Not long ago, Gopuff was best known for getting snacks and essentials to your door faster than you could finish a movie trailer. But lately, it’s been building something a little less obvious, yet much more powerful, behind the scenes: a next-gen advertising platform with incrementality, also called progressiveness, at its core.
Yes, progressiveness, a mouthful of a word, but also one of the smartest moves in marketing right now.
Let’s walk through what that means in real terms, why it matters, and how Gopuff is using it to stand out. More importantly, let’s talk about what small brands, growing startups, and even solopreneurs can borrow from their strategy.
Because here’s the truth: Gopuff didn’t just stumble into this. They built it, and it’s paying off.
The before: When reach was everything
A lot of retail media networks focus on reach. More eyes, more clicks, more hope that someone might buy. But here’s the thing, clicks don’t always turn into customers. Especially not loyal ones. And for advertisers, that can feel like throwing money into a black hole.
Gopuff took a different path. When they launched their in-house ads platform, they didn’t stop at targeting or placement. They poured serious effort into making it measurable, not just in the standard way, but in a way that actually proves if ads are working.
And that’s where incrementality came in.
The big shift: When incrementality took center stage
Instead of just asking, “How many clicks did we get?” Gopuff began asking, “What extra lift did we create? Did this campaign make someone do something they wouldn’t have done otherwise?”
This isn’t fluffy theory. They teamed up with Koddi to run a pilot program using advanced measurement tools, and the result? A 40% average boost in incremental purchases per user. That’s not just impressive, that’s next-level clarity. It’s the kind of clarity most advertisers only dream of.
And yes, they’ve now rolled it out to everyone using their ad platform. The data speaks: people are not just clicking, they’re buying. That’s the progressiveness effect in full force.
Why this matters for every brand out there
Let’s pause here. Because if you’re running ads, or thinking about it, you should be paying close attention to what Gopuff is doing.
See, the value of incrementality isn’t just in having fancy dashboards or graphs. It’s in making smarter decisions. Knowing what’s working. Cutting what’s not. Doubling down on the campaigns that are driving real, measurable growth.
Gopuff’s move here is more than a tech upgrade. It’s a mindset shift. They’re saying: we don’t want ads that look good, we want ads that perform well. And we want to prove it.
If you run a business, this kind of thinking could save you thousands. Because of blindly boosting posts or launching PPC campaigns without a real sense of what they’re doing? That’s yesterday’s game.
Gopuff is playing tomorrow’s game, and you can too.
How to apply progressiveness to your own strategy
Here’s where it gets actionable.
You don’t need to have a massive team or a tech partnership to start thinking like Gopuff. Start by asking the right questions. Instead of just measuring clicks, try to understand what changed because of your marketing.
Run A/B tests. Set up control groups. Look for progressiveness by comparing outcomes between people who saw your ads and those who didn’t.
Even small efforts, like tracking what products people buy after an email campaign versus before, can offer early signals.
The key is to move from guessing to knowing. From hoping to proving. That’s where growth lives.
The long game: Why this strategy builds trust
Now here’s where Gopuff gets it really right. By focusing on measurable results, they’re not just helping advertisers win; they’re building trust. Because when a brand can prove its ads work, marketers don’t just spend once. They come back. And they bring bigger budgets with them.
That’s the beauty of progressiveness. It turns marketing from a gamble into an investment. One that scales.
And Gopuff isn’t stopping. They’re adding self-service features, improving targeting tools, and making sure their platform evolves with their customers. That kind of commitment to growth doesn’t go unnoticed.
If you’re a founder, marketer, or side hustler, take notes.
Wrapping up: The Gopuff playbook for marketing success
Gopuff could’ve played it safe. They could’ve been just another convenience delivery app with some ads thrown in for good measure.
Instead, they chose to lead.
By building their ad platform on incrementality, they’ve created a space where performance isn’t just hoped for, it’s expected, measured, and improved. They’ve taken what’s often a blurry, bloated ad process and made it clear and ROI-focused.
And that’s something any business, big or small, can learn from.
So the next time you plan a marketing strategy or a campaign, ask yourself: What will this actually move? What difference will it make? And how can I know for sure?
That’s where real marketing lives.
That’s the Gopuff way.
FAQs
- How do I know if my ads are actually working?
Start by comparing results from people who saw your ads vs. those who didn’t—that’s where progressiveness begins. - Is A/B testing really worth the effort?
Yes, testing even small differences helps you understand what truly drives action, not just what looks nice. - I have a small budget, can I still measure performance?
Totally! Even simple tools can show you what’s getting results and what’s just soaking up spend.