"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."
"But that's not the case for every retail media network. There are now more than 200 retail media networks on the market, in various states of growth or stasis. Macy's, for example, reported during its second-quarter earnings on Sept. 3 that the revenue generated by its Macy's Media Network that quarter was $34 million, flat compared to last year."
Digiday, Glossy and Modern Retail will host Retail Media Advertising Strategies, a one-day event on retail media, on Wednesday, September 10. In 2018 Walmart's CEO Doug McMillon described Walmart's ad business as tiny and said the company's data had never been monetized. By 2024 Walmart's ad revenue reached $4.4 billion, up 27% year-over-year, and the business grew faster than Amazon's $56 billion unit percentage-wise. Walmart derives almost a third of its profit from selling ads and uses advertising revenue to offset costs such as tariffs. Over 200 retail media networks now exist, with some showing flat growth like Macy's Media Network.
Read at Digiday
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