Here’s What the Startup CPG Community is Doing to Drive Retail Velocity with Walmart
Our Slack community is the place to crowdsource information in CPG. We’ve got 35k+ members in there – so if you’ve got a question, rest assured you’re not shouting it into the void – someone is very likely to answer you – or in Matthew Nourmand’s case – 25 people are likely to answer you.
Matthew is the Chief Marketing Officer at Galil Brands, building Leonessa and Zweet – confectionary brands. He did what any logical brand builder does – he came to the Startup CPG Slack channel with a question.
We’re launching in Walmart soon and I want to make sure we support the launch with marketing that actually drives retail velocity.I believe the best tactic (and use of budget) would be to focus on influencers and UGC, targeting Walmart shoppers. Would appreciate advice from anyone who’s successfully supported a launch at Walmart
The community delivered! Want to dig deeper into the responses? Check out the Slack thread here.
Let’s get into it.
What Worked Best for Driving Velocity at the Store?
- Walmart Connect is the top recommendation – shoppers are already in the aisle with intent. One testimonial from a marketing advisor shared they saw it driving 40% of sales at 4x category growth rate after 5-6 months.
- Ibotta/Walmart Cash is a scalable, measurable velocity driver. Syndicate your Ibotta offer to Walmart Cash and promote through your own channels (email, SMS, organic social).
- Instacart supports in-store sales via Walmart shoppers who use it for delivery – you may be entitled to ~$300 in credits – worth looking into.
- Make sure your product is actually on the shelf with tags, competitively priced at least 80% of the time.
- Optimize your Walmart.com listings for key search terms with high-quality photos and video.
- Go To Aisle and WeStock were flagged as more intentional velocity drivers worth exploring alongside or before influencers.
- Recommended order of operations: platform ads first (Walmart Connect), then traffic drivers (Ibotta, Instacart, Meta), then influencers.
How to Best Find and Approach Influencers and Use of Budget?
- Micro and nano influencers outperform macro for retail launches – more authentic, community-based word of mouth with stronger local impact.
- Best use of influencer/UGC content is to feed it into Walmart Connect video ads – product visible in first three seconds, captions on.
- Before spending on creators, lock in: your one clear shelf message, your exact target shopper, and consistency of that message across all creators.
- Hummingbirds was mentioned multiple times as a strong platform for nano/local creators across 60+ cities, specifically built for driving in-aisle action.
- Note: People buy where it’s most convenient – if you’re sold elsewhere, creators directing shoppers to Walmart won’t automatically drive Walmart velocity.
Any Lessons Learned (Good or Bad) You Wish You Knew Beforehand?
- Ibotta warning: If not set up correctly, you can burn through serious cash in just a few days. Do it right from the start!
- Syncing Ibotta to Walmart Connect auto-syncs to Instacart – you can’t separate them. If your UPCs aren’t Walmart-exclusive, this causes offer stacking across platforms with any TPRs you’re running. Avoid syndication unless your Walmart UPCs are exclusive.
- Expect a ramp-up period. One commenter shared it took 5–6 months to hit velocity goals. Patience with Walmart Connect could pay off.
- Influencer/paid media can have significant waste and channel spillover, especially if you’re also DTC. Max your Walmart Connect and Ibotta return before expanding.
- Walmart Connect’s team interacts directly with merchandisers, so your ad spend is visible to decision-makers – a less obvious but valuable benefit.
DIY or Work With An Agency?
- Veriti was mentioned as having launched Magic Spoon, Jesse & Ben’s, ButcherBox, and others at Walmart, Target, and Kroger.
- Hummingbirds – specifically for brands needing nano/local creator activation around retail locations.
Did You Do Any Geo-Targeting? Was There A Measured Impact At Store Level?
- Geo-targeting creators to specific regions near Walmart stores is a solid tactic, but may lack sufficient scale alone to move velocity metrics at the store level.
- Walmart Connect does not support geo-targeting to specific stores for sponsored listings, display, or video.
- To identify high-volume Walmart stores for prioritizing spend: ask your category manager for an A/B door list – they often share this to help brands prioritize media and demos by store.
Learn something new? Great! Remember: always do your research before making a decision for a brand. Have questions? Jump in our Slack and ask!
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About Startup CPG
Startup CPG is the biggest CPG community on the planet with over 30k members. We believe in the massive potential of small consumer brands — and have made it our mission to empower them along their journey. Startup CPG connects emerging brands to resources, industry partners, and the most supportive community in the industry.
Through our online community on Slack, our in-person events, and our media and resources — podcast, databases, webinars, and more — Startup CPG brings major opportunities to emerging brands at NO COST.
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