Why Best Buy thinks the future of retail media still lives in the store

""What's old is new again," Valentino said. "It's really not about in-store, but about experience." That distinction matters. Best Buy isn't pitching its 1,000+ stores as inventory. It's positioning them as environments - places where brands can tell stories, influence consideration and create impact in ways that increasingly crowded digital channels struggle to match. "When you look at brands and how they think about storytelling, influence and impact," she said, "our in-store platform is just that."

"Part of the appeal, Valentino argues, is creative freedom. Best Buy's stores offer scale, but not rigidity. "We have a creative palette to play with that runs 1,000 stores deep across the country," she said. "You don't have to do all of them. You can geo-target. You can be really intentional about the spaces and places you want to play. And you can bring your creativity to the table.""

Best Buy positions its 1,000+ stores as experiential environments where brands can tell stories, influence consideration, and create measurable impact beyond crowded digital channels. The company emphasizes creative freedom and geo-targeting across locations, offering brands a scalable, intentional platform for in-person activations. Stores reach overlapping audiences — parents, sports fans, drivers, gamers and media consumers — providing new opportunities beyond consumer electronics. Best Buy highlights creative partnerships, in-store experiences, and improved measurement as the next wave of retail media, aiming to combine physical presence with data-driven attribution to deliver differentiated brand storytelling and audience influence.

Read at The Drum