Quick-commerce platforms push brands for higher margins and ad spending

As quick commerce captures as much as 75% of online sales for some manufacturers, platforms are raising supplier-margin demands and marketing costs through paid listings and keyword auctions. Brand spending is up about 20% year on year, with peak-period outlays rising by up to 40%.

By ·Devil's-advocate pass

Source published First seen Source ET Retail

The development

Indian quick-commerce platforms are using growing scale to seek higher supplier margins and marketing spending, including auction-style bids for listings and keywords. FMCG brands say costs have risen, while Reliance Retail is using its grocery and JioMart scale to negotiate stronger trade terms.

The numbers

  • Quick commerce accounts for up to 75% of online sales at several leading manufacturers
  • Brand spending on the channel has increased about 20% year-on-year
  • Spending can surge by up to 40% during weekends, festivals and peak-demand periods

Why it matters to operators and investors

The shift elevates the strategic value of owned customer channels, retail-media capabilities, and partnerships that reduce dependence on dominant quick-commerce platforms.

What to watch next

  • Supplier gross-margin commentary citing delivery-platform commissions, retail-media costs, or promotional funding.
  • Quick-commerce advertising revenue growth versus gross merchandise value growth.
  • Evidence that organic search visibility declines as sponsored inventory expands.
  • Price gaps, pack-size changes, and promotion frequency between quick-commerce and supermarket channels.
  • Large brands reducing assortment, delisting products, or negotiating exclusive data and placement agreements.
  • Competition-regulator inquiries into ranking algorithms, platform fees, or forced advertising spend.
  • Raise list prices and reduce discount depth on quick-commerce-specific assortments.
  • Shift ad budgets from broad visibility campaigns to sponsored search, top-converting keywords, and peak-hour placements.
  • Prioritize high-margin, high-repeat SKUs; rationalize long-tail products and low-velocity pack sizes.
  • Negotiate bundled commercial terms linking margin concessions, ad credits, data access, and guaranteed placement.
  • Expand multi-platform distribution and strengthen direct loyalty channels to reduce dependency on a single delivery app.
  • Use retail-media measurement and incrementality testing to challenge non-performing platform ad spend.

The counter-case

The headline may overstate platform power from a narrow set of highly dependent manufacturers. Higher supplier margins and ad spend can be a rational exchange for incremental demand, superior conversion, lower fulfillment costs, and access to high-frequency consumers—not necessarily a permanent deterioration in brand economics. If platforms push take rates too far, brands can shift promotions to other marketplaces, build direct channels, rationalize SKUs, or pass some costs through to consumers. Elevated peak-period spending may also be seasonal and promotional rather than evidence of a structurally higher acquisition-cost base.