Best Buy curates CNET reviews for customers, advertisers

Best Buy shoppers have a new source of expert product recommendations, while advertisers have a new potential revenue source.

The consumer electronics retailer is partnering with digital review/analysis publication CNET to offer curated content and unbiased editorial advice from CNET experts across its e-commerce site, app and stores, encompassing a variety of product reviews and expert picks.

As part of the new collaboration, the brands are also initiating a new retail media model. Advertisers will be able to share ad spaces across Best Buy and CNET, allowing them to see the impact of their advertising campaigns through a full-funnel, closed-loop media solution to a combined. unduplicated reach of 50 million unique visitors per month.

Best Buy launched Best Buy Ads, its in-house retail media network, in January 2022. Since then, the retailer has expanded the reach of Best Buy Ads via a partnership with the Roku TV streaming platform and provided enhanced measurement capability in collaboration with digital media measurement platform DoubleVerify.

According to Best Buy, customers will see CNET content that aligns with their shopping experiences. Best Buy and CNET piloted this initiative on Best Buy channels earlier this year. From a survey of consumers who were part of an in-store test, 86% said that seeing CNET’s content while shopping made them more confident in their tech purchases and the content helped garner a 25% lift in purchase intent.

"When shopping for technology, we know that many consumers like to do their own research and turn to Best Buy and CNET to help them explore, discover and get inspired by new and exciting technology," said Jennie Weber, chief marketing officer at Best Buy. "This partnership allows us to integrate expert advice throughout every stage of the customer’s shopping journey, as well as leverage these insights to unlock new levels of personalization and engagement for our customers and partners."

"This partnership sets a powerful precedent for how content and retail media brands can collaborate to bring more opportunities to both consumers and advertisers," said Lauren Newman, executive VP of revenue at CNET. "With a focus on data-driven insights, we’re introducing a new standard to help brands expand audience reach and measure the impact across what was previously a fragmented digital media ecosystem."

Based in Minneapolis, Best Buy Co. Inc. operates more than 1,000 retail stores in North America.