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Best Buy is no longer just the place your parents bought a third-generation iPod Touch to bribe you to move past their divorce.
The storied electronics retailer is becoming a third-party marketplace. That means customers can now buy a whole slew of new merchandise from an array of brands on its app and website, with the new products focused on filling gaps in Best Buy’s current offerings, according to an announcement from the company.
Best Buy isn’t having the best time: Its stock has fallen 13.58% in 2025 as competitors like Amazon, Walmart, and Target eat its lunch. The retailer slashed its sales outlook in May, and its annual sales have been declining for the past three years straight.
Management is hoping that more stuff can subsequently drive more sales, and therefore get Best Buy out of its rut.
“With marketplace, we’re able to give them not only more of the latest technology, but a massive new collection of products outside of the tech space so we can truly offer the full experience they need,” explained chief marketplace and eCommerce officer Frank Bedo.
Best Buy rose 3.27% on today’s news.
It’s all about ads
But beyond driving sales, there’s another reason behind Best Buy’s new strategy. It’s the golden goose of e-commerce, the white whale of retailers everywhere: advertising revenue. With the new marketplace, brands can buy advertisements for their products on Best Buy’s website, and even pay to influence search results, according to CNBC.
The idea is that Best Buy can capitalize on the insights it gleans from the 100 million people it counts as members of the My Best Buy program, as well as the roughly 3 billion customer interactions the company enjoys every year, in order to target potential buyers with ads. Those targeted ads will of course cost advertisers more money, while simultaneously pushing Best Buy’s e-commerce sales higher.
Best Buy isn't alone: Companies like Lowe’s, Nordstrom, Ulta, and Target have recently launched or announced plans to launch their own versions of third-party marketplaces—because if there’s one thing America needs, it’s new ways to buy more stuff.—LB