Applegate Test Shows 35% Sales Lift from Instacart Ads

Applegate sees double-digit sales lift^* on Instacart from Instacart Ads, as an early adopter of sales lift testing capabilities.

Applegate, producer of high-quality natural and organic hot dogs, bacon, sausages, deli meats, cheese, and frozen products, recently participated in a pilot of lift testing on Instacart Ads. As described in a previous post, lift testing leverages industry-leading methodology to demonstrate the true, causal sales impact of sponsored product ads on Instacart. 

At a high-level, lift tests separate eligible audiences for an ad into two randomly selected groups, a test group and a control group. Consumers in the test group are exposed to the ads being tested, while consumers in the control group are not shown the ads. Then the lift test compares how much more of the advertised products consumers in the test group bought over the control group. That difference is a measure of the incrementality or sales lift of the ads. It represents the sales on Instacart that would only have occurred with running the ads. 

When Applegate ran their lift test in Q3 of 2022, they saw an incremental sales lift of over 35% from their ad campaign on Instacart. The test also showed a positive incremental return on ad spend (ROAS). 

“The results of the lift study confirmed our belief that sponsored products campaigns can provide significant lift and positive ROI,” said Rob O’Donnell, VP of e-Commerce & Digital Marketing, Applegate. “It’s helpful to have statistically significant and scientifically executed third-party validation of our assumptions to make sure that our own bias isn’t incorrectly influencing our strategy. This approach adds additional data and credibility, which helps us sell these concepts and strategies internally. As the landscape continues to evolve, we must constantly reevaluate which newer strategies are productive and which legacy strategies may not be and adapt accordingly.”

During the sales lift testing process, we work collaboratively with our brand partners to develop ‘well-powered’ studies to run. This means finding a true difference that indicates cause and effect to help secure statistically significant results. We asked Rob O’Donnell, VP of e-Commerce & Digital Marketing at Applegate, how his team found the lift testing measurement experience. This is what he said: 

“The process to get prepared for the study was very simple for us. Shortly after the study was complete, we had a thorough walkthrough of the results. We had plenty of opportunities to ask detailed questions about the methodology and the results. We were really impressed with the approach and the execution.”

We continue to focus on equipping our brand partners with solutions to help them achieve real results for their specific business goals. And with new measurement tests like sales lift testing and A/B testing, we are expanding our reporting and analysis capabilities in a bid to help our brand partners better understand their business, identify opportunities, and reach new customers on Instacart.  

About Applegate

Founded in 1987, Applegate produces high-quality natural and organic hot dogs, bacon, sausages, deli meats, cheese, and frozen products. Their products are made without GMO ingredients, sourced from farms where animals are treated with care and respect and are allowed to grow at their natural rate. This is all part of Applegate’s mission – Changing the Meat We Eat®.

*Prior results do not guarantee future outcomes

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Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.