India, June 19 -- India's 150 million-strong Gen Z (aged 14-29 years) population is rapidly joining the class of consumers, whose purchasing behaviour is influenced by reviews and ratings -- a stark departure from earlier generations. Among sales channels, the quick-commerce promise of 10- to 30-minute deliveries is building newer product categories, including a cold-chain for frozen foods which the general trade (kirana stores) was never really able to establish. Also, FMCG companies that not just collect but compare and analyse data from all their sales, marketing and distribution channels will emerge winners. These insights were shared by Angshuman Bhattacharya, partner and national leader for consumer products and retail, at EY India, with HT last week, just before he spoke on channel proliferation and data-led decision making in a closed-door session with companies such as Dabur India, Reckitt, DS Group and Haldiram's in attendance. Changes in consumers and their buying patterns are significant. "But the good thing is that the opportunity is immense. New-age categories like pastas and sauces are getting built on quick-commerce channels where consumer education is easier. Protein and energy bars brand The Whole Truth created a Rs.600 crore business by selling in Modern Trade (the big branded retail) and e-commerce," Bhattacharya said. "So, the paradigm is changing from having serious distribution and sales capability to multi-channel, data-led sales and marketing capabilities," he said. Traditionally, media and marketing was measured in terms of 'share of voice' and 'share of wallet' and wasn't directly connected to sales. Today digital media allows you to track a promotion or an advertising campaign in terms of viewership or even sales conversion. Besides new-age brands, proliferation of e-commerce and quick-commerce has benefited product categories requiring bigger displays which a kirana store isn't able to offer owing to capital and space constraints. An online marketplace, meanwhile, offers variety and choice. Impulse categories like in-home snacking have seen buoyant sales on quick-commerce. Data from Worldpanel by Numerator showed that online FMCG sales in India grew 56% year-on-year to Rs.9,800 crore in the 12 months ended May 2025. Quick commerce contributed nearly one-third (around 29%) of total online FMCG sales, highlighting its growing importance in the channel mix. However, despite the rapid rise of digital channels, traditional kirana and mom-and-pop stores continue to account for roughly 90% of FMCG volumes in India. The new quick-delivery channels allow brands to get data from their dark stores. "You can stream dark store data at a pin code level and see what's selling or not selling and its most valuable markets. You also know what's selling in modern trade. But nobody is comparing these data points," Bhattacharya said. "This cross-channel connectivity, which we call connected commerce, is what companies are seeking help for. And the solutions are developing as now we have the data to do it," he said. Cross-channel data can be insightful in decision-making. "The Indian general trade channel can create distortions in a brand's ability to speak to customers. In contrast modern trade and q-com allow brands and customers to interact transparently leading to invaluable insights," Bhattacharya said. Cross-channel data provides insights on consumer preferences, decision-drivers, feedback which could feed into innovation, packaging-price architecture and micro market priorities, he pointed out. This, in turn, could drive huge gains in promotional, marketing and sales investments in ROI, he said. Bhattacharya said they have launched a solution for their client companies which integrates 20 sources of data with a strong technology backbone. However, there are companies that are still reluctant to make investments in data integration and AI analytics. Reasons? "Payback may not be apparent at first glance," Bhattacharya said. Also, data quality issues could be an impediment. "The future of connected commerce lies in integrating the channels through a data and AI-led interface facilitating decision making across marketing, sales and innovation," he said. He cited the example of Unilever which he said has done a remarkable job in adoption of technology and AI. "They have cut their planning time by 30%-50%. But several companies are still old-school, behind the curve and rely on instinct. Those relying on gut-feel refuse to accept data-led precision marketing. But I think that is going to change," he said. "The world is becoming quantitative, more statistical and a lot more correlation-related. Eventually decision making has to be digital-led," Bhattacharya said....