Walmart is aligning Walmart Connect, Walmart Connect International, and Sam's Club Connect (formerly Sam's Club Member Access Platform) around shared technology, platforms and capabilities while maintaining separate brand identities. The goal is to simplify how advertisers buy, measure, and scale retail media campaigns.

But beyond the organizational changes, the move offers a window into how one of retail media's largest players sees the industry's future.

"Retail media is entering a new chapter," said Harvey Ma, vice president and general manager of Sam's Club Connect. "The first phase was about building networks. The next phase is about connecting capabilities."

The move comes as brands have become increasingly vocal about the growing complexity of retail media, where dozens of retail media networks (RMNs) each operate their own platforms, measurement systems and workflows.

"Our goal is to reduce complexity, not add to it," Ma said. "Advertisers have been clear that they want fewer disconnected systems and more consistency."

Why Sam's Club matters

While the announcement encompasses Walmart's global advertising business, Ma believes Sam's Club contributes something unique to the broader strategy: membership.

"Sam's Club Connect changes retail media because membership gives us a persistent, relationship-based view of our members, not just a transaction-based view of shoppers," he said.

That relationship changes what advertisers can understand about customer behavior.

"We can connect transactions, interactions, and ad exposures across channels and experiences, from in-club to digital to offsite," Ma said. "We can understand not only what a member bought, but what they were exposed to, how they engaged, where they purchased, and what happened next."

That creates opportunities for brands that extend well beyond campaign reporting, according to Ma.

"It allows us to move beyond campaign-level performance and measure outcomes that matter more strategically, like repeat purchase, acquisition, retention, category growth, and lifetime value," he said.

Membership data also opens the door to more sophisticated audience strategies.

"Because we understand member behavior over time, we can help brands reach members based on propensity, loyalty, lifecycle stage, and future value, not just past purchases," Ma said. "The membership model makes retail media more intelligent, more accountable, and more relationship-driven."

Beyond AI and measurement

As retail media evolves, much of the conversation centers on AI, first-party data and measurement. Ma argues those are necessary capabilities, but not enough on their own.

"Inventory, data, measurement, and AI are all essential, but they're not the competitive advantage," he said. "They're the foundation."

Instead, he believes success will depend on how well retailers integrate those capabilities: "The differentiator is how you connect them across an ecosystem to move beyond individual transactions and build stronger member relationships."

That philosophy also reflects Walmart's broader vision of creating a commerce media ecosystem that connects audiences, commerce, and measurement rather than treating them as separate functions.

The next frontier

Closed-loop measurement has become standard across retail media, but Ma believes the industry's biggest opportunity lies elsewhere.

"How do you measure loyalty?" he asked. "How do you understand how experiences change shopping behavior over time?"

For him, the answer lies in understanding long-term customer value rather than simply attributing individual purchases.

"The next frontier is understanding long-term member value," he said. "That's where I think the industry is headed, especially as we connect physical and digital experiences more effectively."

That shift also changes how retail media should define success.

"Retail media has spent the last five years proving it's an important advertising channel," Ma said. "The next chapter is about proving value. That means moving beyond impressions and ROAS toward member relationships, better, more impactful experiences and long-term business growth."