Walmart Connect now offers an ad certification program that helps advertisers understand how the retail media network operates and the types of ad formats it offers.

• The program provides an intro to retail media, which covers the breadth of Walmart’s ad capabilities, including on-site, off-site, in-store, and omnichannel ad formats. It also provides more in-depth coverage on sponsored products, sponsored brands, and sponsored video ads.
• Next year, Walmart Connect plans to add courses on display ads, Walmart’s demand-side platform, in-store advertising, and its new Brand Shops, which the retailer just announced at its first seller summit in August.

Why it matters: In 2024, we expect Walmart to grow its retail media ad revenues by 38.5%, more than every other retailer, including Amazon, per our forecast. By educating advertisers on its retail media capabilities, Walmart hopes to secure more investment from current advertiser partners and bring new brands on board.

“Walmart has been on a yearslong mission to build an ecommerce platform capable of supporting a long tail of merchants,” said our analyst Max Willens. “Moves like this certification program, as well as the tools it unveiled at a sellers summit last month, show that it is confident that it is capable of attracting that long-tail of advertisers who might want to use its self-serve tools.”