Co-op has announced a 134% rise in store sales in collaboration with Google and LiveRamp, linking search advertising to real-world store visits and food sales to prove the offline impact of its digital marketing.
LiveRamp, a leader in data collaboration, successfully implementated the first closed-loop omnichannel measurement framework for Co-op, one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives. In collaboration with Google, LiveRamp enabled Co-op to link search ads to real-world store visits and food sales, proving the offline impact of its digital marketing investments.
Initial tests of the framework delivered results including:
- 134% increase in-store sales
- 77% uplift in incremental store visits
- 39x return on investment for search
READ MORE: New Leeds OOH agency turns to OOH, unsurprisingly, for launch campaign
Despite having a strong digital presence and advanced measurement systems, Co-op faced an industry-wide challenge: Standard digital metrics, including clicks, online orders, and revenue, did not capture the full value of paid search, especially for customers who completed their purchases in physical stores.
Co-op required a solution that could accurately measure the impact of digital activity on both online and offline outcomes, such as store visits and sales. It also needed to ensure privacy, scalability, sustainability, and a consistent, engaging brand experience. To bridge this gap, Co-op partnered with LiveRamp to implement a secure first-party data solution.
Using LiveRamp’s Data Collaboration Platform, Co-op seamlessly connected its Co-op Member programme data to Google’s advertising platform. This matched the first-party data to digital search campaigns, enabling the retailer to accurately measure the incremental impact of digital ads on offline transactions.
Alongside outstanding and provable ROI, the framework delivered immediate, highly actionable marketing insights, including which search campaigns, keywords, and messaging generated the highest store footfall and revenue. Encouraged by these results, Co-op is progressing with plans to develop personalised campaigns tailored to members’ specific interests and shopping behaviours, leveraging dynamic targeting to further enhance digital and physical engagement.
Yawen Deng, performance marketing manager, Co-op, said: “Connecting our digital activity to in-store behaviours has unlocked a new level of understanding of how our members shop. LiveRamp’s privacy-centric approach has enabled us to see the full customer journey – from search to store – and it’s giving us the confidence to invest where it truly matters for our business.”
Dominic Adams, digital marketing lead, Co-op, added: “Co-op constantly demonstrates how we can keep innovating and extracting value from the data that we hold. Both Google and LiveRamp have been supportive and aligned with our strategy to “close the loop” and enable better understanding of our digital marketing investments and omni-channel impact.”
Travis Clinger, international GM and chief connectivity & ecosystem officer, LiveRamp, said:
“Digital search is a powerful driver of offline traffic, but retailers have historically struggled to prove it. Through data collaboration and our network, we helped Co-op build its first omnichannel measurement framework, enabling it to draw a straight line between search investment and in-store results. Delivering incremental and measurable returns, maximising efficiency and providing actionable marketing insight, this campaign is a testament to how integral data collaboration is for omnichannel success.”
