At eTail West 2026, one thing became clear in conversations with retail performance teams: interest in connected TV is growing quickly, but many retail marketers are still figuring out how to evaluate TV using the same performance expectations they apply to search and social.
In our previous post, we shared six key takeaways from the event, including the growing importance of incrementality testing, the focus on customer acquisition, and the role geo-targeting plays in retail media strategies.
But alongside those insights, we also heard a consistent set of practical questions from marketers exploring streaming TV for the first time or evaluating how to scale existing campaigns.
Questions like:
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- How large does a CTV test need to be to measure real lift?
- What creative actually works on streaming TV?
- Can CTV campaigns drive store visits and offline sales?
- Which performance metrics should we trust?
Below are five of the most common questions retail marketers asked at eTail and our perspective on how brands should approach them.
1. How large does a CTV test need to be to measure meaningful lift?
What retail marketers are asking
At eTail West, many performance teams said they’re interested in testing streaming TV, but they want to make sure their first test is large enough to produce meaningful results.
Common questions included:
- What budget do we need for an incrementality test?
- How long should a CTV test run before we evaluate performance?
- How do we know if the results are statistically significant?
Many marketers shared concerns about running tests that are too small to prove whether the channel actually works.
Our take
Incrementality studies require a certain level of scale to produce statistically meaningful results. That usually means running campaigns long enough and across enough households or markets to detect real behavior change, not just media delivery.
A strong CTV partner should help determine appropriate spend levels and test structures based on your targeting criteria, audience size, and campaign goals.
he goal of a first campaign isn’t simply to launch, it’s to generate enough signal to answer the most important question: Did this campaign drive customers or store visits we wouldn’t have seen otherwise?
2. What creative formats perform best on streaming TV?
What retail marketers are asking
Creative was another major topic in conversations at eTail West. Many marketers asked whether they could simply reuse existing social or YouTube video assets for CTV campaigns.
Questions included:
- Do we need separate creative for streaming TV?
- What length works best for CTV ads?
- Should CTV creative focus on branding or conversion?
Our take
There’s no single creative format that works best for every brand. What performs well often depends on your audience, product category, and campaign objective.
Instead of relying on a one-size-fits-all approach, many retailers are beginning to test multiple creative variations to understand what resonates with streaming audiences.
CTV also works best as part of a broader full-funnel strategy, where video advertising reinforces messaging consumers may already be seeing across other channels.
Over time, creative testing can reveal which messages, formats, and calls-to-action drive stronger engagement and measurable performance outcomes.
3. How should CTV campaigns be structured for store-driven retailers?
What retail marketers are asking
Retailers with physical locations were especially interested in how streaming TV campaigns can connect to store-level performance.
Common questions included:
- Can we target households near specific stores?
- Can CTV campaigns support local promotions or regional launches?
- How do we structure campaigns to measure store traffic?
Our take
Many retail advertisers start by structuring campaigns around local market segments.
This often includes creating campaign line items tied to specific store regions, using tools like:
- ZIP-code level targeting
- Geofencing around store locations
- Market-by-market campaign segmentation
This approach allows retailers to evaluate how CTV exposure connects to outcomes like store visits, regional sales lift, or new customer acquisition.
For retailers with multiple locations, market-level campaigns also create opportunities for controlled testing, helping teams compare results across different regions.
4. What metrics should we actually trust when evaluating CTV performance?
What retail marketers are asking
Measurement was easily the most frequent topic in conversations at eTail West.
Retail marketers said they’re trying to determine which metrics actually indicate success, especially when evaluating different CTV vendors.
Many asked questions like:
- Should we be focused on impressions and reach?
- How do we measure business outcomes from TV advertising?
- What role does attribution play in CTV performance?
Our take
The right metrics depend largely on the goal of the campaign.
For brand-focused initiatives, metrics like impressions, reach, and frequency still play an important role. Some advertisers also conduct brand lift studies to measure changes in awareness or perception.
But for performance-driven campaigns, many retailers are moving beyond basic exposure metrics.
By leveraging platform pixels, integrations, and attribution partners, brands can increasingly connect CTV exposure with measurable outcomes like:
- Website visits
- Online purchases
- Store visits
- Offline sales
As marketers evaluate these metrics, it’s also important to understand how attribution works behind the scenes. If a vendor can’t clearly explain how their attribution works or won’t share their methodology, that’s often treated as a red flag.
5. Can CTV actually drive offline retail sales?
What retail marketers are asking
This was one of the most important questions retailers brought to the table.
Because most retail purchases still happen in physical stores, marketers want to understand whether streaming TV can influence real-world behavior, not just online engagement.
Many asked:
- Can CTV campaigns drive store visits?
- Can we connect TV exposure to in-store transactions?
- How do we measure offline outcomes from digital video advertising?
Our take
Yes, CTV can influence offline retail outcomes when the right measurement systems are in place.
Many retailers combine first-party data, such as point-of-sale systems or customer transaction data, with third-party measurement partners that track signals like store foot traffic.
By using household-level identifiers and matching them with exposure data, advertisers can associate offline outcomes—like store visits or purchases—back to CTV exposure.
This kind of measurement is becoming increasingly important as brands shift budgets from traditional television to streaming environments.
Turning Questions Into Measurable Growth
The conversations at eTail West showed that retail marketers aren’t asking whether streaming TV matters anymore.
They’re asking how to make it work as a performance channel.
That means designing campaigns that answer the questions performance teams care about most:
- Did the campaign drive new customers?
- Did it increase store visits or online purchases?
- Did it generate measurable lift?
When CTV campaigns are structured with clear goals, meaningful test sizes, and transparent measurement, retailers can move beyond impressions and start seeing how streaming TV contributes to real business outcomes.
Retail marketers aren’t abandoning performance expectations when they evaluate TV. They’re raising them.
That’s exactly the approach JamLoop was built around.
JamLoop helps retailers connect streaming TV exposure to real business outcomes—from store visits and online purchases to bookings and phone calls—so performance teams can see how TV drives growth both online and in-store.
If your team is exploring CTV and wants to understand how to structure a successful test, we’d be happy to help.
👉 Book a demo to see how JamLoop connects streaming TV exposure to customers, store visits, and measurable revenue outcomes.
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