Developing
The study was published jointly with the company whose ads it evaluates, and no sample, period or model details were given.
In 60 seconds
- Best Buy Ads' return on ad spend was 79% higher than other media, measured on total US Best Buy sales.
- Best Buy Ads contributed nearly 10% of measured brand equity value.
- Nearly 16% of media-driven sales associated with Best Buy Ads occurred at competing retailers.
- Number of brands, time period, spend levels, model specification and who paid for the study were not stated.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- A retail media network is publishing syndicated MMM evidence that its ads create sales beyond its own stores.
- Why it matters
- Retail media measurement often stops at the retailer's own transactions, so a cross-retailer figure changes how halo effects are valued.
- Who is affected
- Retail media buyers, CPG and electronics brands and measurement teams.
- Martech stack area
- Analytics, Advertising
- Stack impact
- Ask for the methodology and for how the ROAS comparison set was defined before using the 79% or 16% figures in planning.
- Business impact
- Moderate PPC Land notes the study is company-supplied, calls itself "independent" while co-published with Best Buy Ads, and mixes scopes: ROAS counts Best Buy sales, while the halo claim counts sales at other retailers.
- Related technologies
- What to watch
- A technical appendix and comparison with other retail media halo studies.
Circana and Best Buy Ads announced a marketing mix modeling (MMM) study on October 7, 2026. PPC Land reported it on October 13.
The claims (company-supplied)
- Best Buy Ads’ return on ad spend was 79% higher than other media, measured on total US Best Buy sales.
- Best Buy Ads contributed nearly 10% of measured brand equity value.
- Nearly 16% of media-driven sales associated with Best Buy Ads occurred at competing retailers.
Best Buy, not Circana, draws the conclusions from the brand equity and cross-retailer figures. Circana calls the work “first-of-its-kind” syndicated MMM research.
What is not stated
Number of brands, whether they were Best Buy Ads clients, time period, spend and sample size, channel breakdown of the comparison set, the definition of brand equity, the model and confidence intervals, a methodology document, and who commissioned the work.
Context
PPC Land notes Incremental’s June 2026 white paper found siloed attribution misses an estimated 36% to 53% of retail media impact, with cross-retailer shares varying by format (6% for search, 29% for on-site DSP, 52% for off-site DSP). Best Buy’s 16% cannot be compared without knowing its format mix.
Our read
The direction is credible and the evidence is thin. Ask for the method and run your own geo or holdout test.
Sources
- PPC Land: Nearly 16% of Best Buy Ads-driven sales landed at rivals, Circana finds (opens in a new tab)
Source for the claims, quotes, gaps and context.