Walmart stores are set to become the only places to buy VIZIO TVs
Walmart stores are set to become the only places to buy VIZIO TVs
After purchasing the smart TV brand late last year, Walmart will be making VIZIO exclusive to its stores and Sam’s Club.
When Walmart purchased smart TV brand VIZIO last year, for $2.3 billion, at least part of the thinking behind the deal was to increase the big-box retailer’s advertising capabilities thanks to the millions of VIZIO TVs in homes around the world. However, the hardware side of the equation should not be overlooked. Bloomberg News is reporting that Walmart will transition VIZIO into a private brand, sold exclusively in Walmart stores and the company’s membership wholesale warehouse outlet, Sam’s Club.
Key Details:
- Only game in town: Walmart is set to make VIZIO exclusive to Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.
- A sizeable investment: Walmart purchased VIZIO last year for $2.3 billion.
- Ad-supported plans: Even more than smart TV sales, the acquisition is built around Walmart’s growing advertising business.
With the move from the wider market to Walmart exclusivity, VIZIO will join the retailer’s list of 90 private brands, which is designed to allow it to lower prices and improve margins. Twenty of Walmart’s exclusive brands generate more than $1 billion of revenue annually, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg’s Jaewon Kang.
However, while increasing VIZIO’s already robust presence in its stores figures to be a major boon for sales, Walmart’s acquisition of the brand is aimed more at improving the company’s advertising operations. While that part of the company’s business is growing rapidly, it is still less than 1% of Walmart’s $680 billion revenue.
Now, with the benefit of the advertising real estate on VIZIO home screens, screensavers, and VIZIO Watchfree+, Walmart has the ability to sell advertising to all types of businesses in the same way that Roku has built its business. When the acquisition was finalized, it was disclosed that VIZIO has 19 million active accounts in the United States with 23 million connected TVs (CTVs) in use. That type of inventory should allow Walmart to begin clawing into the smart TV ad sales space dominated by Roku and Fire TV.
If there is any doubt to how important advertising is to these types of companies, just last month, Amazon and Roku announced a partnership that will allow the two streaming giants to reach more than 80% of connected TV households in the United States. The stated goal of the deal is to unlock an addressable audience that will help make CTV an increasingly important part of all marketing plans.
VIZIO WatchFree+
WatchFree+ is VIZIO’s free streaming service, available on its SmartCast TVs. There are 260+ free channels and 6,000 titles on demand, providing immediate access to live and local programming and a wide library ranging from thousands of movies, news, sports, music, kids & family, multicultural, and more. Top channels include CNN, FOX Sports, Hallmark, ION Plus, LEGO Channel, MLB, NBC News Now, and Stories by AMC.