Walmart Connect vs Target Roundel vs Kroger Precision Marketing: What CPG Brands Should Do

CPG teams ask the same question every quarter: “Which retail media network should we invest in?”

It’s the wrong framing.

The better question is: What job are we hiring this network to do for us?

Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, and Kroger Precision Marketing aren’t three versions of the same thing. They have different shopper mindsets, different data strengths, different measurement realities, and different ways they reward (or punish) your budget.

Here’s the practical breakdown, plus a simple budget model that keeps you from spraying dollars across platforms and calling it a strategy.

The quick take (if you only read one section)

• Walmart Connect is your scale engine. It’s where you defend share on high-volume SKUs, win on search, and connect online activity to in-store reality.
• Target Roundel is your brand builder with teeth. Great for reaching the right shopper off-site, then converting on Target’s owned-and-operated properties.
• Kroger Precision Marketing is your surgical knife. Loyalty data can be insanely powerful for penetration growth, lapsed-buyer wins, and competitive switching.

If you’re a challenger brand with limited budget, you typically pick one primary, one secondary, and you earn the right to add the third.

Walmart Connect 

What it’s best at

1) Intent capture at massive scale Walmart’s shopper volume is the headline. If your items move at Walmart, Sponsored Search and on-site placements can produce fast learnings and predictable spend.

2) Omnichannel reality Walmart is one of the best places to connect digital influence to physical shopping behavior. For CPG brands, that matters because “online only” is rarely the whole story.

3) Defending your digital shelf When you have distribution and velocity, Walmart Connect becomes defensive as much as offensive. If you don’t buy, someone else will.

Where brands screw it up

• Treating it like Amazon and expecting the same playbook. Similar tools, different shopper behavior.
• Running thin creative. Walmart environments punish vague brand ads. Lead with product + benefit.
• Only buying brand terms. Great way to look efficient and never grow.

The playbook

• Always-on Sponsored Search for hero SKUs
• Build a non-brand keyword map by category and subcategory
• Layer in display/off-site to create demand, then harvest it with search
• Tie flights to real promo windows (price drops, feature, displays)

Target Roundel 

What it’s best at

1) Off-site targeting that can be useful Roundel can reach Target shoppers beyond Target.com. For brands that need more top-of-funnel, it’s one of the more practical ways to do it without burning money on generic programmatic.

2) Creative that rewards taste Target’s environment is curated. The brands that show up with clean, product-forward creative and a clear reason-to-believe tend to win.

3) Linking awareness to conversion Roundel is often strongest when you run a simple ladder: off-site awareness → on-site conversion placements → retargeting.

Where brands screw it up

• Trying to run pure lower-funnel only. Roundel can do it, but you miss its best use.
• Recycling social ads. Social creative isn’t built for a shopping moment.
• Ignoring offer mechanics. Target Circle and promo alignment can change results quickly.

The playbook

• Start with 1–2 hero audiences (category buyers, competitive buyers)
• Run two creative routes: benefit-led and proof-led
• Use a clean retargeting window to catch the “almost” shoppers
• Align with Target promo moments (Circle offers, seasonal events)

Kroger Precision Marketing 

What it’s best at

1) Loyalty data that drives real behavioral targeting Kroger’s strength is purchase behavior. When you use it correctly, you can target:

• lapsed buyers,
• competitive brand buyers,
• category loyalists,
• high-frequency shoppers,
• households with specific basket patterns.

2) Penetration growth If your business goal is “more households buying us,” Kroger can be a monster.

3) Closing the loop Closed-loop measurement is part of the promise across retail media. Kroger tends to make it more actionable for CPG, especially when you’re testing switching and loyalty.

Where brands screw it up

• Targeting demographics instead of behavior. Wasteful and lazy.
• Over-segmenting. Ten tiny audiences means no learnings.
• Not budgeting for enough duration. Loyalty-driven shifts need time.

The playbook

• Pick 2–3 behavioral audiences, max
• Pair media with a simple offer if you need conversion help
• Use a holdout test when possible
• Focus your reporting on penetration, repeat, and switching

So how should you allocate budget?

Here are three simple models. Pick one based on where you are.

Model A: Early-stage challenger
(limited budget)

Goal: prove you can grow efficiently without getting trapped in branded search.

• 70% on your primary retailer (where distribution and velocity are strongest)
• 30% on your growth retailer (where you want to win next)

Within each retailer:

• 60% capture
• 25% prospecting
• 15% retargeting/offer amplification

Model B: Mid-stage brand
(multi-retailer, needs growth)

Goal: build a program you can scale.

• 50% Walmart Connect
• 30% Kroger Precision Marketing
• 20% Target Roundel

Model C: Mature brand
(defense + growth)

Goal: defend share, expand penetration, and run clean incrementality tests.

• 45% Walmart Connect
• 30% Kroger
• 25% Target

The point isn’t the exact split. The point is not putting $5k everywhere and calling it diversification.

The question you should ask your team next

Instead of “Which network is best?” ask:

1. Which retailer matters most for our business this quarter?
2. Which shopper behavior are we trying to change?
3. What’s our success threshold (and what happens if we hit it)?

If you can answer those three, the budget decision gets a lot less emotional.

Want us to map this to your actual business?

If you send me your top SKUs and your top two retail priorities, I’ll recommend:

• primary + secondary network choice,
• a 90-day budget split,
• the first 3 tests to run,
• and the KPIs that should decide whether you scale.

Learn more about Hangar12’s retail media work →