Walmart Connect Onsite Display: A Keystone of Your Full-Funnel Retail Media Program

Retail media’s gotten serious. Budgets are bigger. Expectations are sharper. And it’s no longer enough to “be present.” You have to make every impression count.

Which brings us to Onsite Display. Specifically, Walmart Connect Onsite Display. In the early days of retail media, it was considered a brand play—maybe a nice-to-have. But things have shifted. Marketers are realizing it’s not just about visibility; it’s about impact. Real, measurable, cross-funnel impact.

That’s what made the recent Full-Funnel Walmart Advertising with Onsite Display webinar from Skai and Walmart Connect land the way it did. It wasn’t about convincing people that Onsite Display can make a difference; it was about showing how to make it work. 

Why this conversation is key right now

Full-funnel isn’t a strategy anymore—it’s the standard. According to Skai’s 2025 State of Retail Media report, 61% of marketers say it’s key to campaign performance. And 59% say it helps them influence consumers at every stage. That’s not lip service—it’s the new baseline.

The challenge is how to operate in that mindset. Because old rules don’t apply. Onsite Display isn’t a top-of-funnel awareness tool anymore. As the Full-Funnel Retail Media Formula report puts it:

Onsite Display ads are visually appealing and versatile. Their impact is shaped more by targeting than format, making them relevant at various funnel stages. Onsite Display can drive awareness, support mid-funnel consideration, while also converting shoppers ready to buy.

That framing changes things. It opens up a broader role for Onsite Display—whether it’s sparking discovery, nudging comparison shoppers, or closing the loop on purchase intent.

And when you look at Walmart Connect specifically, Sponsored Brand spending was up 15% in Q1 2025. Offsite and Onsite Display formats are on the rise. The ecosystem is built for full-funnel, and marketers are starting to catch on.

Five ways to think differently about Walmart Connect Onsite Display

Walmart Connect Onsite Display is the retailer’s in-experience ad offering—formats that appear across high-traffic areas of Walmart.com, from the homepage to shelf pages to product detail pages. These ads reach shoppers while they’re actively browsing or comparing, and they’re built to flex. Brands can run static or dynamic creative, target with behavioral or keyword signals, and activate campaigns through Walmart’s DSP or managed service.

That flexibility came through clearly in the Skai and Walmart co-hosted webinar, featuring Corey Hammond, Technology Provider Development Manager @ Walmart Connect, and Kevin Weiss, VP of Commerce Media @ Skai. They discussed how advertisers are using Onsite Display to reach new-to-brand audiences, support product launches, and protect PDPs from competitor conquesting. It’s not just a top-funnel tactic—it’s becoming a lever for almost every kind of objective.

Whether you’re trying to drive early discovery or build momentum toward a promotion, Onsite Display gives marketers a lot more surface area to work with.

Their message wasn’t just about why Onsite Display matters. It was about how to use it in the real world without burning time or budget. Here’s what stood out in the webinar:

Onsite Display requires a different mindset

Onsite Display isn’t search. You’re not simply capturing demand, nurturing consideration, and driving momentum—you’re creating momentum and reducing market friction. That requires a different approach entirely. It’s not about layering on display for the sake of coverage. It’s about deliberately orchestrating where and when those messages appear within the shopper journey to shape outcomes.

Onsite Display gives you flexibility to reach shoppers who aren’t in active search mode—exactly where the mid-funnel opportunity lives. This is where you can introduce new products, build brand presence, and drive consideration before a shopper ever types a query. And because these placements live in high-traffic, high-trust environments, they carry more weight than typical offsite impressions.

Campaigns that only use Walmart Onsite Display can show up to 60% higher iROAS for online and in-store sales for Food & Beverage and up to 100% higher iROAS for online and in-store sales for Consumables than those that only use Walmart Offsite Display (Source: Walmart first-party data, based on sales lift studies from campaigns run by Food and Beverage and Consumables advertisers between January 2023-April 2024.* iROAS is Incremental return on ad spend and is calculated by dividing incremental sales revenue, i.e., the estimated incremental revenue driven by sales lift between the ad-exposed test group and an unexposed control group) by total ad spend. This is a directional analysis at a category level and can only be provided where campaigns include the necessary impression and investment minimums to qualify for sales lift reports. Past performance does not guarantee future results.)

But Onsite Display also works well lower in the funnel. It plays a critical role in retargeting PDP viewers, reinforcing value when a competitor is a click away, and helping to close intent gaps that search alone can’t always capture. It can keep potential customers from falling out of the funnel during those pivotal decision-making moments.

