Ecommerce Marketing Attribution: Which Model Should You Use?
Berry:Your Marketing Assistant
10 Jul 2025
8 min read
What is Attribution & Multi-Touch Attribution?
Attribution is the process of assigning credit to different marketing touchpoints that contribute to a conversion. In other words, it helps you understand which channels, campaigns, or interactions are responsible for driving revenue and growth. Without proper attribution, you're essentially guessing where your sales come from — and that guesswork can cost you a lot in wasted budget. Multi-touch attribution (MTA) takes this a step further. Instead of giving all the credit to just the first or last interaction, MTA distributes credit across multiple touchpoints throughout the customer journey. It reveals how different channels work together to guide a customer from discovery to purchase, giving you a more complete and realistic picture of your marketing impact.
Why Should You Use Multi-Touch Attribution?
Multi-touch attribution allows you to see the full story behind every sale — not just who closed the deal, but also who started the conversation and who nurtured it along the way.
When you understand the true contribution of each channel, you can optimize your budget, improve ROI, and make smarter, data-driven decisions. You’ll know exactly which touchpoints deserve more investment, which ones need improvement, and how to better design your entire funnel. In short, it takes the guesswork out of your marketing and turns your data into a clear, actionable growth plan. To help you choose the best approach, let’s break down the most common attribution models and when to use each one.
1. First Interaction
What is it?
Gives 100% of the credit to the first touchpoint that introduced the customer to your brand.
When to use it?
Ideal for measuring top-of-funnel (TOF) activities.
Why it matters?
This model is best at identifying TOF campaigns. It helps you understand which channels are most effective at creating initial awareness and pulling new users into your funnel. If your goal is to scale reach and get in front of new audiences, this is a great choice. You can clearly see which first touchpoints are driving traffic and invest more in those awareness campaigns.
2. Last Interaction
What is it?
Assigns all credit to the final touchpoint before conversion.
When to use it?
Perfect for bottom-of-funnel (BOF) campaigns focused on closing deals.
Why it matters?
This model is best at identifying BOF campaigns. It shows which channels or actions finally convinced a customer to make a purchase. If your priority is to see which efforts seal the deal, Last Interaction gives you a clear signal of what’s working at the very bottom of the funnel. It's especially useful when optimizing checkout processes, remarketing ads, or final email pushes.
3. Linear
What is it?
Distributes credit evenly across every touchpoint.
When to use it?
Best for journeys where each interaction plays an equally important role.
Why it matters?
This model is ideal for seeing all contributing parties. By giving equal weight to every step, you get a holistic view of how different channels work together to drive conversions. It's useful for understanding the overall support system in your funnel, rather than just focusing on openers or closers.
4. Time Decay
What is it?
Gives more credit to interactions closer in time to the conversion.
When to use it?
Ideal when recency is an important factor in influencing conversions.
Why it matters?
Time Decay is all-inclusive with an emphasis on recency. It recognizes that while many touchpoints might contribute, those closer to the final purchase often have a stronger influence. This makes it especially helpful for retargeting and last-minute promo campaigns, where the last few nudges are critical to converting customers.
5. Position-Based
What is it?
Typically assigns 40% credit to the first and last touchpoints each, and splits the remaining 20% across the middle interactions.
When to use it?
Perfect for businesses that care about both first and last interactions, but also want to account for the middle journey.
Why it matters?
This model is all-inclusive with an emphasis on TOF & BOF. It strikes a balance: it highlights the importance of starting strong (TOF) and closing effectively (BOF), while still acknowledging the influence of nurturing steps in the middle. Great for brands that want to credit both brand awareness and conversion drivers.
6. Last Non-Direct
What is it?
Credits the last touchpoint before a direct visit.
When to use it?
Useful when you want to exclude direct visits and focus on the final marketing-driven interaction.
Why it matters?
This model is filtering out the final intentional visit. Direct visits often happen when someone is already convinced and types your URL directly. By removing this, you can see which marketing activities actually triggered the final decision to visit and purchase. It helps you avoid over-crediting brand familiarity and get a clearer view of your active campaigns' last push.
Conclusion
There’s no one-size-fits-all attribution model. The best choice depends on your business goals, your funnel design, and what insights you want to prioritize. By understanding and testing different models, you can finally see the full impact of every marketing effort and grow with confidence.
At Roasberry, we help ecommerce brands uncover which channels truly move the needle — so you can invest where it matters most.