The Rise of Quick Commerce in India
Quick commerce is transforming the way people shop in India, becoming a dominant force in the online grocery sector. This emerging trend accounts for nearly two-thirds of all online grocery orders and is expanding rapidly, particularly in smaller cities where growth rates are between 8% and 9% annually. With almost half of festive shopping now conducted on quick commerce platforms, it is evident that consumer behavior is shifting remarkably. In response to this trend, the CPAS Playbook for Retail & Quick Commerce in India has been introduced in collaboration with WPP India. This comprehensive guide aims to help brands navigate the evolving landscape by connecting consumer discovery to real, measurable sales outcomes.
Understanding the Consumer Shift
The CPAS Playbook provides insights into the significant shift in consumer behavior from planned purchases to immediate, inspiration-led buying. It emphasizes the need for brands to adapt to this change by understanding how consumers move from discovering products to making purchases in a single session. As a result, brands are encouraged to focus on creating a seamless experience that integrates discovery and conversion, allowing them to plan and measure media more effectively. This strategic approach is essential for blending brand-building efforts with outcomes that can be measured and optimized.
The Impact of Collaborative Ads
The concept of Collaborative Ads (CPAS) is central to the CPAS Playbook. It allows brands and retail marketplaces to collaborate on targeted advertising campaigns on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. By leveraging a retailer’s catalog, brands can promote products and drive traffic directly to the retailer’s online store. This approach has already shown significant business impact for leading brands in India’s quick commerce ecosystem.
Real-World Success Stories
Several brands have successfully implemented the CPAS strategy to achieve remarkable results. For instance, Coca-Cola optimized its sugar-free portfolio by using retailer-linked catalog signals to target high-intent shoppers. This strategy led to a 39% improvement in Return On Advertising Spend (ROAS) and a 2.5 times increase in conversion rates compared to broader audience targeting. Additionally, the acquisition costs were reduced by 40%, demonstrating the effectiveness of combining consumer discovery with retailer commerce data.
Similarly, Britannia adopted a full-funnel CPAS strategy, utilizing Dynamic Product Ads, real-time retailer data synchronization, and geo-optimization across various platforms. By targeting both prospecting and retargeting audiences through retailer-linked signals, Britannia achieved a 45% reduction in Cost Per Purchase quarter-on-quarter. Their ROAS improved from 0.6 to 1.0, with some campaigns achieving up to 5 times ROAS and a 60% lower CPP. This success was attributed to live catalog accuracy, sales-based bidding, and continuous A/B testing, which allowed Britannia to scale efficiently while maintaining steady business growth.
Expert Insights
Gaurav Jeet Singh, Director of Agencies and VC Partnerships in India at Meta, highlighted how India is leading a global shift where discovery and commerce converge in real-time. He emphasized that CPAS enables brands to connect with consumers at the moment of inspiration and seamlessly transition that intent into a purchase. The Playbook provides marketers with a clear roadmap for building connected, measurable, and scalable commerce journeys on Meta, unlocking growth in a dynamic market.
Ashwin Padmanabhan, COO of South Asia at WPP Media, noted the meteoric rise of quick commerce, which has compressed the purchase journey significantly. The CPAS framework bridges the gap from discovery to verified sale through catalog integration and real-time optimization. This approach has already resulted in ROAS as high as 2 times in certain categories, showcasing the power of this model.
Prasanth Kumar, CEO of South Asia at WPP Media, remarked on the transformation of India’s commerce landscape. He explained that the CPAS Playbook offers a blueprint for brands to seamlessly connect brand-building with conversion, helping them achieve accountable, measurable outcomes at scale. This approach is redefining the future of retail advertising in India.
About the CPAS Playbook
The CPAS Playbook serves as a guide for brands to connect the dots between discovery on platforms and conversions on retailer apps, effectively compressing the purchase journey from minutes to moments. Built on deep retailer integrations, CPAS enables co-branded, catalog-powered campaigns that focus on real sales, minimize media wastage, and provide transparent, full-funnel measurement. The model has already delivered a 24% year-over-year improvement in ROAS across Collaborative Ads.
Key Highlights from the CPAS Playbook
- Quick Commerce is Reshaping India’s Purchase Journey: Quick commerce accounts for nearly two-thirds of India’s online grocery orders, with smaller cities experiencing growth rates of 8% to 9% annually.
- Meta Discovery Now Converts Directly Into Purchase: With 75% of shoppers reporting more unplanned purchases, consumer journeys increasingly move from inspiration on Meta platforms to checkout on retailer apps.
- New High-Growth Categories Are Accelerating: Fashion accessories and bags have surpassed ₹40 crore per month, more than doubling in six months.
- Commerce Is Now a Full-Funnel Driver: CPAS influences awareness, consideration, and conversion, making commerce central to modern media planning.
- Quick Commerce Adoption Is Widespread: With 91% awareness and weekly usage among more than half of internet users, the scale of opportunity is significant.
- Opportunities Beyond Grocery Are Expanding: Kitchen essentials, health staples, and household products show strong, underleveraged growth potential.
In conclusion, the rise of quick commerce in India is revolutionizing the retail landscape, offering brands unprecedented opportunities to connect with consumers in real-time. The CPAS Playbook provides a comprehensive framework for brands to navigate this dynamic environment, enabling them to achieve measurable success through strategic, data-driven approaches. As the market continues to evolve, brands that embrace these insights will be better positioned to thrive in the fast-paced world of quick commerce.
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