General FAQs

What is a primary variant within Sponsored Product campaigns?

A primary variant is the item to which all the other items within the variant group are mapped to. A primary variant was previously known as the “base item”. It is important to note that with the launch of variant bidding all variants, including the primary variant, can be promoted, and displayed within sponsored product campaigns.

What is a variant item?

Every item within your variant group is now a variant item, any eligible item is now able to be promoted within sponsored product campaigns.

What is the current experience vs the future experience when variant bidding launches? What is changing with variant bidding?

1. Before variant bidding: Advertisers can only promote primary variant (formerly known as base item) within sponsored product campaigns
2. With variant bidding: The launch of Variant Bidding will enable advertisers to bid on all their items, including both the primary variant and all variant items. All items will now be variants and you can choose the one you would like to advertise by adding the respective item ID to your Sponsored Products campaign

Example: if the black shirt is the primary variant today and appearing within sponsored search results, but the variants are red, green, blue, these are now eligible to be promoted and appear in Sponsored Products campaigns, so factors that make variants could be color, size, count, etc.

Is Variant bidding only available for sponsored product campaigns?

Yes, variant bidding is for Sponsored Products only. Both automatic and manual campaigns. Variant bidding is NOT available for SBA (sponsored brands).

Are all items’ variants within my portfolio?

Yes, any items in your portfolio can now be promoted so you can choose any variant to be displayed within sponsored search (Sponsored Products only).

What benefits does promotion of variant items provide for the customer?

Optimal customer experience by providing options that are variants which correlate to search results. It is designed to increase the discovery of additional or popular items for the customer.

Which ad placements can variant items be advertised in? (Does not apply to the primary variant)

Variant bidding will be available for the following:

1. Search in-grid
2. SP product carousels
3. Buy Box
4. Stock up

Variant bidding will NOT be available for:

1. Browse in-grid

Can the primary variant be advertised in all placements for Sponsored Products?

Yes.

Will the variants in the same product variant group compete for winning ad slots? If yes, please share more details.

Just like how it works today, if you are advertising similar items or the same item in multiple campaigns/ad groups they will compete against one another. The winning ad will be based on relevancy and bid

• Search In-grid
  a. Only one item per variant group will be displayed for categories
  where many variants exist, and many brands/sellers are promoting
  multiple variants (i.e., Apparel).
  b. Multiple items per variant group potentially can be displayed for
  certain categories (i.e., consumables).
  These are everyday items where we enable faster basket building.
• Carousels
  a. Multiple items per variant group potentially can be displayed at the
  same time.

If a primary variant has been historically advertised, will that have a higher chance showing up over other variants that are not primary?

Not necessarily. Historical performance plays a factor in an item showing up in sponsored product campaigns, as well as many other factors such as relevancy to search query, customer intent, ad item contextual relevance, and max bid price.

Is variant bidding a cold start solution?

No, variant bidding is not a cold start solution. Variant bidding gives advertisers the flexibility to advertise any item within your portfolio which may lead to increased visibility. Advertising variant items will use the same factors as current item relevance does (customer intent, ad item contextual relevance, historical performance).

How do I know which variant item to advertise?

You can advertise any variant item within your portfolio. Determine which items are the most important to what goals you are trying to achieve on walmart.com. It can be you want to promote your most popular items, your most profitable items, seasonal items, items that you think will have the most volume of sales. Refer to our best practices guides for some more tips.