Walmart shopper data will soon feed targeted ads on Disney Plus and Hulu

Advertisers can now use Walmart’s shopping data to target Disney’s streaming portfolio, which includes Disney Plus and Hulu, Adweek reports. The news comes after the companies announced a partnership between Disney Advertising and Walmart Connect, the retailer’s media business, on Wednesday.

As a part of the deal, Walmart advertisers will be able to match the retailer’s shopper data with Disney’s proprietary Audience Graph tools, helping them target audiences and measure data better. Datasets will be combined using clean-room technology so that — theoretically — user data can’t be shared with other external parties.

“Approximately 145 million customers shop with us online and in stores weekly,” Ryan Mayward, senior vice president of retail media sales for Walmart Connect, said in a statement. “Now, marketers will be able to apply those insights to their full-funnel campaigns to reach customers wherever they’re streaming Disney content.”

At the same time, Disney will join Walmart’s Partner Lab, whose members include TikTok, Roku, NBCUniversal, and other TV and social platforms. Each company works with Walmart to test new ad formats and measurement.

Initial testing of the partnership will start sometime in the second quarter across categories like consumer electronics, automotive, apparel, and more.

The news comes after Walmart agreed to purchase smart TV maker Vizio for approximately $2.3 billion in February, which should further boost its ad business. But that’s assuming the deal goes through — privacy and competition advocates are urging the government to investigate the acquisition, warning that it “could lock in captive buyers to Walmart advertising and content channels for good.”