Dive Brief:
- Best Buy touted the strength of its retail media network and revealed new advertising solutions for brand partners during its inaugural Best Buy Ads showcase called “We Got Next,” per a company release.
- Takeover packages, a new product for endemic and non-endemic brand partners, was introduced during the Sept. 16 event. The placement opportunities on store interiors and exteriors are to help brands maximize exposure.
- Extended partnerships with professional sports organizations including the NFL and golf league TGL were also announced. The sports focus is supported by the insight that Best Buy shoppers are 26% more likely than the general population to be sports fans.
Dive Insight:
Best Buy showcased its advertising services business at the inaugural “We Got Next” event, a name meant to reflect the company’s ambitions to lead in the retail media landscape and beyond, per release details. To make good, the retailer is leveraging its physical footprint with new takeover packages designed to maximize brand partners’ exposure through high visibility placements both in and out of Best Buy stores, Chief Customer, Product and Fulfillment Officer Jason Bonfig revealed during the event.
“Picture walking into a store and seeing your brand front and center — on the windows, at the entrance and throughout the space. As you shop, your brand appears on our TV walls, PC monitor displays and across numerous physical and digital touchpoints,” said Bonfig in a statement.
In-store retail media has been a focal point for retailers for years, though barriers for brands remain, with it being difficult to buy, manage and measure compared to traditional channels. Still, eMarketer — which describes in-store as a “sleeping giant” — expects ad spending on the channel to top $1 billion by 2029.
Best Buy Ads was launched in 2022. As the company eyes growth, Lisa Valentino, president of Best Buy Ads, outlined three key pillars driving its business: scale, partnerships and innovative experiences. Best Buy already has strategic partnerships with brands like Meta and Ikea, the latter of which includes in-store planning and shopping experiences at select Best Buy locations.
Valentino also touted the capabilities of Best Buy Ads, including connecting 93% of its transactional revenue to a customer ID, a signal of its measurement capabilities. Prior to joining Best Buy in October 2024, Valentino had been executive vice president for client and addressable sales and solutions at Disney for more than five years.
Best Buy Ads’ activation platform, which combines innovative ad experiences with first-party data, was also showcased during the event, per release details. Over the next year, Best Buy will continue to enable additional channels and campaign reporting on a self-service basis, allowing brands to optimize their efforts more effectively through real-time results. With regards to Best Buy Ads’ audience graph, an executive noted that audiences using the company’s first-party data outperform third-party audiences by two times.
Best Buy is expanding its sports ties in recognition that its shoppers are more likely than the general population to be sports fans. New developments include a broader relationship with the NFL, for which Best Buy is already the Official Home Entertainment Retailer. The partnership with the league will now stretch for the entire year versus just the duration of the season. The company will also be partnering with content creators Dude Perfect throughout the entire NFL and holiday season, offering brands more opportunities to partner with Best Buy to tap into sporting moments.
Best Buy reported revenue of $9.44 billion in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2026 during the three months that ended Aug. 2, beating Wall Street’s expectations.
