Walmart has expanded its Scintilla Digital Landscapes platform with new capabilities that give suppliers a clearer, data-rich view of how customers move from discovery to purchase.

• The update adds 15 new metrics across traffic, conversion, digital basket, and search, enabling brands to see where shoppers start their journeys, what drives purchases or cart abandonment, and which keywords and trends shape discovery.

“Now, in addition to seeing how customers transact with us and how operationally you’re performing at Walmart, we have this third component focused on pre-purchase behaviors… what’s happening before they convert digitally,” said Linda Lomelino, group director of product management at Walmart Data Ventures.

This enables suppliers to see how traffic flows across Walmart.com and the Walmart app, whether customers come from search, social, or external sites, and connect those signals with inventory, pricing, and sales.

Connecting insight to action

For advertisers, this shift means being able to more quickly turn insights into action.

“Scintilla is an essential tool to optimize and really tailor ad strategies for our brands,” said Lara Barmish, group director, consumables at Walmart Connect, noting how the platform helps Walmart and suppliers more strategically allocate their digital ad spend or channel mix.

• Advertisers can now see how media tactics affect not just clicks or conversions but category consideration, search behavior, and operational factors like out-of-stocks.
• Walmart Connect has used the data to adjust brand campaigns based on viral moments or sudden spikes in search traffic, and to work directly with Walmart’s supply chain teams to ensure inventory keeps pace.

Moving beyond surface metrics

The updates were shaped by user feedback, said Lomelino.

“We really focused on the metrics that would move the business first and foremost. Things like funnel insights, conversion, and out-of-stocks… those are all missed sales and have true actionability behind them.”

The goal is not just to provide more data but to make it more interpretable.

Lomelino highlighted the platform’s built-in education tools and context features, including data dictionaries, certification paths, and tooltips, as part of Walmart’s effort to “democratize insights for smaller suppliers… meeting users where they’re at.”

A broader ecosystem for advertisers

Scintilla's Insights Activation feature integrates directly with Walmart Connect, allowing advertisers to activate insights within campaign workflows.

• The system uses behavioral and performance data to suggest audience segments for awareness, consideration, or conversion goals, with the ability to push those audiences to ad campaigns “with the click of a button," said Lomelino.

Barmish said the result is a clearer, more predictive understanding of media performance.

• Walmart Connect can now offer category-specific advice for advertisers, helping brands see which tactics can move key metrics in beauty, household goods, and personal care.
• “We’re getting better at our playbooks,” she said. “We can advise the supplier on predictions that might happen, whether your media mix should look like X or Y.”

The bottom line: These updates will create a clearer picture of the path to purchase, connecting customer behavior, campaign operations, and store operations.

• And now that Walmart is partnering with OpenAI on enabling consumers to purchase items directly within ChatGPT, the retailer may be able to uncover even deeper insights.
• “As we integrate this offering, we're exploring ways to power these agentic commerce insights within Scintilla,” said a spokesperson for Walmart.

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