Best Buy Courts Influencers to Tap $32 Billion Creator Market

Best Buy is launching an influencer program, following a model popularized by Amazon and Walmart.

As The Street reported Sunday (March 23), both those retail giants have programs that let popular internet personalities curate their own digital storefronts. Now, Best Buy is getting in on the act.

“Influencers and creators will be able to build their own branded digital storefronts on Best Buy’s website, which we expect to drive increased traffic, engagement and sales,” CEO Corie Barry said on an earnings call earlier this month.

The report noted that while most retailers don’t share how much their influencer programs bring in, the creator economy has a $32 billion value.

And Best Buy has said it wants to open new marketplace opportunities this year. In January, the company announced plans for a digital marketplace platform where third-party sellers could integrate their products into the retailer’s website and app.

The marketplace — set to debut this summer — is being powered by enterprise marketplace technology company Mirakl.

In an interview with PYMNTS at the time, Alex Hase, general manager of the Americas at Mirakl, said the company helps retailers like Macy’s and Nordstrom expand their offerings by integrating third-party sellers, providing sellers with access to new channels and consumers.

“Mirakl sits in the middle of this ecosystem, enabling traditional eCommerce to evolve into a platform business model,” Hase said.

Best Buy’s efforts to open new markets come as the company — like many retailers — is worrying about the impact of tariffs. At the same earnings call this month, management said the company projects the trade war could cut comparable sales by one point.

Meanwhile, recent PYMNTS Intelligence research shows that while influencers do live up to their name in convincing consumers to make purchases, the full picture is more complicated.

According to the report “Generational Pulse: Just How Influential Are Influencers?”, a large percentage of consumers make some purchasing decisions based on the recommendations, remarks or links provided by influencers.

However, that share drops significantly when it comes to making regular purchases, with just 1 in 8 consumers saying that they listen to influencers when it comes to being incentivized to make frequent purchases.

“And clicking through to the buy button hardly occurs in a vacuum,” PYMNTS wrote. “The data shows that 95% of consumers do some other form of research — leading to product reviews and platforms — in tandem with taking the influencers’ opinions into account.”