Measurement Can Be Simple: Clarity Drives Success in Retail Media

At the IAB Connected Commerce event in New York City, one comment aptly summed up the state of retail media: “Retail media is entering its Socratic phase.” The more the industry tries to measure, the more confused it becomes about what’s actually working.

Marketers today face a landscape filled with contradictory signals:

• Data clean rooms that promise real-time insights but deliver weekly updates.
• Proxy metrics, such as ROAS, can be manipulated to appear favorable even when the business is underperforming.
• Self-attribution games, where platforms claim conversions that would have happened anyway.
• Made-for-advertising (MFA) placements that rack up numbers but deliver no brand value.

In this environment, measurement often creates confusion rather than clarity.

The Problem: Latency, Proxies, and Misleading Metrics

The heavy reliance on modeled data and averages in retail media often gives the impression of accuracy without substance. A strong ROAS figure may look like success on paper, but it doesn’t always reflect true incremental sales. Delays in reporting turn “real-time optimization” into more of a talking point than a practical tool. And when platforms optimize for purchases, they often end up crediting sales from branded searches or repeat buyers, transactions that were likely going to happen with or without the campaign.

When CFOs ask, “Did this campaign generate more revenue?” marketers often rely on dashboards with statistics that are directionally correct but ultimately misleading.

The Semcasting Approach: Simple, Direct, Transparent

At Semcasting, our mission is to make measurement straightforward and reliable for marketers. For example, a national retailer used our deterministic identity resolution and near real-time reporting features to distinguish true online purchasing drivers. This approach allowed them to quickly adjust their campaigns and see a direct 15% increase in conversions mid-campaign. Such practical application underscores how our solution clears up confusion, offering measurable outcomes that align with business goals.

• Deterministic Identity Resolution: Unlike other methods, we do not depend on proxies or modeled lookalikes. Our identity graph is built on verified signals, connecting real people and households across devices and channels, giving you confidence that your measurement is rooted in truth.
• Near Real-Time Reporting: Say goodbye to week-long lags. Semcasting provides results that are updated daily, allowing you to optimize your campaign while it's still running, not after the fact. With daily updates, you can act quickly on the new data to make informed decisions.
• Direct Outcome Attribution: We measure key outcomes, such as purchases, sign-ups, store visits, and site activity, rather than relying on averages that do not accurately reflect the true business impact.
• CFO-Ready Results: When leadership asks if marketing delivered incremental value, you will have clear, defensible results. For example, in a recent campaign, our client reported a 20% increase in online conversions within three weeks, directly attributable to the optimized strategy provided by Semcasting's tools. This is the kind of result you can confidently present to your leadership team to demonstrate the effectiveness and incremental value of your marketing efforts.

Cutting Through the Noise

Measurement today is complex. With Semcasting, you gain transparency, accuracy, and speed, so you know exactly how your campaigns perform.

The Takeaway

Retail media may seem complicated, but measuring success doesn’t have to be. Semcasting brings clarity where others create confusion.

Measurement should answer one question: Did your campaign drive real business results?

With Semcasting, you’ll have a clear answer.

Want to see how it works? Reach out for a demo or explore our case studies to see how other brands have turned data into real outcomes.