Third party reviews of Upside’s methodology

Upside is the only program that ensures you only pay for proven incremental profit. The concept of incrementality is central to our business — it means that you only pay for transactions that you would not have gotten without Upside. In fact, it’s so important to us that we don’t want you to simply take our word for it. This is why we’ve worked with multiple experts in methodological review to validate our approach, including Guidehouse, Kickstart Analytics, and South Shore Analytics. Read on for an overview of how each of these experts evaluated Upside’s methodology, as well as a summary of their findings. 

Guidehouse

Guidehouse (formerly known as Navigant) is a leading global provider of consulting and advisory services with extensive experience in methodological reviews. Upside engaged Guidehouse to review our methodology for determining incrementality and ensure that the methodology is being implemented accurately. 

Guidehouse’s conclusions: 

1. Review of Upside’s incremental profit methodology did not identify any bias.
2. Upside’s approach for implementing the incremental profit calculation accurately reflects the methodology. 
3. Results from real-world transactions align with expected outcomes based on simulations of Upside’s methodology. 

Kickstart Analytics

Kickstart analytics is a boutique analytics consulting firm specializing in applying analytics to business. Its founder, Andrea Roy, has 15 years of industry experience in consulting (BCG) and industry (Loblaw’s, Canada’s largest grocer) and a Master’s in Analytics from Northwestern University. Upside engaged Kickstart Analytics to review and validate methodology used by Upside to calculate incremental revenue, test for bias in Upside’s methodology, and test and reproduce Upside’s incrementality calculations across a range of customer and time variables. 

Kickstart Analytics’ conclusions: 

1. “Given Upside’s solid methodology and strong performance across a range of models and assumptions, Upside’s calculations of estimated incremental revenue can be accepted with a high degree of confidence.”
2. No evidence of error or bias was found in Upside’s methodology.
3. All customer scenarios yielded estimated incremental revenue within a reasonable range of Upside’s calculations.

South Shore Analytics

South Shore Analytics is a boutique analytics firm whose members have a decade of experience in the tech and banking industries across leading firms like Amazon, Uber, Gopuff, and Deutsche Bank. Upside engaged South Shore Analytics to review and validate Upside’s incrementality calculation methodology, test for bias, determine whether the amount Upside charges retailers is accurate, and evaluate Upside’s overall performance. 

South Shore Analytics’ conclusions: 

1. Independent analysis found Upside’s methodology to be reasonable.
2. There is no bias in the methodology which would skew results in Upside’s favor.
3. Once acquired by Upside, customers tend to transact at a greater frequency and higher value per transaction. The program is beneficial to retailers for a number of key reasons.

You can validate Upside’s methodology too! 

In addition to reading the full results of Guidehouse’s audit, you can also partner with an experienced analytics consultant and use your own data to validate Upside’s impact on your business.

Reach out to your Upside account manager to review the full Guidehouse audit report.

Upside has identified multiple independent consultants who are experienced in data analysis and methodological review. For a fee (paid by you), you can partner with these independent consultants to analyze Upside’s impact on your business’ performance using your own data. If you are interested in working with an external consultant to validate Upside’s impact, please reach out to your Upside account manager for more information on the consultants, timing, and cost.