How to Advertise on Walmart Marketplace: A 2026 Guide
Advertising on Walmart Marketplace begins with preparing your seller account and products. Then you can proceed to Walmart Connect Ad Center to set up campaigns.
Sponsored Products are the most accessible for most Marketplace sellers. Qualifying products can be featured in high-intent Walmart placements, and you pay when a shopper clicks on the ad.
Walmart’s earnings update for August 2026 showed Marketplace sales grew 52% year over year within Walmart U.S. This growth means visibility for products becomes more and more important, but this guide will stick with campaign setup. This guide explains what ad formats you have available, how to get your first campaign off the ground, which targeting options to care about early on, how to analyze your results, and what to look at before you spend more.
Different Types of Advertising Options on Walmart Marketplace
Walmart Marketplace sellers can use several ad formats, but each one works differently.
Walmart Connect Sponsored Search currently includes Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Videos. All three use cost-per-click pricing, which means you pay when a shopper clicks.
| Ad format | How it is bought | Eligibility/setup note | Best setup use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored Products | CPC, second-price auction | Item must be published, in stock, and winning the Buy Box to be selected | Good first format for promoting eligible individual products |
| Sponsored Brands | CPC | Available to eligible brand owners registered through Walmart Brand Portal | Useful for top-of-search visibility across a group of products |
| Sponsored Videos | CPC | Available to eligible brand owners that meet Walmart Sponsored Search requirements | Adds video creative inside search results |
| Onsite Display | eCPM, first-price display auction | Available to eligible Marketplace brand owners, acting brand owners, and authorized resellers | Useful for audience-based discovery beyond search |
| Broader offsite and Store Ads | Varies by product and buying method | Access depends on advertiser type, campaign objective, and Walmart Connect product | Advanced reach beyond basic Sponsored Search; Walmart DSP is one offsite buying option |
For display campaigns, Walmart says self-serve Onsite Display uses first-party audience data and an eCPM auction. Walmart Onsite Display also supports contextual, behavioral, keyword, and run-of-site targeting.
SalesDuo's broader audience planning can also use Walmart's first-party audience signals and available targeting segments. That level of audience planning usually makes more sense after the basic Sponsored Products setup is working. That level of targeting makes more sense after your basic Sponsored Products setup is working. It should not be the first decision for a new Marketplace campaign.
Setting Up Your Advertising Campaign
Before you advertise, make sure your Walmart seller account and products are ready.
Walmart’s advertising solutions overview explains that Seller Center is used to manage the Marketplace account, while Walmart Connect Ad Center is used to create and manage advertising campaigns.
- Ensure your Marketplace account is active. Complete seller onboarding, payout setup, fulfillment, and catalog setup before beginning to advertise.
- Determine product eligibility. For Sponsored Products, Walmart currently requires the item to be published, in stock, and winning the Buy Box to be selected. If the item is out of stock or not winning the Buy Box, fix that retail-readiness issue before troubleshooting bids or targeting.
- Select your initial products. Work with a small number of products that have sufficient inventory, competitive pricing, quality pictures, and full product content. Before you spend more on ads, fix your weak listings.
- Confirm access and permissions. Manage your Marketplace account and verify user permissions via Seller Center. Create and manage campaigns in Walmart Connect Ad Center. Ensure the advertiser has the necessary permissions to access and launch ads and that the SKUs you are planning to advertise fulfill the present eligibility criteria.
- Choose your first ad format. Sponsored Products are usually the simplest format for an initial Marketplace test because they promote individual products. Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Videos have additional brand eligibility requirements.
- Specify the campaign details in Ad Center. Set the start and end date, budget, products to advertise, targeting, and bids for the campaign. Follow the current bid and budget minimums as shown in your U.S. Ad Center Account (these are different from the third-party figures).
- Start and confirm delivery. Verify the campaign is live, ads are running, spending is tracked, and your promoted products are still published, in stock, and winning the Buy Box, if necessary. Resolve the problems with delivery or eligibility before modifying targeting or bids.
Advertising costs are separate from the Marketplace referral fees charged on completed orders. Review the Walmart seller fees so you can judge ad spend against the full economics of each SKU.
Listing quality also affects whether paid traffic converts. Before launch, review titles, images, attributes, pricing, and offer quality using the Walmart product listing optimization guide.
First-Campaign Readiness Checklist
- An active Walmart Marketplace seller account
- Appropriate user permissions
- Products that are published and in stock
- Competitive pricing
- Sufficient inventory to handle paid traffic
- Quality product images and full product pages with all attributes
- A clear campaign goal
- A budget you can sustain for a period long enough to gather meaningful data
- A simplified reporting interface for spend, attributed sales, ROAS, CPC, CTR, and conversion rate
Targeting and Early Campaign Management
Early on, your objectives are straightforward: Determine if the campaign is attracting the right buyers and whether those visits are translating into sufficient sales to justify additional experimentation.
Do not build a complicated full-funnel campaign before you know basic Sponsored Products are working properly.
Automatic vs. Manual Targeting
Automatic targeting can help when you need discovery data and want Walmart’s system to match products with relevant shopping behavior.
Manual targeting is more useful when you already know which search terms or product relationships you want to control.
Many brands use both. As data builds, they can separate proven targets from discovery traffic.
Keep the First Test Easy to Understand
- Group products with similar goals and economics.
- Avoid spreading a small budget across too many products or targeting types.
