How to Improve ROAS in Retail Media and Commerce Media Campaigns

Quick Answer: How do you improve ROAS in retail media?

To improve ROAS in retail media, first make the number honest: know each network’s attribution window, view rules and halo scope. Then fix the product page, price and Buy Box, split branded from non-branded spend, use new-to-brand data and set targets from margin. Finally, test incrementality before you move budget between networks.

Retail media is advertising a retailer sells on its own site, app or shopper data, such as Amazon Ads or Walmart Connect. Commerce media also includes delivery apps. The ROAS formula is the same everywhere; what counts as a sale is not.

What does ROAS mean in retail media and commerce media?

In retail media, ROAS is the sales a network attributes to your ads divided by what you spent on them. The network decides which sales count: how many days after a click or view, whether other products from your brand count, and whether store purchases count. Two networks can report different ROAS for the same shoppers.

Retail media buyers bid at the point of purchase, where intent is high but price competition is intense. Your product listing is the landing page, so images, copy, reviews and price decide whether a click becomes a sale.

How do ROAS, ACOS and TACoS connect?

ROAS and ACOS measure the same thing upside down. Amazon defines ACOS as "(ad spend ÷ ad revenue) x 100" and says ROAS "is the inverse of Amazon ACOS" (Amazon Ads ACOS guide). TACoS divides ad spend by total sales, organic included. Amazon’s ACOS guide does not define TACoS; sellers and agencies calculate it.

The illustration assumes $1,000 of spend, $4,000 attributed and $10,000 total sales. A falling TACoS at steady spend means total sales are growing, often from organic. As one seller put it, "if ACOS is not good, but your TACOS is, that is what matters the most" (r/FulfillmentByAmazon, April 2025).

Why can’t you compare Amazon or Walmart ROAS with Google or Meta ROAS?

You cannot compare them directly because each network sets its own rules for which sales count. Window length, view credit, same-brand halo sales and in-store sales all change the result. Albertsons Media Collective concluded that advertisers "cannot rely on ROAS to make performance comparisons or optimizations across RMNs" while methods differ.

The table shows what each network states in its public documentation, checked November 4, 2026. "Not stated" means not stated in the platform’s public help.

Meta is not a retail media network, so it is not in this table. For how Google Ads, Meta and GA4 count the same sale differently, see why Google Ads, Meta and GA4 report different ROAS.

What should you match before comparing two networks?

1. Window: the same days after the click, such as 14 where both offer it.
2. Clicks only: drop view-attributed sales, since view rules differ most.
3. Product scope: advertised-product sales only, halo in its own column.
4. Channel: online and in-store apart.
5. Customer type: new-to-brand orders apart from repeat buyers.

What do the IAB and MRC guidelines ask networks to disclose?

The IAB and MRC released draft guidelines on September 13, 2023 and the final version in January 2024 (IAB). They do not set one window for everyone. They set disclosure rules you can hold any network to (page numbers from the January 2024 PDF):

• Windows "must be disclosed before campaign execution and measurement" (page 27).
• "A reasonable maximum attribution window should be established with support and applied consistently" (page 27).
• "The MRC requires viewable impressions for attribution of outcomes to ad exposures" (page 25).
• Networks should disclose "the percentage of attributed outcome metrics (sales, units, visits, etc.) that are extrapolated" (page 29).
• For incrementality, "MRC Standards highly recommends using RCTs", meaning randomized controlled trials (page 32).

How do you improve ROAS on retail media networks?

Start from the symptom, not the bid. Low or confusing retail media ROAS often traces back to one of four causes: the listing cannot win the sale, branded spend hides weak acquisition, report settings changed, or the target ignores margin. The table maps each symptom to the first check and the first fix. The fixes are our recommendations; the source column links the rule or metric each one relies on.

Why fix the product page, price and Buy Box before bids?

Your ad sends shoppers to a product page that competes with every other offer on the shelf. Walmart is explicit: "To be selected, your product must meet the following", then lists in stock, winning the Buy Box and published on Walmart.com (Walmart Marketplace Learn).

Protect your price, because unauthorized resellers listing below your minimum advertised price can take the sale your ad paid for. Our MAP vs MSRP guide covers how to trace them. Then improve images, titles and reviews. One seller summed it up: "the acos follows the relevance, not the other way around" (r/FulfillmentByAmazon).

Should you split branded and non-branded retail media campaigns?

Yes. Shoppers searching your brand were already looking for you, so branded campaigns report high ROAS and can hide weak acquisition. One seller shared "My branded roas is 17, my unbranded is 2.75, making my blended roas 3.1" (r/FulfillmentByAmazon). That is one account, not a benchmark.

