×
The Current, delivered daily.
Ecommerce news, right to your inbox.
Sign up for our email newsletter.
Subscribe.sticky-cta-wrapper {
width: 100%;
position: fixed;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
background-color: var(--black);
}
Subscribe to The Current newsletter
Marketing
27 January
Walmart Connect launches variant bidding to increase discoverability
Brands can advertise any item beyond the primary variant.

Photo by Marques Thomas on Unsplash
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.Want to know how to spend your next $1?
Learn More
Trending in Marketing
Don’t waste another dime on bloated channel reporting and vanity metrics.
Unlock Incremental Growth
Economy
6h
This Week in Commerce: Nike earnings, Fed rate decision
Check out the agenda for March 20-24.
Welcome to a new week. Earnings offer a bellwether for the consumer economy this week, as key brands like Nike and General Mills will report results. Elsewhere, all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve as it announces its latest decision on interest rates.
Economic indicators
Fed interest rate decision: The Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee announces its decision on whether and by how much to hike benchmark interest rates following its two-day meeting. The Fed has been hiking interest rates rapidly in an effort to bring down 40-year-high inflation, but slowed the pace at the February meeting with a 0.25% increase. (March 22, 2 p.m.)
Durable goods orders: The U.S. Commerce Department releases data on orders from manufacturers for goods that are designed to last more than three years. This is considered an indicator of business activity. In January, orders dropped at the steepest rate since April 2020. (March 24, 8:30 a.m.)
Earnings
Monday, March 20: Boxed, Foot Locker
Tuesday, March 21: Nike, GameStop
Wednesday, March 22: Petco, Chewy
Thursday, March 23: General Mills, Express
Keep reading...
Show less
Loading...
Subscribe to The Current Newsletter
SubscribeLatest from Marketing
.sticky-cta-wrapper {
width: 100%;
position: fixed;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
background-color: var(--black);
}
Subscribe to The Current newsletter