Chris Delany’s Post

Walmart is buying VIZIO for $2.3 billion. It may seem like an odd move, but it's primarily about advertising, not about selling TVs per se. At a time when retail sales growth and margins are coming under more pressure, Amazon is turning to advertising via its Walmart Connect division as a way of bolstering its numbers. Vizio's SmartCast will allow Walmart to reach more consumers via advertising through the TV sets, putting it a more even playing field with rival Amazon. Longer term, Walmart can also use the Vizio platform to develop more of its own entertainment content — something it might link with the Walmart+ membership scheme. More of my comments in this CBS News article... #Walmart #retail #television #advertising https://lnkd.in/gGSD9Vpi

Data all about data. This deal will allow Walmart to a massive amount of data of what what viewers watch and buy. The deal talks demonstrate the importance of consumer data and ad space for major retailers as they build out their ad businesses and compete with Amazon. In addition to being an e-commerce behemoth, Amazon is among the biggest ad players in the U.S. behind Google parent Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta Platforms. Amazon has also been building its own smart TV business. There is also more competition among retailers hunting for ad dollars with companies including Best Buy, Kroger and Instacart jumping into the business. Advertisers continue to shift dollars into the retail media space, which is expected to hit $59.6 billion in U.S. ad revenue this year, up almost 30% from last year, according to Insider Intelligence #retail #ecommerce #strategy https://lnkd.in/ed57NyEy

Shopping carts overflowing and aisles buzzing.. Walmart's latest move has set the retail world alight. The announcement? A bold $2.3 billion cash acquisition of smart TV giant Vizio. Boasting over 18 million accounts and offering free ad-supported channels, Vizio TVs present an untapped goldmine for Walmart. And with its ad business already raking in $2.7 billion annually, Walmart aims to supercharge its revenue streams, leveraging Vizio's platform to target consumers in new and lucrative ways. This isn't just about TVs and groceries; it's a strategic shift into the high-stakes game of targeted advertising. Walmart, known for its low-margin grocery sales, is flipping the script, using its vast treasure trove of shopper data to infiltrate the advertising big leagues dominated by tech titans like Amazon and Google. The Inside Scoop: This deal could be a direct response to Amazon's $47 billion ad success last year, surpassing YouTube's revenue. Not just that, Amazon recently partnered with Panasonic for ad-based Fire TV sets. Instacart teamed up with Roku to gauge TV ad influence on purchases. Kroger used its shopping data to test targeted Hulu ads, like Pepsi promos for soda fans. Why it matters? In a world where data is king, Walmart is staking its claim as the ultimate retail powerhouse, blurring the lines between shopping and advertising. As competitors scramble to follow suit, the battleground moves from screens to store shelves, ushering in a new era where every aisle and every TV screen becomes prime real estate for the advertising war of the future. GlobalData analysis from the Patent Analytics tool shows the patent landscape in Internet advertising in the Retail sector. ⚡ Ready to revolutionize the future of retail and entertainment? 🚀 Eager for further partnership insights and interested in understanding how these collaborations are reshaping the consumer landscape? Connect with us today to explore the endless possibilities and propel your business forward! 📧 [email protected] or ☎ explore more at our contact page: https://lnkd.in/deGad__f. Elevate your insights and propel your success today! #walmart  #shopping  #consumers  #tv  #amazon  #google  #retail  #patent

Article Highlights: The retail giant is in talks to buy smart television-manufacturer Vizio for more than $2 billion. The deal talks demonstrate the importance of consumer data and ad space for major retailers as they build out their ad businesses and compete with Amazon. There is also more competition among retailers hunting for ad dollars with companies including Best Buy, Kroger and Instacart jumping into the business. Advertisers continue to shift dollars into the retail media space, which is expected to hit $59.6 billion in U.S. ad revenue this year, up almost 30% from last year, according to Insider Intelligence. The mounds of data that retailers have has made them even more attractive to brands in the wake of Apple’s policy changes in 2021 that required apps to ask users if they want to be tracked. Apple’s move has dented some tech platforms’ ability to prove the effectiveness of their ads. Retailers have stepped in with their data that can help brands target ads and measure the outcome of the pitches. Walmart gets most of its U.S. revenue from its grocery business, which typically has low profit margins. Executives see the Walmart Connect ad unit as a path to heftier profits and a way to generate cash beyond the company’s longtime engine of selling goods through stores. Walmart, including its Sam’s Club chain, has historically been Vizio’s largest customer. Vizio is historically the largest television brand sold at Walmart by sales. The discussions between Walmart and Vizio are ongoing, and a deal may not happen. #walmart #vizio #digtalmarketing #advertising

