How Walmart Is Tapping The Creator Economy To Reshape Its Retail Experience Via Social Commerce
Live from CommerceNext 2025, Omni Talk’s Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Sarah Henry, Walmart's VP of Content, Influencer, and Commerce, to explore how Walmart is tapping into the creator economy and reshaping the retail experience through social commerce. From the rise of Gen Z shopping behaviors to the role of AI in simplifying creator workflows, Sarah gives an inside look at the Walmart Creator platform, influencer strategy, and the future of shoppable content.
Sarah shares how the retailer is leading in the social commerce space with its Walmart Creator platform, helping creators of all sizes monetize authentically. From Gen Z shopping insights to AI’s role in flattening the funnel, this live CommerceNext interview is full of takeaways for the future of retail.
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Transcript
Hello everyone, this is Omnitalk Retail.
Speaker A:I'm Chris Walton.
Speaker B:And I'm Anne Mazinga.
Speaker A:And we are coming to you live from the Commerce Next growth show in New York City.
Speaker A:And it's hot here.
Speaker B:It's 100 degrees.
Speaker B:Actually, it is 100.
Speaker A:It is hotter than hot.
Speaker A:But before we get started, we want to give a big thank you to the team at Gray Orange for helping us bring you all of our interviews from here at Commerce Next.
Speaker A:The G Store platform from Gray Orange helps retailers like H and M achieve real time inventory visibility, providing H and M with the same inventory data in store as they have online Commerce Next attendees.
Speaker A:If you're here in New York, head to the H&M SoHo flagship store at 591 Broadway today to see the many benefits of G Store for yourself.
Speaker A:And if you happen to be at home, back in Minneapolis, back anywhere in the US or even abroad, you can also go to our YouTube channel and check out the video that Ann shot at the soho store.
Speaker A:So now, without further ado, stay standing between us is Sarah Henry, the VP and head of Content, influencer and commerce at Walmart.
Speaker A:Sarah, welcome to omnitalk.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Thank you for having me.
Speaker C:This is like a peppy way to.
Speaker B:Start a Tuesday night.
Speaker B:I know, right?
Speaker B:We're gonna get you ready for your panel.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Did you know it's my birthday today too?
Speaker A:Oh my gosh.
Speaker A:Happy birthday.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Oh my gosh.
Speaker B:And you're here celebrating at Commerce Next.
Speaker C:Here we are.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:This is the place to be, right?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:Who doesn't want to celebrate their birthday at Commerce Next?
Speaker A:I mean, I definitely do.
Speaker A:All right, well, let's get started.
Speaker A:So why don't you tell everybody about your background and what is your role in Taillight at Walmart too?
Speaker A:Because it's an interesting title.
Speaker C:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker C:So my team looks after all things related to content, influencer and commerce.
Speaker C:So for us, that means a couple of things.
Speaker C:So within Walmart us, we work with any sort of content first partners in building editorial, social video that's really meant to focus on product discovery and helping you to discover things that you wouldn't have known about at Walmart.
Speaker C:So that also includes all of the marketing efforts that we do with our tens of thousands of influencers and creators.
Speaker C:So that spans anywhere from niche micro creators who are just getting started up to mega celebrities, kols, things of that nature.
Speaker C:And it's really about empowering them to incorporate Walmart products when it makes sense for them.
Speaker C:So, so really exciting there.
Speaker C:We also look at all things Walmart US social commerce related.
Speaker C:So it includes where people are spending their time, how they're sort of consuming content.
Speaker C:Several years back that was maybe binge taking quizzes on social or on content sites.
Speaker C:Today it's doom scrolling on social platforms.
Speaker B:A little bit of that.
Speaker C:And so we love the fact that hundreds of millions of Americans are spending hours a day consuming a movie's worth of content every day.
Speaker C:And so our role is really thinking about how we tap into that behavior, how we find ways to create these moments of product discovery in that moment of I didn't know I needed this, but now I can't stop thinking about it and how you connect that to seamless ways to buy.
Speaker C:And so it includes how we work with social platform partners to build shoppable experiences.
Speaker C:It includes our creator platform, Walmart Creator, which is about a year and a half out of beta now, and several other areas.
Speaker C:So it's really exciting.
Speaker B:Well, tell us a little bit more about Walmart Creator if you don't mind.
