Why Best Buy’s in-store ads are a big hit with brands

Retail media took a backseat at NRF 2026, with only three sessions related to the topic across the three-day conference. However, those giant digital screens with ads—often referred to as in-store retail media—kept coming up when retail executives talked shop.

In particular, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy said its in-store media offering, dubbed “takeover packages,” announced in 2025, are nearly booked for the entire year because of strong demand from advertisers including Ikea, Meta, and more.

To be sure, takeover packages let advertisers control multiple Best Buy touchpoints, from window displays and entrances to checkout counters, TV walls, PC monitors, and interactive screens throughout its stores. At NRF, Lisa Valentino, president of Best Buy Ads, said in-store takeover packages have been the “biggest driver of demand” from advertisers during a panel called “How retail media is navigating its first economic crisis.”

Sold out: “Our goal was to sell them by month,” Valentino said. “We’re nearly sold out for the year. The creative work that goes into [takeover packages], that’s not a programmatic offering; that’s really about thinking about how we galvanize creative and creative storytelling in a different way.”

While most retail media ads—whether on retailers’ sites or third-party platforms—are bought programmatically, the automatic buying and selling of digital ad space through software and algorithms, Valentino noted that takeover packages don’t follow that model.

In-store retail media ad spending is set to hit the billion-dollar mark by 2029, eMarketer projected. So, those screens between aisles are officially becoming big business. Best Buy has big plans lined up for this summer’s World Cup, a massive advertising opportunity for brands and retailers.

“Categories like the entertainment category are really leaning into how might a theatrical release that’s very relevant to your customer base show up in-store,” Valentino said. “You’ll see that unfold this summer with the World Cup, with some of our endemic partners and how we can really celebrate the host cities across the country in this global moment.”

Best Buy is piloting store takeovers with both endemic and non-endemic brands, leveraging its screen-heavy environment to create immersive brand experiences.

“We do one thing in electronics and so being able to think about all of the ways in which we can touch the consumer with a brand that feels authentic and feels personal,” Valentino added, was crucial while describing the idea behind takeover packages.

Best Buy offers national advertisers the “scale and cultural relevance” they’re losing on linear TV, attracting both electronics sellers and non-endemic brands in entertainment, telecom, and automotive sectors, Andrew Lipsman, independent retail media analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce, told Retail Brew.

“Best Buy is uniquely well-suited to in-store retail media due to the number of screens available throughout the store and exterior placements giving brands exceptionally high visibility,” Lispman wrote in an email to Retail Brew.

Zoom out: As for retail media in general, the industry is at an inflection point as agentic commerce takes hold, and many retail media networks are realizing that to sustain revenue and margin growth, they need to make better use of their owned media assets, Lipsman added.

“That means better monetizing on-site inventory, which is still underleveraged by most retailers, and investing in the development of in-store media networks,” Lipsman said.

There was a groundswell for retail media investment during the pandemic, but this year the mood at NRF proved otherwise.

“Outside of Amazon, I think there’s going to be real impact with agentic in a meaningful way,” Josh Krepon, president of DTC and global digital for Steve Madden, said on a different NRF panel, while talking about the future of retail media over the next two years.