Boxed wine brand boosts sales lift by 60%, grows new buyer acquisition with Walmart

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 

Driving sales growth during the challenging holiday season

A leading boxed-wine brand in the United States entered the holiday season facing a familiar challenge: driving growth in a mature category amid softer consumer demand.

The brand sought to strengthen engagement with existing buyers while attracting new ones to both the category and brand. With competition for shopper attention intensifying during the holidays, the brand needed to more closely align media investments with retail activity and influence both online and in-store purchases at Walmart. 

Working with its agency, Bensimon Byrne, data partner Dandelion, Walmart Connect, and The Trade Desk, the team set out to drive incremental sales growth, increase return on ad spend (ROAS), and expand its consumer base among Walmart shoppers. 

SOLUTION 

Turning audience insights into smarter media investment 

Building on learnings from previous retail media campaigns, Bensimon Byrne and the extended team developed an integrated holiday activation strategy. 

The campaign activated Walmart Connect shopper audiences through The Trade Desk, enabling the team to reach high-intent Walmart wine shoppers nationwide. Historical campaign insights and Walmart purchase data helped inform audience selection and media planning, allowing the team to focus investment on shoppers most likely to convert.

Throughout the campaign, the team used The Trade Desk’s optimization capabilities to help shift spend toward the strongest-performing audiences and placements. Walmart Connect’s closed-loop measurement provided direct visibility into attributed purchases, allowing the team to evaluate performance and make in-flight adjustments.¹

Audience-level insights quickly revealed that recent buyers of the brand’s wine generated the highest ROAS, followed by lapsed buyers. Rather than continuing to optimize solely for efficiency, the team used these findings to identify opportunities for incremental growth. 

As the campaign progressed, investment shifted toward broader acquisition audiences, including wine buyers who were not current customers and predicted buyers. 

These audiences continued to generate strong returns while expanding reach among potential new consumers, helping the team balance short-term efficiency with long-term growth. 

RESULTS 

Driving efficient sales and expanding the buyer base 

The campaign achieved a 9.27x ROAS within a 14-day attribution window. 

Sales lift rose from 4.72% to 7.54% year over year, representing a 59.7% increase in incremental sales impact and demonstrating a greater ability to drive purchases during the holiday season. 

The campaign also improved the brand’s ability to attract new households. New buyers accounted for 29% of sales, up from 20% year over year, highlighting the campaign’s success in reaching consumers beyond the brand’s existing customer base. 

The results reinforced how retailer data, audience-first optimization, and closed-loop measurement can help brands balance efficiency with growth. By using real-time performance insights to expand beyond existing customers and invest in high-potential audiences, the brand increased sales lift, attracted more new buyers, and generated measurable holiday sales at scale.

*Attributed purchase data provided by Walmart Connect 

Discover how retail data-driven advertising and closed-loop measurement can help you drive real business outcomes. Contact us or reach out to your account manager at The Trade Desk today. 

Source:
1. Walmart first-party data, Sept. 21 – Dec. 31, 2025. Past results do not guarantee future performance.