How to unify India’s commerce media ecosystem in a fragmented internet market

New Delhi: Criteo is taking significant steps to address the fragmented internet market in India to build a unified commerce media ecosystem – embracing the power of the open web and also GenAI. This aims to enhance connections among brands, retailers, and consumers, making every online interaction a potential purchasing opportunity. Thus, taking a step ahead in its association with Microsoft to soon announce the integration of its GenAI capabilities into Criteo’s internal mechanism.

Taranjit Singh, Managing Director, APAC Venture Markets, Criteo, articulates this vision: “Criteo obviously stands for commerce media. Every single moment on the internet, on every single platform, can be a shoppable moment.” This transformative approach is grounded in the understanding that consumer behaviour has shifted, requiring a more cohesive strategy to capture attention across various digital channels.

He presented data insight on India’s digital landscape is burgeoning, with consumers consuming an average of over 10 gigabytes of data each month — “an impressive figure that underscores the country's unique position in the global market,” he said. Taranjit hereby noted that “India is at a very sweet spot, being the market that will accelerate growth, especially in the e-commerce space.”

The rise in smartphone penetration and the emergence of smart televisions are key drivers of this digital boom. Singh emphasised that as media evolves—eespecially with the rise of Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms, ecommerce, social media, etc. — there are vast opportunities for brands to engage consumers effectively through innovative digital advertising strategies.

“As brands look for effective ways to engage consumers, retail media has emerged as a vital channel,” Singh iterated. Criteo’s platform therefore offers diverse solutions, including sponsored products, commerce display, and off-site targeting, designed to help brands achieve their specific marketing objectives.

Retail media has emerged as a significant channel for marketers and retailers. Criteo's platform offers a range of solutions, including sponsored products, commerce display, and crucially, off-site targeting.  "Retail media is becoming very, very important and significant," said Taranjit. "It's a very complex ecosystem, but Criteo's endeavour is to unify this entire ecosystem." Off-site advertising allows brands to reach consumers beyond traditional platforms, creating a more integrated shopping experience.

Criteo aims to simplify this ecosystem, making it easier for brands to connect with their target audiences. This is further driven by the idea that Criteo does not follow an up-to-down transcience of a funnel strategy but rather believes in a closed funnel strategy—bringing its customers back to the point of need, where they started engaging with open web and retail media.

Medhavi Singh, Country Head, India, spoke on the critical role of commerce data in driving brand success. She explained, “The access to Commerce Data is a very, very critical piece because that is what is adding the most value for brands.” 

Off-site advertising is a critical component of Criteo's strategy to enhance consumer engagement across platforms. As Medhavi said, “Retail media is not just about on-site presence; it’s about leveraging off-site capabilities to connect with users wherever they are.” This approach allows brands to create a cohesive shopping journey by targeting consumers outside of traditional retail environments. 

Medhavi added that layering off-site media with on-site efforts significantly boosts conversion rates, noting, “A person is five times more likely to convert if they see offers both on-site and off-site.” By integrating off-site strategies, Criteo empowers brands to engage potential customers across the broader digital landscape, ensuring they remain visible and relevant in a crowded marketplace.

According to Medhavi, brands are increasingly looking to understand their consumers deeply—how they react to various offerings and what external factors influence their purchasing decisions. She highlighted the importance of geographic insights, noting that brands need to analyse performance across different states and cities. “Being able to drill down to an SKU level and understand what is really driving revenue for them is essential,” she added. 

Medhavi’s perspective underscored Criteo's commitment to providing advanced data solutions that empower brands to optimise their strategies and enhance consumer engagement.

Kashish Vasandani, Director, Growth, Swiggy, added to the discussion by highlighting how he perceives the role of data in modern advertising strategies and Swiggy’s partnership with Criteo. He emphasised, “We are enhancing our journeys and our touchpoints using different data pointers across various ecosystems—be it retail, social, or commerce media.” This underscores the importance of connecting deep analytics with personalised communication, ensuring that advertisements resonate with individual users.

He further added, “The essence lies between how do you connect deep analytics with personalised communication? Smart advertisement is all about measurement, which is the most crucial point of any advertising.” This highlighted how data-driven insights can help brands create targeted advertisements that engage consumers effectively.

The commerce media company, announced a partnership with Swiggy, to power its offsite retail media campaigns, enabling endemic and non-endemic brands to engage with high-intent audiences across the open internet and OTT platforms. The collaboration will bring Criteo’s advanced technology to help Swiggy and its brands drive full-funnel marketing outcomes outside of the Swiggy website. 

The collaboration has already delivered successful outcomes for brands such as Kellogg’s, which leveraged this partnership to drive conversions and attract new-to-brand shoppers. Criteo created commerce audiences to meet the brand objectives, which include behaviors focused on convenience and nutrition.  The campaign achieved a return on ad spend (ROAS) of 1.9, a new-to-brand rate of 25%, and reached over 50% of the target audience, with further improvements anticipated as the attribution window matures.

Commenting on the partnership, Amitkumar Banka, Head of Growth Marketing, Swiggy, said, “Quick commerce is growing rapidly in India, with a 77% YoY growth, and is expected to continue growing at a rate of 40-45%[. Our partnership with Criteo will allow our partner brands and non-endemic brands to reach and engage with quick commerce shoppers across the open internet.” 

Taranjit reflected on the key element of what helps to understand effectiveness of the efforts is also the ultimate goal consumers are seeking: Results. Therefore, “measurement as a solid foundation” of Criteo’s processes. “Measurement is the most important thing. We are creating capabilities for full-funnel, closed-loop measurement.” This means that brands can track the entire consumer journey, from the initial impression to the final sale, thereby understanding how effectively their advertising dollars are being spent.