Key Display Concepts
Explore core Walmart Connect Display concepts, campaign structures, and workflows.
Overview
This guide introduces the core concepts used throughout Walmart Connect Display advertising and APIs.
Understanding these concepts will help you:
- Navigate the Display platform
- Understand how campaigns are structured
- Configure targeting and measurement correctly
- Interpret reporting results
- Understand which concepts are supported via API
Conceptual vs API supportNot all concepts described in this guide are supported through API workflows.
Refer to the corresponding API documentation to confirm endpoint availability and supported functionality.
Learn more about Onsite Display on the Advertising Help Center
How Walmart Connect Display fits together
Advertiser Account
The account that owns campaigns, audiences, creatives, and reporting.
Campaign
Defines the overall advertising objective, budget, and flight dates.
Ad Group
Controls targeting, bidding, delivery, and creative associations.
Targeting & Measurement
Uses targeting tactics, audiences, and item sets to define reach and measurement.
Creative & Landing Page
Delivers ads and sends traffic to Brand Shops, Shelves, or other destinations.
Advertiser Account
An advertiser account represents a brand or seller advertising through Walmart Connect.
Each advertiser has separate advertiser IDs for different media solutions:
- Onsite Display
- Offsite Display (Walmart DSP)
Advertiser IDs are not interchangeable between solutions.
Advertiser IDs are required for nearly all Display API workflows. Additional guidance for locating advertiser IDs is available through the Advertising Help Center.
Catalog & Product Concepts
Item IDs
Item IDs uniquely identify products within Walmart's catalog.
Item IDs are commonly used throughout Display APIs for:
- Item Sets
- Audience creation
- Campaign measurement
- Catalog discovery workflows
Related identifiers include:
| Identifier | Description |
|---|---|
| Item ID | Walmart.com's unique product identifier |
| GTIN | Global Trade Item Number |
Each identifier may be returned through catalog-related workflows.
Variant Groups
To improve the customer shopping experience, Walmart groups similar products into variant groups.
Customers land on the primary item page and can select alternate variations.
Examples include:
- Different sizes
- Different colors
- Different patterns
Unique identifiers
Each item in a variant group retains its own:
- Online Item ID
- GTIN
Primary vs Variant Item IDs
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Primary Item ID | Default item displayed in search results and item pages |
| Variant Item ID | Alternate version of the primary item |
The primary item is typically selected based on inventory availability and sales performance.
Campaign Destinations
Brand Shops & Shelves
Brand Shops and Shelves are branded landing page experiences that can be used as destinations for Display campaigns.
Brand Shop
- Always-on branded storefront
- Promotes products and brand storytelling
- Can be used as a Display landing page
- Creation is not currently supported through API
Shelf
- Curated collection of products
- Often organized around a promotion or theme
- Can be used as a Display landing page
- Manual creation is not currently supported through API
Brand Shop and Shelf API supportBrand Shop creation and Shelf creation is not currently supported through API. Visit the Advertising Help Center to learn more about building brand pages.
Existing Brand Shops and Shelves can be retrieved through the Brand Landing Pages APIs and used as campaign destinations.
Measurement & Targeting Concepts
Item Sets
An item set is a curated collection of products from an advertiser's catalog.
Item sets support:
- Campaign measurement
- Audience creation
- Audience targeting
Measurement Item Sets
Measurement item sets determine which products are used when calculating campaign impact.
Featured Item Sets
Featured item sets measure the primary products being advertised.
They help answer:
How did my campaign impact the products featured in the creative?
Halo Item Sets
Halo item sets measure the broader impact of a campaign on related products.
They help answer:
How did my campaign influence sales across the broader brand portfolio?
Attribution requirementCampaigns without a featured measurement item set cannot generate attributable sales metrics.
Targeting Item Sets
Targeting item sets are used to create and activate audiences.
They support:
- Rule-based audiences
- Propensity audiences
- Category targeting
- Audience expansion workflows
Learn more
Creative & Delivery Concepts
Onsite Display Placements
Onsite Display campaigns may serve across multiple placements depending on device, inventory availability, and page type.
Placement availabilityPlacement availability in Creative Hub (or via Creative API) does not guarantee availability in auction.
Program Badges
Program badges allow advertisers to highlight specific value propositions within Display creatives.
Currently supported badges include:
| Badge | Activated Via |
|---|---|
| Rollback | Campaign Management APIs |
| Express Delivery | Campaign Management APIs |
| Pricing | Campaign Management APIs |
| Walmart Subscribe | Creative APIs |
Badges help reinforce value messaging while maintaining consistency across creative formats.
Targeting Concepts
Walmart Connect supports four primary targeting tactics for Onsite Display. Refer to the Targeting Object guide to learn more about how targeting via API works.
| Tactic | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral | Uses historical Walmart first-party purchase, search, and browse behavior | Learn more |
| Contextual | Matches ads to relevant pages and content | Learn more |
| Keyword | Targets customers searching for specific terms | Learn more |
| Run of Site | Serves across eligible placements without additional audience constraints | Learn more |
Related Pages
Updated about 6 hours ago