How UAE Creators Are Turning Their Passion Into Livelihoods on TikTok
India’s online retail is usually judged by its mobile sales, and for good reason: mobiles accounted for a third of festive GMV in 2025, more than any other category.
That view needs revision this year.
Quick-Com, Value Commerce and GenZ Drive India’s Online Retail Growth in 2026
India’s online retail is usually judged by its mobile sales, and for good reason: mobiles accounted for a third of festive GMV in 2025, more than any other category.
That view needs revision this year.
Online Retail Heads for USD 90 Bn+ in 2026, Its Fastest Growth in Five Years
India’s online retail is usually judged by its mobile sales, and for good reason: mobiles accounted for a third of festive GMV in 2025, more than any other category.
That view needs revision this year.
Discoverability is The Next Big Challenge for Small Businesses in UAE
This article draws on The TikTok Effect: Enabling the UAE’s Dynamic Digital Economy, a study commissioned by TikTok and conducted by Redseer Strategy Consultants. For a small business, the hardest part used to be getting found. Discovery platforms are closing that gap, and the effects reach far beyond the business itself. – Sandeep Ganediwalla, Partner, […]
Microdrama’s ₹5,000 Cr Advertisement Opportunity
Micro-drama’s audience is growing fast, and the work now is making each viewer worth more to advertisers as it does. – Mukesh Kumar, Associate Partner, Redseer Of every Rs 100 India’s micro-drama industry earned in FY26, about 99 came from subscriptions and less than 1 came from advertising. Redseer believes this last rupee will become […]
Disruption in the Indian Small Home Appliances Category
India’s small appliances market is worth ₹138 Bn in FY25 and is set to reach ~₹200 Bn by FY30, growing at ~8% a year. The momentum, however, sits in six emerging categories (air fryers, garment steamers, air purifiers, coffee makers, tower and bladeless fans, and vacuum cleaners) that are growing at ~18% a year, from ₹18.5 Bn to ~₹42 Bn. Their share of the market is set to rise from 13% to 21% over the same period.
What Actually Wins Ranks in India’s Test-Prep Market
For millions of Indian families, a child’s future turns on one outcome: the right rank in a competitive exam. That single belief shapes India’s test-prep market, which Redseer estimates at ~$14.8 Bn in FY26. Test prep in India cuts across the whole student journey, spanning undergraduate entrance, postgraduate entrance, government recruitment and professional certification exams. […]
Two Engines, One Basket: How Quick & Value Commerce are Rewriting India’s Retail Story
This article was first published in the October 2026 edition of the Maharashtra Economic Development Council’s Monthly Economic Digest. India’s online retail market grew by about 25% in H1’26, its strongest first half in four years, and is on course to cross $90 Bn in CY26 at 22-24%, its fastest growth in five years. The […]
Think Quick Commerce: Unlocking the $90Bn Opportunity
Developed in collaboration with Google, this Redseer report explores how India’s quick commerce market is to scale from ~USD 13 Bn in FY26 to ~USD 90 Bn by FY31P, a 5–7x growth that could take the channel from ~1% to 4–5% of Indian retail. The channel already anchors the hyperlocal economy, holding over 40% of a ~USD 30 Bn market after growing from ~USD 0.4 Bn in FY22.
Brands Beyond the Shelf: MENA Consumer Brands’ New Growth Playbook
The grocery store in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt is losing its monopoly on demand, and brands no longer need a retailer’s approval to reach the shopper.
Quick platforms now carry 66-75% of online grocery GMV across the three markets, up from 13-30% in 2021. Online grocery has grown from $3.7 Bn in 2023 to $6 Bn in 2025, a 27% CAGR, while offline grocery has kept growing alongside it, from $95 Bn to $100 Bn. Grocery is still only 6% online, the least digitised of the major retail categories, and on the current Redseer build penetration approaches 10% by 2028.
The World’s Largest Advertisers Now Spend Like Investors
Boardrooms have long treated advertising as one of the easiest costs to cut, largely because its return has been hard to prove. Yet the world’s 100 largest listed advertisers are doing something else: between 2022 and 2025, as generative AI reached mass scale, their ad spend rose about 24% against revenue growth of about 17%. […]
Digital Disruption in Home Category: Whitespace to Market Leadership
New-age brands are disrupting incumbents across three major segments of India’s online home market: home improvement, kitchenware and home essentials. Online home improvement is ~USD 1 Bn today and is set to reach USD 3-3.2 Bn by FY31P at 20-25% p.a., while online home care and household essentials, at USD 1-1.1 Bn, is growing at 20-25% p.a. to USD 1.8-2 Bn by FY31P. Behind that growth is a shift in how Indians see their homes, increasingly as a reflection of themselves, with shoppers now expecting better quality, toxin-free materials and ease of use at a fair price.
