Vasanth & Co, Reliance Retail, Ikea drive retail ad surge across media in 2024

India’s retail advertising sector witnessed a robust surge in 2024 across TV, print, radio, and digital, with Reliance Retail, Ikea Services (India), and Vasanth & Co emerging as top advertisers, according to TAM AdEx’s latest cross-media recap.

Retail ad volumes on TV grew 65% in 2024 compared to 2020, with the third quarter alone seeing a 25% jump over Q1. News channels remained the most preferred genre for retail advertisers, capturing 49% share of ad volumes. Electronics and durables dominated category-wise, holding a 40% share. Vasanth & Co led the top retail brands on TV, followed by Sathya and Ikea.

In print, ad space expanded by 79% since 2020, with Reliance Retail leading the list of advertisers at 13% share. The South zone accounted for half of retail advertising in print, and Hindi publications topped language preferences. Sales promotions continued to drive print ads, contributing 80% of ad space.

On radio, ad volumes grew 2.36 times over 2020 levels. Reliance Retail again topped the advertiser list, while Alishan led among brands. Afternoon and evening slots were the most popular time bands for retail ads.The digital space saw a 33.6x growth in ad impressions since 2020, although there was a 12% dip in 2024 compared to 2023. Ikea Services (India) dominated digital advertising with a 30% share of impressions, leveraging programmatic buys for 78% of campaigns.