Beyond TikTok deal, Walmart looks to transform the broader retail sector

The retailer could, for example, embed advertisements in the user-generated videos with links to the Walmart website or siphon data from the site's tens of millions of users

Walmart’s planned investment in TikTok is being called “transformative.” Another analyst predicted the deal could “redefine retail” across the industry. “It is a bigger-picture opportunity,” said Oliver Chen, a retail analyst at Cowen.

Known for its homogeneous big-box stores in rural and suburban America, Walmart has turned more than a few heads with its newly announced multibillion-dollar stake in a video app that is synonymous with the fun digital lives of young people.

As in the early days of many tech investments by large corporations, the details of how Walmart will use TikTok are fuzzy. But one thing is clear: Walmart now