India Online Retail 2026: The Fastest Year in Five, and the New Engines Behind It
India’s online retail market grew ~25% YoY in H1’26, its strongest first half in four years, with every major category growing faster than it did a year earlier. The momentum is set to continue, with H2’26 growth expected to hold steady at 21-25%.
Capability Is the New Brand: How Beauty’s Moat Moved Down the Value Chain
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Beauty companies in Southeast Asia have long built on a simple division of labour: rent formulation from an ODM, production from a contract manufacturer and reach from distributors, and invest what is left in the brand. In a USD 30 Bn+ market where beauty is the top-selling category on TikTok Shop, demand has […]
Gig Work is Bridging India’s Job Gap and Lifting Earnings
India needs to create around 8 million non-farm jobs a year to keep pace with its workforce. Gig work alone could bridge close to 70% of that gap by 2030. The gig internet workforce already stands at 6 million today and is on track to more than triple to nearly 20 million by the end […]
Why This is The Decade Global Apparel Brands Can’t Sit India Out
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY India’s apparel market is projected to grow to ~$130-150 Bn by CY30, at 10-12% a year, more than double China’s growth rate and well ahead of Japan, Europe, and the US. India as “the next big apparel market” is not a new pitch. What has changed is that five separate structural trends are […]
The Key to F&B Expansion: From Operating Control to Scalable Growth
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY F&B companies in Southeast Asia often face an early expansion choice: build stores directly, or scale through franchisees, licensees, and joint-venture partners. The choice changes more than the pace of openings. It determines which revenues, costs, capital commitments, and risks remain with the parent, and how quickly the business learns from local markets. […]
Value Grocery – Unlocking India’s Next 100 Mn Shoppers
Online grocery has turned into a race against the clock. Dark stores on every corner, delivery riders weaving through traffic, and brands expanding their footprint app by app. But the next 100 million grocery shoppers don’t live where those dark stores are, and they aren’t paying up for a faster delivery. They sit in tier two and beyond. They already […]
Value Grocery – Unlocking India’s Next 100 Mn Shoppers
Online grocery has turned into a race against the clock. Dark stores on every corner, delivery riders weaving through traffic, and brands expanding their footprint app by app. But the next 100 million grocery shoppers don’t live where those dark stores are, and they aren’t paying up for a faster delivery. They sit in tier two and beyond. They already […]
India’s Digital Lending Report 2026: Value Beyond Acquisition
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY India’s digital lending market has moved beyond its acquisition era. Over the past five years, digital lending has transformed access to formal credit, growing sanctions from ₹0.15 trillion to ₹2.2 trillion while bringing millions of previously underserved borrowers into the financial system. But as the market matures, the source of competitive advantage is changing. Redseer Strategy […]
Southeast Asia’s Beauty Aesthetics Clinics Market
Executive Summary Southeast Asia’s beauty and aesthetics clinics industry is undergoing a structural transformation. What was once a fragmented ecosystem of founder-led clinics is rapidly evolving into branded, technology-enabled platforms with recurring revenue models, standardized operations, and growing institutional capital. The shift is being fuelled by rising consumer acceptance of non-invasive aesthetic procedures, AI-powered diagnostics, […]
Redseer Gig Internet Workforce Report: 2026
Executive Summary: India’s consumer internet economy has transformed how hundreds of millions buy, travel, and access services – and behind it sits a workforce built on a different premise than a traditional job. India’s Gig Internet Workforce has grown to over 6 million monthly active workers and is on track to nearly triple to ~17-21 […]
The TikTok Effect: Enabling the UAE’s Dynamic Digital Economy
Since launching in the UAE, TikTok has moved well beyond its origins as a short-form video app to become part of the country’s everyday digital economy, a place where people learn, build businesses, and connect as much as they watch. Today, 65% of UAE users say they use the platform for reasons other than entertainment, […]
State of India’s Food Services Market
India’s ~$90 Bn food services market is growing steadily and projected to reach ~$150 Bn by 2030, led by organised players growing at a 17-18% CAGR. Within that growth, online food delivery is pulling ahead fastest, with its share of the market set to move from 11% today to 18% by 2030P, growing at 20-22% […]
India’s Digital Investment Market Report
India’s digital investing market has moved beyond acquisition. The base is large, and it is accumulating fast. The average digital investor holds ~₹10 lakhs and adds ~₹3 lakhs a year. But habits are not yet locked in. The zero-brokerage war that pushed the acquisition phase of the market has run its course. The next phase […]
Value Grocery Commerce: The Bharat Unlock
“Bharat’s Next Consumption Wave Won’t Be Won on Speed. It Will Be Won on Value.” While the industry remains captivated by the rapid rise of quick commerce, a larger opportunity is quietly emerging beyond India’s metros. The next phase of online retail growth will not come from delivering groceries in ten minutes. It will come […]
