Why Amazon is the Missing Piece of the TV Measurement Puzzle

Whenever I see a TV ad for a product that gets my attention, I don't head to the brand's website looking for more info, I go straight to Amazon to see if it’s available. It’s faster, shows me what other buyers think and whether I actually need this thing in my life (usually the answer is no, but that’s not any fun), has my payment info saved, my addresses on file, and even gives me free shipping. I just search, click, and ‘buy now’. Honestly, it’s where I end up every time, whether I mean to or not.

It turns out this shopping behavior isn’t unique. Roughly two-thirds of consumers start their product searches on Amazon, outpacing search engines and direct brand websites, making it the dominant discovery and purchase destination for products online.

For brands advertising on TV and selling on Amazon, this matters. When marketers evaluate TV performance by looking at conversions on their own owned and operated website, they’re measuring only part of the impact. Even when a TV creative doesn’t mention Amazon explicitly, the path from exposure to purchase frequently leads there, not to a brand’s site. Ignoring these conversions creates a blind spot in measurement that can fundamentally alter how marketers evaluate TV performance.

The Benefit of Integrating Amazon Sales Into Your TV Advertising Results

Including Amazon sales figures in your campaign analysis offers a more complete, holistic view of the impact your TV ads are having on ROI. Using a web-only view artificially inflates TV CPA because it ignores conversions that are occurring off your site. While the magnitude varies by brand, including Amazon sales figures in reporting lowers measured CPA by capturing conversions that were previously unobserved/ignored. For some brands, this reduces reported CPA by 20%. For others, especially when Amazon is a primary sales channel, CPA can be reduced by more than 90%. 

Because Amazon is a walled garden, Tatari uses timestamped purchase data and a baseline-lift methodology to isolate and measure TV’s real-time impact on sales. This analysis enables us to deliver reporting that shows the Web+Amazon combined CPA. For example, the table below shows a sample of 5 representative clients across a broad spectrum of industries and the impact on reported CPA when considering sales driven to Amazon:

Why such a wide variance of CPA?

There’s no single reason brands see such widely different results, and that’s precisely the point: attribution varies because consumer behavior and business models vary. Some of the key drivers behind these differences include:

• Channel mix: Brands that do a large share of their conversions on Amazon naturally benefit more from including Amazon in TV measurement.

• Friction on DTC sites: Differences in pricing (including shipping minimums), slower checkout flows, and other website friction points often push value-seeking customers to Amazon.

• Amazon Prime behavior and convenience: Consumers conditioned by fast delivery and simple purchase flows often default to Amazon.

• Brand maturity on Amazon: Brands with strong reviews and visibility on Amazon experience stronger spillover from TV-driven demand.

Considerations when Including Amazon in TV Measurement Analysis

Organizational Alignment Matters

One reason omnichannel impact is often undercounted is structural rather than analytical. TV budgets typically sit with marketing, while Amazon and retail performance are owned by e-commerce or retail teams. When these departments evaluate performance independently, TV can appear less efficient than it truly is because a significant share of value appears outside performance metrics.

Brands that can move beyond this siloed measurement, uniting teams together for a unified view of performance, unlock a clearer understanding of how TV is driving incremental value across channels.

Don't Go it Alone When Measuring Omnichannel Impact

Website measurement remains a strong foundation for evaluating TV performance. But for brands where Amazon or retail represents a meaningful share of revenue, it often captures only part of TV’s total impact. If you suspect TV is influencing off-site sales, or want to quantify how much incremental value TV is driving beyond your website, don’t guess at your total TV impact. Working with a partner that can dig through the data and connect the dots will help you better understand your true omnichannel impact.

A Practical Lesson from a Brand in the Weeds

TV creates demand that rarely follows a single, linear path. Consumers move across channels, and Amazon is often where that demand converts. Tatari’s omnichannel approach accounts for that reality, incorporating Amazon sales alongside web conversions to deliver a more accurate view of TV’s true impact and attribution.

An eco-friendly cleaning product brand learned that measuring TV performance beyond its website was essential to understanding true impact. Tatari’s analysis showed that while TV influenced on-site conversions, a meaningful share of TV-driven demand ultimately converted on Amazon. By including Amazon sales in measurement, the brand gained a clearer view of TV’s role in customer acquisition and avoided undervaluing TV based on web-only results.