After years running solely on The Trade Desk's pipes, Walmart Connect has added Yahoo DSP as a second demand-side platform, starting with VIZIO connected TV inventory. It is a structural shift in how the biggest retail media network distributes its shopper data, and a signal of where the whole category is heading.
The most valuable thing a retailer owns is no longer the shelf. It is the purchase data, and the race is on to make it spendable everywhere.
Walmart Connect has added a second demand-side platform. For years the retail media giant ran its offsite advertising solely through The Trade Desk's whitelabeled technology. As of late May 2026, its first-party shopper audiences are also available inside Yahoo DSP, starting with VIZIO connected television inventory routed through Magnite's supply-side platform.
That is a structural change, not a minor integration. Walmart Connect had maintained a walled garden around its own demand-side platform. Opening a second route signals a shift from controlling every pipe to making its shopper data available wherever advertisers already buy. More platform partnerships are planned, including expanded Yahoo DSP capabilities.
Retail media is the fastest-growing corner of digital advertising because it sits on something the open web lost, deterministic first-party purchase data. Walmart distributing that data across more platforms makes it easier for advertisers to act on, and harder for rivals to ignore.
Why it matters
For Australian marketers, this is a preview. The local retail media market, led by Coles and Woolworths, is following the same arc the US is on, just a step behind. The direction of travel is clear. Retailer audiences will become available through more buying platforms, not fewer, and the brands that learn to use them early will have a data advantage their competitors cannot easily copy.
The connected TV angle matters too. Walmart's first move with Yahoo is VIZIO inventory, pairing shopper data with the living room screen. That combination, knowing what someone buys and reaching them on the biggest screen in the house, is exactly where premium ad budgets are heading.
Walmart Connect went from running on a single demand-side platform to two, with more partnerships already planned
What to do about it
The retailers are turning their checkout data into a media business. The advertisers who understand that early will spend smarter than the ones still treating retail media as an afterthought.