By Ellie-Rose Davies, Content Manager at IMRG

 

Measuring channel effectiveness starts with a simple question: which marketing channels are actually contributing to growth?

 

The answer is not always found in traffic, clicks or immediate sales. As shoppers move between search, display, marketplaces, social, AI tools and post-purchase communications, retailers need a clearer view of what each channel is contributing.

 

Inside this blog:

• How AI, search, social and human advice are creating a more fragmented customer journey
• Why display and Amazon need to be assessed beyond last-click attribution and ROAS
• What revenue figures can miss, including fulfilment costs, returns, margin and retention
• How partnership channels and post-purchase communications can support incremental growth and long-term customer value

 

Understanding the full customer journey

 

Consumers are no longer moving through a straightforward path from an advert to a retailer website and then a purchase. A considered purchase may involve search, social, reviews, retailer websites, stores, AI tools and human advice, with different channels contributing at different stages. This makes it increasingly difficult to judge performance through the final click alone.

 

Rob Watson, Principal Advisor at Columbus Digital Commerce, points to the number of sources involved in a considered purchase:

 

"The ONS puts online at around 28% of UK retail spend. Columbus research with IMRG found 71.3% of UK shoppers use two or three sources for a considered purchase, and AI assistants have already overtaken social media among them.’

 

‘Much of that influence is invisible to retailer analytics. That's only counting shoppers who knowingly use AI; with AI answers topping Google, most journeys start with AI whether shoppers notice or not.’

 

Rob reflects on how ‘our research also shows people buy from people: 32.5% want human advice on complex or expensive purchases.’

 

‘Retailers win the moments that matter by knowing the role each channel plays in a journey that mixes human and AI steps, and nine in ten shoppers want those steps connected.’

 

With this, it’s beneficial ‘to build an attribution model that measures each channel on its contribution to margin, wherever the transaction happens,’ says Rob.

 

As more discovery takes place beyond retailer-owned websites, the role of product information becomes increasingly important. Justin Thomas, VP Sales - EMEA North at Akeneo, explains:

 

‘AI is starting to challenge what retailers traditionally think of as a marketing channel.’

 

‘Product discovery increasingly happens beyond retailer-controlled touchpoints, as consumers use AI assistants to research, compare and evaluate products, sometimes without ever beginning their journey on a retailer’s website.’

 

‘That means traffic and last-click conversion alone provide an increasingly incomplete picture of channel effectiveness.’

 

Justin recommends that retailers ‘connect activity across channels to commercial outcomes such as conversion, margin, returns and lifetime value, while also understanding whether their products are visible and accurately represented within emerging AI discovery experiences.’

 

‘Product information is the connective tissue across these journeys. A strong product data foundation allows brands and retailers to deliver accurate, contextualised and consistent product information wherever discovery takes place, whether the audience is a consumer or an AI agent.’

 

Justin explains, ‘As commerce becomes more distributed, the opportunity will increasingly lie not in identifying one winning channel, but in making products discoverable, understandable and compelling across every relevant touchpoint.’

 

These changing journeys make a stronger case for assessing the role each channel plays, rather than simply ranking channels by the traffic or conversions they appear to generate.

 

Looking beyond last-click and ROAS

 

Traditional reporting can make some channels look stronger than others simply because they sit closer to the point of purchase. Looking beyond the most familiar performance metrics can reveal how channels are contributing to growth earlier in the customer journey.

 

For Przemek Wyszynski, MD – UK&I at RTB House, display illustrates how a channel can contribute to growth long before the final click:

 

‘Display presents one of the clearest opportunities because it can both create and capture demand, but its value is often obscured.’

 

‘Our UK research found only 27% of UK consumers arrive on site knowing the exact product they want, while 77% consider multiple brands and 71% visit multiple websites.’

 

‘Channels that support discovery will therefore look weaker under last-click than those capturing existing demand,’ says Przemek.

 

‘Fospha’s Peak Period Playbook data illustrates the opportunity - top performing brands direct 30% of their peak budget to emerging and mid-size channels such as display.’

 

‘Retailers can combine tactical attribution with incrementality, MMM, and new-customer CAC to understand which channels create growth.’

 

Amazon presents a different version of the same challenge, with paid activity potentially contributing to organic performance. Alex Karagiannis, CEO at Lezzat, explains why ROAS alone may not provide a complete picture:

 

‘Amazon is where we see the biggest opportunity still in the UK, but most brands still measure it with the wrong KPI.’

 

‘ROAS describes the orders advertising touched, and on Amazon a large share of sales are organic, so a flattering ROAS can sit happily alongside a business going backwards.’

 

Alex recommends to ‘Use TACoS instead, total ad spend against total sales. If TACoS falls while revenue grows, advertising is building organic rank and the channel is compounding.’

 

‘If TACoS climbs just to hold revenue flat, you're renting demand and it only gets more expensive. One number, and it tells you the direction of travel.’