- Check inventory and Buy Box status before assuming low delivery is caused by bids.
- Use search-term and product-level data to decide what deserves more testing.
- Change one major variable at a time when possible so you can understand what caused the result.
Once your campaign is stable, move more advanced bid, budget, keyword, and full-funnel work to the Walmart advertising strategy guide.
Measuring Success and Analytics
Use a small group of metrics to understand whether the campaign is serving, earning clicks, and producing sales.
Do not judge success using one benchmark alone. First, find out where the campaign is working and where it is breaking down.
| Metric | What it tells you | First question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Spend | How much budget the campaign has used | Is the campaign delivering enough to create a useful test? |
| Attributed sales | Sales Walmart connects to the ads under its reporting rules | Are clicks leading to sales? |
| ROAS | Attributed sales divided by ad spend | Does the return make sense for the SKU’s margin and goal? |
| CPC | Average amount paid for each click | Are you paying more for traffic than the product economics can support? |
| CTR | Clicks divided by impressions | Does the ad or listing look relevant enough to earn clicks? |
| Conversion rate | Orders or conversions compared with the traffic measure in your report | Does the product page convert paid traffic? |
A Simple ROAS Example
If a campaign spends $1,000 and Walmart attributes $4,000 in sales to that campaign, the ROAS is 4.0.
That means the campaign produced $4 in attributed sales for every $1 spent on ads.
Whether that result is profitable still depends on product margin, referral fees, discounts, returns, fulfillment costs, and other expenses.
As a current external reference, Walmart reports that Marketplace sellers who advertised with Walmart Connect in FY26 averaged a 5:1 ROAS across Sponsored Products campaigns from February 1, 2025 through January 31, 2026.
Treat that as a broad benchmark, not a promise for your account.
SalesDuo’s existing planning range for this guide is about $3–$5 in attributed sales for every $1 in ad spend. Use that only as a planning reference. Your own margin and business goals should decide whether a campaign is working.
Best Practices for Advertising on Walmart Marketplace
Strong early results often come from fixing setup problems before raising bids or budgets.
- Advertise products that are ready to sell. Keep promoted products in stock, competitively priced, and eligible.
- Fix the product page first. Better content cannot guarantee a sale, but poor content makes paid traffic harder to convert.
- Start with a manageable number of products. A smaller launch makes problems easier to find.
- Give the campaign enough time and traffic. Avoid judging performance after only a few clicks.
- Watch business economics, not ROAS alone. Include referral fees, product cost, discounts, returns, and fulfillment costs.
- Keep setup and scaling separate. Once you have clean data, move into more advanced campaign work.
What Software Do Brands Need to Advertise on Walmart Marketplace?
If you are looking for software to manage Walmart Marketplace advertising, start with Walmart Connect Ad Center. It is the main system used to create and manage Walmart Connect campaigns.
Introduce third-party applications only when they address a specific pain point like:
- multi-account reporting;
- big catalog management;
- marketplace performance comparison;
- team approvals management.
Before paying for another platform, confirm that it supports the Walmart ad formats you use and includes the reporting fields your team needs.
It should also help you separate Marketplace setup problems from true advertising problems.
Software should make decisions easier to understand, not just give you more dashboards.
Why Choose SalesDuo for Walmart Advertising?
A Walmart Marketplace campaign depends on more than turning ads on.
Product readiness, offer eligibility, campaign setup, reporting, and the move from testing to ongoing campaign management all need to work together.
SalesDuo can support that process so ad decisions stay connected to the wider catalog and Marketplace account.
If your team wants help setting up campaigns, reviewing early results, and planning the next stage, work with a Walmart ad agency that connects advertising with the wider Marketplace account.
Frequently Asked Questions about Walmart Advertising
How do I start advertising on Walmart Marketplace?
Finish your Walmart Marketplace setup first. Then confirm eligible products and use Walmart Connect Ad Center to build your first campaign.
Start with a small Sponsored Products test. Set your budget and bids, launch the campaign, and make sure eligible products are actually serving before making changes.
Do I need to be a Walmart Marketplace seller to advertise?
For the Marketplace setup covered in this guide, yes. You need an active seller account and eligible products.
Walmart Connect also supports other types of advertisers, including some supplier and brand programs. Those follow different access and eligibility rules.
How much does it cost to advertise on Walmart Marketplace?
Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Videos use CPC pricing, so you pay when shoppers click.
Use the current bid and budget minimums shown in Ad Center.
SalesDuo uses a $3–$5 ROAS planning range, while Walmart reported a 5:1 average for Sponsored Products in FY26. Neither figure guarantees results for a specific account.
What ad formats are available on Walmart Marketplace?
The main seller-facing options include Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Videos, and Onsite Display.
Walmart Connect also offers broader display, offsite, in-store, and audience-based advertising depending on your access, goals, and available buying method.
How long does it take to see results from Walmart Marketplace ads?
You may see impressions and clicks soon after an eligible campaign launches.
Useful performance trends usually need more time and enough traffic. Give the campaign stable traffic over the next few weeks before judging sales and ROAS.
Make changes based on a clear pattern, not a few early clicks.
About the Author
Pavish Kumar, a seasoned digital advertising expert, specializes in Amazon Ads, Walmart Ads, and Google Ads, crafting data-driven strategies that maximize ROI and brand growth. Beyond work, he is a keen industry trendspotter, an analytics enthusiast, and a lifelong learner passionate about optimizing ad performance.
