How Meta’s Collaborative Ads Are Fueling Quick Commerce Boom In India

Quick commerce is rapidly becoming a mainstream shopping behaviour in India, contributing nearly two-thirds of all online grocery orders. We are seeing adoption accelerate especially in smaller cities, where the segment is growing at 8-9% annually. With 45% of festive shopping now happening on quick commerce platforms, we have introduced the CPAS Playbook for Retail & Quick Commerce in India in collaboration with WPP India. The Playbook outlines how consumer journeys are shifting from planned purchases to instant, inspiration-led buying, and how brands can connect discovery to real, measurable sales in this fast-evolving landscape. The Playbook is built on consumer insights, brand performance data, retailer inputs, and our platform signals, with WPP Media bringing them together through its expertise in CPAS.

Connecting Discovery to Real Sales

With 91% of internet users now aware of quick commerce services, and more than half having used them in the week preceding the survey, the Playbook helps brands reach high-intent shoppers at the exact moment demand is formed. While groceries remain the largest purchase category, the Playbook highlights fast-growing opportunities across fashion, beauty, health products, and kitchen essentials. As highlighted in the playbook, categories such as fashion accessories and bags have already crossed ₹40 crore per month, more than doubling in the past six months.

As consumers increasingly move from inspiration to checkout in the same session, commerce is no longer restricted to lower-funnel metrics. For marketers, this means designing for a connected, full-funnel experience where discovery and conversion work together. It becomes central to how brands plan and measure media, blending brand-building with measurable outcomes.

Proven Results Across Categories

Collaborative Ads (CPAS) is our solution that allows brands and retail marketplaces to work together to run targeted Facebook/Instagram ads. Brands can use a retailer's catalog to promote products and drive shoppers directly to the retailer's online store.

CPAS is already delivering strong business impact for leading brands across India's quick commerce ecosystem.

Coca-Cola used CPAS to optimize its sugar-free portfolio, leveraging retailer-linked catalogue signals to reach the highest-intent shoppers. The sugar-free retail segment delivered a 39% improvement in ROAS , while conversion rates were 2.5x stronger compared to broad-based audiences. This high-intent segment also delivered 40% lower acquisition costs , highlighting the power of combining our discovery ecosystem with retailer commerce data to drive efficient, outcome-led growth.

Britannia adopted a full-funnel CPAS strategy built on Dynamic Product Ads, real-time retailer data sync, and granular geo-optimisation across Blinkit, Swiggy, Zepto, and other partners. By activating both prospecting and retargeting audiences through retailer-linked signals, the brand achieved a 45% reduction in Cost Per Purchase quarter-on-quarter. ROAS improved from 0.6 to 1.0 , with several campaigns delivering up to 5x ROAS and 60% lower CPP . The combination of live catalogue accuracy, sales-based bidding, and continuous A/B-led optimisation allowed Britannia to scale efficiency while maintaining consistent business growth.

"India is at the forefront of a global shift where discovery and commerce are converging in real time. With CPAS, we're enabling brands to meet consumers at the moment of inspiration and carry that intent seamlessly to purchase. This Playbook gives marketers a clear roadmap to build connected, measurable, and scalable commerce journeys on Meta, helping them unlock growth in a marketplace that moves at the speed of culture." - Gaurav Jeet Singh, Director, Agencies and VC Partnerships, (India) at Meta

"The meteoric rise of quick commerce has compressed the purchase journey like never before. The CPAS framework helps brands bridge the final mile from discovery to verified sale through catalogue integration and real-time optimisation. We are already seeing ROAS as high as 2x in certain categories, proving the power of this model." - Ashwin Padmanabhan, COO, South Asia at WPP Media

" India's commerce landscape is undergoing its most significant transformation, shifting from a linear path to purchase to an instant, intent-driven ecosystem. The CPAS Playbook provides a clear blueprint for brands to seamlessly connect brand-building with conversion, helping them drive accountable, measurable outcomes at scale thus, redefining the future of retail advertising in India ." - Prasanth Kumar, CEO - South Asia at WPP Media .

About the CPAS Playbook

The CPAS Playbook helps brands connect the dots between discovery on our platforms and conversions on retailer apps, compressing the purchase journey from minutes to moments. Built on deep retailer integrations, CPAS enables co-branded, catalog-powered campaigns that optimize for real sales, eliminate media wastage, and offer transparent, full-funnel measurement. The model has already delivered a 24% YoY improvement in ROAS across Collaborative Ads.

Key Highlights from the CPAS Playbook Include:

• Quick Commerce is Reshaping India's Purchase Journey: Quick commerce now accounts for nearly two-thirds of India's online grocery orders, with smaller cities growing at 8-9% annually.
• Meta Discovery Now Converts Directly Into Purchase: With 75% of shoppers reporting more unplanned purchases, consumer journeys increasingly move from inspiration on Meta to checkout on retailer apps.
• New High-Growth Categories Are Accelerating: Fashion accessories and bags have crossed ₹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: 91% awareness and weekly usage among more than half of internet users highlight the scale of opportunity.
• Opportunities Beyond Grocery Are Expanding: Kitchen essentials, health staples, and household products show strong, underleveraged growth potential.