Albertson's Media Collective iROAS Measurement Secrets
How much can the methodology behind iROAS change the story your retail media data tells?
In this episode of Retail Media Therapy, Viv Craske takes a deep dive into iROAS measurement, exploring research from Albertsons Media Collective and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The study examined 42 digital advertising campaigns and compared different approaches to measuring incremental return on ad spend.
The results reveal just how much methodology matters. Across the campaigns, the difference between the highest and lowest reported ROAS was 6.5x. Even more strikingly, 83% of campaigns flipped from a positive to a negative incremental return depending solely on the measurement methodology used.
Viv breaks down three key approaches to iROAS measurement:
The episode also explores how audience definitions and revenue calculations can dramatically change reported iROAS. For example, focusing specifically on previous brand buyers reduced one reported result from $2.27 to just $0.22.
So what should advertisers do? The key takeaway is transparency. Before comparing iROAS figures, advertisers need to understand how the result was calculated, how test and control groups were constructed, what assumptions influenced the model, and how incremental revenue was determined. And Retail Media Networks need to be transparent about how they are measuring their online media results.
Because without understanding the methodology, two iROAS numbers may not actually be measuring the same thing.
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