Illustration: $2,000 on branded terms at 10x ROAS brings $20,000, and $8,000 on non-branded terms at 2x brings $16,000. Blended ROAS is $36,000 ÷ $10,000 = 3.6x. At a 3.0x break-even, non-branded spend loses money and the blend hides it.

Which bidding strategy should you use on retail media?

Use fixed bids when you need control and automated bids once a product converts. Amazon Sponsored Products offers "fixed bidding, dynamic bidding (up and down), and dynamic bidding (down only)" (Amazon Ads, October 15, 2026). Under dynamic up and down, Amazon will "increase or decrease your bids by up to 100% for all placements based on performance" (Amazon Ads). Walmart Connect offers fixed and dynamic bidding, plus Target ROAS for "Sponsored Products automatic campaigns" (Walmart Connect, April 30, 2025).

How do new-to-brand metrics change ROAS decisions?

New-to-brand metrics show how much ad-attributed revenue came from shoppers who had not bought your brand recently: 365 days on Amazon and a one-year lookback on Walmart. A campaign with lower ROAS but a high new-to-brand share can be worth more than a high-ROAS campaign that only reaches repeat buyers.

Walmart says Marketplace sellers advertising with Walmart Connect "saw 69% of Sponsored Brands orders come from new-to-brand buyers" from February 2024 to January 2025 on 14-day attribution (Walmart Connect), its own figure.

What ROAS target should you set for retail media?

Set it from margin, not an average. Amazon’s formula is "1 ÷ Gross profit margin = Break-even ROAS" (Amazon Ads), and its ACOS guide says "your Amazon ACOS needs to be lower than your profit margin". Use margin after referral, fulfillment and storage fees, not product margin alone.

Illustration: a $40 product with $24 product cost and $6 in fees leaves $10, a 25% margin. Break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.25 = 4.0, a 25% break-even ACOS. Our break-even ROAS guide walks through the math, and contribution margin vs ROAS shows why good ROAS can still lose money.

For general levers on Google, Meta and Shopping, see our guide to key metrics to improve ROAS.

How do you improve ROAS on Amazon Ads?

To improve ROAS on Amazon Ads, fix the listing and price first, then separate branded terms, move proven search terms into exact-match campaigns, choose fixed or dynamic bids by goal, and track new-to-brand share. Read each ad type on its own attribution window, and treat Amazon’s modeled metrics as estimates, not test results.

Read Amazon reports with three rules from its attribution help page. For sellers, Sponsored Products uses 7 days and Sponsored Brands 14, so one account mixes two windows. Conversions can take up to 12 hours to appear. Sales are reported on the date of the ad interaction, so recent days look weaker.

A weekly routine sellers describe is reviewing the search term report and "moving your top 15-20 converters into exact match" campaigns (r/FulfillmentByAmazon).

What can Amazon Marketing Cloud and Long-Term Sales show you?

Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) "is a secure, privacy-safe, and cloud-based clean room solution", "available at no cost to eligible advertisers" (Amazon Ads). Use it for path and audience questions. Long-Term Sales and LTS ROAS, launched October 15, 2024, are "ad-attributed measures that estimate the incremental sales value" over 12 months, for US advertisers (Amazon Ads). They are Amazon’s models, not a holdout.

The same caution applies to Full-Funnel Campaigns, announced September 30, 2026. Amazon says "Beta testers saw 67% higher long-term return on ad spend and 29% lower cost to acquire new-to-brand customers" (Amazon Ads). Futurum Group noted the comparison was "against a blended average rather than a holdout" (Futurum, October 27, 2026).

How do you improve ROAS on Walmart Connect?

To improve ROAS on Walmart Connect, keep advertised items in stock, winning the Buy Box and published, then add negative keywords, match the bid strategy to the campaign type, and report on one fixed attribution window. Read in-store sales apart from online sales, because Walmart reports both and they answer different questions.

Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Videos are all "sold on a cost per click basis" (Walmart Marketplace Learn). Walmart Connect US grew 43% excluding VIZIO in the quarter reported August 20, 2026 (Walmart).

Which Walmart attribution window should you report on?

Pick one of the 3, 14 or 30 day click windows and keep it, since a 30-day report never shows fewer sales than a 3-day one and usually shows more. Walmart’s own new-to-brand figure uses 14 days, a sensible default. Show "other SKU" sales beside advertised-item sales, not inside them.

How do in-store sales change Walmart ROAS?

