The Walmart privacy uproar treated one retailer’s policy as a shocking exception. It is closer to the industry standard. Big retailers now collect shopper data across their apps, websites, and physical stores for a specific, growing reason: that data has become one of the most profitable things they sell.
If you only reacted to the Walmart headline, you missed the actual story. Nearly every large retailer is doing a version of the same thing, and it is not primarily about improving your shopping experience. It is about a business model that has quietly become huge. Understanding why the data gets collected makes it far easier to decide what, if anything, to do about it.
In Brief
Modern retailers, Walmart included, collect a broad range of shopper data across their apps, websites, and stores: browsing and purchase history, location, device details, loyalty activity, and sometimes biometric and license-plate data. The main driver is “retail media,” the fast-growing business of selling targeted advertising based on shopper data, which is now a major profit center for large chains. The data is used for ads, personalization, operations, and sometimes shared with partners. You cannot opt out of everything, but a small set of habits, managing app permissions, limiting loyalty tie-ins, and using privacy signals, meaningfully reduces what any one retailer builds about you.
Table of Contents
Why retailers want your data now
The honest answer is money, and a specific kind of it.
Retail media is the reason data collection accelerated. It is the business of selling advertising, both on a retailer’s own site and app and beyond, targeted using what the retailer knows about shoppers. Walmart runs one of the largest such operations, and the margins on advertising are far better than the margins on selling groceries. That changes the incentive completely: the more a retailer knows about you, the more valuable its ad business becomes. Data collection stopped being a byproduct of shopping and became a core product line. Once you see that, the sprawling privacy policies make sense. They are describing an advertising company that also happens to sell you toothpaste.
What they actually collect
The categories are broad and consistent across major chains. Walmart’s own notice is a useful map of the general pattern:
- Browsing and search activity on the site and app, plus what you buy.
- Device information and location, especially when the app has location permission.
- Loyalty and account data, which ties your purchases to a persistent profile.
- Biometric data in some cases, including voice and face geometry, per Walmart’s notice.
- In-store signals such as license-plate reading and store systems.
No single item is unique to Walmart. Loyalty programs, app tracking, and in-store data collection are standard tools across the industry, which is exactly why singling out one retailer misses the point.
How the data gets used and shared
Collected data does a few jobs. It powers targeted ads through the retail media business, personalizes what you see and which offers you get, improves operations and inventory, and in some cases is shared with advertising or analytics partners. The sharing piece is where “cross-context behavioral advertising” comes in, the practice of using your activity to target you across different sites. That is the specific thing most privacy opt-outs are designed to stop, and it is why regulators focus on it. The data rarely sits still inside one company; its value comes partly from being combined and matched.
What this means for you as a shopper
Two things are worth holding at once. First, most of this is legal and disclosed, if buried in policies almost no one reads. Second, “legal and disclosed” does not mean you have to participate fully. The realistic goal is not invisibility, which is not achievable at a major retailer, but reducing how complete a profile any single company can assemble. That is a solvable problem, and it does not require deleting the app or shopping elsewhere.
A simple privacy baseline
You can meaningfully limit retail data collection in a few minutes, without giving up convenience entirely:
- Set retail apps’ location to “While Using” and turn off microphone access unless you need voice search.
- Use the retailer’s “Your Privacy Choices” or “Do Not Sell or Share” option to opt out of data sharing for ads.
- Turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser so opt-outs apply automatically across sites.
- Be selective with loyalty programs, which are the single biggest tool for tying your purchases to a profile.
- Pay attention to which retailers you give the most data, rather than trying to hide from all of them.
What To Know
- Broad shopper-data collection is standard across major retailers, not unique to Walmart.
- Retail media, selling targeted ads on shopper data, is the main reason collection accelerated.
- Retailers gather browsing, purchases, location, loyalty, and sometimes biometric and in-store data.
- The data powers advertising, personalization, and operations, and is sometimes shared with partners.
- A few habits, app permissions, opt-outs, GPC, and loyalty discipline, cut what any one retailer builds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all big retailers collect as much data as Walmart?
Broadly, yes. Loyalty programs, app tracking, location, and in-store data collection are standard across major chains. Walmart’s privacy notice is a useful map of the general pattern rather than an unusual outlier, which is why focusing on one retailer misses the wider shift.
Why do retailers collect so much shopper data?
Mainly for retail media, the business of selling targeted advertising based on what they know about shoppers. Ad margins are far higher than retail margins, so knowing more about you directly increases a retailer’s most profitable revenue line.
What kinds of data do retailers gather?
Typically browsing and purchase history, device information and location, loyalty and account activity, and in some cases biometric data and in-store signals like license-plate reading. The exact mix varies, but the categories are consistent across large chains.
How is my shopping data used and shared?
It powers targeted ads, personalizes offers, improves operations, and can be shared with advertising or analytics partners. Cross-context behavioral advertising, using your activity to target you across sites, is the practice most privacy opt-outs are designed to stop.
Can I stop retailers from collecting my data?
Not entirely, but you can reduce it. Manage app permissions, use “Do Not Sell or Share” opt-outs, enable Global Privacy Control, and limit loyalty-program tie-ins. The goal is a less complete profile, not total invisibility, which is not realistic at a major retailer.
The Bottom Line
The Walmart privacy panic pointed at the right industry for the wrong reason. The real story is that large retailers have become advertising businesses that run on shopper data, and Walmart is simply one of the biggest. That reframing is empowering, not alarming: once you know why the data is collected, you can decide how much to feed the machine. A few settings and a bit of loyalty-program discipline go further than any viral screenshot. For more on retail and consumer tech, browse The Other Stream’s Business section, or our Tech coverage on privacy.