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How Quick Commerce is changing advertising strategies for brands

Brand leaders and research experts delve into how quick commerce is transforming advertising by blending speed and convenience with innovative strategies, creating new consumer habits, advertising formats and opportunities for brands to drive sales and engagement.

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Shamita Islur
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Quick Commerce is changing advertising strategies for brands

During the wedding season, a groom in Bangalore realised he had forgotten his Haldi outfit just hours before the ceremony. With a swipe and a tap, he ordered a Manyavar kurta and received it within 10 minutes through a quick commerce platform. This was possible because Vedant Fashions, the parent company of Manyavar, partnered with quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto to cater to the urgent requirements of wedding shoppers. Such stories depict the convenience that quick commerce offers to consumers. 

It is further amplified by the advertisements made by quick commerce platforms that generate footfalls. To announce Manyavar’s arrival on Zepto, the quick commerce platform released an OOH campaign alongside Shaadi.com with a cheeky message that went viral. This sparked a moment marketing trend that spread awareness of the brand’s availability. 

Zepto and Shaadi.com banter

As the wedding season unfolds, Vedant Modi, Chief Revenue Officer, Vedant Fashions Limited has observed a surge in last-minute shopping, particularly among grooms’ friends and wedding attendees. “By reinforcing the idea that a celebration feels incomplete without them, we create a strong emotional connection with our audience. This messaging has resonated deeply with consumers and positions quick commerce as a natural extension of our marketing efforts, seamlessly blending convenience with tradition.”

Vedant Modi--Emails and Phone Numbers | FlashIntel
Vedant Modi

For brands, this channel isn’t just logistics, it is rapidly becoming another advertising vessel leading to sales. According to reports, beauty brand Sugar Cosmetics has garnered sales of more than Rs 2 crore per month on quick commerce channels. Similarly, wearable and audio products brand boAt's third-biggest channel for sales is quick commerce, as per co-founder Aman Gupta.

The meteoric rise of Quick Commerce

Initially centred around daily essentials, the channel now spans categories like fashion, beauty, wellness, and even premium products. A Redseer report indicates that the Q-commerce market is expected to have a 75-85% growth in FY 2025, with an estimated USD 6 billion GMV. 

Kushal Bhatnagar

Kushal Bhatnagar, Associate Partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants shares how it is reshaping the advertising landscape in India. “It offers this unique ability for brands to have frequent touch-points with high-value customer cohorts (largely GenZ and millennials residing in the metro cities) and also measure the response for their ad efforts immediately. These factors have enabled certain brands to derive better return-on-ads-spend on Q-Commerce vs other media.”

Additionally, India is poised to grow to an impressive 500 million users by 2030, with Quick Commerce projected to drive 45-50% of transactions by then, according to Iti Kaul, Head of Digital, OMD India. She shares that advertisers are allocating budgets to benefit from its thriving state of play, with increasing consumers.

Iti Kaul

Kaul notes, “For advertisers, Q-Commerce presents a vast opportunity – with potential spanning from sales-linked deals, on-platform and in-app visibility to collaborative campaigns that break through the clutter. Its scale and rapid adoption are a sweet spot for advertisers.”

With opportunities ranging from sampling products to co-branded merchandise collaborations, the ease and immediacy it provides can create impactful consumer touchpoints.

In FY25, existing MTUs are expected to spend an estimated 20% more on Q-commerce, as they experiment with newer propositions like sustainable products, health focus, cafe, and expenditure across non-essential categories such as beauty, home decor, gifting, and other general merchandise. 

With its hyperlocal model, Q-commerce not only meets immediate needs but has also created new consumer habits, opening a world of advertising possibilities. 

In fear of being left behind, e-commerce platforms are stepping up to meet consumer demand for faster deliveries. Nykaa, for example, has sped up delivery timelines in 110 cities, ensuring next-day delivery for 70% of orders and piloting 10-minute deliveries in Mumbai. Similarly, Amazon India is preparing to launch 15-minute deliveries in Bengaluru under its ‘Tez’ initiative, while Flipkart has introduced its quick commerce service called ‘Minutes,’ a platform that was highly active during the festive season in 2024. Other players like Myntra and Swish are also experimenting with fast delivery for apparel with ‘M-Now’ and quick-prep meals.  

This surge in quick commerce is reshaping the market, pushing companies to diversify their offerings. Platforms like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit are expanding beyond groceries into electronics, clothing, and footwear, while platforms like Magicpin and Ola Consumer are piloting instant delivery services. 

These platforms have also launched separate apps for diversified services like Zepto Cafe, Blinkit’s Bistro, and more. As per reports, BigBasket has set its eyes on generating $1 billion out of its projected $1.5 billion in sales for the ongoing financial year 2024-25 (FY25) through the quick commerce vertical, BBNow.

