Retail media is booming across APAC, from Indian metros to Kiwi communities

The rise of retail media across APAC shows how first-party data is reshaping digital advertising, from India’s bustling cities to New Zealand’s tight-knit communities.

In a region where privacy-conscious brands are seeking more precise targeting, retail media offers what many brands now crave: consented data, measurable ROI and direct access to shoppers when and where they are ready to buy.

In India and New Zealand, retail media is emerging as a key component of digital ad spend, although each market is evolving in its own way.

India: The quick commerce retail media push

India’s booming quick commerce sector is proving fertile ground for retail media’s rise.

Leading quick commerce platform Zepto announced this week it has made their retail data available via The Trade Desk, joining a growing field of retailers who make their data available to advertisers including Amazon, Zomato and Walmart-owned Flipkart.

Zepto’s expansion follows a surge in advertiser demand: “Three times growth in active retail media RFPs [requests for proposals] over the last six months,” says Devendra Meel, chief business officer at Zepto, speaking with The Current.

According to a recent Dentsu report, India’s retail media spend is expected to expand by 21.9% this year, outpacing growth in paid search (6.7%) and paid social (8.7%).

Quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy-owned Instamart and BigBasket are investing in retail media arms that leverage first-party purchase data — not just for ads within their apps, but also across the open internet, including connected TV (CTV) platforms and audio streaming services.

According to Meel, Zepto’s campaigns are already delivering: “Campaigns on the Zepto platform have so far delivered a 2.3 to 3.8 times return on ad spend (ROAS) within a few weeks of activation.”

Meel says Zepto’s retail data lets marketers tap into shopping insights from over 60 million monthly active users across 80-plus Indian cities and more than 150 product categories.

Retail media’s momentum is driven by three key trends, according to Meel:

1. Money is moving: “Globally, retail media is expected to hit $100 billion-plus by 2026, and in India, we’ve seen a 3 times growth in active retail media RFPs over the last six months. Zepto has moved from ‘test budget’ to ‘strategic line item’ in record time.”
2. Consumer journeys are fragmented: “People see a trend then add it to their Zepto cart along with eggs and detergent — all within minutes. We’re witnessing a rise in high-intent, high-speed micromoments.”
3. Performance is nonnegotiable: “CFOs and CMOs alike want clean attribution, real ROAS and fraud-free execution. … When brands run campaigns on our platform, they’re not guessing — they’re getting receipts.”

New Zealand: Retail media innovation in a non-Amazon market

Retail media is steadily gaining traction in New Zealand, too, where the sector’s relatively young ecosystem is evolving quickly to meet advertiser demands.

Major retailers have launched dedicated retail media arms to capitalize on the growing appetite for high-quality, first-party audience data.

These include Woolworths NZ (via Cartology), Foodstuffs (via Precision Media) and, as of this week, The Warehouse Group (via Market Media and a new partnership with The Trade Desk).

As New Zealand’s largest retailer, The Warehouse Group reaches over 85% of the population across more than 217 stores and multiple online platforms.

While the country’s broader retail sector saw overall growth decline by 2.6% in 2024, retail media has continued to expand despite economic headwinds.

“We’re growing at roughly 15% to 20% year on year, compared to traditional media channels, which are growing in the lower single digits,” says Rory McDonald, general manager of The Warehouse Group’s Market Media.

While New Zealand’s ecosystem trails the U.S. by four to five years in maturity, McDonald argues this gap fuels innovation: “Because we are a small market and we are forced to innovate in order to take share away from global platforms or to really grow and scale quickly, you see a lot of innovation here that you wouldn’t necessarily see in the U.S.”

One key differentiator is New Zealand’s status as a non-Amazon market. “We don’t have that large global superpower [competing for] advertising dollars. So, the fight to innovate is strong because there is a greater share of dollars that are up for grabs.”

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc.