D2C brands lining up to list on quick commerce platforms in festive season

Time of India

21 hours ago

In a sign of early festive season momentum, hundreds of emerging direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are queuing up to list on quick-commerce platforms and ecommerce marketplaces to capitalise on an anticipated surge in demand, brand owners and industry executives told ET.This push comes despite quick commerce players increasing ad rates by 40-50% in key festive categories, as they ask brands to bid for visibility on their apps.In fiscal 2025, top quick commerce companies such as Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart together posted ad revenues of more than Rs 3,000 crore, according to industry executives.'Brands are seeing good return on investment to advertise on these (10-minute delivery) platforms, with a large number of consumers adding quick commerce as buying preferences additionally to offline stores,' said Navin Khemka, president, South Asia, at WPP Media.Retail media spends are growing at over 20% year-on-year, albeit on a low base, he said. WPP Media handles media planning and buying for large brands including P&G, Coca-Cola, and Hero MotoCorp.GroupM's This Year Next Year (TYNY) report for 2025 forecasts that retail media – mainly advertising spends on online platforms – could represent 13.2% of total advertising expenditures in India this calendar, growing at 40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2019.Overall, the report projects the Indian advertising sector to grow by 7% year-on-year to touch Rs 1,64,137 crore in 2025.'We are very optimistic about the surge in traction on quick commerce platforms, more so during festive months when sales can peak,' said Akash Agrawalla, cofounder at spices and ready-to-cook foods startup ZOFF Foods. 'These platforms are neutralising the benefits of legacy brands in terms of consumer reach and discoverability.'In addition to nudging brands to increase their ad spending, quick-commerce platforms are rolling out new advertising products ahead of the four-month festive season to boost their revenues.These include banners on the payment window – similar to checkout and payment zones in supermarkets – to induce impulse purchases for products such as chocolates and confectionery.Flipkart Minutes has rolled out contextual ads that help brands target high-intent customers with relevant products.'It's true that quick commerce platforms are increasingly investing to expand the category, and as part of that, they've been encouraging brands to scale up marketing investments,' said Varun Gupta, founder and CEO of smartwatches and wireless earphones brand Boult Audio. 'We see this not as a demand, but as a signal that the ecosystem is maturing and there's a shared opportunity to drive consumer awareness and adoption.'He, however, told ET that Boult would follow ad spend discipline and continue to allocate a share of its revenue for marketing. 'With the natural growth we've seen on these platforms, our absolute marketing spends have already scaled up by 20-25% organically,' Gupta added.ET had reported on July 23 that quick commerce companies are ramping up pressure on brands and sellers to boost ad spending on the platforms, as they chase high-margin revenue streams to contain mounting losses. Swiggy Instamart has rolled out a three-tier onboarding system, asking sellers to pick from packages priced between Rs 4.5 lakh and Rs 9 lakh. The amount can be spent on ads over a three-month period.Zepto has been asking new and small brands to commit Rs 2 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh a month on ads, depending on brands and categories.Eternal Ltd-owned Blinkit charges Rs 25,000 per stock-keeping unit (SKU) per state as an onboarding fee, with sellers facing strong nudges to increase ad spends after listing their products.Industry executives said the push from platforms to increase ad spends was primarily focused on smaller brands – with large companies typically having pre-agreed contracts on their marketing spends.'Given the strong response to mid-season ecommerce sales, we expect demand on online channels this year to outpace last year,' founder of a consumer electronics brand said. The company is increasing its ad spends across platforms to cash in on the festive season demand, the person added.However, for some smaller brands, ad spends on quick commerce apps at times end up being more than the revenue earned.'For the last month, we have been spending Rs 3,000-5,000 every day on ads but sales are barely catching up,' founder of a Delhi-based home accessories brand said. 'This money is already spent though because we paid it when we onboarded the platform.'Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy did not respond to ET's queries until press time Monday.