IKEA Canada reduces CPA by 17% with omnichannel optimization

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

Driving conversions and efficiency by unifying media investments 

Just like its iconic flatpack furniture, IKEA Canada’s latest ad campaign was all about smart assembly. 

IKEA wanted to implement an omnichannel campaign that would: 

• Guide users down the sales funnel and drive conversions with more media channel overlap and connected touchpoints 

• Improve media efficiency and costs, even as competition for attention increases 

• Gain insight into its consumers’ complex journeys across channels 

To achieve these objectives, IKEA and its agency, Carat, partnered with The Trade Desk to leverage our platform’s advanced omnichannel and measurement solutions. By combining various media channels into one AI-optimized strategy, the retailer cut acquisition costs and increased cross-channel engagement. 

SOLUTION

Applying omnichannel optimization and cross-channel measurement 

IKEA put our omnichannel optimization tool to work within the Kokai platform experience. The solution automatically guides a campaign’s impressions toward top-performing combinations across media channels. Historically, this level of coordination required extensive manual work from buyers, as campaigns were typically siloed by channel. The lack of cross-channel coordination made it difficult for brands to manage and then measure the impact of their campaigns. 

In this case, the tool helped IKEA and Carat see how siloed channel-level optimizations compared to omnichannel bidding. They could evaluate whether combining display, online video (OLV), and connected TV (CTV) campaigns into a single, optimized strategy would lower the CPA for online purchases and increase channel overlap. Then, our cross-channel measurement and reporting tools helped the team understand how these overlapping exposures across channels led to conversions. 

RESULTS

Enhancing cost-efficiency and channel overlap 

IKEA’s test produced clear business outcomes, including a 17% reduction in CPA for impressions enhanced by the omnichannel optimization tool, indicating significantly improved ad spend efficiency. Customers were reached across multiple channels they already engaged with and were strategically guided down the purchase funnel.

The campaign effectively reached target audiences across their devices, driving a 37% increase in channel overlap. This provided clarity into how multi-touch journeys improved outcomes, pointing IKEA toward more efficient funnel management. The team saw how users were guided across multiple touchpoints before converting, delivering valuable strategic insights into which channel combinations performed the best. For instance, exposing audiences to certain channel combinations, such as display, CTV, and OLV, produced higher conversion rates than single-channel strategies. These insights enabled the company to understand the measurable value of overlapping exposures — an outcome that exceeded its initial goals. 

The test also showed that our forecasting tools could help guide investment toward more effective channel combinations, laying the foundation for smarter future planning.

Overall, IKEA’s campaign demonstrated that investing in a unified omnichannel strategy can stretch budgets further while also driving conversions. Meanwhile, the insights gained give the company the confidence to scale omnichannel approaches to future campaigns. 

Discover how omnichannel optimization can help your brand reach the right customers across a variety of channels. Contact us or reach out to your account manager at The Trade Desk today.