In-store attribution credits store purchases by shoppers who clicked your ad. Walmart reports them in separate in-store metrics, and its standard attributed sales are online only, so ROAS rises for items sold in stores only if you add the two together. Walmart counts in-store attributed sales "made from units sold, over 3 day click", with 14 and 30 day versions (Walmart developer docs). In June 2026, it added in-store sales, units and orders to more reports (Walmart release notes).

Can you add negative keywords on Walmart Connect?

Yes, since July 29, 2026. Negatives "are now available for Sponsored Products manual campaigns and automatic campaigns using fixed bidding", in "negative exact-match and negative phrase-match" (Walmart Connect). Automatic campaigns on other bid strategies are not listed, so weigh that when choosing Target ROAS or fixed bids.

What changes on Instacart, Criteo, Target Roundel, Kroger and DoorDash?

Each of these networks credits sales and proves lift differently. Instacart splits credit across ads, Criteo lets you choose windows and scope, Roundel and DoorDash push incrementality, and Kroger Precision Marketing reports lift against matched control audiences. Read each network’s rules before setting one shared ROAS target.

What is incremental ROAS and how do you test it in retail media?

Incremental ROAS (iROAS) is the extra revenue your ads caused, divided by ad spend. You find the extra by comparing shoppers who saw ads with a similar group who did not. The IAB says attribution and ROAS "show what happened, not whether marketing caused the result" (IAB and IAB Europe, November 2025).

Illustration: you spend $10,000 and the network attributes $40,000, a 4.0x ROAS. A holdout shows the exposed group bought $25,000 more than the control. iROAS is $25,000 ÷ $10,000 = 2.5x. At a 25% margin (break-even 4.0x), the campaign looked like break-even and loses money on incremental sales.

Why does the measurement method change the answer?

Small choices in how the control group is built move the result a lot. Albertsons Media Collective and its measurement partner, working with professors from Northwestern’s Kellogg School, reviewed 42 Albertsons campaigns in a March 2026 paper (Retail Media iROAS Demystified):

• "83% of campaigns flipped from positive to negative depending on methodology."
• The 42 campaigns produced 54 distinct iROAS outcomes across the methods tested.
• Two methods, observed sales and a Bayesian time-series model, averaged $1.56 and $0.97 iROAS; compared campaign by campaign, "the average difference between the two iROAS estimates was ~90%."
• Filtering to existing brand buyers, "iROAS worsened substantially ($2.27 to $0.22)", which the authors tie mainly to a much smaller test group, not to weaker ads.

Keep one method per network over time, and ask for every step in writing.

Which incrementality test methods do the IAB and MRC recognize?

The IAB defines incrementality as measuring "the causal impact of marketing by identifying the additional business outcomes." Its November 2025 guidelines list randomized control groups, holdouts and ghost ads, matched markets, synthetic controls and marketing mix modeling (IAB). We found no minimum test length in either document.

What should you ask a retail media network before you trust its ROAS?

Albertsons found that many networks "don’t disclose whether they use incrementality, attribution windows, or customer matching logic." Ask in writing:

1. What are the click and view windows, and can I change them?
2. Do view-attributed sales require a viewable impression?
3. Which products count: the advertised item, the brand or the category?
4. How are in-store sales matched, and what share is extrapolated?
5. Which incrementality method do you offer, with what assumptions?
6. Which metrics are MRC accredited, and does that include sales?

Where do Google and Microsoft fit in commerce media?

Google sells commerce media through its Commerce Media Suite, which brings retailer sales data into Google Ads, Search Ads 360 and Display & Video 360. Microsoft moved its onsite retail media business toward a Criteo partnership in 2024. For brands sending Google, Microsoft or Meta traffic to Amazon, Amazon Attribution measures the result.

What is Google’s Commerce Media Suite?

Google launched it "available today in beta" on June 18, 2025, across Search Ads 360, Display & Video 360 and Google Ads (Google). On May 13, 2026, Google listed 30+ retailers and marketplaces, including Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Albertsons and Dollar General, with SKU-level and in-store reporting (Google).

What happened to Microsoft’s retail media platform?

On July 11, 2024, Microsoft said it planned "to work with Criteo as our preferred partner to serve our retailer clients’ onsite needs moving forward" (Microsoft Advertising). Digiday then reported a wind-down of its PromoteIQ platform, and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment (Digiday, October 7, 2024). Microsoft’s Paul Longo later called it "not an exit out of the retail media business, but a shift in focus" (Retail Brew). We found no official retirement date.

How do you measure Google, Microsoft or Meta ads that send shoppers to Amazon?

