Performance media partner Digital Remedy has teamed up with consumer purchase insights company Affinity Solutions to launch Merchant Intelligence. According to the announcement release, Merchant Intelligence is a new measurement offering that connects digital ad campaigns to actual consumer purchases.
The offering brings together Digital Remedy’s campaign exposure data with Affinity Solutions’ transaction data from more than 290 million debit and credit cards to help advertisers measure sales, revenue, and ROAS, including the elusive purchases made in physical stores.
Why This Matters
One of digital advertising’s longstanding bugaboos is connecting ad exposure to real-world sales, particularly for businesses where the buying often happens offline.
Merchant Intelligence works to close that gap by matching campaign impressions with household-level purchase activity. Initially focused on QSR and retail (which makes sense), the offering lets buyers compare purchase behavior between exposed and “unexposed” audiences.
The data is available via Digital Remedy’s Echo measurement platform, with reporting across campaigns, creatives, publishers, devices, and media channels. Importantly, weekly purchase data allows advertisers to adjust campaigns while they’re still running, rather than waiting until they’ve ended to evaluate performance. (Though data is also available post-bid, as well.)
Experts React
Matt Fanelli, CRO at Digital Remedy, says the partnership addresses a major measurement blind spot for retail and restaurant advertisers.
“QSR and retail marketers have been optimizing the sales they can track online, while much of the business still happens at the register.” He goes on to note that this will help “advertisers “see verified in-store and online purchases next to their media delivery.”
To that end, Phil Lore, Chief Growth Officer at Affinity Solutions, says Merchant Intelligence gives advertisers a clearer picture of how media exposure ties to buying behavior across online and offline channels.
Our Take
Advertisers increasingly expect their partners to demonstrate actual sales performance. This launch speaks to that, offering better measurement to “close the loop.”
What’s interesting is the weekly reporting. Connecting ad exposure to purchases is valuable, but having that data available during a campaign makes it more actionable. Advertisers can use purchase trends to optimize budgets and creative while campaigns are still running. (Measurement = optimization!)
AdTechRadar is owned by Chris Harihar, an EVP at Mod Op. Digital Remedy is a Mod Op client.
