Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed quotes to Anna Haffner, Reddit’s Senior Director of Large Customer Sales. This has been corrected and we apologize for the error.
Key takeaways:
- The brands that perform best on Reddit are the ones that respect community norms and lead with authenticity, said Anna Haffner, Reddit’s Senior Director of Large Customer Sales.
- Reddit is increasingly influential in product discovery because shoppers use it to find candid, experience-based recommendations they trust more than brand-controlled content.
- Reddit’s new commerce tools, like its Shopify integration and Dynamic Product Ads, are designed to give retailers a way to turn high-intent conversations into measurable performance without losing relevance.
For brands, Reddit presents a specific challenge: its communities are highly attuned to tone, authenticity and relevance, which means traditional marketing tactics can sometimes backfire.
But that same dynamic is what makes the platform so valuable to retailers and brands. As shoppers grow more skeptical of polished, AI-generated and brand-controlled content, they are increasingly turning to Reddit for candid product opinions, real-world recommendations and purchase validation from other users.
“What we advise is that advertisers stay true to what makes their brand and Reddit unique — Redditors definitely don’t hate brands,” said Anna Haffner, Senior Director of Large Customer Sales at Reddit, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints.
Reddit research has shown a shift in how consumers look up information about their potential purchases. Shoppers are increasingly adding “Reddit” to their searches — looking for recommendations from real people who have used a product, rather than brand-produced content.
“We’re seeing tons — I think it’s billions actually — of people appending the word Reddit to their Google search,” Haffner said. “This is a really interesting behavior and it’s risen year over year … I think that’s a signal from the user that they’re looking for human, trustworthy information.”
This behavior is particularly pronounced in categories such as beauty, home improvement and consumer electronics, where purchase decisions often hinge on peer validation.
Clay Lute, a 24-year-old global merchant at Calvin Klein, said in January, on a 2026 Big Show NRF panel about marketing to Gen-Z, that they don’t trust ads — they trust Reddit.
“I can definitely say I don’t make a purchase unless I check Reddit first,” Lute said.
Reddit conversations are increasingly cited in search results, too. An analysis by Semrush published in July 2025 showed that Reddit was the most-cited website for factual information — more than Wikipedia and YouTube — by AI models such as ChatGPT.
Showing Up Without Standing Out (In the Wrong Way)
For brands, Reddit presents a specific challenge: the platform’s communities, known as subreddits, have distinct cultures and norms. Overly polished or interruptive advertising tends to land poorly. Success on Reddit requires understanding of those communities and taking a conversational tone on the platform.
“I think all of us as Internet users dislike disruptive advertising that feels contrived and feels like a PR slogan from, you know, a corporate communications department,” Haffner said.
Several brands and retailers have found traction by contributing value to conversations — answering questions, providing useful information and participating in ways that feel native to the platform. Many are there and engaging with humor, transparency and a degree of vulnerability.
Reddit’s advertising formats are designed to fit within the feed experience rather than disrupt it. Haffner described how the platform’s ad products allow brands to reach users in relevant subreddits with content that mirrors organic posts.
Walmart, MAC, Dove and Home Depot: Campaigns that Worked
Haffner cited several examples of effective Reddit marketing.
Walmart turned to Reddit to launch its new brand platform “Walmart: Who Knew?“, aimed at shifting the public’s perception: that it is not a basic big-box retailer, but an innovative destination for unexpected, high-quality products. The retailer found that Redditors were sharing their discoveries, like fashion and baby products, on the platform. The campaign tagline, “Who knew?” and the out-of-home and digital campaign copy came directly from conversations on Reddit. The campaign went on to win a Webby — a proud moment for Haffner.
MAC Cosmetics engaged beauty communities by showing up in spaces where users were already debating shades, formulas, wearability and product dupes — the kinds of detailed, product-specific discussions that often influence purchase decisions. In January, the company asked what their favorite discontinued MAC products were, and brought in thousands of comments from beauty lovers who wanted to weigh in. That approach fit Reddit well, because beauty shoppers on the platform tend to reward specificity and real-world usefulness, Haffner said.
Home Depot named Reddit its first-ever self-service retail media network partner in April, which means that brands and suppliers to Home Depot can now launch Reddit campaigns directly within their self-service platform.
Dove participated in conversations around self-image and personal care in a way that matched its broader brand positioning, entering discussions that were more values-driven and reflective than transactional, Haffner said. “They’ve committed to using unfiltered Reddit reviews [in their ads], including the negatives ones,” she said. “Using radical transparency and being real was such a smart take on how to unlock and unleash Reddit for your brand.”
Across these examples, Haffner said the common thread was meeting consumers where they already were, rather than trying to redirect them elsewhere.
Reducing Friction for Retail Advertisers
Reddit has also been expanding its commerce infrastructure in ways to make the platform easy to access for retailers.
Reddit’s Shopify integration, now available to global advertisers, lets merchants connect their storefronts, sync product catalogs automatically and launch Dynamic Product Ads (DPA) with a more streamlined setup. That matters, because it helps brands connect high-intent shopping conversations to actual conversions on a platform where users are especially active shoppers, while reducing the manual work and technical lift required to keep campaigns current.
“Every platform has a feed-based shopping ad — Reddit is not new to this area,” Haffner said. “What’s interesting about DPA on Reddit is it puts you deep in these really unique conversations on the platform.”
A retailer can connect its store once and have Reddit continuously pull in current product data, so that ads reflect what is actually available without requiring teams to manually update creative every time inventory shifts, prices change or new items are added.
Redditors are 62% more likely than the average American to be daily shoppers, while TransUnion research found the platform delivered more than 2X the incremental return on ad spend (ROAS) compared with the media plan average in North America, and a 7X average ROAS for retail advertisers in EMEA.
In one early example, Shopify merchant Ethnotek used Reddit DPA and retargeting to drive 4X ROAS and a cost per acquisition (CPA) 40% below its benchmark. Ethnotek’s artisan-made backpacks, bags and accessories are products that often require deep consideration and repeat exposure before purchase. By linking its Shopify storefront and Reddit pixel, the brand synced its catalog and reintroduced products to users who had already shown interest.
The AI Factor
Haffner also addressed the broader context shaping Reddit’s growing relevance: the rise of AI-generated content across the web. As more product pages, reviews and editorial content are produced by automated systems, she argued that human conversation becomes more valuable — not less.
“And I think in an AI driven world where these like feed based social environments are starting to feel like kind of a TV on in the background with commercials you didn’t want to play, I think people are going to Reddit to like verify and get a deeper human layer of information in their product purchase journey.”
