Ibotta's Q2 2025: Navigating Contradictions in CPID Adoption, Macroeconomic Challenges, and Amazon's Impact

CPID adoption and enthusiasm, impact of macroeconomic environment on CPG clients, impact of Amazon's same-day delivery on Ibotta, budgeting and financial planning, and CPID adoption and client budget investments are the key contradictions discussed in Ibotta's latest 2025Q2 earnings call.



Revenue and Performance Marketing Transformation:
- Ibotta reported revenue below the guidance range, with adjusted EBITDA in the lower half of the range, and guided to a 17% revenue decline at the midpoint for Q3.
- The decrease was attributed to challenges in scaling new performance marketing clients and organizational changes, such as a sales reorg.
- The company is transforming its business model to make promotions more like digital performance media, which has led to temporary disruptions but long-term potential.

Sales Execution and Organizational Changes:
- The company shifted from a territory-based sales model to one grouped by industry subvertical and reduced account loads for enterprise sellers.
- These changes are aimed at enabling a more consultative and client-centric sales motion but caused initial turnover and disruptions.
- Ibotta is focusing on enhancing sales execution and improving go-to-market processes to maximize revenue.

Publisher Engagement and Loyalty Programs:
- The publisher side of the business showed strong growth, with third-party redemption revenue up 17% year-over-year.
- Ibotta is working closely with existing publishers, like Walmart, to increase program awareness and adoption of digital manufacturer offers.
- This growth is driven by increased collaboration and the adoption of Ibotta's offers, contributing to the redeemer base.

Third-Party Validation and CPID:
- Ibotta received third-party validation of its campaign results, showing better performance than its own conservative methodology.
- This validation is crucial for building trust with clients and helping them make informed decisions about investing in the new performance marketing model.
- The company continues to work with clients to resume and expand programming, despite initial pauses due to economic conditions and third-party validation needs.