MUMBAI: If you are an active user of quick-commerce apps such as Blinkit, Zepto or Instamart, you may have noticed a lot more advertisements on these platforms. Surprisingly, these aren’t always for groceries or the daily goods that you order. Sponsored listings and posts may include credit cards or other financial products or even gaming apps.
Two major advertising sector reports released in February, which capture digital media trends, have noted the steep growth rate in retail media that includes e-commerce platforms and marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart, quick-commerce services such as Blinkit or Zepto and food delivery apps such as Zomato and Swiggy.
Earlier this month, the Dentsu-e4m Digital Advertising Report 2026 stated that at ₹71,621 crore, digital media now corners 59% share of Indian advertising. Within digital, social media has the largest share, followed by online videos (short-form content, mobile-first videos and OTT platforms). Paid search and banner ads remain a significant part of digital advertising but retail media or digital commerce platforms have emerged as the fastest growing media property with an almost 56% jump over 2024.
Interestingly, Zepto, that filed a confidential Draft Red Herring Prospectus in December 2025 to raise money via an IPO this year, had crossed ₹1,000 crore in ad revenue by June 2025 — a five times jump over the previous year. Industry estimates also suggest that Eternal (formerly Zomato) saw a significant revenue boost from advertising across its platforms. For the financial year 2025, the combined ad revenue from its food delivery platform Zomato and its quick-commerce app Blinkit was pegged at ₹2,000 crore.
The Dentsu-e4m report stated that these digital commerce platforms solve the challenge of traditional media by connecting investments to measurable outcomes.
On Wednesday, WPP Media’s annual ad forecast report ‘This Year Next Year’ (TYNY), too, highlighted the rise of commerce-led advertising as the fastest-growing segment, driven by the convergence of retail media, quick commerce, and social commerce. WPP Media’s head of commerce for India, Sairam Ranganathan, noted that the rapid ascendance of quick commerce is fundamentally reshaping sales channels and consumer expectations.
“Brands must strategically define quick commerce’s role, whether for gathering consumer insights, differentiating service, or driving demand across its expanding reach. The winners will be those who treat every touchpoint as a commerce opportunity and every transaction as the beginning of a deeper relationship,” said Ranganathan. The marketing landscape needs a pivot from fragmented broadcasting to seamless omnichannel adaptation, he added.
In Dentsu-e4m digital ad report, Girish Prabhu, VP and head, Amazon Ads India, said Indian marketers’ big challenge is fragmented media consumption across multiple digital channels such as video, social media, online shopping, and search. They need full-funnel advertising that unifies the customer journey from awareness to loyalty. While performance advertising captures existing demand, full-funnel strategies create tomorrow’s buyers — building awareness through storytelling, guiding consideration and driving conversion through interest-based ads, he said.
Simply put, advertisers are drawn to retail platforms, especially quick-commerce, because the number of weekly users on the leading apps is now significant – nearly 30 million each — at last count last year. Also, ads on q-comm apps hit you when you open them and are in a purchase mode. Not just that, the apps are used more frequently and conversions on these platforms are high. WPP Media said it is critical for brands to meet the consumer where they are, in the right context and frame of mind rather than just drive visibility.
By the end of 2025, advertising spends on e-retail platforms reached ₹17,601 crore, contributing 24.58% to total digital media spends, said the Dentsu-e4m report. This growth is driven by expanding marketplace inventories, richer first-party data and rising investments in performance-led commerce advertising across categories.
Vinita Pachisia, executive vice president, Investments at Dentsu’s Amplifi, said the big spurt in retail media ad growth is easy to explain given our own shopping, browsing and engagement behaviour with digital commerce. “Revenue for these platforms isn’t just from plain ads. It is from live shopping, affiliate marketing, influencers promoting products and services. We have said their ad revenue will spike as they promote both endemic and non-endemic brands,” Pachisia said.
But can retail media become the number one platform for digital ads? “Not immediately, but who can say what happens two to three years down the line,” she said.