Best Buy plans to launch digital storefronts for influencers and content creators
Best Buy plans to launch a program allowing influencers and creators to build their own branded digital storefronts on the retailer’s website this spring, its CEO Corie Barry said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call last week.
Barry said the company expects the program to drive traffic, engagement and sales but did not elaborate with any other details. A Best Buy spokesperson said he had nothing to share yet outside of what was said on the earnings call.
Amazon and Walmart both have programs that offer commissions to influencers who create storefronts to showcase products sold on the retailers’ websites. Even with few details, influencer marketing leaders told Modern Retail they see potential in Best Buy’s program to play into the retailer’s more focused customer base, which the company also hopes to do with its forthcoming marketplace set to launch this summer.
Influencer marketing is one of the fastest-growing marketing categories. A report from Hubspot released in January estimated the industry will surpass $32 billion in value by the end of 2025.
“Best Buy is creating a direct path between social engagement and e-commerce, which has the potential to drive traffic and conversions in a highly authentic way,” Nicole Penn, president and CEO of marketing agency The EGC Group, said in an email.
Best Buy isn’t new to the influencer marketing game. In 2022, the retailer partnered with technology influencer and video creator Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, according to Chain Store Age. Per the news outlet, Brownlee selected tech products like cameras, headphones and earbuds to showcase on a dedicated page on Best Buy’s website and as promotions on both the retailer’s and MKBHD’s social media platforms. More recently, the company featured Brownlee on its YouTube channel in October. Best Buy separately has an affiliate program for web content publishers to earn commissions by driving customers to the retailer’s website.
The forthcoming launch of these digital storefronts also comes at a time when other retailers are looking to expand creator-focused programs. In February, Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would expand its previously employee-only influencer program, Dick’s Varsity Team, to the public. That program offers gift cards to creators so they can spotlight products from Dick’s Sporting Goods on social media.
“This is a smart move by Best Buy, indicating they are taking a community-first approach to marketing with an understanding of the essential role influencers play in driving brand perception and preference in today’s marketplace,” said Aaron Frank, chief marketing and insights officer at BENlabs.
Marketers said the new Best Buy program could be ideal for not just technology reviewers but also gaming influencers or musicians who could suggest smart-home products, computer monitors, headphones or PCs.
“Best Buy is pretty verticalized compared to a more lifestyle or generic Walmart or TikTok Shop or Amazon,” Nicla Bartoli, vp of sales for The Influencer Marketing Factory, said in an interview. “On one end, it’s great because they can have something more tailored toward that, compared to more generic storefronts. But on the other side, there are fewer creators to potentially work with, and so it’s even more important for them to have a solid strategy.”
She added that, over the past year, more influencer affiliate programs from brands and retailers have popped up and that she is often seeing fatigue from creators who are so often invited to such programs. That, she said, makes it crucial for retailers to have a structured onboarding process and to convince creators that it’s the best fit for them. “All of a sudden, as a creator, you have so many opportunities where you need to pick your battles — the ones that are going to be more lucrative for you.”
Bartoli and the other marketing professionals are watching to see the incentives the retailer will offer creators as well as the incentive structure. “Sometimes programs have quotas or incentives to grow, or whatever that might be,” she said. “We would need to know a little bit more, like: What are the rules of the game to join?”
Penn said Best Buy could provide influencers with early product access, behind the scenes experiences or unique discounts to get them in the door. For example, Walmart’s program offers sessions for creators at private events, according to its website.
“They’ll need to make sure they attract a few quality influencers to the platform so it’s not just wannabes and also-rans,” she said.