New Delhi, April 15 -- Consumer brands are reworking their e-commerce marketing strategies as digital advertising becomes more expensive with diminishing incremental reach, prompting a shift away from scale-at-all-costs growth.

Instead of relying heavily on marketplace (Amazon, Flipkart, etc.) ads and aggressive discounting, small brands across categories such as food and personal care are now dispersing spends across platforms including their own websites, investing more in brand-building, and focusing on retaining customers.

"At scale, it becomes very expensive to advertise because you don't have enough incremental reach available," said Jatan Bawa, co-founder of Sauce VC-backed oral care brand Perfora.

At the same time, brands such ...