Use Amazon Attribution, which Amazon calls "a free measurement solution" with a "14-day attribution window" (Amazon Ads) and a last-touch model (Amazon Ads Support Center). Tag each off-Amazon campaign so its Amazon sales show separately, and do not also count those sales in Google or Meta ROAS.

What changed in retail media measurement in 2026?

In 2026, retail media added reporting options and incrementality claims. Amazon changed view attribution and merged its buying tools, Walmart added negative keywords and in-store metrics, Google expanded commerce media to Walmart and other large retailers, and DoorDash earned an incrementality certification. Each change can move reported ROAS without any change in real sales.

What mistakes make retail media ROAS look better or worse than it is?

The most common mistakes are reporting choices, not campaign choices. Mixing windows, folding halo sales into product ROAS and letting branded terms carry the average all make ROAS look better than the business result. Judging a launch on ACOS alone makes it look worse. Fix each one in reporting before you touch a bid.

1. Comparing a 30-day Walmart report with a shorter window elsewhere.
2. Comparing seller Sponsored Products (7 days) with Sponsored Brands (14 days) as if the windows matched.
3. Counting same-brand halo sales as sales of the advertised product.
4. Letting branded campaigns lift blended ROAS while non-branded spend loses money.
5. Setting a target without fees, so break-even ROAS is too low.
6. Reading a vendor’s beta result as proof without a holdout.

Hustle Marketers manages Amazon Ads and Walmart Connect campaigns, plus Google, Microsoft and Meta Ads. Ishant Sharma has worked in digital marketing since 2013; the agency was founded in 2020, is based in Zirakpur, India, and delivers to clients worldwide. PPC management costs $600 to $800 per platform a month, month to month with no lock-in, and you own your ad accounts. See PPC management services.

Hustle Marketers offers a free first audit, valued at $500 by our team, so you can see how we read your account before you pay for anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good ROAS on Amazon Ads?

A good Amazon ROAS beats your break-even ROAS, which is 1 divided by margin after fees. Amazon’s ROAS guide says brands ideally want ROAS "closer to 3 or 4", but at a 20% margin break-even is 1 ÷ 0.20 = 5.0, so 4.0 loses money.

Is TACoS an official Amazon metric?

Not on the Amazon Ads pages we checked. Amazon’s ACOS guide defines ACOS and ROAS but not TACoS. Sellers calculate it as ad spend divided by total sales from Seller Central or Vendor Central reports.

Should retail media go into blended ROAS?

Yes, but only once per order. Blended ROAS (total revenue divided by total ad spend) avoids double counting; adding up each platform’s reported revenue does not.

Does Amazon offer an incremental ROAS metric?

We found no Amazon metric called iROAS. The closest are Long-Term Sales and LTS ROAS, which estimate incremental value, and custom analysis in Amazon Marketing Cloud. Both use Amazon’s own data and models, so run your own holdout or on and off test before big budget moves.

Does MRC accreditation mean a network’s sales figures are verified?

Not necessarily. Instacart’s November 2025 accreditation for Carrot Ads lists "impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and viewable impressions", and the release does not mention sales. Ask each network which of its metrics are accredited.

How long should a retail media incrementality test run?

We found no minimum length in the IAB or MRC guidelines, though the MRC guidelines say the test duration and any pre-campaign holdout period should be disclosed. Cover your normal purchase cycle, collect enough orders in both groups to see a difference, and avoid big promotions or stockouts during the test. Agree the method and success metric with the network first.

Can a small seller test incrementality without a lift study?

Yes, with weaker evidence. Pause and restart spend in planned blocks and compare total sales, not attributed sales. One seller’s switchback test found "53.6% of my ad-attributed sales were truly incremental" (r/learndatascience). That is one account, so treat your result as directional.

Are repeat purchases incremental in retail media?

Only if a test shows they would not have happened without ads. In the March 2026 Albertsons paper, filtering to shoppers with brand sales in the prior year cut iROAS from $2.27 to $0.22, but the authors say filtering can "reduce iROAS independent of ad effectiveness", mainly because the test group shrank. Test loyal and new buyers in separate groups that are each large enough, rather than assuming either way.

How we created this guide

We built this guide from the networks’ own documentation, the IAB and MRC guidelines, and research from Albertsons Media Collective and professors at Northwestern’s Kellogg School. We checked the platform rules, dates and figures against their sources on November 4, 2026, and say so where a platform publishes no rule.

Worked examples are illustrations with the math shown. Community quotes are individual sellers’ experience. Hustle Marketers sells PPC management, including Amazon Ads and Walmart Connect.