Speaker B:I'm curious about that.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, like one of my favorite topics.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, let's hear more about it.
Speaker C:No, it's interesting.
Speaker C:So we work with creators and influencers in multiple capacities.
Speaker C:So in some cases we are working with third party partners who are managing the creators and influencers directly.
Speaker C:Walmart Creator was a platform that was really born out of this, this phenomenon and trend that we were seeing in not only consumer behavior but also the creator economy.
Speaker C:And so from a consumer behavior perspective, it was centered around this notion that people are spending more and more time on social media and discovery isn't just happening in search anymore, it's happening in your social feed.
Speaker C:And the reason it's happening in your social feed is because people are resonating and self identifying and shopping from the creators and influencers that they're consuming content from.
Speaker C:And so we started working with creators and influencers around six, seven years ago in earnest.
Speaker C:Walmart Creator we launched a couple of years ago, first as a beta, it's now been out of beta for about a year and a half and we saw an opportunity to really directly work with the creators to help them monetize their content through linking to Walmart product.
Speaker C:And the program is really meant to be, and the platform is really meant to cater to someone who's just getting started, someone who maybe is a parent with multiple kids and making a little pocket money for vacations.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker C:Or someone who's made this their full time gig, which is a growing sort of space in the creator.
Speaker C:Economy.
Speaker C:And so from a creator economy perspective, we're seeing a rising number of particularly younger audiences, including Gen Z folks, that are ditching this notion of the corporate 9 to 5 in favor of content creation, which ironically, is the opposite of a 9 to 5 you're on all the time.
Speaker C:And so.
Speaker A:Got that right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:In the same way we think about customer experiences and creating value for customers in a way that makes their shopping journey more exciting, we wanted to do the same for creators.
Speaker A:So in the true Walmart ethos, then, it's open to everyone essentially, that wants to be a creator.
Speaker C:Anyone can apply, and you go through an application process.
Speaker C:It's brief, it's a few steps, but it is really designed for anyone who has a passion and an interest and wants to make a little money off of it.
Speaker B:Well, will you be talking about that on stage today or maybe share with our audience a little bit about what you have planned?
Speaker B:Coming up in the.
Speaker B:In the panel that you're doing here at Commerce?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:That's certainly a component of it.
Speaker C:So the panel that we're doing today is how brands and retailers are thinking about reaching Gen Z audiences.
Speaker C:So it's a really fun one.
Speaker C:So it'll be a little bit on Walmart Creator and what you can do in the platform and how that's sort of transforming discovery for customers.
Speaker C:We're going to talk a little bit about Gen Z trends and what we're seeing there.
Speaker B:Ooh.
Speaker B:Any you want to tease right now?
Speaker C:We're seeing that they're sort of allergic to ads.
Speaker A:Allergic to ads?
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker C:No, I think, you know, you can see it out there in sort of industry studies, but I think there is a little bit of a cultural phenomenon of, you know, getting the ick from ads and wanting to really have an authentic experience that, you know, is about, you know, helping them discover products that are gonna work for them regardless of what mission they're on.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So are they allergic to ads or they just want to be advertised to in a different way?
Speaker C:I think it's both.
Speaker A:It's both.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:I think it's, you know, I definitely think there is, you know, I think if we do maybe over caffeinated or under caffeinated, I'm not sure.
Speaker C:I think there is, you know, if retailers and brands can sort of do it in the right way from a personalization perspective, I think there is a, you know, there is a real value there.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:I think for us, what my team looks at is how do we sort of empower creators and content first Partners to speak in their own voice in a way that, yes, it follows FTC guidance, like I said, it is compliant, but it's also something that is going to resonate in an authentic way.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because it's by their own volition, so to speak, which is a very different approach to how we've traditionally seen things in the industry.
Speaker A:So that's interesting.
Speaker A:Well, so then to that point, if you want to have an effective social commerce strategy in today's day and age, what has to be true to do that?
Speaker C:Well, yeah, I think for us, we think a lot about the intersection of culture, what's happening that's relevant in culture and how our consumers are gonna resonate with that.
Speaker C:Conversation is often a big piece of this.
Speaker C:It's getting people talking about either a product or a lifestyle or a mission or something that they're after, or something that they, like we said earlier, didn't even know they needed, but now they can't stop thinking about it.
