Quick Commerce Emerges as Prime Advertising Destination, Diverting Funds from E-commerce Giants
In a significant shift within India's digital advertising landscape, consumer brands across food, wellness, and personal care sectors are reallocating substantial portions of their marketing budgets. They are moving funds away from traditional e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart towards quick-commerce applications such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto. This strategic pivot is primarily driven by markedly improved sales velocity and return on advertising spends observed on these faster delivery platforms.
Brands Recalibrate Marketing Strategies for Performance
Wellbeing Nutrition, a protein powder and supplements maker backed by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), exemplifies this trend. The company now directs 55% of its marketing budget to quick commerce, a sharp increase from 30% just six months ago. Founder Avnish Chhabria attributes this tactical increase to meaningful performance improvements and more favourable economics. The brand's monthly sales have reportedly grown fivefold to ₹5 crore since July 2025 compared to the prior six-month period.
Similarly, Plum Goodness, a personal care brand supported by Unilever Ventures, has adjusted its spending patterns. Founder Shankar Prasad notes that quick-commerce channels have been outperforming traditional e-commerce in terms of purchase results in recent months. He describes a "quiet but intense battle for visibility" among wellness and personal care brands on these platforms, which has naturally escalated marketing expenditures.
Major FMCG Players and Broader Industry Trends
Larger consumer goods corporations are also embracing this shift. Marico, the parent company of Parachute and Saffola, reported a significant contribution from quick commerce in recent quarters, fueled by evolving consumer behaviour and metro-centric use cases. The channel accounted for 3% of Marico's India business in FY25. A company spokesperson highlighted that the channel offers faster feedback loops, shorter trend cycles, and exposure to niche, premium ideas, encouraging more agile innovations.
Dabur India's CEO, Mohit Malhotra, indicated plans to increase advertising expenditure across various trade channels, including quick commerce, in upcoming quarters. The company's December-quarter business update anticipates double-digit sales growth from e-commerce platforms, encompassing quick commerce.
Explosive Growth in Quick-Commerce Advertising Revenue
This trend underscores the expanding role of advertising as a key revenue driver for quick-commerce operators. Industry estimates suggest that quick-commerce ad spend has surged nearly 40% to approximately $700 million, up from about $500 million in the preceding six months. According to Siddharth Jhawar, Country Manager at ad-tech firm Moloco, this spend has nearly doubled over the past three years. He projects the share of quick-commerce ad spends could double again within the next 2-3 years as the segment captures a larger portion of the overall e-commerce market.
A December report by advertising agency WPP noted that retail media, including ads on retailer platforms, generated nearly ₹25,000 crore in ad revenue in 2025, making it the fastest-growing advertising channel. Quick-commerce players like Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart are scaling their ad revenue at growth rates exceeding 100% year-on-year.
The Conversion Rate Advantage
A primary driver for this budgetary reallocation is the higher conversion rates observed on quick-commerce platforms. Consumers typically arrive on these apps with high purchase intent and limited browsing time, leading advertisements to translate into quicker decisions and immediate sales. Wellbeing Nutrition's Chhabria noted that conversion rates are at least 10-15% higher than on other horizontal online commerce platforms, often at a cheaper cost per acquisition (CPA).
Anil Kumar, CEO of Redseer, pointed out that quick commerce offers more nuanced, locality-specific data, which is invaluable for precise ad targeting and positioning. Brands are investing heavily in data understanding to capitalize on this emerging wave effectively.
Persistent Challenges and the Competitive Landscape
Despite the rapid growth, challenges persist. The quick-commerce segment remains smaller than marketplaces like Amazon India and Flipkart, with a product assortment limited primarily to fast-moving goods. This creates a spending ceiling for brands. Chhabria mentioned that the audience on quick commerce is largely needs-driven, limiting the scope for new product discovery compared to platforms like Amazon.
Amazon India and Flipkart continue to dominate India's retail media landscape, generating over ₹14,000 crore in revenue in FY25. Additionally, brands are actively developing their own websites as lucrative sales channels to maintain pricing control and improve margins. For instance, the largest portion of Plum Goodness's marketing budget is still allocated to its own website, which drives the bulk of its sales.
The advertising shift from e-commerce giants to quick-commerce apps signals a structural change in online growth strategies. Brands are increasingly viewing quick commerce not just as a fulfilment channel but as a high-efficiency marketing medium, particularly for repeat purchases and new product launches, reshaping the digital advertising ecosystem in India.
