As the world's largest grocery retailer, Walmart is in a powerful position to set and shape industry trends. Certainly, grocers around the globe are watching Walmart closely when it comes to retail media networks. And for good reason.

The importance of retail media

Walmart reported resilient demand for its retail media networks in 2022, with a total take of $2.7 billion. That's despite global inflation pressures pushing many brands to reduce ad spending. Key contributors to the impressive figure were India-based FlipKart Ads and US advertising division, Walmart Connect. The latter reported growth of 41% year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

"The fact that Walmart has achieved such impressive results demonstrates the importance of retail media networks in bringing adverts closer to consumers' inspiration and purchase points," comments Northfork Co-founder and CEO Erik Wallin.

Keeping track

At the heart of many brands' advertising strategies this year is innovation. With budgets under pressure, companies are seeking to ensure that their campaigns make maximum impact. Many are looking to retail media networks to ensure this happens.

The value of retail media is not just its ability to reach shoppers more directly but also its analysis potential. Retailers can see clearly where their ad spend is leading in terms of sales and impact. This means they can make data-driven decisions over future spending, maximising returns from their advertising budgets. Northfork's Erik Wallin comments:

"Given the role of retail media networks in fostering closer connections between brands and consumers, this is likely to be a major area of spending growth during 2023, despite the pressures of inflation. We expect to see retailers around the world focusing heavily on retail media this year."

Closer connections

Northfork's technology also supports closer connections between shoppers and brands. The ingredient suggestions that shoppable recipes generate can serve particular brands first when adding items to the shopper's basket. This provides brands with opportunities to sponsor certain ingredients as part of their partnerships with retailers - and to be added to more customers' baskets as a result.