By Kaitlyn Collins, Vice President of Marketing at Pacvue and former VP of Marketing for VIZIO
The retailer race is heating up for both ad inventory and consumer viewing signals. With CTV viewership continuing to rise and ad dollars shifting to streaming, major players like Amazon and Walmart are vying to cement their spots within the rapidly growing performance TV segment.
This move is a pivotal moment for the CTV industry and marks a significant leap in the evolution of performance TV. As noted by Andrew Lipsman, ‘Amazon’s partnerships with Disney and Roku should be the next major progression in the rise of performance TV. The amount of ad-supported inventory has been the primary constraint to growth in this market, so bringing two large pools of inventory into the Amazon Ads ecosystem will help attract more national media dollars— including from non-endemic brands.’
As Amazon continues to find new ways to dominate in market share, engagement and attention, there are a few reasons that this announcement makes sense.
Expanding Inventory for Performance TV
Amazon’s integration with Disney+ and Roku provides advertisers with access to a wider, premium inventory pool—addressing the primary constraint to performance TV’s scalability. These deals reinforce Amazon’s strategy to keep its DSP in high demand and to attract substantial media dollars.
Driving Performance and Scalability
With increased inventory, brands can more effectively deploy targeted, data-driven campaigns at scale within CTV and streaming environments, aligning advertising efforts with the performance approach that has driven digital success.
Market Dynamics & Industry Impact
This strategic move elevates Amazon’s position as a central hub in the performance TV ecosystem, intensifying competition among digital platforms and encouraging other major media players to follow suit. These developments foster a more vibrant, data-rich performance TV landscape, attracting non-endemic brands seeking measurable results.
Implications for Retail Media
Expanded inventory and enhanced targeting capabilities will likely result in increased ad spend within Amazon’s ecosystem, further solidifying its leadership in the performance TV space. Brands will benefit from improved measurement, attribution, and efficiency in reaching audiences through streaming and CTV, facilitating more effective performance marketing campaigns. These innovations will accelerate the shift toward performance-driven, cross-platform advertising, making Amazon a primary conduit for national and brand campaigns.
The Retailer Battle for Viewing Data Signals and CTV Inventory
Following Amazon’s announcement, Walmart declared its intentions to introduce the VIZIO operating system on Walmart’s onn TVs. Walmart U.S. President and CEO, John Furner, noted “This is a foundational step toward our broader vision to create a connected experience that brings together the Walmart offerings and benefits customers already enjoy in places they spend the most time – like the living room. It also reinforces our commitment to bring customers more choices in price, assortment, and experiences at Walmart.”
And so the retailer race heats up for both ad inventory and consumer viewing signals. This “experience” powered by VIZIO, equals monetizable impressions for Walmart Connect with wider distribution of the VIZIO OS than ever before, replacing Andriod and Roku operating systems currently powering Walmart’s own onn TVs. While OS home screen and CTV inventory are technically not the same line item on a typical media plan, this decision signals Walmart’s serious intent to challenge Amazon’s dominant position and make similar steps towards bridging the upper funnel measurement gap through retailer powered solutions.
By integrating VIZIO’s SmartCast operating system, Walmart gains greater control over the user experience and, more crucially, access to proprietary viewership data. This data is invaluable for understanding consumer behavior, personalizing ad experiences, and optimizing ad campaigns for maximum impact. The implications extend beyond just TV sales; it’s about establishing a robust retail media network that leverages the massive reach of CTV to drive both online and in-store purchases.
Implications for Brands: Convergence of Commerce and Content & the Rise of Performance & Discovery Commerce
A consistent theme emerging from these developments is the convergence of commerce and content—an evolution also reflected in the rise of Discovery Commerce exemplified by TikTok.
- Performance TV as a Discovery & Commerce Platform: Performance TV is poised to become a key channel for discovery, where content—be it on streaming or connected TV—becomes a natural gateway for product exploration and immediate purchases. This aligns with the concepts behind TikTok’s success in blending entertainment with shoppable experiences.
- Convergence of Commerce & Content: Brands should think beyond traditional advertising, integrating commerce into content-rich environments—creating shoppable ads, interactive videos, and seamless pathways from engagement to purchase.
- Unleashing the Power of Data & Personalization: The expansion of inventory and targeting capabilities enables brands to deliver hyper-personalized, performance-driven campaigns that drive immediate consumer action within entertainment environments.
- Strategic Opportunity: To capitalize on this trend, brands must craft integrated campaigns that combine entertainment, discovery, and commerce, positioning themselves at the forefront of this evolution.
- Long-term Outlook: As performance TV and streaming environments continue to evolve into sophisticated, shoppable entertainment platforms, brands that innovate around content-driven commerce will secure competitive advantages, mirroring the success seen with TikTok’s Discovery Commerce model.
The competition is no longer just about selling products; it’s about owning the digital real estate where consumers spend their time and attention. As more households embrace CTV, the stakes for retailers to control the underlying technology and data infrastructure grow exponentially. This ongoing retailer race for upper funnel power is set to reshape the advertising landscape, creating new opportunities and challenges for brands, content creators, and consumers alike.
This is where I think the “Implications for Brands” section would fit better
