Where Did Your Marketing Dollars Go?

Are You Over-Spending on Retail Media?

Author

Acceler8 Labs
February 20, 2025

The Speed Read

  • 82% of Food & Beverage brands struggle with cross-channel attribution

  • Meta's new offline conversion API could change everything

  • Why Instacart is reshaping retail media

  • The hidden costs of poor attribution (it's worse than you think)

The F&B Attribution Crisis

Why traditional measurement is failing modern brands

Here's an uncomfortable truth: most F&B brands are making million-dollar decisions with broken data. With customers bouncing between social media, retail apps, and physical stores, traditional attribution models are missing critical conversion signals.

The problem isn't only about better tracking, it's about building measurement systems that match how people actually shop in 2025.

By the Numbers

  • 6.8 touchpoints before conversion (industry average)

  • 3.2 devices per customer journey

  • 41% of conversion paths include undetected cross-device interactions

  • Up to 23% variance in ROI across attribution models

Where Most Brands Go Wrong

Our analysis of dozens of F&B brands revealed four critical failures in modern attribution:

  1. Siloed Channels: Meta, Google, TikTok, and Pinterest were operating in isolation, with no unified measurement

  2. Missing Attribution: Retail media integration opportunities were untapped

  3. Creative Disconnect: UGC potential wasn't being maximized

  4. Measurement Gaps: True performance metrics were hidden

The Real Problem Isn't Tech

Everyone wants to talk about their tech stack. But the real issue is strategy. Most F&B brands are optimizing for the wrong metrics because they're looking at each channel in isolation.

Our work with leading F&B brands that span D2C and Retail revealed a consistent pattern:

  1. Over-reliance on last-click attribution

  2. Siloed channel management

  3. Misaligned optimization signals

  4. Incomplete first-party data strategy

The typical F&B brand's approach to attribution was fundamentally flawed:

  • Chasing platform-specific ROAS without understanding true customer value

  • Making budget decisions based on incomplete channel data

  • Ignoring the lag between discovery and purchase

  • Missing crucial offline conversion signals

What's Actually Working Now

The brands winning at attribution aren't using better technology, they're thinking differently about measurement. Take Greenhouse Juice Co., who partnered with us to solve these exact challenges:

The solution required rethinking their entire approach to measurement and optimization:

  1. Phase 1: Foundation

  • Built multi-channel framework across Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest

  • Implemented proprietary attribution model

  • Results: Immediate clarity on cross-platform performance

  1. Phase 2: Creative Innovation

  • Leveraged existing content for health-focused messaging

  • Scaled UGC production for authenticity

  • Integrated AI-driven campaign optimization

  • Results: Significant engagement lift across platforms

  1. Phase 3: Scale

  • Expanded to Instacart retail media

  • Optimized for cross-platform attribution

  • Automated performance reporting

  • Results: Exceeded ROAS targets by 55%

The results? 55% improvement in ROAS and significantly better budget allocation across channels.

The Bigger Picture

The success at Greenhouse Juice Co. reflects a broader industry shift. Leading retailers are seeing 18-34% improvements in marketing ROI through advanced attribution systems that:

  1. Bridge online and offline data

  2. Deploy machine learning for predictive insights

  3. Respect evolving privacy regulations

  4. Unify measurement across channels

Quick Takes: Platform Updates That Matter

Meta's Offline API Evolution Meta has significantly enhanced their Conversions API with new retail-specific features. The update introduces deterministic matching between online ad impressions and in-store purchases through advanced identity resolution.

Key improvements include:

  • Longer attribution windows (up to 28 days)

  • Probabilistic matching for non-logged-in users

  • Custom value reporting for offline transactions

  • Real-time signal processing

The catch? Implementation requires developer resources and custom integration work. Most brands will need 4-6 weeks for full deployment, but early results suggest the investment pays off rapidly for multi-location retailers.

Instacart's Analytics Upgrade Instacart has launched a cross-retailer measurement solution that addresses one of retail media's biggest blindspots. The new analytics suite allows brands to track performance across multiple retailers within the Instacart ecosystem.

Notable features include:

  • Unified dashboard across retailer properties

  • Product-level performance comparisons

  • Custom segment analysis by retailer

  • Exportable datasets for internal analytics

This solves a critical challenge for F&B brands selling through multiple grocers.

The platform now supports direct integration with Meta's Offline API, creating powerful closed-loop reporting for brands investing in both platforms.

Last Word

"The brands that win aren't the ones with perfect attribution. They're the ones that make better decisions with imperfect data."

Ready to Fix Your Retail Attribution?

Book a free 30-minute strategy session to:

  • Uncover hidden revenue opportunities

  • Get a custom attribution roadmap

  • See how leading F&B brands are solving this

  • Learn if our framework is right for you