Had a great time chatting with Kristina about Walmart's Vizio acquisition. Check out the article below if you wanna know more about the big moves in retail media and ACR data! https://lnkd.in/eDt6q8KT

Quite a buzz has erupted this week in the #retailmedia world from Walmart's acquisition of TV maker VIZIO. At first glance you might think this is an odd acquisition for a retailer, but in actual fact it's a well played strategic move by Walmart's CEO Doug McMillon. Walmart is second to only Amazon in the US, and in order to compete and enhance profitability, Walmart needs to relentlessly focus on enhancing the #customerexperience right across their path to purchase, from their e-commerce platform to the speed and availability of product delivery. To do so requires cash. And lots of it. Where to get this cash? Advertising. Both Amazon and Walmart have created significant revenue streams from their Retail Media Network businesses. But currently, Amazon dominates Walmart, with $47B of ad revenue coming in versus Walmart's $3.4B over the past 12 months. That's a lot more cash Amazon has to invest in its customer experience than Walmart. What's more, #CPG advertisers are becoming increasingly savvy and more demanding of their RMNs. New ways to reach customers, with less media #wastage and most importantly closed-loop #measurement is vital to unlock those incremental brand dollars. By acquiring Vizio, Walmart has significantly upped its retail media capabilities; it now owns the tech #hardware, which it will sell as a loss leader, increasing its margin on every ad dollar, its increased its #audience reach to serve advertising direct into the home via Vizio's #CTV platform and ultimately enhanced its opportunity to monetize Walmart's valuable first-party #data with closed-loop reporting on retail sales for its advertisers. A bold and cleaver move by Walmart. Will other retailers follow suit? They'll need deep pockets and a big check book to compete. Some great articles and comments out there already, two great ones from The Drum and Fortune in the comments. Threefold-Agency | SMG

Walmart wants to buy smart-TV company Vizio for more than $2 billion in a bid to expand its advertising business, reports The Wall Street Journal. If completed, the deal would give Walmart access to a trove of consumer data and ad space that Walmart believes would help it compete with Amazon. Not at all clear that owning Vizio would do anything to help Walmart compete with Amazon! Most of Walmart's U.S. revenue comes from its grocery business, which generally has low profit margins. Walmart executives hope the company's advertising business could be a more effective moneymaker. That extra cash could then be reinvested to speed shipping and other online services. Vizio acquisition is a BAD idea for Walmart. U.S. ad revenue from retail media is expected to increase 30% this year, to $59.6 billion, per Insider Intelligence.

