Best Buy, a long-time Criteo customer, has signed on to use the company’s retail media ecosystem and platform to support brands selling and running sponsored ads through its website in the United States and Canada.

“We’re continuously looking to improve the experience for our customers, including those shopping on BestBuy.com,” said a Best Buy spokesperson, when asked why choose to participate in Criteo’s platform. “It’s always the right time.”

Key to the new platform, a self-service platform to assist brands in reaching consumers on many retail websites through one platform. Criteo’s platform enables brands to support a campaign for one product on many retail websites.

It validates the vision Criteo began two-and-a-half years ago, to create a transparent full-service network for retailers, according to Geoffroy Martin, executive vice president and GM of Growth Portfolio at Criteo.

“We finished the build in Q3 of 2020, and then launched it in Q4,” he said. “We redesigned it from scratch.”

The platform, partially built on HookLogic’s technology, has since been recoded using artificial intelligence, redesigned and rebuilt. Criteo acquired HookLogic in 2016. The technology, an audience exchange, enabled marketers to target and reach audiences on retailer sites.

Criteo gives Best Buy access to brands connecting through the DSP side of the platform. The benefit is that they gain access to a broad network of partners.

For brands, they gain access to Best Buy properties and other retailers. For example, a brand like Sony can spend some of their sponsored ad budget on Best Buy, and another part on Target.

About 50% of all retail media dollars are spent outside of a retailer site. Off-site advertising enables campaigns to run with massive scale and reach across the open internet, according to McKinsey & Company.

As consumers increase their activity on ecommerce sites, Criteo’s retail media platform enables brand marketers and agencies to reach consumers across leading e-commerce sites, while executing campaigns with full transparency and control.

Criteo’s retail media sponsored ads use the same targeting and personalization as retailers’ organic product placements, ensuring a relevant shopper experience.

Criteo’s inside sales team also helps to create demand for customers like Best Buy. Today, Best Buy generates about $47 billion in annual revenue. The idea is that Criteo will power sponsored product ads for Best Buy while enabling advertisers to leverage several formats, targeting options, and flexible measurement models to address the entire customer journey.