NIQ Research Reveals New Rules of Commerce: AI Is Beginning to Decide What Consumers Buy

Key Terms

retail media networks financial

Retail media networks are the advertising platforms run by stores and online retailers that let brands display ads, sponsored products, and personalized offers to shoppers on the retailer’s website, apps, email and in-store screens. For investors, they matter because these networks turn a retailer’s customer traffic into a high-margin advertising business—like a mall owner leasing premium billboard space to brands—boosting revenue, improving customer data control and potentially raising profitability and valuation.

quick commerce technical

Quick commerce is a delivery model that brings everyday goods—groceries, snacks, household items—to customers within minutes rather than hours, using small local warehouses and fast couriers. It matters to investors because it promises rapid revenue growth and strong customer habits but also involves heavy spending on inventory, real-time logistics and marketing, so profitability depends on scale, unit economics and how well the service can retain customers much like a virtual convenience store on demand.

social commerce technical

Social commerce is selling products or services directly inside social media or messaging platforms, where people discover items while scrolling, chatting, or watching videos — like a digital market stall inside your feed. It matters to investors because it can speed up sales, lower marketing costs and create new revenue streams by turning engagement into purchases; growth in social commerce can boost a company’s sales, customer data and margins.

FMCG technical

FMCG, or fast-moving consumer goods, are everyday products that are sold quickly and at relatively low cost, such as food, drinks, toiletries, and household items. They matter to investors because these products are in constant demand, providing stable sales and cash flow for companies, even during economic ups and downs. Their high turnover makes them a key segment in the consumer market, reflecting broad consumer spending habits.

dark stores technical

Dark stores are retail locations set up solely to pack and dispatch online orders rather than serve walk‑in customers, acting like neighborhood warehouses or kitchens that exist only for delivery. For investors, they matter because they can speed deliveries, cut in‑store costs and change real estate and labor needs—factors that affect sales growth, profit margins and the capital required to expand e‑commerce operations.

super‑apps technical

A super-app is a single mobile platform that combines many everyday services — messaging, payments, shopping, booking, and more — so users can do several tasks without leaving the app. For investors it matters because these apps can lock in large user bases and generate revenue from multiple streams like fees, advertising and financial services, creating big growth potential along with regulatory and competition risks, much like a digital Swiss Army knife that concentrates utility and value.

agentic commerce technical

Agentic commerce is buying and selling driven by autonomous digital agents — such as smart apps, bots, or AI assistants — that act on a person’s or business’s behalf to find, compare, negotiate and execute transactions. Investors should care because these agents can change who controls customer relationships, cut costs and speed up sales like a personal shopper that never sleeps, but they also shift competitive dynamics, data value and regulatory risk for platforms and retailers.

omnichannel technical

A coordinated approach to selling and serving customers across all touchpoints—stores, websites, mobile apps, social media, and call centers—so the experience feels like one continuous conversation no matter where a customer interacts. For investors, omnichannel capability signals how well a company can attract and keep customers, turn interactions into sales, and use shared customer data to cut costs and boost revenue—making it a key driver of growth and competitive strength.

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NIQ’s latest global report—The Commerce Revolution: Where East Meets West—examines how commerce intelligence is helping brands, retailers, and platforms navigate a rapidly converging global landscape

AI is rapidly becoming the buyer, not just the tool—reshaping how products are discovered, chosen, and purchased

The next wave of retail growth isn’t coming from traditional e‑commerce, but from live, social, quick, and AI‑driven commerce models scaling from East to West

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ) has announced the release of its new global report, The Commerce Revolution: Where East Meets West, which examines how Eastern-led commerce innovation and Western retail media monetization are colliding to reshape global consumer commerce.

The report finds live, social, and quick commerce—long scaled across Asia—now drive most incremental digital growth worldwide, while Western markets accelerate adoption as these formats localize. At the same time, retail media networks (RMNs) have become one of the fastest‑growing advertising channels globally, with US retail media ad spend projected to reach $107.6 billion (USD) in 2026.

Beyond this, the report finds that previously siloed operational functions of sellers are beginning to blur boundaries. Payment platforms and rapid fulfillment models from the East are converging with the monetization models born in the West, setting the stage for a singular global commerce model that unifies digital channels, consumer markets and operational functions.

Key findings from the report include:

• Emerging channels are scaling fast. Live, social, and quick commerce now drive most incremental digital growth globally. In the US, social commerce (+62.9%) and quick commerce (+62.2%) are outpacing traditional e‑commerce growth.
• Discovery‑led commerce is going mainstream. In APAC, nearly 60% of consumers shop via social and quick commerce. In Western markets, discovery is accelerating, with nearly one‑third of consumers purchasing after discovering products on social platforms.
• Quick commerce is resetting fulfillment expectations. In India, quick commerce now represents about 80% of FMCG sales, while China’s network of roughly 10,000 dark stores enables 30-minutes-or-less delivery at a national scale.
• Retail media is scaling globally. Retail media reached $184 billion in global spend in 2025, with more than 270 networks worldwide.
• Super‑apps point to what’s next. APAC accounts for nearly 55% of global e‑commerce, driven by integrated platforms that unify content, commerce, payments, logistics, and AI—models increasingly influencing Western markets.
• Agentic commerce is collapsing the traditional funnel. AI agents are beginning to autonomously discover, evaluate, and purchase products on consumers’ behalf, accelerating the shift toward AI‑driven decisioning and fundamentally changing how brands compete for visibility, relevance, and growth.