The Financial Times is one of the few newspapers that writes about Retail Media with any form of depth and insight. This weekend they talked about the Walmart Connect acquisition of Vizio. Let's see what it says and see where the best insights are in this article: #1 "What is the point of this purchase" is asked at the outset. "Buying a budget TV maker is not the most obvious way to sell more advertising." Walmart’s weak M&A record is shown by Jet.com, ModCloth, Moosejaw and Bonobos, Vudu all being sold or closed down. => The risk that this could not work is high, but Walmart can afford a duff acquisition. Most retailers cannot. #2 "Jet.com, Bonobos etc did jump-start its eComm capabilities operations. >15% of total sales, or $100bn, came from online in 2023 V compared with $10bn a decade ago. Vizio could serve the same function as Walmart looks to build out its media and advertising platform to compete with Amazon. " => Yes to the point about eCom capabilities - as these are always hard to grow inhouse - but Vizio is not close to Jet.com as an acquisition. #3 "Advertising accounts for a small sliver of Walmart’s overall revenue. But it is highly profitable. Operating margins are 60% and ad sales will be 8.6% of total operating income in 2024." This is what the Retail Media naysayers get wrong - they don't understand that there is a window of opportunity and the margins are needed by retailer. WHERE IS THE BEST INSIGHT IN THIS ARTICLE? The comments section: #1 Vizio has a $600M ad business growing +30% #2 They’ve had 15% of the TV now smart TV market for 2 decades, #3 Best in class ACR (automatic content recognition) data (which is Walmart is really paying for). Now we are talking! But wait, there's more: #3 Walmart can boost net MAU adds by ~1.2M per year (roughly doubling VZIO’s growth) just by switching from Roku to Vizio OS. #4 Vizio has a ~$100M business licensing the automatic content recognition (ACR) data today. The main users are ad tech startups and it’s absolutely critical to those customers. The CTV businesses cannot exist w/o Vizio’s dataset as it is alll opt in and ~90% of people just hit accept when they are setting up their new TV. #5 The ACR data can detect whatever is on the screen even outside of the OS or “streaming”. #6 "Vizio know what linear TV people are watching realtime. Understandably, it’s much richer than Nielsen’s data whose methods are stone age by comparison. " #7 "Walmart will certainly reevaluate the whole chain of control around that data and at the very least make it fuzzier if not discontinue the licensing altogether." Why $100M of pure fee income matters a lot for a $2B company, not so much for a $500B one with aspirations of doing very unique things themselves So there you have it - I always take the articles -as a good broad brush but use the comments section (as crazy as they can be) to really give us an alternative view. Andrew Lipsman Simon Andrews -> something for Fix / Lite

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 = 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 This is a fascinating article picked up and posted by Todd Hassenfelt. Walmart is set to buy smart-TV maker VIZIO for $2bn. At first I thought this would be interesting as the Smart-TV data would help Walmart better understand customer brand engagement, habits etc. But on reading the article something even more interesting jumped out. Before the pay wall the The Wall Street Journal article states ‘𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬’. This would imply that Walmart intends to stream manufacturer retail media ads directly onto TVs in customer's homes. If this were the case (at scale) then that could mean a seismic shift in the way media and advertising is planned and sold in the US and eventually globally, with significantly implications for brands, other retailers and the existing global media agencies and TV networks. This could be a very interesting and disruptive move indeed. #digitalcommerce #ecommerce #cpg #cpgindustry #fmcg #fmcgindustry #media #retailmedia #disruption

Exciting news in the world of retail and media! Walmart has just made a bold move to revolutionize its advertising business with a strategic acquisition of Vizio, the renowned TV maker, for a whopping $2.3 billion in cash. The implications for Walmart Connect, its media business, are massive. With Vizio's platform integration, Walmart can exponentially expand its advertising reach, offering advertisers a wider audience base and more targeted opportunities. But the acquisition isn't just about expanding its product lineup. It's a strategic step to dominate the evolving media landscape and confront fierce competition, especially from giants like Amazon. Walmart aims to tap into the lucrative potential of Vizio's SmartCast Operating System, unlocking the power of ad-supported content and diversifying revenue streams. Seth Dallaire, EVP & CRO of Walmart U.S., highlighted Vizio's customer-centric OS, emphasizing its ability to deliver top-notch viewing experiences while fueling a profitable advertising ecosystem. Integrating media into its ecosystem offers Walmart numerous strategic advantages. Beyond diversifying revenue streams, it fosters ecosystem lock-in, enhances customer loyalty, and drives lifetime value. It's a win-win for both Walmart and its customers! With Walmart's control over Vizio's platform, the possibilities are endless. From targeted advertising to cross-promotional initiatives, Walmart can maximize revenue potential and enhance shareholder value. It's innovation at its finest! This acquisition isn't just about Walmart securing its position; it's a strategic move to combat Amazon's growing dominance in the advertising space. By bolstering its media capabilities, Walmart aims to carve out a distinct competitive advantage in the digital ad landscape. As retailers navigate the digital era, media integration will be key to staying ahead of the curve. #deals #nyse #stockmarket #finance #walmart Full Article: https://lnkd.in/dNScbMwi