The toll has no scoreboard

Executives admit there's no yardstick for online share.

Asked about online share on a 2021 earnings call, the CFO's answer was candor: nobody has the measure.

1 in 4

brands hold eCommerce market share as a north-star KPI

"Our market shares in general are at or above our bricks-and-mortar and there's no great measuring stick to use to do that, but our growth is at or above category averages online."

Rick Dierker, EVP & CFO, Church & Dwight — Q4 2020 earnings call, 2021-01-29

Profitero+ 2026 study · 200+ eCommerce executives

Nielsen covers the store. Nothing covers the screen.

The industry grew up on syndicated in-store data. Online never got an equivalent — and executives know it.

42%

call eCommerce sales & share growth their biggest challenge

"We actually overindex from a share standpoint online. But we've developed quite a few digital tools to really understand the digital shelf. We grew up in a world that -- a bricks-and-mortar world that we understand Nielsen and the drivers of our business, digital is different, right?"

Jon Nudi, Group President North America Retail, General Mills — Q2 FY2023 earnings call, 2022-12-20

Profitero+ 2026 study · 200+ eCommerce executives

Retail media is "becoming a bigger topic." The link to share isn't.

Spend is benchmarked to sufficiency. Whether it buys share, almost nobody checks.

+15pp

more likely leaders measure retail-media effectiveness via iROAS

"I think with regard to retail media, yes, it is becoming a bigger topic. I will say I feel very good about our digital capability."

Mike Hsu, Chairman & CEO, Kimberly-Clark — Q4 2021 earnings call, 2022-01-27

Profitero+ 2026 study (Publicis Commerce internal benchmarks) · 200+ executives

The exception states the target out loud.

One company names the goal — online share at or above offline, with matching profitability. Almost nobody else does.

21% vs 9%

leaders vs all others track the in-store / eCommerce share gap

"One of the things we've worked very hard on and is present today, is we want eCommerce shares growing in absolute and we want eCommerce shares to be equal or higher than the offline shares, and we're working to have the same in profitability."

Counterexample — David Taylor, Chairman/CEO, P&G — Q4 2020 earnings call, 2020-07-30

Profitero+ 2026 study · 200+ eCommerce executives

Ask for your online share in one sentence.

If the answer doesn't come in one sentence, you don't have a north star — you have a sales target.

"Measurement isn't just about collecting data, it's about creating a shared language across your organization. When leadership, brand, sales and any other function connected to business outcomes align on the north star, measurement becomes an active growth driver."

Lauren Livak, Executive Director, Digital Shelf Institute — quoted in the study

Profitero+ 2026 study · Digital Shelf Institute

The toll has no scoreboard.

Executives admit there's no yardstick for online share.

Nielsen covers the store. Nothing covers the screen.

Retail media is "becoming a bigger topic." The link to share isn't.

The exception states the target out loud.

Ask for your online share in one sentence.

Bonuses rent volume; they don't buy share.

Sources