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5 Takeaways from the Let's Grow! 2025 Seller Summit
September 2, 2025
Walmart Marketplace’s Let's Grow! 2025 Seller Summit was packed with energy, bringing together sellers and top retail industry leaders together in sunny San Diego to think big and discuss the future of eCommerce. The Walmart Connect team was on the ground with a clear message: success in today’s rapidly changing retail landscape requires a combination of innovation, foundational best practices, and a strategic mindset.
Ryan Mayward, Senior Vice President of Retail Media Sales, addressed the rapid changes in retail, evolving consumer behavior, and increasing importance of adaptability as he explained how Walmart Connect isn’t just helping businesses reach their audience – we’re building the bridge between engagement and impact, delivering measurable outcomes that make a difference.
"We are more than an advertising platform. We’re your strategic partner in navigating this competitive landscape by connecting your products to millions of Walmart customers who are already seeking inspiration and value."
- Ryan Mayward, SVP, Retail Media Sales, Walmart Connect
Here are our top 5 takeaways from the summit for any seller looking to thrive in the year ahead.
Takeaway #1: The Future of Advertising Is AI-Powered
One of the central themes of the summit was the transformative power of AI in eCommerce, and retail media is no exception. Walmart Connect is dedicated to making ad buying simpler while harnessing AI to help Marketplace sellers drive greater efficiency and stronger performance.
As leaders like Alex Rothaus, Sr. Director of Product Management, and Peter Wallace, Director of Small and Medium-sized Business Sales, explained, tools such as automatic campaigns leverage AI help to find the right customers, secure optimal placements, and maximize efficiency. This technology is proven to deliver: Sponsored Products campaigns using automatic targeting see 1.7X higher return on ad spend (ROAS), than similar campaigns using manual targeting2, empowering sellers to work smarter, not harder.
While technology is a powerful accelerant, it can't fix a weak foundation. In a breakout session led by Maggie Preketes, Head of Emerging Sales, the importance of retail-readiness was emphasized by high-performing Marketplace advertisers like Tom Castillo (E-Commerce Director, Westin Trends), Natasha Port (VP of Global Marketing, TRUBAR) and Hymie Gindi (Director of E-Commerce, Sweet Hearts).
This means ensuring your product listings are optimized, your goals are clear, and you approach advertising as a strategic, year-round investment. The group shared practical tips on optimizing and measuring ad campaigns, emphasizing that a steady presence drives organic growth that compounds over time - proving far more effective than relying on last-minute pushes.
"We moved to an always-on strategy, tracking KPIs that mattered like A/B tests, new customer growth, and search rank, while making sure budgets matched inventory flow and staggered budgets based on seasonal events. That shift gave us consistent performance year-round and made our ad program strategy effective and efficient."
- Tom Castillo, E-commerce Director, Westin Furniture
The summit also highlighted the need to meet customers wherever they are in their shopping journey. Walmart Connect is expanding its solutions to help sellers build brand awareness and drive consideration beyond the search bar. This includes innovative formats like Display Video ads on key touchpoints and new integrations that allow sellers to extend their campaigns to platforms like Google, driving traffic back to the Walmart ecosystem. This omnichannel approach helps position your products discoverability by millions of customers seeking value, a core tenet of Ryan Mayward's message.
"Awareness is critical but only if it leads to consideration and basket building. To that end, we’re testing innovative, non-search ad experiences that inspire and engage shoppers while enhancing visibility and consideration for your products."
- Ryan Mayward, Senior Vice President of Retail Media Sales
Understanding ad performance is more critical—and more complex—than ever. The summit made it clear that relying on a single metric is no longer enough. Walmart Connect is developing new tools to give sellers a more holistic view of their campaigns, including Omnichannel Attribution and advanced Incrementality testing. This shift encourages sellers to track a full range of metrics—from impressions and new-to-brand conversions to customer lifetime value—to make data-driven decisions that help deliver long-term growth.
Sellers had met with Walmart Connect representatives in person and made real-time campaign optimizations right on the expo floor.
For sellers with growing catalogs or complex needs, leveraging a third-party partner can be a game-changer. Natasha Port, VP Global Marketing at TRUBAR, shared her experience, noting that as her brand's catalog grew, managing advertising in-house became too complex. They found a campaign management partner through the Walmart Connect Partner Network who helped them segment their campaigns by objective and provided crucial insights into new-to-brand metrics and share of voice. Natasha explained that this partnership allowed them to break free from a "short-term ROAS obsession" and build a full-funnel strategy that created a pipeline of new customers and led to record-breaking months.
The summit celebrated outstanding performance, demonstrating that strategic excellence is attainable for sellers of all sizes, with the inaugural Walmart Connect Award for Outstanding Marketing presented to TRUBAR.
As a small, direct-to-consumer brand, TRUBAR leveraged eye-catching Sponsored Videos ads that helped showcase how their product ingredients make them a better protein bar option. Their success underscored the central message of the summit: with the right tools, a strong foundation, and a strategic mindset, any seller can succeed with Walmart Connect.
Read the TruBar case study to see how they did it and get inspired for your own success. Congratulations to the TruBar team!
Ready to accelerate your growth?
Now it’s your turn to put these lessons into action! With Walmart Connect’s powerful advertising solutions, you can reach millions of Walmart shoppers searching for products like yours — helping you spark sales and position your business for success. Whether you're just starting out or ready to scale up, we've got you covered.
Visit our resource hub to access step-by-step guidance to make launching ad campaigns easy, even for first-time advertisers.
The tools are here, the audience is waiting, and there’s never been a better time to advertise with Walmart Connect. Let’s grow together!
