Best Buy is pitching brands a two-layer media stack: traditional retail media placements on its site and app, bundled with connected-TV ad inventory running on the millions of smart TVs, streaming devices, and gaming consoles it sells and services, according to Modern Retail. The retailer held its annual showcase event in May 2025 to position its electronics category as the differentiator in a crowded retail media market now approaching $130 billion in total U.S. spend.
The mechanics are equipment-led. Best Buy's retail media network sells conventional search and display units where consumers shop electronics online. The CTV bundle extends that reach into the living room: brands buying retail media can layer on ad placements served through devices Best Buy sold, installed, or supports through its Geek Squad service arm. The retailer controls the device relationship post-sale, giving it first-party signal on household viewing and a persistent screen presence competitors without an electronics vertical cannot replicate.
This works because electronics retail creates a closed-loop media channel from shelf to screen. A brand advertising a gaming peripheral on Best Buy's site reaches the shopper in decision mode; the CTV placement re-targets the same household on the console or streaming stick Best Buy delivered. The device sale becomes ad infrastructure. Best Buy reported retail media revenue of $1.2 billion in fiscal 2024, per its investor filings, though it did not break out CTV contribution separately. The company positions the CTV layer as a premium upsell, not a standalone product.
The underlying mechanism is owned audience continuity. Horizontal retail media networks—grocery, apparel, mass merchant—drive impressive on-site performance but lose the customer after checkout. Best Buy maintains signal continuity: the shopper becomes a device owner, and the device becomes a media endpoint. The retailer's Totaltech membership program and Geek Squad install base provide persistent household ID, letting brands retarget based on purchase history, service visits, and in-home device census. Modern Retail noted Best Buy emphasized this ecosystem advantage at the showcase, explicitly contrasting its electronics footprint with mass-merchant competitors who sell TVs but do not own the post-sale relationship.
A small physical-product brand can steal this play without owning a retail media network. The core move is turning your product into a media surface post-purchase. Sell a connected device—smart speaker, digital frame, IoT appliance—and retain the relationship through an app, firmware update path, or content feed. Build the ad layer into the product roadmap: onboard splash screens, companion app notifications, or dashboard placements brands can buy. Price the ad inventory at cost-per-impression parity with Meta or Google display, but position it as zero-waste because it reaches verified buyers of your category.
Execute it in four steps. First, design a product that requires setup or ongoing interaction: a smart scale that syncs to an app, a beverage maker with a recipe screen, a fitness device with a content feed. Second, capture the household email or device ID at setup and secure opt-in for commercial messaging. Third, sell ad placements to complementary brands: if you ship a coffee maker, sell ad slots to beans, filters, or mug brands. Charge $15-30 CPM and guarantee 100% category affinity because every impression hits a verified coffee-making household. Fourth, bundle the in-product ad with a co-marketing play: the advertiser also gets featured placement in your email, social, or packaging insert. Total setup cost: software integration for ad serving ($2,000-5,000 one-time), a media kit, and a three-brand pilot. Revenue potential: $500-2,000/month per 10,000 active devices, depending on category and impression frequency.
The broader pattern is that physical products with digital surfaces are ad inventory waiting to be monetized. Best Buy's CTV bundle is the industrial version; the small-brand version is any connected device with a screen, speaker, or app. The brand that treats its product as a media channel, not just a SKU, builds a second revenue line and turns its install base into a moat competitors cannot access without shipping the same hardware.
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