Additional impressions
Did total Shopping exposure increase, rather than impressions simply moving from one CSS to another?
Multi-CSS Incrementality Testing
Find out whether an additional CSS is genuinely adding reach.
Running multiple Comparison Shopping Services can create more Shopping activity. Price Pilot helps you test whether that activity is genuinely incremental — reaching customers and generating value that your existing setup would otherwise have missed.
The real question
More activity is not automatically more value
If you add another Comparison Shopping Service and it generates impressions, clicks and conversions, that tells you the second CSS is working. It does not necessarily tell you that those results are additional.
Some of that activity may simply have moved from your existing CSS. The commercially important question is what would have happened if the additional CSS had not been running.
Price Pilot approaches multi-CSS testing around that counterfactual: did the additional route create reach, customers or revenue that would otherwise have been missed?
What we want to understand
Separate incremental performance from redistributed performance
A useful test looks beyond the standalone results of the new CSS. We want to understand what happened across the wider Shopping programme when the additional route was introduced.
Additional clicks
Did the second CSS create more useful traffic across the combined Shopping activity?
Additional customers
Where attribution allows it, did the extra route reach customers who would not otherwise have converted?
Additional value
Did the incremental commercial return justify the additional CSS activity and associated cost?
How we test
Build the test around a credible comparison
There is no single experimental design that works for every retailer. Catalogue size, campaign structure, seasonality, traffic levels and the data available all affect how confidently incrementality can be measured.
We therefore agree the test design around your existing Shopping setup before treating any uplift as incremental.
1
Establish the baseline
We first understand performance with the existing CSS setup, including normal variation in impressions, clicks and conversions.
2
Introduce Price Pilot
Price Pilot is added as an additional CSS for an agreed product scope while the existing route remains in place.
3
Compare the change
We compare the test period with the most credible baseline or control available, allowing for factors that could otherwise distort the result.
4
Evaluate incrementality
We look at the combined Shopping outcome and estimate how much of the observed change can reasonably be attributed to the additional CSS.
Test design matters
The strongest comparison depends on your catalogue and traffic
Where possible, we favour controlled comparisons rather than simply comparing one month with the month before. That might mean separating comparable product groups, using a defined holdout, alternating periods or using another appropriate baseline.
The exact approach depends on what can be implemented without unnecessarily disrupting the Shopping activity that already works.
Where a true controlled test is not practical, we can still analyse the before-and-after data — but we will be clear about the limitations of the conclusion rather than presenting correlation as proof of incrementality.
What we measure
Look at the combined Shopping outcome, not the second CSS in isolation
A second CSS can look successful on its own while merely taking credit for traffic that would otherwise have gone through the first. That is why the useful measurement level is the wider Shopping programme.
Impressions
Total Shopping visibility before and during the test, rather than just the impressions attributed to Price Pilot.
Clicks and traffic
Whether aggregate Shopping traffic increased and how that traffic was distributed between the CSS routes.
Conversions
Changes in orders or other meaningful outcomes where reliable conversion measurement is available.
Commercial return
Whether the estimated incremental value is commercially worthwhile after the cost of the additional activity.
Interpreting the result
The test can be useful even when the answer is “no”
Incrementality testing is valuable because it helps distinguish activity from impact. If the additional CSS creates meaningful new reach, there is a case for continuing or expanding it. If it mostly redistributes existing Shopping activity, that is equally useful information.
The objective is not to prove that Price Pilot must work. It is to give you enough evidence to decide whether another CSS deserves a permanent place in your acquisition mix.
Clear incremental uplift
The combined Shopping programme improves sufficiently to justify continuing or expanding the additional CSS.
Mixed result
Some products, categories or customer segments appear incremental while others mainly redistribute existing activity.
Little incremental benefit
The test does not show enough additional value to justify scaling — allowing you to avoid paying indefinitely for duplicated activity.
FIRST MONTH FREE
Create a real test window without paying for your first month.
If you already use another CSS, we can add Price Pilot alongside it and provide the first month free. That gives us an initial period in which to establish the additional route, gather data and begin evaluating whether it is producing genuinely incremental reach.
COMMERCIAL MODEL
Measurement should help decide whether the service is worth paying for.
Price Pilot is designed particularly for SMEs that want sophisticated Shopping measurement without enterprise consulting costs. Our proprietary technology automates much of the product-data, tracking and operational work needed to run and analyse the additional CSS.
We keep pricing highly competitive and can agree a commercial model appropriate to the size and complexity of the test. The aim is simple: establish whether the additional route creates enough incremental value to justify continuing it.
Multiple CSS partners
Need to establish the additional CSS first?
Price Pilot can be added alongside your existing Comparison Shopping Service to create the second Shopping route needed for an incrementality test.
Google CSS
Not already using a CSS?
If you need a primary Comparison Shopping Service rather than an incrementality test, Price Pilot can provide the complete CSS route into Google Shopping.
Find out whether a second CSS genuinely adds value
Keep your existing Shopping setup in place, add Price Pilot alongside it and test the incremental impact. Your first month with Price Pilot is free.