Advertising that matches the speed of delivery

Quick commerce platforms offer a range of advertising formats tailored to their immediacy-driven ecosystem. Abhishek Shetty, Marketing Head, Swiggy Instamart & Pvt Brands, divulges, “We offer a range of advertising formats to meet varying brand objectives—banners for high-visibility awareness campaigns, sponsored listings for targeted engagement, push notifications for real-time promotions amongst many other solutions. We are also pioneering some industry-first ad formats going forward.”

Abhishek Shetty

The Q-commerce platform has seen a diverse range of brands, with FMCG, personal care, and electronics being active categories. In recent months, Shetty comments, there has been a noticeable uptick in categories like health and wellness, especially with the growing consumer focus on self-care and fitness essentials. This has worked well for the brand in terms of advertising.

“This year, our advertising revenue has grown significantly, fueled by our ability to seamlessly integrate marketing with consumer behaviour,” Shetty says. Swiggy allocated Rs 1,850 crore for advertising and promotions in 2024, as per PrivateCircle Research, though individual figures for Swiggy Instamart were not disclosed.

Reports suggest that Zepto increased its advertising budget to Rs 303 crore in FY24, up from Rs 215.82 crore the previous year. This investment has contributed to the quick commerce sector crossing Rs 1,000 crore in annualised ad revenue, averaging Rs 83 crore per month. The platform also unveiled Jarvis, an advertising service intended for its in-house advertising solutions for brands and sellers on the platform. The platform claimed that this service has already served more than 15+ billion ad impressions, generating well over 4% of advertising income as a percentage of sales. 

Additionally, Blinkit boosted its marketing spend to Rs 191 crore in 2024 reported over Rs 400 crore in advertising revenue and aims to surpass Rs 1,000 crore in the current fiscal year. 

This is leading to a boost in AdEx. Anshu Yardi, Vice President Business Partnerships & Communication, TAM Media Research says Quick commerce is revolutionising India’s advertising landscape by driving hyperlocal targeting, innovative ad formats, and collaborative campaigns, with platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit etc leading the way. 

Anshu Yardi

Yardi reveals, “It has reshaped brand engagement through personalised offers, short videos, and loyalty ecosystems while boosting advertising expenditure, particularly in the Retail, FMCG and Grocery sectors, with a significant share on Print and Digital AdEx in the Jan-Oct’24 period.”

By leveraging partnerships and consumer insights, this category enhances brand visibility and encourages sales, making it important in modern advertising strategies.  When asked if an increased investment in quick commerce has led to reduced spending on other platforms such as e-commerce or social media, Vedant Modi comments that Manyavar’s advertising on quick commerce platforms is aimed at driving brand visibility, boosting sales conversions and enhancing customer engagement. 

“Our investment in quick commerce has not come at the expense of other platforms like e-commerce or social media. Instead, it serves as a complementary addition to our overall strategy, catering to a unique consumer need—immediacy.”

While E-commerce platforms focus on providing extensive product catalogues and supporting planned purchases, Q-commerce caters specifically to last-minute shoppers who value instant delivery. 

On the other hand, Modi continues, “Social media continues to play a critical role in building awareness and inspiring emotional connections, while our D2C website and e-commerce portals support in-depth exploration of our collections.”

Interestingly, Swiggy Instamart is emerging as a discovery channel for new-age and upcoming brands. Shetty mentions that these brands leverage Instamart’s ability to connect with a digitally native, hyperlocal audience, enabling them to quickly establish their presence. 

The sector is expected to expand beyond groceries into new categories and cities in 2025, particularly Tier II and smaller cities, as per a report by Bernstein. The report notes that D2C brands have seen exponential growth on quick commerce platforms, which are allocating over 30% of the brand mix to D2C and new-age products. FMCG brands are seeing a notable increase in their online sales, exceeding 20%.

As these platforms aim to expand into smaller cities, however, it could pose challenges. Kushal Bhatnagar says that population density is a major limitation. “The dark store model has proven to be sustainable in high-density population clusters (typically available in metro cities), which may not be available in smaller cities. Secondly, consumer inertia to shift from kiranas to newer alternates is probably higher in the smaller markets.”

He divulges that platforms could look to experiment with logistics models and speed for essential vs non-essential products. Secondly, there could be an opportunity to bring in the nearby branded stores on the platforms. 

Iti Kaul highlights how integration with available avenues on social media could further help brands. “Avenues like Meta’s Collaborative Ads, which integrate Q-Commerce platforms into Meta’s advertising campaigns, demonstrate how brands can leverage large-scale platforms to drive targeted traffic and conversions directly to Q-Commerce channels.”

This approach has proven highly beneficial for categories like FMCG, according to Kaul. Quick commerce is no longer just a convenience, it’s a strategic asset in the modern advertising landscape. By blending immediacy with precision, it offers brands a unique way to connect with consumers, drive sales and build loyalty. For advertisers willing to embrace its potential, quick commerce could lead to the emergence of Q-commerce first strategies. 

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