Publicis Commerce and MMA Global unveil quick commerce playbook for India’s $7B market

Publicis Commerce India and MMA Global India have jointly released The Quick Commerce Playbook India 2025 - a comprehensive resource designed to help marketers navigate growth and profitability in India’s fastest-growing retail channel.

The report was launched at an MMA Global India event in Mumbai, attended by Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia; Lalatendu Das, CEO, Publicis Media South Asia; and Moneka Khurana, Country Head & Board Member, MMA Global India. The event also featured a panel discussion with industry leaders, decoding key findings from the Playbook.

Quick Commerce has expanded from $1.5 billion in 2022 to nearly $7 billion in 2024, registering a growth of over 4.5x in just two years. The sector is projected to grow at a ~40% CAGR through 2030, surpassing e-retail, which is expected to grow at around 18% CAGR.

However, despite rapid scale, 70% of brands surveyed said Quick Commerce remains less profitable than other channels - underscoring the sector’s growth-profitability paradox.

Key Insights:

• Visibility drives sales: 89% of consumers visit only one product page before purchase and rarely scroll beyond the first fold.

• Timing matters: Staples peak from 6–9 am and 6–9 pm, while snacks surge during afternoons and late evenings.

• Shorter stocking cycles: Platforms typically stock SKUs for 3–7 days, demanding sharper forecasting and agile supply chains.

• Collaboration advantage: Close brand-platform partnerships enable better insights, shelf presence, and faster adoption of new products.

• Beyond discounting: The Playbook emphasises supply chain agility, portfolio optimisation, and retail media effectiveness over deep discounts.

The report also includes festive-season insights from MMA Global India’s latest survey, Unpacking Quick Commerce in the Festive Season, revealing how Q-commerce is reshaping consumer demand during peak shopping periods:

• Speed (50%) ranks as the top festive purchase driver, followed by discounts (31.6%).

• Weekly festive deals (64.9%) sustain engagement more effectively than daily offers.

• Impulse hampers (57.1%) and premium curated packs (34.3%) lead festive gifting.

• Trust in premium categories (72%) increases when backed by product guarantees.

• Gifting (67.6%) and FMCG (64.9%) see the strongest festive growth.

• On festival days, inventory readiness (64.9%) and real-time agility (45–49%) remain critical.

51% of marketers already rank Q-commerce as a high-priority channel, with 44% planning to allocate over 20% of budgets to it in the next 12–18 months.

Lalatendu Das, CEO, Publicis Media South Asia, said, “Quick Commerce has ingrained itself into consumers’ lives faster than any other retail format. But our survey shows that profitability remains a challenge for most brands. This is where the playbook comes in. It provides leaders with key strategies on supply chain reorientation, smarter portfolio management, and retail media optimisation. The report makes it clear that success in Quick Commerce is not about deep discounting, but about precision in demand forecasting, visibility, and agility in execution.”

Moneka Khurana, country head & board member, MMA Global India, said, “Quick Commerce is no longer just about convenience—it’s a $7 billion growth arena where brands are fighting for relevance, loyalty, and market share. With an audience that’s urban and affluent, the opportunity is massive, but readiness is lagging. The brands that win are the ones that treat Quick Commerce as a full-funnel growth engine. Hence, at MMA Global India, we are proud to support the launch of this valuable Q-first strategy resource to help marketers advance their ability to create value and drive business impact.