Walmart's ad and digital units now drive a third of operating profit
Seth Dallaire oversees advertising, Walmart+, the marketplace and Vizio as Walmart leans on shopper data from 280 million weekly customers.
Walmart is accelerating efforts to monetise its customer data through advertising and streaming, with the ad and digital businesses overseen by chief growth officer Seth Dallaire now generating about one third of the retailer's total operating profit, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited on the 6th.
The businesses counted in that share are advertising, the Walmart+ subscription, the third-party online marketplace and the Vizio smart TV unit. Walmart draws on shopping data from about 280 million weekly customers across roughly 11,000 stores in 19 countries.
The company anonymises customer data and supplies manufacturers that sell products at Walmart with analysis of purchasing behaviour, according to the report.
Dallaire, who oversees advertising, subscriptions, the online marketplace and the smart TV business, joined Walmart in 2021 after building advertising operations at Amazon and Instacart.
Streaming and ad-tech acquisitions
Walmart acquired smart TV maker Vizio in 2024 to expand into streaming advertising through WatchFree+ and TV viewing data. This year it acquired ad-tech company Vibe.co, which offers streaming TV advertising to small and medium-sized businesses.
In the last fiscal year, Walmart's global advertising revenue was about $6.4 billion.
Quick answers
How much of Walmart's operating profit comes from ads and digital?
Advertising, the Walmart+ subscription, the third-party marketplace and the Vizio business account for about one third of Walmart's total operating profit, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited on the 6th.
Who leads Walmart's advertising and smart TV business?
Seth Dallaire, Walmart's chief growth officer, oversees advertising, subscriptions, the online marketplace and the smart TV business. He joined the company in 2021.
What was Walmart's global advertising revenue last fiscal year?
Walmart's global advertising revenue was about $6.4 billion in the last fiscal year.