Walmart Inc. is continuing to expand its shoppable video playbook — this time tying the format to the Winter Olympics through a livestream with consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co.
The “Her Day Made Easy” event aired Feb. 16 from the Olympic Village in Milan, Italy, and was hosted by Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez. During the livestream, viewers could chat with Hernandez while purchasing featured Procter & Gamble products in real time via Walmart Live, Facebook and YouTube. The stream remains available on demand.
The initiative marks Walmart’s latest push into shoppable video, as retailers test the format as both a growing sales channel and a key engagement tool.
Walmart ranks No. 2 in the Top 2000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales. Procter & Gamble, also known as P&G, ranks No. 486 in the database.
Walmart is also No. 8 in the Global Online Marketplaces. That database ranks the top such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).
What Walmart’s Winter Olympics livestream looked like
Walmart tapped Hernandez — who won gold and silver at the 2016 Rio Games — to host the 25-minute stream, which had drawn about 16,400 views, as of Feb. 19.
The tone was casual. Hernandez walked viewers through her self-care routine and P&G travel essentials while responding to comments in real time.
Along the way, she asked viewers what helps them feel ready for the day when traveling and fielded questions about confidence and preparation. Purchase prompts for P&G items — including Tampax, Crest toothpaste and Gillette Venus razors — appeared alongside the conversation. Tampax brand ambassador Tami also joined briefly.
Ahead of the event, Justin Breton, head of brand experiences and partnerships at Walmart, said the livestream was designed to give customers access to a cultural moment they typically wouldn’t experience while making it instantly shoppable.
In a LinkedIn post, Breton wrote that “increasingly, commerce works best when it feels less like shopping and more like access.”
“What excites me most about moments like this is the ability to bring customers closer to something special,” he added. “Sports, culture, content, and commerce are increasingly converging,” and livestream events remain “one of the most powerful ways to meet customers where attention already lives.”
Walmart’s livestream track record
Walmart has been building toward this format for several years.
As pandemic-era ecommerce accelerated in late 2020, the retailer began piloting livestream shopping in the U.S. through a partnership with TikTok. It expanded those efforts in 2021, hosting over a dozen events across multiple platforms and participating in Twitter’s first shoppable livestream test.
By late 2023, Walmart moved into serialized content with “Add to Heart,” its first shoppable commercial series. The 23-episode romantic comedy on TikTok, Roku and YouTube allowed viewers to purchase featured holiday products directly from each installment.
More recently, the retailer has leaned into recurring programming. In September 2025, it launched “Collector’s Night,” a weekly show on Walmart Live focused on sports cards and collectibles in partnership with WeTheHobby.
Matt Maher, founder of tech consultancy M7 Innovations, said Walmart sees livestreaming less as an immediate revenue driver and more as a tool for building loyalty and behavior among niche audiences.
“When you create appointment viewing content, curated for a niche audience, and pour capital, energy and quality into the experience, people will love it,” Maher wrote in a LinkedIn post. “That’s what Walmart did, and that’s why it’s working.”
Broader live and social commerce trends
Walmart’s investment comes as retailers put more resources behind live and social commerce.
Globally, live commerce is expanding rapidly. Grand View Research estimates the market was worth $128.4 billion in 2024 and projects it could reach $2.47 trillion by 2033.
Asia-Pacific – particularly China – still dominates the sector. But adoption is rising in the U.S. An estimated 49 million Americans participated in live shopping in 2025, with that projected to exceed 60 million within three years, according to Statista.
Shifting discovery behavior is helping to drive the trend. Nearly 75% of Gen Z consumers say social media is their primary source for learning about new products, according to Salsify data cited by eMarketer.
Facebook still leads in total U.S. social buyers, but TikTok Shop is expanding fastest.
EMarketer estimates TikTok Shop will generate $23.4 billion in U.S. ecommerce sales in 2026 — a 48% year-over-year increase — putting its U.S. online sales ahead of retailers such as Target, Costco, Best Buy and Kroger.
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