Walmart Connect has a new advertising feature designed to help brands bring more products to the top of search results.
The news: Walmart Connect launched variant bidding for its sponsored search advertising The new feature is designed to help advertisers on the retail media platform increase discoverability of products on Walmart’s ecommerce site, and ultimately increase sales.
How does it work? Variant bidding allows brands to advertise items within a catalog beyond the primary variant. This could include size or color variations. It’s designed for advertisers seeking to promote multiple items. In turn, shoppers will receive options that are more relevant to search intent.
What’s the best way to get started? Walmart Connect offered the following tips for using the service:
- Identify your goal: Align variants with specific variants. For instance, a campaign for profitability should prioritize best-selling items.
- Evaluate your catalog: Not all variants need to go into one campaign. Focus first on high-converting, best sellers, top priority, and seasonally relevant items.
- Test and learn: Keep the varying nature of different campaigns in mind when adding more variants. Consider new campaigns, and unique identifiers for a keyword list.
Walmart Connect results: According to Walmart’s proprietary data, CTR for search in-grid position 1 is on average 4x higher than products in lower positions and the add-to-cart rate is on average 5X higher. Walmart said this proves a “substantial ability” to influence purchase behavior.
Connect’s importance: It’s a reminder: Walmart is also an increasingly powerful advertising platform. And it’s delivering results. The retailer’s US advertising business
grew 40% year-over-year. The quarter saw the highest spend all year in sponsored search ads. As Walmart
grows its marketplace, advertising will only become a more important tool to stand out.
