Walmart Connect, Roundel, Kroger PM

The three biggest non-Amazon retail media networks. What each does best, when to favor which, and how to plan across all three.

Why these three together

Amazon dominates retail media. After Amazon, the next three by US ad revenue are Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, and Kroger Precision Marketing — together representing roughly half of all non-Amazon retail media spend in the US. Each network has a distinct shopper, distinct data assets, and distinct ad surfaces. Mastering all three is required for any CPG, grocery, or general-merchandise brand at scale.

Walmart Connect

Walmart Connect is the second-largest retail media network in the US, with approximately $3–4B in 2024 ad revenue and growing 25–35% annually. Its strategic position: scale (Walmart sells ~25% of US grocery and ~10% of total US retail) plus omnichannel data (in-store loyalty plus app plus walmart.com) plus a fast-developing CTV play through the Vizio acquisition.

Ad surfaces

• Sponsored Products. The workhorse format. Auction-driven sponsored search placements on walmart.com and the Walmart app.
• Sponsored Brands. Banner format with brand creative + curated SKUs.
• Sponsored Video. In-feed video on walmart.com and app.
• On-site display. Banner ads across walmart.com.
• Walmart DSP. Off-site programmatic powered by The Trade Desk infrastructure with Walmart shopper data.
• Vizio CTV inventory. Post-acquisition, Walmart Connect integrates Vizio's smart TV inventory with Walmart shopper audiences. This is a major competitive advantage for the network.
• In-store screens. Self-checkout, end-cap, and entry-area digital screens at Walmart locations.
• Off-site social. Walmart audience extensions onto Meta and TikTok where available.

What Walmart Connect does best

• Scale. The largest US retailer's shopper footprint; ~150M weekly customers across stores and digital.
• Omnichannel measurement. Walmart Connect Insights ties online ad exposure to in-store purchase through Walmart Pay and loyalty signals.
• CTV addressability. Vizio's ACR (automatic content recognition) data + Walmart shopper data = household-level CTV targeting precision few competitors can match.
• Mass-market and value-tier brand support. Walmart shoppers skew slightly lower HHI than Target; mass brands and private label compete here.

Operational notes

• API access available through Walmart Connect API; partners (Pacvue, CommerceIQ, Skai, Flywheel) support bid management.
• Match-type options for sponsored search: broad, phrase, exact — same logic as Amazon.
• Sponsored Brands video is a strong growing format; allocate test budget.
• Walmart DSP self-service requires partnership; managed service available for smaller spend tiers.

Target Roundel

Target Roundel is Target's media business, named after the brand's iconic bullseye. Strategic position: a smaller but more premium-positioned shopper than Walmart, with a self-service platform that's investing heavily in growth.

Ad surfaces

• Native search ads. Sponsored placements on target.com search results.
• On-site display. Across target.com.
• Roundel Programmatic. Off-site display, video, and CTV powered by Target's first-party shopper data via The Trade Desk.
• Roundel Self-Service. Launched 2022–23; self-managed platform for direct campaign control.
• Connected TV (Roundel CTV). Growing CTV inventory with Target shopper audience overlay.
• In-store digital. Target's in-store screen network at endcaps, entry areas, and self-checkout.
• Co-branded campaigns. Native partnerships with editorial properties (e.g., New York Times) using Target shopper audience.

What Target Roundel does best

• Premium shopper. Target shoppers index higher on HHI, education, and digital-savvy than Walmart. Better fit for premium brands.
• Digital-first omnichannel. Target's app and same-day services (Drive Up, Shipt) generate rich first-party data.
• Brand-safe inventory. Roundel curates off-site placements heavily for brand safety; appeals to premium advertisers.
• Co-branded content. Roundel runs custom content programs with editorial partners that pure DSP buying can't replicate.

Operational notes

• Self-service platform is newer than Amazon DSP or Walmart Connect; expect feature gaps that close quarterly.
• Minimum spend commitments for managed Roundel programmatic typically $25k+; lower thresholds via self-service.
• Sponsored search on target.com is auction-driven similar to Amazon; integrations available via major bid-management platforms.
• Drive Up and Shipt integration creates unique cart-abandonment and replenishment audiences not available elsewhere.

Kroger Precision Marketing

Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) is built on top of 84.51°, Kroger's data-science subsidiary that's been refining loyalty-card-driven analytics since the mid-2000s (it began as dunnhumby USA). The strategic position: not the largest by revenue but arguably the deepest data assets in US retail media.

Ad surfaces

• On-site sponsored placements. Sponsored product ads on Kroger.com and the Kroger app.
• KPM Off-site. Programmatic display and video targeting Kroger loyalty-card audiences.
• KPM CTV. Growing CTV inventory with Kroger audience overlay.
• Audio. Programmatic audio with Kroger shopper data.
• Coupons & offers. Digital coupons delivered to shoppers through Kroger app and email, attributable at the basket level.
• In-store integration. Edge shelf-edge digital signage in select Kroger stores (still scaling).
• Banner-level activations. Kroger's family of brands (Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Fry's, King Soopers, Smith's, etc.) each accessible through KPM.

What KPM does best

• Loyalty-card data depth. Multi-year household-level purchase history across the Kroger family of banners. Best-in-class for grocery CPG.
• Predictive audience science. 84.51°'s data science produces audience segments (e.g., "households likely to enter pet food category in next 90 days") that competitors can't match.
• Trip-level basket context. Audiences built around specific basket patterns (e.g., taco-night basket, breakfast-protein basket) drive contextually relevant creative.
• Closed-loop in-store measurement. Loyalty card means even in-store-only buyers are measured against off-site digital exposure.

