ad spend growth slowing in 2025 compared to 2024.
Read at Modern Retail
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