Sponsored Search ads are better when Onsite Display is in the mix

This shouldn’t be a surprise: When Sponsored Search and Walmart Onsite Display are used together, customers are, on average up to 3 times more likely to buy brand items and spend on average up to 40% more on those brand items (Source: Walmart first-party data, Feb. 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024; ad-exposed customers during a 14-day window prior to conversion. Includes all Walmart Sponsored Search and Walmart Onsite Display from 26 impact studies across Food & Beverage, Consumables, Entertainment, Toys & Seasonal, and Home & Hardlines categories. Ad spend measured across brands’ full product portfolio).

That’s not a nice bump—that’s a signal that Onsite Display’s doing real work.

Here’s the dynamic: Sponsored Search ads catch people already searching; Onsite Display gets them there. If you want full-funnel impact, the two have to run in tandem. It’s not about picking one or the other—it’s about understanding the role each format plays across the funnel.

That’s why the conversation’s shifting. It’s no longer “which one should we run?” It’s “how do we sequence them so one strengthens the other?” And when the answer starts with Onsite Display, the whole campaign benefits.

Yes, Onsite Display takes more work—but it unlocks what search can’t

Onsite Display is more work. No argument there. You’re dealing with custom audiences, creative approvals, and more hands-on setup than you’d need for Sponsored Products.

You do need more lead time for Onsite Display—especially when you’re building custom audiences or using new creatives.

But here’s the tradeoff: you get reach that paid search can’t match. You’re hitting people based on behavior, lifestyle, and context—before they’ve typed anything. That means shaping decisions early, not just intercepting them late.

This is where Onsite Display becomes the differentiator—it gives you presence in places that Search just can’t reach.

And there’s proof that the brands who lean in are seeing it pay off. The 2025 State of Retail Media report shows that advertisers allocating more than 35% of their media budget to retail are prioritizing Onsite Display. Not because it’s trendy. Because it’s delivering.

Match your measurement to the role Onsite Display is playing

Onsite Display underperforms when you ask it to do the wrong job. Too often, teams apply ROAS to every placement regardless of what it’s actually meant to do. Not every tactic is meant to close the sale, and that’s especially true when Onsite Display is used to drive awareness or educate mid-funnel audiences.

Walmart Connect’s guidance is to match the metric to the moment. Awareness campaigns? Look at reach and visibility. Mid-funnel strategies? Engagement and new-to-brand lift are better indicators. Retargeting efforts? Now you can talk about ROAS.

It all comes down to understanding the ad’s role—is it building intent, reinforcing a message, or protecting a PDP? The metric should match that function. This is also where planning and platform matter. Skai helps marketers align tactics with the right outcomes so Onsite Display gets evaluated fairly and can be optimized effectively.

Skai gives Onsite Display the structure and speed it needs

Skai’s portion of the webinar focused on how to make Onsite Display more scalable and more manageable. There was a clear emphasis on giving marketing teams the tools to execute Onsite Display campaigns without getting bogged down in setup, pacing, or reporting. Features like dynamic budget allocation, real-time alerts, and structured rollouts were shown as ways to keep things moving without sacrificing control.

Campaign windows are tight. Competition is high. Budgets need to move fast. And if Onsite Display is part of the plan, it can’t become the part that slows things down.

Sauer Brands proves what’s possible with the right structure

During the webinar, Skai spotlighted a real-world case study that made the potential of Onsite Display feel a lot more tangible. Working with their agency, Lewis Media Partners, Sauer Brands used Skai to scale Walmart Connect campaigns with standout results.

As shared by Lewis Media Partners during the webinar, “We were able to use Skai’s Competitive Insights, their AI-based bid-to-ROI strategy, and their automation to really scale across Walmart Connect with confidence.”

You can read the full case study here.

Conclusion: Onsite Display is your new edge 

The teams that are already thinking about Onsite Display as a full-funnel lever will be the ones who stand out from their competitors. That means setting up early, sequencing formats strategically, and resisting the urge to treat Onsite Display like a generic awareness play. The value’s there—but only if the structure is too.

Walmart Connect is making Onsite Display smarter. Skai’s making it simpler to execute. On the horizon, now’s the time to put both to work.

Want to see how Skai supports Onsite Display across Walmart Connect and other RMNs? Request a demo.

Watch the complete Full-Funnel Walmart Advertising with Onsite Display webinar recording to discover the entire story along with tips and tricks to enhance your campaign performance.