The chart above displays how much Walmart spent each year on advertising and promotions from 2011 to 2023. In 2023, US based retail giant increased its spending on advertising and promotions by $200 million compared to the previous year. It spent $4.1 billion on advertising in fiscal 2023 compared to $3.9 billion in fiscal 2022.
Advertising Costs of Walmart 2001-2023
Amounts are in $ billions.
Walmart Advertising Costs (in billions) 2001-2023
| Year | Advertising Costs ($bn) |
| 2023 | $4.1 |
| 2022 | $3.9 |
| 2021 | $3.2 |
| 2020 | $3.7 |
| 2019 | $3.5 |
| 2018 | $ 3.1 |
| 2017 | $ 2.9 |
| 2016 | $ 2.5 |
| 2015 | $ 2.4 |
| 2014 | $ 2.4 |
| 2013 | $ 2.3 |
| 2012 | $ 2.3 |
| 2011 | $ 2.5 |
| 2010 | $ 2.4 |
| 2009 | $ 2.1 |
| 2008 | $ 2.0 |
| 2007 | $ 1.9 |
| 2006 | $ 1.6 |
| 2005 | $ 1.4 |
| 2004 | $ 1.0 |
| 2003 | $ 0.7 |
| 2002 | $ 0.6 |
| 2001 | $ 0.6 |
2022: The advertising costs of Walmart were $3.9 billion in fy 2022 compared to $3.2 billion in 2021.
2021: In fiscal 2021, the advertising costs of Walmart reached $3.2 billion, half a billion lower than the previous fiscal.
2020: During fiscal 2020 (ended Jan. 31, 2020), the net revenue of Walmart climbed to $524 billion. The advertising costs of the brand grew to $3.7 billion compared to $3.5 billion last year.
2019: Walmart is the leading retail brand of America. In fiscal 2019, Walmart Inc enjoyed record growth. Its revenue crossed $500 billion for the second time and reached $514.4 billion in fiscal 2019 compared to $500.34 billion in fiscal 2018. Advertising costs of Walmart reached $3.5 billion in fiscal 2019 compared to $3.1 billion in fiscal 2018.
About Walmart:
Walmart is a leading US-based retailer and the largest among the physical retail brands in the country. It was founded in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, United States. As of 2020, the company has around 11,500 stores and serves nearly 265 million customers each week from its retail stores and e-commerce websites under 56 banners in 27 countries. The company employs around 2.2 million people who are called Walmart associates. Walmart is no more just a brick and mortar company. Over the past few years, it has been investing in e-commerce and making acquisitions to grow its e-commerce capabilities. During fiscal 2020, it earned around $36 billion from e-commerce.
Walmart is one of the big brands that spend heavily on advertising. Its advertising expenditure has grown several times in the last 17 years. The advertising costs of Walmart grew from 0.6 Billion dollars in 2001 to 2.9 billion dollars in 2017. This is a nearly five times increase. While Walmart already has a string brand image and market presence in US, it still invests heavily in the marketing of its brand for attracting new customers, achieving higher sales and to retain its customers. From 2016 to 2017, its advertising expenses grew by more than 400 million dollars. Walmart is the biggest retail brand of the world whose value proposition is based on the lowest prices in the market. This is an attractive value proposition but still growing competition from Costco and e-retailers has brought excess competitive resource reducing which is impossible without investing in marketing and advertising. This is why Walmart has kept increasing its marketing investment year by year.
Source:
Walmart Annual Reports (10K) & Other financial publications.