This article provides an overview of Sponsored Products on Walmart's site and app, how it works, and the cost. 

What are Sponsored Products?

Sponsored Products help customers discover relevant products as they search and browse Walmart.ca, mWeb (Mobile Web), and the Walmart App. They are ads that appear on prominent, high-traffic spots such as homepage, browse, search, item and content pages. Sponsored Products drive discovery and purchase among Walmart customers searching for your products. 

Key benefits

• Boost product sales
• Increase share of wallet
• Expand product visibility
• Grow & protect market share
• Maximize profitable SKUs
• Optimize ad strategy through robust reporting

Using Automatic targeting for a Sponsored Products campaign leverages Walmart Connect's AI and machine learning to target and optimize ads, which determines the right audience and placements for your products. Automatic campaigns are designed to supercharge performance, expand reach, and reduce effort—delivering more results with less effort.  

How do Sponsored Products work?

Sponsored Products are cost-per-click (CPC) ads that promote individual product listings on Walmart’s site and app. When customers click on the Sponsored Product ad, they are taken to the advertised product’s detail page.   

The promoted products are selected based on the winner of a first price auction for each ad placement. The winner of the auction is based on the product’s relevancy to a customer’s search query on the Walmart site or app and the amount the advertiser is willing to spend on the ads (i.e., their bids and budget.)

To have your product promoted via Sponsored Products ads you must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Product is in stock
• Product is winning the Buy Box
• Product is published

Note: All variant types are eligible for Sponsored Products campaigns if they meet the above requirements.

How is a product’s relevancy determined?

Walmart determines a product’s relevancy to a customer’s search query based on various factors, including: 

• Customer intent: When customers search for specific keywords or phrases on Walmart’s site or app, the algorithm evaluates those terms to detect any implied or explicit intent. It also recommends popular products based on various signals, such as what other customers searched for or purchased after using similar search terms. This approach delivers a more personalized and intuitive shopping experience by highlighting relevant results for Walmart customers. 
• Item page content quality: When a customer searches on Walmart’s site and app, the algorithm scans product detail pages for keywords within the customer query and ranks the product results based on their relevancy and eligibility for Sponsored Search placements. Content and listing quality scores provide advertisers with insights into which product detail pages need optimization and how well those listings are performing.
• Item-level customer engagement: Increased customer engagement such as clicks and purchases for a particular product further boosts a product’s relevance in search results, helping surface the items that resonate most with customers. A product’s longevity in the Walmart ecosystem strengthens its relevancy. 

What other factors determine an auction winner?

Bid price works in conjunction with relevancy.

• Bid price: The amount the advertiser is willing to spend when a shopper clicks on the Sponsored Product ad for their advertised product.  
• Relevancy: The more relevant a product is to the customer’s search query, the less the ad is likely to cost the advertiser, when other factors remain constant. On the other hand, the higher and more competitive the advertiser’s bid is, the more likely the ad is to be displayed while it is relevant to the customer’s search query. 

How much do Sponsored Products cost?

Sponsored Products are sold on a cost-per-click basis in Walmart's first-price auction. This model means the advertiser only pays when a customer clicks on its advertised product.

Relevancy + bid price determines the auction winner.

To determine the price the advertiser will pay, the advertiser sets a maximum bid they are willing to pay per click and only pay what is needed to win the auction for the ad placement. The advertiser must also meet daily budget minimums and bid minimums to compete in the auction, as outlined below.  

Budget and bid minimums:

• The daily budget must be $20 or above. If you choose to set a total budget, it must be $20 or above.

• Minimum bids cannot be lower than $0.40. 

• Special summer pricing! From June 16th to August 31st, our minimum CPC floor bid will be adjusted to $0.30 (CAD).This limited-time offer is our way of expressing gratitude for your continued support.

Note: We want to ensure that our advertisers understand the potential negative impact of clicking on your own ads. Clicking on your ads is considered a wasted click. Clicking on your ads can significantly impact your return on ad spend (ROAS) and compromise the effectiveness of your advertising efforts. Inform your employees on the importance of not searching for and clicking on your ads.