Mumbai: India’s dynamic retail media landscape is shaping the future of customer engagement. By seamlessly blending e-commerce insights with advertising strategies, retail media is bridging the gap between the upper and lower funnel, creating a cohesive, data-driven ecosystem. Fuelled by affordable smartphones, high-speed internet, and an accelerated shift to digital post-pandemic, retail media is transforming moments of consumer intent into powerful, meaningful connections.
Dentsu India has launched the ninth edition of its flagship annual report, the ‘dentsu Digital Advertising Report 2025’ – a definitive deep dive into India’s evolving advertising ecosystem.
Unlike traditional demographic-based targetting, retail media relies on real-time shopping behaviours, enabling hyper-personalised campaigns tailored to individual needs and preferences. This approach not only improves the relevance of customer interactions but also levels the playing field, giving regional and small businesses the ability to compete with larger national players.
Quick commerce (Q-commerce) platforms and Connected TV (CTV) networks further enrich this ecosystem by leveraging first-party data to create seamless, omnichannel experiences. For brands, this shift unlocks the potential of underserved markets in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, driving both digital inclusion and economic growth.
As the boundaries between shopping and advertising blur, retail media is redefining how brands interact with consumers along their journey. For India’s diverse market, this transformation is about more than just efficiency — it’s a way to connect meaningfully with customers by understanding their intent in real time and delivering value where it matters most.
By embracing the next evolution of customer experience, brands can move beyond traditional funnels to build deeper, purpose-driven connections. Whether through the creative empowerment of AI or the data-centric innovation of retail media, the future belongs to those who can merge personalisation, creativity, and strategy to meet customers wherever they are on their journey.
The Power of Unified Commerce
Redefining Customer Engagement
The lines between physical and digital retail have nearly vanished, paving the way for unified commerce to emerge as the foundation for seamless customer experiences. Unlike multichannel or omnichannel strategies, unified commerce connects every touchpoint—be it online platforms, brick-and-mortar stores, mobile apps, or social media—into a cohesive and interconnected ecosystem. This approach is driven by the modern consumer’s demand for convenience, consistency, and fluidity in their interactions with brands.
Unified commerce ensures that whether a customer begins their journey on a website, completes it at a physical store, or transitions from in-store browsing to online ordering, the experience feels natural, personalised, and frictionless. By consolidating data from all channels—purchase history, in-app searches, in-store behaviour, and social engagement—into a unified customer view, brands can provide tailored recommendations, targetted promotions, and seamless transitions between online and offline environments.
This integration not only enhances satisfaction but also deepens customer loyalty. Unified commerce enables brands to anticipate consumer needs, meet them where they are, and foster long-term relationships by ensuring that every interaction feels relevant and meaningful. As the customer journey becomes less linear and more dynamic, mastering this interconnected approach will define the next era of customer engagement.
In the report Abhinay Bhasin Senior Vice President – Product & Technology, Media, dentsu India wrote about How Retail Media 2.0 and Unified Commerce are reshaping omni-channel strategies. He noted that the Indian retail sector has been vibrant and ever evolving. Fuelled by the pandemic, this sector globally as well as in the country has gone through significant transformations owing to shifts in consumer behaviour, the boom in online payments and purchases as well as technological advancements and ever evolving market dynamics.
As India continues on its path to being the third largest consumer market, the fusion of Retail Media 2.0 and Unified Commerce he explains is setting the stage for a paradigm shift in omni-channel strategies, powering this rapid growth in the sector. This transformation revolves around balancing attention and propensity—capturing consumer interest while seamlessly converting it into actionable outcomes across channels in a market that is value focused and highly competitive.
Retail Media 2.0: The New Frontier
Retail Media he noted has evolved from simple banner ads on e-commerce platforms to sophisticated ecosystems leveraging first-party data, AI-driven targeting, and immersive ad formats. The next decade is likely to see significant shifts in the sector powered by m new business models and improved customer experience to growing digitalisation across the value chain supported by new technology.
Retail Media 2.0 empowers brands to connect with consumers at pivotal moments in their purchase journey, delivering personalised experiences that align with intent. By integrating media with commerce, retailers can monetise their platforms while providing advertisers with robust, measurable ROI.
Unlike its predecessor, Retail Media 2.0 he explains prioritises content relevance and contextual alignment. Advanced analytics tools now enable brands to predict consumer needs, ensuring campaigns resonate more deeply. Moreover, the integration of programmatic technologies has streamlined ad delivery across touchpoints, making it easier to engage audiences at scale without compromising personalisation.
The focus on new commerce (D2C, social commerce, quick commerce, and live commerce) is predicted to be a significant contributor to sectoral growth to roughly 8 times over the coming decade.
Unified Commerce: Bridging the Divide
Unified Commerce he added takes omni-channel to the next level by integrating all customer interactions into a single, cohesive platform. It eliminates silos between online and offline channels, creating a seamless shopping experience regardless of where the interaction begins or ends. This approach doesn’t just improve operational efficiency; it also allows businesses to understand customer behaviour holistically, paving the way for hyper-personalised engagements.
For instance, leveraging data from both in-store visits and online browsing history enables tailored recommendations that drive conversions. Platforms like the Dentsu Marketing Cloud, will enable brands to better understand their consumer behavioural habits across brand assets to derive unified consumer intelligence for seamless experiences. Unified Commerce also supports innovations like curbside pickup, mobile wallets, and real-time inventory updates, further enhancing the customer experience.
Brands are expected to invest in new-age technologies, such as (AR/VR/MR, IoT, generative AI, etc.) and build a comprehensive tech stack to deliver an omnichannel customer experience and streamline operations.
The Intersection of Attention and Propensity
The convergence of Retail Media 2.0 and Unified Commerce underscores the importance of managing the interplay between attention and propensity. Retailers must capture attention through engaging content while using data insights to predict and fulfil consumer needs effectively. This balance ensures that brands not only attract but also retain and convert customers, fostering loyalty and long-term growth. This again will be fuelled by novel consumer intelligence technology to better understand consumer behaviour and interactions for enhanced understanding and providing seamless experiences.
Retail Media 2.0 and Unified Commerce are no longer optional in omni-channel strategies. Together, they represent a blueprint for the future of retail—one where attention meets propensity, and experience drives engagement. To succeed in this evolving industry, profitability must take centre stage, with retailers strategically managing costs and maximising revenue streams. As brands navigate this dynamic landscape, those who embrace these innovations will be well-positioned to thrive in a highly competitive marketplace.