Speaker C:I think there's also a component of shopping experience for us.
Speaker C:You know, we think a lot about flattening the funnel.
Speaker C:And the reality of the way that Gen Z's shop today is that, like, there is no difference between consideration and conversion.
Speaker C:It's happening all the time, all at once.
Speaker C:And so how do we create these moments that are discovery and consideration driving that are actually also linked to easy ways to buy right in the moment?
Speaker C:And so for us, those are some of the cornerstones of what we think about.
Speaker C:It's very central to a campaign that we just launched earlier this month called who Knew?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:And you may have seen it.
Speaker C:You may have seen.
Speaker B:Oh, we've covered it.
Speaker A:Walton Cloggins.
Speaker A:Yes, of course.
Speaker B:We are huge fans.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Did you know he clogs in real life?
Speaker A:No, I did not, but that doesn't surprise me at all.
Speaker C:No, it's a great campaign.
Speaker C:Walton is a part of it, great part of the family now.
Speaker C:But the whole notion behind it is that Walmart has been around for decades, but in many ways has been sort of hiding in plain sight.
Speaker C:And when you think about the innovative experiences that we've built, when you think about the ways that people can shop and the ways that we've thought about sort of shortening that distance and bringing people not only value, but also, you know, services and products that are going to help make their lives better, it's really interesting.
Speaker C:And so the notion is the Walmart that you thought you knew is now new.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so the core parts of that campaign are the fact that Walmart sells over half a billion items in the app and online it's that you can get express delivery, you can get items delivered to your home in as little as an hour, which has happened to me recently.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:And then you can also get lots of different benefits with Walmart plus as well membership, including lots of services and features beyond just, you know, the weekly trip.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:And that's particularly important too to talk about for the audience too because it's not just the items in Walmart store, but it's also the items in the marketplace that you're, you know, basically responsible for making sure that those show up in the social sphere the right way and people can go from inspiration to buy in that flat funnel as quickly as possible.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:We had a, we had an exclusive Pokemon card drop last week.
Speaker A:Week.
Speaker C:Which, like, I mean, we sell a lot of stuff sometimes that's hard to find when you're looking, you know, when you're, when you're used to looking on Walmart for things that you might put in your weekly basket.
Speaker C:And so for us, what's really interesting about this role of social is how we can sort of look at what's coming and what folks are going to want, particularly niche audiences and fan, you know, fan bases and different groups of folks.
Speaker C:But also we look at what's trending both within what we're seeing from a transactional basis and also what we're seeing on social to sort of fuel some of that as well.
Speaker A:Sarah, I want to ask you too, like, and maybe you can put a number on this, I don't know, but I'm curious.
Speaker A:When people talk about influencer marketing or social commerce, they always think about the sexy stuff, right?
Speaker A:Like the cool ads or whatever, the cool people you're partnering with.
Speaker A:But what percent of your time, when you get into it, is about trying to simplify that conversion process, making sure those landing experiences off of the social commerce promotions are working correctly.
Speaker A:How do you think about that?
Speaker A:How much time do you devote to that?
Speaker A:How important is that?
Speaker C:This is a fun one.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:We spend a lot of time on this.
Speaker A:I would think you do.
Speaker C:In terms of our customer experience of where we're sending people from social and making sure that it's relevant.
Speaker C:Someone that's looking for the thing that they saw on social that they have to have right now needs a different experience than someone who is coming because they're shopping for all of the things related to their five year old birthday party.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:We also see from a creator space that a lot of our Creators, like, they don't want to just link to one product in their social post.
Speaker C:Like, they want a storefront where they can have their own curated collections that people can go to all the time that they can link to in their bio and, you know, and put in their post in a way that, you know, sort of maximizes their earnings potential.
Speaker C:So we spend a lot of time thinking about that.
Speaker C:One of the things we've learned along the way is it is really easy to accidentally build an experience that is more steps than you want it to be.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's really.
Speaker C:It's hard to build a slick experience.
Speaker C:And we focus a lot on making sure that every step is intentional and something that's actually going to give people time back instead of the opposite.
Speaker A:Great.
Speaker B:And that's got to be so important in getting those new influencers.
Speaker B:Retaining those influencers is the.
Speaker B:Is how simple that process is for them versus not just thinking about the customer side of things.
