Walmart Introduces Supplier-Driven Self-Serve Insights Connectors

Yesterday at the Possible conference in Miami, Walmart revealed a new insights offering that combines its Walmart Connect and Walmart Luminate products. Seth Dallaire, chief revenue officer of Walmart U.S., shared details about this development during an interview at the Digiday Studio at the conference.

The retail giant, with roughly 144 million customers shopping both in-store and online, has integrated its Walmart Luminate insights unit with its sales network Walmart Connect. This integration sets out to assist the company’s suppliers in better predicting and meeting customers’ needs. The service is named Walmart Luminate Insights Activation, and it is self-serve integration combined with advanced targeting functions with Luminate’s insights to enhance product, brand, and category sales.

In his interview, Dallaire talked in detail about the availability of the new offering for suppliers, noting it will be ready to use by the upcoming holiday season. He also shared perspectives on the retail media landscape.

Dallaire said, “[It’s] essentially a link between the insights that you see around inventory and store events in the physical store — and the digital store as well — but applying those to Walmart Connect and our retail media network.”

He added, “And that’s an important launch for us. It will be a closed beta [test], and then we’ll have a GA [general availability] launch by the end of the year — in time for our supplier partners to understand inventory positions or impact from the holidays.”

According to Walmart’s website, a rising number of its suppliers are realizing the influence of Walmart Luminate’s insights, shaping decisions ranging from product development to retail strategies. Additionally, leading on from a successful pilot last year, the advantages of integrating these exclusive insights into suppliers’ media strategies and activations have been recognized, complementing Walmart Connect’s top-tier audience solutions.

What this means for suppliers is having the option to spot trends within key categories to develop more informed, data-driven media strategies based on Walmart’s insights.

For instance, leveraging Walmart Luminate data, Bimbo Bakeries USA successfully pinpointed key customer trends. It then capitalized on this insight by partnering with Walmart Connect to engage these customers more meaningfully, resulting in increased sales for its business.

Jeff Hendrix, the vice president of customer teams for Walmart and Sam’s Club at Bimbo Bakeries USA, said, “As a company that is steered by data, Bimbo Bakeries incorporates data into every facet of our business. Through the pilot program involving Walmart Connect and Walmart Luminate, we were able to identify a business issue and then utilize purchase-based data to accurately target our audience, ensuring a successful omnichannel experience.”

He added, “This powerful combination has led to enhanced consumer engagement and media outcomes that outperform category benchmarks.”