India’s commerce-media ad spend rose 50% to ₹220 billion in 2025: ICICI Securities
Digital advertising accounted for 63% of India’s ad market in 2025, while e-commerce and point-of-sale advertising grew 50% to ₹220 billion. The shift signals a widening retail-media opportunity for Indian retailers, marketplaces and consumer brands.
What happened
ICICI Securities says digital media has become India’s largest media segment, with digital ads reaching 63% of ad spend in 2025. E-commerce and point-of-sale
Key facts
- Digital media grew more than 30% year-on-year in India in 2025
- Digital advertising was 63% of India's ad market in 2025, up from 56% in 2024
- India digital ad revenue exceeded Rs 947 billion in 2025
- India advertising market grew 13.5% to Rs 1.5 trillion in 2025
- E-commerce and point-of-sale advertising rose 50% to Rs 220 billion in 2025
- Global digital advertising share is projected to reach 80% by 2029
- Retail search advertising could rise from 33% of global digital advertising in 2024 to 46% by 2029
Why this matters
Strategic buyers should prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in retail-media measurement, shopper-data activation and point-of-sale ad technology to capture India’s rapidly expanding commerce-media pool.
What to watch
- Share of advertising revenue in marketplace and quick-commerce platform revenue disclosures.
- Growth in sponsored-listing auction prices, advertiser count and ad load per search or category page.
- Brand budget reallocations from social/search to commerce media in annual media plans.
- Adoption of standardized retail-media measurement, third-party verification and privacy/consent rules in India.
- Whether rapid ad monetization degrades search relevance, customer experience or seller organic visibility.
- Consolidation, partnerships or ad-tech acquisitions among retailers, marketplaces, agencies and measurement providers.
- Build self-serve sponsored-product and sponsored-brand inventory before expanding upper-funnel formats.
- Package closed-loop reporting linking impressions, searches, carts, purchases and repeat purchase behavior.
- Create retail-media rate cards and joint business plans for top FMCG and consumer-electronics advertisers.
- Invest in consented first-party identity, clean-room capabilities and measurement standards to defend advertiser trust.
- Use ad revenue selectively to fund sharper consumer pricing, loyalty rewards, seller tools and faster fulfillment rather than treating it solely as margin.