From stories to storefronts: How commerce media is reshaping ad spends

Posted on 5th May 2026

Quick Commerce Vs Ecommerce: The Race to Dominate India's Retail Market with Fast Deliveries across All Categories – Outlook Business

by e4m

Retail media and quick commerce are rapidly emerging as some of the strongest growth engines within India’s digital advertising ecosystem, as marketers increasingly prioritise channels that sit closer to transactions and offer clearer measurement. With customer acquisition costs on the rise and return-on-investment scrutiny intensifying, brands are reallocating spends toward high-intent environments where the path from impression to purchase is shorter, faster and easier to track.

India’s ad market is already reflecting that pivot. Digital is projected to account for around 64% of a ?1.74 lakh crore advertising market in 2026, once search, social, video, quick commerce and MSME digital spends are included. Within that, retail media is emerging as the standout category. Estimates from WPP’s TYNY 2026 and the Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2026 suggest it could cross ?30,000 crore this year, accounting for roughly 15% of total ad revenue and making it one of the fastest-growing channels in the mix.

That rise is being fuelled by the explosive growth of ecommerce marketplaces, quick commerce apps and food delivery platforms, all of which are increasingly monetising user intent through advertising inventory placed directly within the purchase journey.

However, brands insist this is not a story of storytelling being discarded. Instead, they say it is being asked to work harder.

“Brands are not reducing storytelling, they are redefining its role,” says Kunal Kothari, Chairman, Co-founder and COO at Mobavenue AI Tech Limited. “The shift is toward channels where storytelling can drive outcome, not just awareness. Commerce and quick commerce are gaining traction because they bring discovery and transaction closer together.”

According to Kothari, the bigger shift is in expectations. “Storytelling is now accountable. It is expected to move consumers across the funnel, not just sit at the top of it,” he says, adding that budgets are becoming more outcome-led, with narratives increasingly designed to drive measurable business results rather than just recall.

That view is echoed by direct-to-consumer brands, many of which have spent the past few years navigating tighter unit economics and more demanding growth targets.

“As brands push towards more sustainable P&Ls, the focus has shifted back to performance-first thinking,” says Rajat Jadhav, Co-founder and CEO of Bold Care. “Spending on channels where intent already exists, like quick commerce, delivers better returns on ad spends. It is about prioritising where the consumer is closest to purchase.”

In practical terms, that means marketers are increasingly evaluating channels not just by reach, but by how efficiently they can turn attention into action.

Consumer behaviour is another major driver. As more everyday purchases move to marketplaces and quick commerce platforms, brands are following customers into those ecosystems.

“We are seeing a very sharp shift with advertisers focusing on Ads ROI even as they actively seek to scale business by shifting to non-native platforms such as ecommerce and q-commerce,” says Pratham Hegde, Co-founder and Business Head at TrueLift.

Hegde notes that in some cases, brands that historically relied heavily on their own websites and apps are now seeing a significant share of sales migrate to third-party platforms. As platform sales rise, ad budgets often move with them.

That creates a new strategic reality: brands may still own the product, but increasingly, someone else owns the transaction environment.

Measurement is another reason commerce-led media is gaining favour. “Omnichannel impact measurement in a multimedia world is the number one challenge advertisers are trying to solve,” Hegde says.

For marketers, that challenge is familiar. Brand campaigns, creator partnerships, upper-funnel video and even traditional channels may influence eventual purchases, but proving that impact quickly and precisely remains difficult. Commerce platforms, by contrast, offer closed-loop signals that are easier to report, optimise and defend in quarterly reviews.

That does not mean brands are treating every platform the same way. Instead, many are becoming more deliberate about assigning specific roles to each channel.

“At Clovia, the approach is not about shifting away from storytelling, but aligning product and communication strategies with the nature of each channel,” says Neha Kant, Founder at Clovia.

“For instance, on quick commerce platforms, the focus is on fast-moving essentials and replenishment-driven categories. In contrast, our own website and offline stores offer a more comprehensive assortment, combining core products with fashion-led styles and a wider range of wardrobe solutions,” she says.

That distinction highlights how commerce media is influencing not just media plans, but assortment strategy, merchandising and messaging. In other words, ad budgets are increasingly tied to channel behaviour.

Kant adds that content remains a meaningful lever for the brand. Clovia continues to invest in witty, relatable and conversational content aimed at helping consumers understand products and choose the right solutions.

Experts say the most effective brands are now combining brand-building and conversion rather than choosing one over the other.

“With rising CAC and faster ad fatigue, especially in Tier 2 markets, efficiency is being driven by relevance rather than scale,” says Kothari. “What is working is sharper audience selection, contextual messaging, and presence in high-intent environments.”

Yash Chandiramani, Founder and Chief Strategist at Admatazz, says many marketers are over-fixated on precision targeting at the expense of reach.

“Many brands are over-targeting and repeatedly hitting the same small audience pool. This creates ad fatigue and drives up CAC,” he says. “Expanding reach to light buyers and new audiences is often more effective than repeatedly targeting the same users.”

He adds that creative quality still plays a decisive role, even in performance-led environments.

“When consumers see hundreds of ads a day, the only way to cut through is through distinctive creative assets and memorable messaging. Media efficiency improves when creative works,” Chandiramani says.

That reinforces a broader industry consensus: commerce media may be growing quickly, but it works best when supported by demand generation elsewhere.

Jadhav puts it simply: “Performance and storytelling are complementary, which together drive engagement and outcomes.”

The shift toward commerce-led media is unlikely to slow anytime soon, given the growth of retail platforms and the increasing pressure on measurable returns. But the next phase of competition may be less about whether brands should invest in commerce media, and more about how intelligently they balance it with longer-term brand building.

Because while storefronts may be winning a larger share of ad budgets, storytelling still has one stubborn advantage: it can create demand before the customer starts searching for it.