Speaker A:Yeah, because you're competing for the influencers too, right?
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:I mean, the creator is a type of customer and they are the direct lines to our future and existing customers as well.
Speaker C:And so we think a lot about that, a lot of the Walmart creator platform and how we think about evolving it.
Speaker C:And our roadmap is based on what's going to truly create value for the creators.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker B:Well, Sarah, let's talk about what you're doing here at Commerce Next.
Speaker B:I mean, what kinds of things?
Speaker B:Based on how you're thinking about the strategy for influencer and content marketing at Walmart, what are you excited to check out while you're here?
Speaker B:Are there any sessions that you're excited about outside of the Gen Z panel, which will be amazing today?
Speaker C:Yeah, I'm a little bit biased because I'm part of the Commerce Next board of advisors for the programming.
Speaker C:So I had a sneak peek into what was happening first.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker C:But what I love about Commerce Next is the fact that this event is the culmination of so many great things about what makes this ecosystem tick.
Speaker C:It is the fact that there are so many smart, talented experts coming together to talk about the space.
Speaker C:It's a unique place in that I feel like this environment is one where you can really talk shop with others in the industry, other brands, other retailers, and really figure out, like, what are people seeing, what are people testing, what are people trying, what's working, what's not, and you know, and what are things that maybe we stopped a few years ago but should be doing again.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:And so I think the People is really like, the people are a really fundamental part of this environment.
Speaker C:I think the programming is also really interesting in that it's designed to talk about both where marketers and commerce experts are in their journey right now and then also how they should be thinking about the next generation two to five to 10 years, which is something that I think in our day jobs we, you know, it's hard to do that.
Speaker C:It's hard to do.
Speaker B:Yeah, right, right.
Speaker B:This gives you the place to focus on that.
Speaker C:Totally.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:Particularly hard to do.
Speaker A:You got to keep the mind space open for that all the time.
Speaker A:All right, so let's get you out of here on this.
Speaker A:What are you most excited about?
Speaker A: mean, you're halfway through: Speaker A:What are you most excited about?
Speaker A:I know, right?
Speaker A:It's actually.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker A:It's almost July.
Speaker A:That's crazy.
Speaker C:I'm excited.
Speaker C:It's not 40 degrees in New York anymore.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Although it's pretty hot, especially on that, on that subway.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I look, I think we're in a really exciting time in retail, in the social industry, in consumer behavior.
Speaker C:It feels like what was a game board that was changing every couple of months a couple years ago, like now the game board's changing every single day.
Speaker C:And I think, you know, certainly AI is playing a role in that.
Speaker C:So certainly tech innovation is playing a role in that and I'm really excited to see where that goes.
Speaker C:We think a lot about how things like AI can play a role in where consumer behavior is going to go next, where creators are going to go next, and where we can really innovate in the world of customer experiences to make our internal and external processes better.
Speaker C:We're a tech led, people powered company and that is something that we stay true to.
Speaker C:But it's really exciting to see how technology is going to continue to shape that.
Speaker A:Sarah, to that point about AI, like if you were to put your prediction hat on, what is one or two ways that you envision AI changing the way social commerce works for retailers?
Speaker C:Oh, that's a fun one.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I've never thought about that until just now.
Speaker C:From a creator perspective, I would say, like one of the things that we focus on is how can we constantly, and you said this earlier, how can we constantly improve our internal processes that make it easier for creators to discover products?
Speaker C:It makes it easier for them to create the content because it is a full time job for them.
Speaker C:They don't go on vacation.
Speaker C:And so certainly I think AI can play an interesting role in that, we think as an organization and have implemented lots of things over the last several months and years around improving internal processes for our own association.
Speaker C:And, you know, I think, I think.
Speaker A:There'S a lot of goodness, almost let them flatten their own funnel, so to speak, like the creators.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Work smarter, not harder.
Speaker A:Yeah, Right.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker B:Sarah, thank you so much for taking time with us today.
Speaker B:We really appreciate it.
Speaker B:Check out your session this afternoon if you're here at Commerce.
Speaker B:Next, we want to give a big thank you once again to Gray Orange for helping us bring you all of our coverage today from Commerce.
Speaker B:Next, go stop by their store at 591 Broadway if you're here in town or check out the video on our YouTube channel.
Speaker B:And until our next interview, be careful out there.
