Retail media attribution methods: click and view basics

What to take away

Retail media attribution methods can use click-based or view-based credit. Click-based credit counts a qualifying order after a logged click; view-based credit counts the same order after a logged view under the network's adopted definition.
Neither basis proves the advertising caused the sale. Incrementality needs a designed evaluation, not a reporting toggle.
Hold property, product scope, order cohort, period, time zone, lookback and order definition constant, or the comparison is void.
Do not add click and view credited orders together unless overlap and credit precedence are resolved.
No universal winner exists. The basis to request follows the reporting question you must answer.

The choice follows your reporting question

A direct-response question asks which marketing touch sat closest to a logged click, so click-based credit answers it. A visibility question asks whether a sponsored placement or display unit was served and seen before an order, so view-based credit answers that.

Accuracy is not the deciding difference. Ask what decision the number will inform, and who will challenge it. Before booking, work through the entry gates for one England retailer so the reporting request matches the inventory on offer.

Ask a retailer network for both reporting bases

England retail media networks include Tesco's Media and Insight Platform, Sainsbury's Nectar360, Boots Media Group and Ocado Ads. No buyer should assume one console exposes both reporting bases in the same view. Request the record, not the headline.

One England network, two reporting bases

Ask which basis each console field uses, and whether it counts clicks, views or both.
Request the lookback window, time zone, correction cut-off and order definition in writing.
Ask for the same eligible order cohort twice, credited by click once and by view once.
Ask whether a single order can appear under both bases, and which interaction wins when both are logged.

How the reporting bases differ

Treat click-based and view-based credit as separate reporting requests. A platform's labels do not establish how it defines a qualifying event; compare the definitions and settings each platform documents.

Click-based reporting

Qualifying evidence: Documented eligible click
Outcome unit: Credited qualifying order
Shared scope and clock: Apply the shared specification
Credit precedence: Record the actual rule; UNKNOWN here
Missing observation: Disclose click-record limits
Causal interpretation: Not a causal estimate

View-based reporting

Qualifying evidence: Documented eligible view under the adopted definition
Outcome unit: Credited qualifying order
Shared scope and clock: Apply the same specification
Credit precedence: Record the actual rule; UNKNOWN here
Missing observation: Disclose view-measurement limits
Causal interpretation: Not a causal estimate

Do not add the two columns unless overlap and credit precedence are resolved. The table lists evidence to request; it does not describe every platform's implementation.

Settings to hold constant

Both bases must share the property, product scope, eligible order cohort, reporting period, time zone, lookback duration, correction cut-off and order definition. Different qualifying interactions are an intentional difference, not a fault.

A credited-order count carries no denominator, so any derived rate needs a separately agreed eligible base. The retail media benchmark research page is background, not a substitute for matching definitions. Drop any comparison where the fields cannot be aligned.

UK data protection and evaluation context

UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 define what you may collect and how you record it. The ICO GDPR guidance is the practical starting point for a lawful basis in retail media testing.

The Magenta Book analytical methods annex, updated in May 2026, describes impact designs built on treatment and comparison evidence. That is how an incrementality question gets a proper answer.

Retail industry statistics from the ONS give the sales context for reading a credit movement against the market rather than in isolation.

Decision rule: which basis to request

Basis to request

Defend a direct-response claim: Click-based
Judge a display or sponsored placement that earns few clicks: View-based
Test whether the spend caused sales: Neither

Reason

Defend a direct-response claim: The logged click is the interaction you can act on
Judge a display or sponsored placement that earns few clicks: Credited orders would otherwise sit near zero
Test whether the spend caused sales: Needs a designed evaluation with a comparison group

Keep the original configuration next to any revised definition. A credit total can move when the rules move even if the underlying orders do not, so a reader must see which one changed.

Kevel's Retail Media Guide, inspected on 6 September 2026, describes last-touch attribution built from impression or click events plus purchase data. Use it to list configuration questions for a Kevel deployment, not to assume its impression term matches viewability elsewhere.

Billing unit and VAT affect campaign cost, not whether an order receives click- or view-based credit. Check the retail media cost guide when assessing costs separately from attribution.

Common questions

What is the difference between click-based and view-based attribution?

Click-based reporting credits an order to a documented eligible click. View-based reporting credits it to a documented eligible view under the network's adopted definition. Both use the same outcome unit, a credited qualifying order.

Can I add click-based and view-based credited orders together?

No. Ask whether one order can appear under both bases, and which interaction wins when both are logged. An addition only means something once overlap and precedence are resolved.

Does either basis prove incrementality?

No, and the table's causal row says the same. For an incrementality question, commission a design with its outcome, analysis unit, population, assumptions and uncertainty specified.

Which basis should I choose for an England campaign?

Match the basis to the question. Use click-based credit to defend direct response, view-based credit where clicks are scarce, and neither if you need a causal answer.