 

These examples show why channel effectiveness cannot always be judged by the final click or immediate return. Retailers also need to consider whether activity is supporting discovery, building organic performance and contributing to sustainable growth over time.

 

Connecting channel performance to profitability

 

Once retailers account for how channels influence discovery and conversion, the next question is whether that activity is creating profitable growth. Revenue and order volume can look positive while advertising costs, marketplace fees, fulfilment and returns reduce the value of each sale.

 

Kevin Steward, UK Country Head at Base.com, argues that the opportunity lies in connecting activity across the channel mix rather than focusing on a single source:

 

‘At Base.com, we believe the biggest opportunity is not one marketing channel, but connecting activity across marketplaces, social commerce, search and owned channels.’

 

‘Retailers can look beyond clicks and traffic, measuring each channel against conversion, margin, repeat purchases and customer lifetime value.’

 

‘A channel may generate strong sales but underperform once advertising costs, marketplace fees, fulfilment and returns are considered,’ says Kevin.

 

‘Consolidated data is therefore important.’

 

‘Social commerce is creating opportunities for discovery and engagement, particularly through creators and live shopping, while marketplaces continue to provide reach and purchase intent.’

 

For Kevin, the priority should always be profitable, sustainable growth - not visibility alone.

 

That broader view is particularly important for marketplaces, where revenue can be accompanied by significant fulfilment and returns costs. fulfilmentcrowd explains why these factors need to be considered alongside channel performance:

 

‘Marketplaces can give retailers access to huge audiences, but channel effectiveness should be measured on more than revenue alone.’

 

‘The focus should be on whether those sales remain profitable once fulfilment costs, returns and customer retention are considered.’

 

‘These metrics are particularly important around peak, when promotional activity can generate significant order volumes followed by a surge in January returns.’

 

‘Retailers can invest in visibility across every channel to understand true cost-to-serve, margin and repeat purchase behaviour.’

 

fulfilmentcrowd describe how ‘An omnichannel fulfilment strategy can simplify this greatly, giving retailers a single view of inventory and performance while ensuring growth through new channels results in sustainable, profitable customer relationships.’

 

The most effective channel is therefore not necessarily the one generating the greatest volume of sales, but the one contributing to sustainable growth once the full cost of serving and retaining customers has been considered.

 

Looking beyond acquisition to customer value

 

Measurement should not stop once a customer has placed an order. Some of the most valuable opportunities sit in channels that support acquisition, reactivation and repeat purchase, but which may not be captured by standard paid media reporting.

 

Charlie Row, Solutions Client Partner at Awin, points to Card Linked Offers as a channel where measurement can extend beyond clicks:

 

‘At Awin, one of the fastest-growing partnership channels we see is Card Linked Offers (CLO).’

 

‘Driven by direct bank integrations and fintech partnerships, CLO enables advertisers to target customers with exceptional precision using real transaction and spending data.’

 

‘Brands can reach new, existing, lapsed and competitor customers through audiences built from actual purchasing behaviour, rather than inferred intent.’

 

Charlie says, ‘Importantly, CLO measurement extends beyond traffic and last-click attribution. Advertisers can assess impact through customer acquisition, reactivation, basket growth, purchase frequency, market share and share of wallet.’

 

‘As banking and fintech partnerships continue to expand, CLO is proving to be a powerful driver of incremental growth and long-term commercial value.’

 

Customer value can also be built after the purchase, when communications are often treated as operational rather than marketing. Gavin Murphy, CMO at Scurri, highlights the potential in post-purchase updates:

 

‘Retailers routinely overlook one of their highest-attention marketing channels: post-purchase communication.’

 

‘Customers actively open tracking updates because the information matters, creating an opportunity to reinforce the brand, recommend relevant products and encourage another visit.’

 

‘For instance, LeMieux’s branded tracking communications achieved a 12.86% clickthrough rate and 2.55% conversion during peak.’

 

Gavin shares, ‘Effectiveness should be measured beyond opens and clicks, connecting each communication to incremental revenue, repeat purchase, reduced WISMO enquiries and customer service costs.’

 

‘The strongest channel is the one improving measurable customer value and overall profitability throughout the journey,’ reveals Gavin.

 

Acquisition, reactivation, repeat purchase, customer service, and retention can all contribute to the overall value of a channel.

 

In summary

 

Across the commentaries provided by our community of industry experts, one point comes through clearly: there is no single channel that works best in every situation.

 

Consumers move between search, display, marketplaces, social, AI tools and post-purchase communications, with each playing a different role in the journey.

 

Retailers can look beyond traffic, clicks and immediate sales to consider discovery, conversion, margin, returns, repeat purchase and lifetime value. This can give retailers a clearer view of what is really driving growth, and where the next opportunity lies.

 

Published 22/10/2026