FMCG’s new growth playbook: From shelf space to digital-first discovery
As consumers move between social media, quick commerce, marketplaces and stores, FMCG brands are rethinking how they build awareness, drive purchases and retain customers
From supermarket shelves to quick-commerce apps, FMCG brands are redesigning how consumers discover, compare and buy products across an increasingly fragmented retail landscape.
Barkha MathurNew Delhi6 min read Last Updated : Aug 25 2026 | 12:08 PM IST
Listen to This Article
For decades, FMCG companies relied on a straightforward formula for growth that involved heavy advertising, building a wide distribution network and ensuring product visibility on store shelves. Promotions helped push sales when needed. But that formula is becoming harder to sustain as consumers increasingly move across online and offline channels to discover products, compare prices and make purchases.
The shift is forcing consumer brands to rethink not only where they sell, but also how they build visibility, measure demand and decide which channels deserve investment.
Why is the old FMCG playbook changing?
According to a report by consumer intelligence and market research firm NielsenIQ (NIQ), titled “From Insight to Innovation: How to Act on Key Omnichannel Trends”, nearly nine in 10 households buy FMCG products across multiple channels.
Naveen Malpani, partner at Grant Thornton Bharat, told Business Standard that the FMCG playbook is becoming more nuanced as consumers move between channels depending on their shopping needs. Grant Thornton’s research found that 45 per cent of consumers use quick commerce for emergencies, last-minute requirements or daily top-ups, while 19 per cent use it for impulse purchases and snacking. More than 70 per cent said they would continue using quick commerce even if discounts were reduced.
The findings indicate that convenience is becoming part of the consumer value proposition rather than price being the only reason to shop online.
How is the digital shelf becoming as important as the physical one?
Avi Kumar, chief marketing officer at Ferns N Petals, said the bigger change is what happens once consumers reach digital platforms. Search rankings, product placement and in-app visibility can determine which brands get noticed, making the “digital shelf” increasingly important.
“For FNP, this shift is already visible in gifting. Consumers now move between its app and website, social media, marketplaces, quick-commerce platforms and Google. The gifting journey has become more digital, discovery-led and convenience-driven,” he said.
That means securing distribution alone may no longer be enough. Brands increasingly need visibility at the point of digital discovery as well as availability when a consumer is ready to buy.
How is quick commerce changing the sales mix?
Quick-commerce platforms began primarily as fulfilment channels built around speed. But their role is expanding as consumers increasingly use them to search for products, compare options and make impulse purchases.
NIQ’s March report says quick commerce now accounts for more than three-fourths of ecommerce FMCG sales in India. Separately, ecommerce accounts for 18 per cent of FMCG sales in the country’s top eight metros.
The scale of the opportunity is also reflected in Redseer’s estimates. Its March 2026 report on packaged food and quick commerce puts India’s quick-commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) at an estimated $11.5 billion in 2025 and projects it could reach $25 billion in 2026.
According to Malpani, the more significant change is that quick commerce can influence what consumers buy, rather than merely how quickly products reach them. He said it is encouraging product trial, influencing assortment and creating opportunities for smaller, premium and impulse-oriented formats. Brands are consequently developing more channel-specific pack and portfolio strategies, he said.
Are new channels creating demand or shifting existing purchases?
The proliferation of sales channels also brings a more difficult question for brands: whether additional platforms are actually creating new demand or merely moving a purchase from one channel to another.
Malpani said adding channels can mean higher marketing expenditure, trade investments, platform fees, promotional costs and greater operational complexity. Brands therefore need to determine whether a channel is generating incremental demand before committing more resources to it.
This also makes traditional channel-by-channel measurement less useful. A consumer might discover a product through Instagram, search for information on Google, check its availability on a quick-commerce platform and subsequently buy the same product from a supermarket.
Malpani said the consumer journey is becoming less linear, with discovery, consideration and purchase increasingly spread across different formats. As ecommerce search, quick-commerce visibility and offline purchasing influence each other, brands will need a more holistic view of what drives incremental demand and repeat consumption instead of attributing value only to the channel where the final transaction takes place.
Brand-owned digital platforms have a different role. FNP, for instance, continues to invest in its app and website because these channels allow it to offer greater personalisation and assortment, while quick commerce provides immediacy for certain gifting occasions.
Why does physical retail still matter?
Arvind Mediratta, founder and chief executive officer of Elixiir Foods, which operates FreshTerra, said the consumer journey in fresh and gourmet grocery has become continuous and multi-nodal. Consumers may discover a product in a physical store and later reorder it through an app for delivery within 60 to 90 minutes.
Mediratta said quick commerce works particularly well for standard packaged goods and impulse categories such as beverages, chocolates and emergency snacks. For fresh, wholesome and gourmet products, however, he said the model faces structural constraints around curation, cold-chain integrity and margins.
The role of each channel, therefore, varies by category. Speed and convenience may be central for some products, while physical experience, product demonstration or trust may matter more for others.
This means the growth of digital commerce does not necessarily imply the decline of physical retail. The store, however, is no longer necessarily the endpoint of the consumer journey.
Kumar said the company has used visual merchandising across its stores for Rakhi while maintaining the same design language across its website and app. Physical stores allow consumers to experience categories such as flowers, cakes and gifting, while digital provides scale, convenience and real-time customer intent.
FreshTerra also uses its physical stores as local fulfilment hubs. Mediratta said the company has shifted from broad, generic outdoor advertising towards hyper-local digital storytelling and experiential in-store engagement.
Does greater price transparency make discounts more important?
The rise of digital commerce has also made price comparisons easier than in a conventional retail environment, as consumers can quickly compare different brands, pack sizes, offers and delivery options across platforms.
Malpani said consumers are becoming more value-conscious, but price and discounts are only part of the equation. Convenience, product choice and trust continue to influence channel decisions.
NIQ’s Q1 2026 FMCG snapshot points to shifting affordability dynamics and the growing importance of price-pack architecture, while also highlighting the rising role of modern trade and ecommerce in incremental growth.
What does the new FMCG growth playbook look like?
The emerging FMCG growth model is therefore less about choosing between online and offline channels and more about understanding the role each one plays in discovery, purchase and retention.
Quick commerce can serve immediate consumption, impulse purchases and replenishment. Marketplaces can provide assortment and comparison. Social media can generate discovery. Physical stores can build trust and provide product experience. Brand-owned platforms can deepen relationships, capture customer data and drive repeat purchases.
For brands, the strategic challenge is increasingly shifting from simply securing physical distribution and shelf space to securing consumer access and visibility wherever discovery and purchase take place.
Topics :BS Web ReportsFMCG companiesdigital marketingIndia ecommerce market
Don’t miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel
First Published: Aug 25 2026 | 12:01 PMIST
