New Incremental Sales Measurement Enhances KPM Programmatic Campaigns

January 14, 2025

Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) is bringing incremental sales reporting to self-service programmatic campaigns. Incremental sales measurement is now available for qualified campaigns placed through The Trade Desk. This new capability, launched in December, represents the causal impact of media spend.

Why incremental measurement matters

Understanding the true performance of your advertising investment is crucial. While many solutions focus solely on clicks or impressions, KPM has always prioritized measuring real-world sales.

The new incremental measurement capability takes campaign analysis a step further by distinguishing between attributable and incremental sales. Unlike standard attribution, which connects media exposure to all resulting sales, incremental measurement controls for organic sales—those that would have occurred even without media influence. This ensures that only the true sales lift driven by the advertising is credited, giving brands a more accurate view of their impact.

To achieve this, our approach uses a control audience that mirrors the exposed audience, ensuring both groups share identical purchase behaviors except for the media exposure. By isolating and measuring the difference, advertisers can confidently understand their true campaign effectiveness. Our methodology adheres to IAB standards and best practices, delivering results you can trust to optimize media spend and drive meaningful growth.

What advertisers can expect

KPM’s incremental measurement offers post-campaign insights into the true lift generated by offsite advertising efforts. In addition to the in-flight attributable sales measurement we’ve offered since 2023—which enables advertisers to optimize campaigns in near real-time—this new feature gives brands a comprehensive view of their impact at the conclusion of each campaign.

Available for self-service advertisers using The Trade Desk DSP across display, streaming, audio, and more.
Measures total and incremental uplift of sales (including performance by key audience segments and modality), household penetration, units, and visits.
Incremental sales measurement will be included in the standard campaign wrap report, providing a seamless way to analyze and act on results.
Requires a minimum campaign spend.

Real-world impact and client success

Beta testing began in March, and the results have exceeded expectations. Strong performance during this phase has validated its value, prompting KPM to make it available to all eligible advertisers.

“Advertisers are increasingly looking to prove their media investments are generating incremental sales,” said Ben Sylvan, Vice President of Data Partnerships at The Trade Desk. “KPM continues to be a leader in retail media by providing advertisers with meaningful, sales-driven insights when they reach Kroger buyers across the open internet.”

By providing clear visibility into the true sales lift driven by campaigns, it enables brands to optimize their strategies with precision.

“Marketers need to trust that their media investments are driving real business outcomes,” said Anthony Kilili, KPM’s data science leader. “Our incremental sales measurement capability empowers them to do just that by providing a precise view of campaign impact. This methodology goes beyond traditional metrics, ensuring fairness and accuracy by separating organic sales from true media-driven growth. It’s a critical tool that allows advertisers to optimize with confidence.”

Continuing our legacy of programmatic innovation

This new feature is the latest milestone in KPM’s ongoing mission to make retail data easy to activate within a brand’s preferred ad tech.

The in-flight measurement solution, introduced in 2023, revolutionized real-time performance optimization by linking media exposures to actual shopper purchases at Kroger. The addition of incremental sales measurement now gives advertisers a complete view of their campaigns' impact, from start to finish.

Looking ahead, KPM plans to expand this capability to other demand-side platforms (DSPs) ensuring that even more advertisers can benefit from our cutting-edge measurement solutions.