Operational notes

• CPMs are typically higher than Amazon or Walmart, reflecting data quality. Plan budget accordingly.
• KPM is managed-service-first; self-service options exist but most spend goes through KPM account teams.
• Best for brands sold at Kroger banners; less useful if your distribution doesn't include Kroger family stores.
• 84.51° offers consulting services beyond media — assortment, pricing, category management. Worth exploring as part of a partnership.

Comparing the three: when to favor which

Factor	Walmart Connect	Target Roundel	Kroger PM
Scale	Highest non-Amazon	Mid	Mid-high in grocery
Shopper income skew	Lower-mid	Higher	Mid-high
Data depth	Strong, growing	Strong, digital-first	Best-in-class for grocery
CTV maturity	Strong (Vizio integration)	Growing	Growing
Self-service maturity	Mature	Newer	Limited; managed-first
CPM	Mid	Mid-high	High
Best for	Mass-market brands, scale plays	Premium brands, brand-safe placements	Grocery CPG, loyalty-driven categories

Planning campaigns across all three

• Distribution alignment. Invest in retailers proportional to your distribution and category position. Strong at Kroger? Lean KPM. National Walmart-first? Lean Walmart.
• Shopper alignment. Premium price-point product? Lean Target. Mass-market value? Lean Walmart. Grocery CPG? KPM's data is worth the premium.
• Trade marketing alignment. Coordinate retail media with the trade team's JBP commitments. Spend that overlaps with retailer-required JBP is often co-funded.
• Off-site activation strategy. All three offer off-site extension. Use them for closed-loop awareness rather than open-web programmatic when retailer alignment matters.
• CTV layering. Walmart-Vizio is the strongest CTV play of the three. Roundel CTV is premium and brand-safe. KPM CTV is rich in grocery shopper data. Test all three.
• Promo amplification. Each retailer runs major promotional events (Walmart Deals, Target Circle Week, Kroger Mega Sale). Amplify your participation with paid media during the event window.

Measurement specifics for each

Network	Measurement features
Walmart Connect	Walmart Connect Insights for closed-loop attribution. Walmart Lift Studies for incrementality. Integration with Vizio Inscape for ACR-based CTV measurement.
Target Roundel	Roundel Measurement for closed-loop attribution including in-store, app, and Drive Up purchases. Roundel Brand Lift Studies. Self-service reporting via Roundel platform.
Kroger PM	84.51° sales lift studies; multi-year cohort analysis available. KPM Sales Lift for incrementality. Integrates loyalty-card purchase data at household level.

Advanced playbook

• Multi-retailer narrative. When launching a new product, coordinate Walmart, Target, and Kroger paid media in the same window to drive omnichannel awareness. Use different creative slants reflecting each shopper's mood.
• Loyalty-tier targeting at KPM. Top loyalty tier shoppers (top 20% spend) are gold. Build campaigns specifically for them when launching premium SKUs or premium pricing.
• Drive Up cart targeting at Target. Drive Up shoppers have different behavior (planned trips, larger baskets). Tailor creative for that mode.
• In-store screen + on-site display combo at Walmart. Coordinated campaigns combining in-store screens and walmart.com display drive measurable lift over either alone.
• Banner-specific KPM activations. Different Kroger banners have different shopper profiles. King Soopers (Denver) skews younger; Ralphs (LA) skews ethnically diverse. Banner-specific creative wins.
• Co-op funding maximization. All three offer co-op funding tied to JBP commitments. Negotiate during annual planning, not at the campaign-launch moment.
• Cross-retailer audience suppression. Don't bombard the same household across all three retailers' off-site DSPs. Coordinate frequency caps at brand level via a CDP.
• New-to-brand benchmarks per retailer. Different retailers convert NTB at different rates. Track and optimize for NTB% per retailer separately.
• Pacvue / Skai / CommerceIQ multi-network management. These platforms manage Walmart, Target, and (partially) Kroger from one interface. Pay for it if you're managing all three at scale.
• Quarterly executive review per retailer. Walk your retailer account team through performance, learnings, JBP alignment quarterly. Builds the relationship that unlocks better co-op terms and beta access.

Common mistakes

• Treating all three as interchangeable — they have distinct shoppers, distinct data, distinct strengths.
• Investing in Walmart Connect because "it's big" without aligning with Walmart shopper match.
• Skipping KPM because CPMs look high — missing the data-quality value.
• Running Roundel and treating it as just another DSP — missing the editorial and brand-safety differentiators.
• No coordination with the retailer's trade team during planning — you fund the same activity twice.
• One-size-fits-all creative across all three retailers.
• Measuring each retailer in isolation; missing cross-retailer cannibalization.
• Forgetting that Walmart-Vizio CTV is fundamentally different from open-web CTV — treating them as substitutes.
• No quarterly executive review with retailer account teams — missing relationship-driven opportunities.
• Allocating spend by ROAS rank without considering distribution, category fit, or strategic role.

Operating checklist

• Active program at Walmart, Target, and Kroger if your distribution supports it
• Strategic role documented per retailer (scale, premium, grocery-data depth, etc.)
• Trade marketing aligned on JBP commitments and co-op funding
• On-site sponsored search baseline at each retailer; off-site DSP layered for awareness
• CTV activation at Walmart-Vizio, Roundel CTV, KPM CTV — rotated and measured
• Banner-specific creative for KPM (King Soopers, Ralphs, Fry's, etc.) where ROI justifies
• Self-service and managed-service balance per retailer based on team capacity
• Pacvue / Skai / CommerceIQ unified reporting if managing all three at scale
• Quarterly executive review with each retailer's account team
• Cross-retailer frequency cap coordination via CDP or audience suppression lists
• Incrementality testing rotation across all three networks

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Part of the Retail Media series. Continue to the next module or take the series exam.