Criteo Run for Profitable Commerce Media.
Criteo is a commerce media platform — retargeting and commerce advertising powered by deep shopping data — but run carelessly it burns budget retargeting people who'd have converted anyway. We run Criteo to ROAS, so its commerce media drives profitable incremental sales rather than wasted spend.
What Criteo Does — and How It Wastes Budget
Criteo is one of the largest commerce media platforms — it uses deep shopping and intent data to power retargeting and commerce advertising, showing relevant product ads to shoppers across the web. Its strength is commerce data: it knows what people shop for and can target ads accordingly, which makes it a powerful platform for driving commerce sales through dynamic, product-level advertising.
But Criteo, like all retargeting-heavy platforms, has a notorious way of wasting budget: it can spend heavily retargeting people who were going to convert anyway, claiming credit for sales that would have happened without it. Run carelessly, Criteo's reported ROAS looks great while its incremental contribution is poor — the ads followed converters around and took credit, rather than driving sales that wouldn't have happened. The platform is powerful; run without rigor about incrementality, it flatters itself while wasting spend.
We run Criteo to profitable, incremental commerce media. We manage Criteo's retargeting and commerce advertising to genuine ROAS — focused on driving incremental sales rather than claiming credit for converters who'd have bought anyway — so its commerce data and reach drive profitable growth rather than wasted spend on attribution theater. The point is Criteo run for real incremental return, which takes rigor about what the spend actually drives, and exactly what we provide.
What We Run on Criteo
Our Criteo Process
1. Set Incrementality Goals
We set goals around incremental sales and genuine ROAS, so Criteo is run for real return rather than attribution credit.
2. Target Real Intent
We use Criteo's commerce data to target shoppers with genuine intent, not just everyone who browsed.
3. Run to Profitable ROAS
We manage Criteo's retargeting and commerce ads to profitable ROAS, optimizing toward real return.
4. Guard Against Waste
We guard against the budget waste of retargeting converters, so spend drives incremental sales.
5. Scale Profitable Media
We scale Criteo's commerce media where it's profitable, growing sales at a return that works.
The Question for Criteo Is Incrementality
The central question in running Criteo well — and any retargeting-heavy commerce media — is incrementality: is the spend driving sales that wouldn't have happened, or claiming credit for sales that would have anyway? Criteo's reported ROAS can look excellent while its incremental contribution is poor, because retargeting naturally follows people who were already going to convert and takes credit when they do. The headline number flatters; the real question is what the spend actually drove.
This is why running Criteo carelessly wastes budget despite good-looking numbers. Spend that retargets converters produces high reported ROAS and low incremental value — the ads claimed sales the platform didn't cause. Running Criteo well means focusing on incrementality: using its commerce data to reach shoppers the ads can actually influence, and judging the spend by incremental return rather than the flattering attribution that retargeting produces.
We run Criteo with incrementality as the focus, so its powerful commerce media drives real return. By targeting genuine intent, managing to incremental ROAS, and guarding against the converter-retargeting waste, we make Criteo drive profitable, incremental commerce sales rather than spend that flatters its own attribution. Running Criteo for what it actually drives, not what it claims, is what turns its commerce data into profitable growth, and exactly what we provide.
Make Criteo Drive Sales It Actually Caused
For a commerce brand, Criteo's value is driving incremental sales through its commerce data and reach — not claiming credit for converters who'd have bought anyway. Running it for genuine incremental return, with rigor about what the spend drives, is what makes Criteo profitable, and it's exactly what we provide.
We run Criteo for real return. By focusing on incrementality and managing to genuine ROAS, we make Criteo's commerce media drive sales it actually caused, rather than spend that flatters its attribution while wasting budget.
If you use Criteo for commerce media and need it run profitably — driving incremental sales, not flattering attribution — running it with incrementality rigor is what we do. We run Criteo's commerce media to genuine ROAS, so it drives profitable sales rather than wasted retargeting spend.
Frequently Asked Questions
Criteo is a commerce media platform that uses deep shopping and intent data to power retargeting and commerce advertising — showing relevant product ads to shoppers across the web. Its strength is commerce data, knowing what people shop for and targeting accordingly, which makes it powerful for driving commerce sales through dynamic, product-level advertising.
We run Criteo to profitable, incremental ROAS — managing its retargeting and commerce advertising so it drives sales that wouldn't have happened, rather than claiming credit for converters who'd have bought anyway. Criteo run carelessly wastes budget on attribution theater; run with incrementality rigor, it drives profitable commerce media, which is what we provide.
Commerce media is advertising powered by commerce and shopping data — using what people shop for to target relevant product ads. Criteo is a major commerce media platform, applying its deep shopping data to retargeting and commerce advertising. It's powerful for commerce brands because it targets genuine shopping intent, when run for incremental return.
Because retargeting naturally follows people who were already going to convert and claims credit when they do. Run carelessly, Criteo's reported ROAS looks great while its incremental value is poor — the ads took credit for sales that would have happened anyway. Running it well means focusing on incrementality, not the flattering attribution retargeting produces.
Incrementality is whether the spend drove sales that wouldn't have happened, versus claiming sales that would have anyway. It's the central question for retargeting-heavy platforms like Criteo, because their reported ROAS can flatter while incremental contribution is poor. We run Criteo for incremental return, judging spend by what it actually drove rather than what it claims.
We improve Criteo's real, incremental ROAS — which often means the reported number matters less than what the spend actually drove. By targeting genuine intent, managing to incremental return, and guarding against converter-retargeting waste, we make Criteo drive profitable sales it caused. Sometimes that means a lower but real ROAS rather than a high but flattered one.
Criteo is a commerce media and retargeting platform; it fits alongside prospecting channels (Meta, Google, etc.) in a wider mix, typically lower in the funnel. We run Criteo for its commerce-data strength while coordinating with your other channels and judging its incremental contribution, so it adds profitable sales to the mix rather than claiming credit for them.
Ready to Get Started with Criteo?
150+ D2C brands scaled. $500 Mn+ in tracked revenue. Since 2004.