E-commerce marketers will always be the richest of us in their access to data but, as 2021 progresses, their ability to properly evaluate decisions is increasingly being eroded.
It’s mainly because of a problem with existing evaluation methods: multi-touch attribution is being undermined as ever more people and platforms are blocking the third-party cookies that make it possible. Last-click is more resilient, but most now agree that its findings on payback are unreliable.
It’s also because of an opportunity: e-commerce businesses had a good year in 2020. With money in the bank and soaring ambitions, many are exploring big brand strategies whose effects can’t be tracked.