Walmart acquires TV maker Vizio in move to strengthen advertising business

After the Wall Street Journal reported last week that Walmart was in talks to acquire television maker Vizio, the deal finally came through on Feb. 20 at a $2.3 billion price tag.

Walmart’s acquisition of Vizio is the retailer’s latest move to bolster its ad business, in which it sells physical ad space in its stores and on its website to third parties. The Wall Street Journal noted last week that selling ad space is critical for retailers to compete with the big dog, Amazon, which eclipsed $12 billion in Q3 2023 advertising dollars.

• Walmart and Sam’s Club have been among Vizio’s biggest customers, and have already been selling ads through smart TVs. In 2022, Walmart earned $2.7 billion in advertising revenue, per the WSJ.
• When the report broke about the potential acquisition last week, Vizio’s shares jumped 25%.

Now, Walmart is eyeing Vizio’s SmartCast Operating System, which lets users stream advertising content through their devices, per CNBC.

“We believe VIZIO’s customer-centric operating system provides great viewing experiences at attractive price points,” Seth Dallaire, EVP and chief revenue officer of Walmart US, said in a statement. “We also believe it enables a profitable advertising business that is rapidly scaling.”

The bigger picture: Walmart’s been aggressively expanding its retail media network, and the acquisition of Vizio is evidence that it’s doubling down on its efforts in the physical ad space. More than a third (36%) of marketers believe Walmart has the most promising retail media network in the brick and mortar space, according to a 2023 survey of global tech firm Lotame.

• “When you think about our store, our store footprint and the percentage of Americans that we reach through our stores, we can deliver Super Bowl-sized audiences every week,” Ryan Mayward, SVP of retail media sales for Walmart Connect, the retailer’s advertising business, told CNBC, as Retail Brew previously reported.