“The convergence of Eastern formats with Western monetization models isn’t a future scenario—it’s already reshaping the marketplace in real time,” said Marta Cyhan-Bowles, Chief Communications Officer & Head of Global Marketing COE at NIQ. “Global commerce is accelerating faster than at any point in retail history. The future won’t belong to a single region, channel, or model, but to the brands and retailers who can best understand and act on consumer demand across platforms. In this new era, commerce intelligence, connecting brands, consumers and platforms through a unified, data-rich view of the ecosystem, will define the next phase of growth for our clients.”

Underscoring how essential it is to understand how commerce is evolving, NIQ recently announced the launch of its Commerce Lab, a new initiative focused on solving the data and measurement challenges shaping the next generation of commerce. This builds on NIQ’s broader strategy to redefine how commerce is measured, validated, and scaled in an increasingly automated world.

This shift underpins The Commerce Revolution, emphasizing that this new landscape requires brands and retailers to operate more like technology, media and data companies. Brands must unify their data, content, and measurement capabilities across channels to capture value in a highly interconnected, omnichannel world.

As global commerce shifts from fragmented channels to connected systems, understanding where growth is coming from—and how value is being created—has become essential. To learn more, visit niq.com/commerce-revolution.

About NIQ
NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ) is a leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete and trusted understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. By combining an unmatched global data footprint and granular consumer and retail measurement with decades of AI modeling expertise, NIQ builds decision systems that help companies turn complex data into confident action.

With operations in more than 90 countries, NIQ covers approximately 82% of the world’s population and more than $7.4 trillion in global consumer spend. Through cloud-based platforms, advanced analytics and AI-driven insights, NIQ delivers The Full View™—helping brands and retailers understand what consumers buy, why they buy it, and what to do next.

For more information, please visit www.niq.com.

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© 2026 Nielsen Consumer LLC. All Rights Reserved.

FAQs

What is The Commerce Revolution: Where East Meets West?
The Commerce Revolution: Where East Meets West is NIQ’s latest global report examining how Eastern‑led commerce innovations—such as live, social, and quick commerce—are converging with Western retail media, data, and monetization models to create a more connected, AI‑driven global commerce system.

What is driving this shift in global commerce?
Global commerce is moving from standalone channels toward interconnected systems. In the East, discovery‑led formats, super apps, and fast fulfillment have scaled rapidly. In the West, retail media networks, first‑party data, and measurement infrastructure have matured. AI is now acting as the connective tissue between these models, accelerating convergence worldwide.

What is commerce intelligence?
Commerce intelligence is the ability to connect what brands and retailers need to know, what consumers need to discover and decide, and how platforms operate—through a unified, data‑rich view of the commerce ecosystem. It enables more accurate decision‑making, closed‑loop measurement, and confident growth across increasingly complex commerce environments.

What is agentic commerce?
Agentic commerce refers to AI‑driven systems in which AI agents autonomously discover, evaluate, and increasingly purchase products on behalf of consumers, using real‑time data such as pricing, availability, and preferences. As this model scales, AI agents are beginning to reshape how products are discovered and chosen across platforms.

How is AI changing product discovery and purchasing behavior?
AI is shifting commerce from search‑based journeys to discovery‑led and agent‑driven decisioning. Instead of consumers actively browsing and comparing products, AI systems increasingly surface, rank, and recommend options—collapsing the traditional funnel and changing how brands compete for visibility and conversion.

What is live commerce?
Live commerce is a shopping format where products are promoted and sold through real‑time video streams—often hosted by creators or brands—combining entertainment, interaction, and immediate purchasing within a single experience.

What is social commerce?
Social commerce integrates product discovery and purchasing directly into social media platforms, where content, creators, and community influence drive awareness, consideration, and conversion.

What is quick commerce (q‑commerce)?
Quick commerce is a retail model focused on ultra‑fast delivery—often within 30 to 60 minutes—enabled by localized inventory and designed to meet immediate or top‑up consumer needs, particularly in FMCG categories.

What are retail media networks (RMNs)?
Retail media networks are advertising platforms operated by retailers that allow brands to reach shoppers using first‑party data across digital and physical touchpoints, typically near the point of purchase, with an increasing focus on measurable, closed‑loop outcomes.

Who is this report for?
This report is designed for brand manufacturers, retailers, platforms, and media leaders seeking to understand how global commerce models are converging—and how AI, data, and measurement will determine the next phase of growth.

How can NIQ help brands and retailers navigate this new commerce landscape?
NIQ is uniquely positioned to measure and understand the convergence of commerce formats, platforms, and AI‑driven decisioning. By connecting consumer behavior from discovery to purchase and enabling closed‑loop measurement across channels, NIQ helps companies quantify incrementality, optimize investments, and turn complex data into confident action as global commerce systems evolve.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428841965/en/

Media Contact: media.relations@nielseniq.com

Source: NIQ Global Intelligence plc