Walmart cranks up advertising drive, with or without TikTok

PENNSYLVANIA, Oct 20 (Reuters): Walmart Inc is aggressively expanding its advertising business after years of stuttering progress, even as a proposed deal to buy a stake in video-sharing app TikTok remains stuck in limbo.

The world's largest retailer is making better use of its wealth of shopper data to link promotions on its website and app with ads inside its network of 4,700 US stores, according to Reuters interviews with six advertising agencies and Walmart ad tech partners, three major brands plus bankers and ex-employees.

The refocused strategy was born early last year when Walmart cut ties with its external advertising partner and took the business in-house, calling it Walmart Media Group.

The company bet it could do a better job of bridging online and offline data for its advertisers and give itself a shot at developing an ad platform that could take on Amazon.com Inc, the sources said.