Retail media has become one of the advertising industry’s most closely watched growth areas, prompting retailers to rethink how they monetize both digital and physical customer experiences. While online retail media networks have matured rapidly, many companies are now turning their attention to brick-and-mortar locations, where in-store screens are evolving into advertising channels that can deliver measurable results for brands.
Perion is looking to capitalize on that momentum. The company announced that Best Buy Canada has selected it as the full-stack technology partner for its in-store digital-out-of-home (DOOH) media network, a move that expands Perion’s presence in the retail media space while bringing programmatic capabilities to one of Canada’s largest consumer electronics retailers. The deployment also reflects a broader shift toward integrated technology platforms that manage every stage of the advertising process.
Bringing Programmatic Buying Into the Store
As digital advertising has become increasingly automated, retailers have faced growing pressure to modernize their in-store media offerings. Traditional digital signage often relies on scheduled advertising loops that offer limited flexibility and little insight into campaign performance. That model is giving way to systems capable of making advertising decisions in real time.
Under the partnership, Best Buy Canada will implement Perion’s Ad Server, Supply-Side Platform (SSP), and Header Bidding technologies as part of a unified advertising platform. Rather than rotating advertisements according to fixed schedules, the retailer will use impression-level decisioning that dynamically allocates advertising opportunities as shoppers move through its stores.
The change is designed to improve monetization while giving advertisers access to reporting capabilities more commonly associated with digital media campaigns. By bringing automation and measurement into physical retail environments, the partnership reflects the increasing convergence of online and offline advertising strategies.
“Perion provides the technology foundation to help modernize and scale our in-store media offering,” said Thierry Hay-Sabourin, Senior Vice President – Ecommerce, Marketplace & Marketing, Best Buy Canada. “A programmatic-first, loopless model enables more effective, measurable experiences for brands and agencies, while unlocking the valuable advertising moments that our in-store environment offers.”
The Value of an Integrated Platform
Beyond the technology itself, the agreement highlights a shift in the approach to enterprise advertising infrastructure. Rather than deploying individual point solutions for different functions, many retailers are looking for platforms that can handle multiple aspects of media operations through a single technology stack.
That is the role Perion aims to play. By combining ad serving, supply-side monetization, and header bidding into one platform, the company is positioning itself as the underlying infrastructure for retail media networks instead of simply another advertising vendor. According to Perion, broader platform adoption can help improve customer retention while creating more predictable, long-term business relationships.
For Best Buy Canada, consolidating these capabilities into one environment may also simplify operations while creating a more consistent experience for agencies and advertisers buying inventory across its stores.
Retailers Continue to Expand Their Media Businesses
The retail media market has evolved into a significant revenue opportunity as retailers leverage customer traffic, shopping data, and owned media assets. While e-commerce remains the foundation of many retail media strategies, physical stores provide access to shoppers during moments of high purchase intent that are difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Best Buy Canada operates more than 300 Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, and Best Buy Express locations nationwide, giving it an extensive network of digital displays that can now be integrated into the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Expanding the availability of premium retail DOOH inventory may also provide advertisers with additional options for omnichannel campaigns that span online and offline environments.
For Perion, the partnership represents another step in expanding its reach within the retail media market, an area the company views as an important long-term growth opportunity.
A Strategy Built Around Long-Term Infrastructure
Perion says the Best Buy Canada deployment supports its broader Perion One strategy, which focuses on delivering comprehensive technology platforms capable of supporting enterprise-scale advertising operations. Rather than treating each customer engagement as an isolated implementation, the company believes integrated deployments can serve as repeatable models for future retail media networks.
“By serving as a foundational infrastructure for a market leader such as Best Buy Canada, we demonstrate that our Perion One strategy allows us to win complex, enterprise-level mandates,” said Tal Jacobson, CEO of Perion. “We are creating a repeatable playbook to modernize retail media networks globally, ensuring sustainable growth and deeper strategic relationships with high-value partners.”
As retailers continue investing in advertising as a complementary business, technology is becoming a defining competitive advantage. The partnership between Perion and Best Buy Canada reflects that evolution, illustrating how the next phase of retail media growth will depend not only on expanding advertising inventory but also on building the infrastructure needed to make physical stores function like modern digital media platforms.
