Amazon vs. Walmart DSP

Amazon vs. Walmart DSP

As Walmart scales upward in an attempt to challenge Amazon’s eCommerce supremacy, they’ve released a powerful DSP (Demand-Side Platform) service. Using the data already available from their extensive customer base, Walmart is well positioned for incredible growth potential in the coming years (Walmart’s Ad business brought in $2.7 billion in 2022, just after a few years of considerable growth). 

Amazon, however, still continues to dominate the space even with the consistent growth of would-be competitors. As the marketplace continues getting increasingly crowded, let’s break down the DSP performance of these two leading digital marketplace giants.

Quick DSP Recap

A third of the Programmatic Advertising trinity, alongside Supply-Side Platforms (SSP) and the Ad Exchange, DSP allows brands to bid on digital ad inventory in real-time on an automated basis. In other words, brands can choose the demographics, trends and other factors they want to target. From there, brands can then automate the bidding process to beat out other brands to plaster the ad onto a site for consumer viewing.

Walmart Connect’s DSP

On November 2nd, 2021, Walmart Connect (Walmart’s advertising wing) launched its DSP service as a direct competitor to Amazon. Partnering with The Trade Desk DSP, the extensive digital reach works synergistically with the retail giant’s understanding of consumer trends and interests. The service provides advertisers an unparalleled level of precision to get your ad in front of the right consumers, thanks to decades of customer sales data at multiple levels, including:

  • e-Commerce
  • App
  • Store  

Walmart’s DSP also provides complete access to all of The Trade Desk’s marketing platforms, including: 

  • Display
  • Video
  • Mobile
  • Connected TV
  • Audio 

Additionally, advertisers receive advanced security and protection services, including:

  1. Anti-fraud algorithms 
  2. A dedicated marketplace quality team
  3. Exclusion and inclusion lists
  4. Sensitive site blocking

Lastly, advertisers are given a generous level of autonomy when running campaigns. Walmart Connect has constructed a powerful tool for it’s rapidly growing digital marketplace With:

  • The ability to easily manage frequency caps across all campaign touchpoints
  • The decision to drive clicks straight to the Walmart site for conversion or to your brand site to generate awareness
  • Access to concise reporting that measures sales even at the retail level

Amazon vs. Walmart

Since Amazon launched its own DSP in 2016 to challenge Google’s advertising business, the venture has proven to be very successful. However, with a $35,000 minimum buy-in, smaller brands can be kept from utilizing the service’s potential for customer acquisition and audience reach. Thus, Walmart’s entrance into the DSP space gives advertisers two key benefits when marketing to this established brand’s consumers

  1. Walmart’s massive collection of first-party data can now be repurposed both within and outside of its purview.
  2. Walmart’s ad business now allows brands who don’t already sell at Walmart to use their data to drive conversions.

 

Those running ads through Walmart’s DSP have already seen visible success. BIC, the company made famous for its collection of pens and highlighters, ran extensive campaigns through Walmart’s DSP during December 2021. The results indicated an overall exceptional performance, with some products earning ROAS of 492% and 472%

As time passed, Walmart continued to roll out greater optimizations, with the last few months alone bringing a transition to advanced second-price auctioning, as well as top search trends reports.

Amazon, of course, still operates an effective reach with its own DSP, but Walmart has presented itself as a viable, up-and-coming contender in the world of digital marketplace advertising. In the end, both companies offer strong, viable data for creating conversions. With Amazon’s tried and true DSP presence and Walmart’s extensive consumer-retail data, brands would be well served to explore the DSPs available in both marketplaces. 

The eCommerce marketplace is a constantly evolving environment with its fair share of booms and busts. Navigating it successfully can be challenging for anyone, which is why you should leave it to the experts, allowing you to focus on managing your brand goals. 

Amazon’s online advertising business recorded $10.68 billion in sales for Q2 of 2023 alone. And Walmart’s online and in-store reach suggest the retail giant will continue to see growth. As both Amazon and Walmart continue to invest in and expand the capabilities of their retail media networks, opportunities for brands will continue to open up. Enhanced targeting capabilities, improvements and expansions in the areas of video and interactive ads, and the increased awareness of these approaches will provide areas in which brands– and the marketplace agencies who serve them– can use to their advantage. Allocating the right resources and budget spend to DSPs is a key strategy for business growth.

Macarta is a full-service marketplace agency specializing in retail media to drive growth and sustained success for its brand partners. Reach out to us here, and let’s get started.




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