Industries · Retail
Retail media is measured by the people who sell it. SpinProof isn’t.
Independent brand lift for retailers and brands buying retail media: measure what campaigns changed in shoppers’ minds, separately from the network that sold the ads.
Brand lift studies for retail and retail media
SpinProof measures the brand effect of retail campaigns and retail media independently of the retailer or network that sold the ads. Verified shoppers who saw the campaign are compared with a matched control on a KPI fixed in advance, such as consideration, price perception or own-label quality, and every number ships with an Evidence File.
£3.7bn
UK retail media spend in 2025, up 17.5% on 2024
AA/WARC, via Digiday
$200.4bn
global retail media ad spend forecast for 2026
WARC Media, via invidis
62%
of buyers called the lack of measurement standards a major obstacle to retail media
IAB, via EMARKETER
The retail media measurement problem.
Retail media networks sell the ads, own the shopper data, choose the attribution window and report the result. The default outcome on most networks is last-touch attribution reported as return on ad spend, which credits the ad with sales that might have happened anyway and says nothing about what shoppers now think of the brand.
The industry knows this. The IAB and Media Rating Council’s Retail Media Measurement Guidelines, finalised in January 2024, call for transparency about how incrementality is measured, and the IAB and IAB Europe’s 2025 commerce media guidance treats experiments, such as randomised control tests and matched markets, as the gold standard for proving causal lift.
Why brand effects need brand measurement.
Les Binet and Peter Field’s analysis of the IPA Effectiveness Databank found that the most effective campaigns balance long-term brand building with short-term activation, roughly 60:40. Retail media is mostly measured as activation. Brand lift shows the other side: whether on-site, in-store and off-site retail media moved consideration, preference or price perception, not just attributed sales.
What SpinProof measures in retail.
- Retailer brand campaigns: price perception, consideration for the next shop, store openings and seasonal campaigns.
- Own-label: whether advertising changed how own-label is rated against branded alternatives.
- Brands buying retail media: whether on-site, in-store and off-site placements built the brand, measured independently of the network.
- In-store screens and nearby outdoor: exposure evidenced by QR codes in store, recognition of the real creative, a decoy ad and the media schedule.
Finding the right shoppers.
Studies screen for the shoppers that matter, such as people who have bought in the category in the last month or shop at a given retailer. Exposed shoppers can be recruited in store with QR codes, through retailer or partner lists sent by the list owner as data controller, and through Meta and consented panels. The control comes from the same audience and period.
What we measure
Typical retail KPIs.
| KPI | The question it answers | Study design |
|---|---|---|
| Price perception | Do shoppers think we offer good value now? | Campaign Uplift |
| Consideration for the next shop | Would they shop with us next time? | Campaign Uplift, Brand Tracker |
| Own-label perception | Is own-label rated as good as the brands? | Creative Test, Campaign Uplift |
| Retail media brand effect | Did on-site and in-store ads move the brand, not just attributed sales? | Campaign Uplift |
| Store opening awareness | Do local shoppers know the new store is there? | Campaign Uplift by area |
| Seasonal ad take-out | Did the Christmas ad land, and with whom? | Creative Test, then Campaign Uplift |
Questions
Brand lift for retail.
Can SpinProof measure retail media independently of the network?
Yes. SpinProof doesn’t sell media, so it measures the brand effect of on-site, in-store and off-site retail media without relying on the network’s own reporting. The method, the control group and the Evidence File are the same for every network.
Does brand lift replace return on ad spend?
No. Network-reported sales show short-term, attributed outcomes. Brand lift shows whether shoppers now think differently about the brand, which drives future sales and pricing power. Most retailers and brands need both.
Can you measure in-store screens?
Yes. Exposure is evidenced with QR codes in store, recognition of the real creative, a decoy ad and the screen schedule, and the control comes from comparable shoppers who weren’t exposed.
Do you need our sales data?
No. Brand lift is measured through surveys of verified shoppers. If you want to compare it with sales or loyalty data, we can include that in the study plan.
Read next
Retail media is measured by the people who sell it. How to measure its brand effect
Retail media is worth £3.7bn in the UK, but most networks report last-touch ROAS. How to measure what retail media does to the brand, independently.
Read the articleHow to measure brand lift for out-of-home, print and other offline campaigns
Step by step: how to measure the brand effect of outdoor, transport, print, venue, audio and event advertising that platform lift tools can’t see.
Read the guideHow to read a brand lift report in ten minutes
An eight-step checklist for reading any brand lift report: the KPI, the sample, the full-sample result, absolute lift, ranges, exposure, exclusions and data.
Read the guideSources
- Digiday: UK brands spend more on retail media (AA/WARC figures)
- invidis: Global retail media ad market forecast to top $200bn in 2026 (WARC Media)
- EMARKETER: IAB and MRC propose retail media measurement standards
- IAB/MRC Retail Media Measurement Guidelines (January 2024)
- PPC Land: IAB releases measurement framework for commerce media campaigns
- Chain Store Age: Looking beyond lift testing in retail media
- IPA: The Long and the Short of It (Binet and Field)
Next step
Run a pilot study on your next campaign.
Pick a live or upcoming campaign in any channel. We agree the KPI with you, lock the plan before fieldwork, and you get a first read in week one, then the full report with its Evidence File.