KSA Food Delivery: Free Delivery Isn’t Free
Saudi food delivery has built genuine value for consumers, restaurants, riders, platforms, and the Kingdom. 2025 tested that balance. The next phase is now about making the growth more sustainable. Access the Executive Summary in Arabic Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia’s food delivery sector has grown from a convenience layer into critical digital […]
Artificial Intelligence: The Next Growth Catalyst in Advertising
“Indian talent will power the Global AdTech innovation, leading to Open AdTech ecosystems from India, challenging the industry behemoths” Advertising has gone through multiple technology transitions over the past three decades: from broadcast to digital, mobile, and programmatic. But AI is fundamentally different. AI is not simply improving advertising; it is restructuring the economics, infrastructure, […]
AI and The Future of Workspaces in India
“AI is increasing demand for high-quality, agile workspaces – not reducing it.” For all the conversation around AI replacing the workforce, India’s AI job postings are up by ~6x since 2019, while 86% of GCCs expect net headcount growth, and AI-led office demand could add ~79 Mn sq ft of incremental workspace demand by 2030. […]
Redseer enabled a leading Indian fashion marketplace to harden seller experience as a strategic moat
Executive Summary A leading Indian online fashion marketplace engaged Redseer to harden seller experience as a strategic moat across lifestyle categories with a deliberate focus on the torso seller segment spanning D2C brands, regional brands, and unbranded sellers. Legacy seller-experience frameworks, built around head brands, do not apply uniformly to the middle and end cohort; […]
The Next Battle Ground: Formula to Win in the $1Tn Specialty Chemicals Market
The specialty chemicals playbook is being rewritten. Value is shifting away from manufacturers to those who control applications, specifications, and supply orchestration. While the global market sits at USD 1 trillion, we’ve identified a focused USD 220 billion opportunity by 2030, where traditional players are losing ground to a new model: orchestration platforms. What is […]
Impact of the Gulf Conflict on UAE Consumer Economy
A Redseer Strategy Consultants Briefing | April 2026 Six to eight weeks into the conflict in the Gulf region, the data tells a story most observers have missed. This is not a broad consumer collapse – it is a sharp bifurcation. Tourist spending has fallen 46% while UAE residents’ spending per capita has declined less […]
Buying with Confidence: Bridging the Trust Deficit in India’s USD 70 Bn Used-cars Market
India’s used-car market is growing faster than any other major used-car market, and is on track to become the third largest globally by FY31, with 9-10 million projected retail transactions. Despite this, India’s used-to-new car ratio is still below the global benchmarks, indicating significant untapped potential. Why is this market different? What’s Driving the Next Phase of Growth: Six structural tailwinds, from an expanding vehicle parc and shortening replacement cycles to improving financing infrastructure and […]
India Hair Growth Market Report 2026
Hair loss is quietly moving from a pharmacy transaction to a shelf-bought category in India, and the shift is happening faster than the industry has acknowledged. The alopecia-driven hair growth market, worth USD 267 Mn in 2023, is set to more than double by 2028. Underneath the headline number, the category mix is rearranging; supplements […]
Advertising Is the Oil Powering The Digital Economy
Global advertising spends have crossed the $1 trillion mark and are set to cross to $1.5 trillion by 2030, with digital now commanding nearly three-quarters of all spend and growing at 3-5x the pace of global real GDP. AI is…
Trolley’s IPO on Boursa Kuwait: Building the Market Case for Gulf Convenience Retail
Executive Summary Trolley General Trading Company, Kuwait’s leading convenience retailer, partnered with Redseer Strategy Consultants ahead of its listing on the Premier Market of Boursa Kuwait. Redseer delivered primary market research, competitive benchmarking, and IPO narrative support across both of Trolley’s core markets, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The work addressed three specific challenges: building credible […]
Delivering strategic insights and M&A identification for a regional SaaS player
An in-depth analysis of the frontline workforce management platform market in Asia, covering market sizing, competitors and M&A opportunities.
IPO consulting services for Wakefit IPO: what and how
Executive Summary Wakefit engaged Redseer, India’s leading strategy consulting firm, to support its DRHP filing for IPO through a comprehensive market study – developing a detailed market model, uncovering growth opportunities across key segments, and identifying strategic levers to win in the home & furnishings category. About the Client Wakefit is a fast-growing direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand in India’s home and furnishings […]
Redseer advised Meesho on its IPO journey: know what we did and how we did it.
Meesho partnered with Redseer to evaluate India’s fast-evolving retail and e-commerce landscape ahead of its IPO journey. The study outlines the structural shifts driving India e-commerce growth, the rise of value-focused models, and Meesho’s role in expanding digital adoption, improving affordability, and reshaping consumer behavior across categories. The analysis highlights market potential, long-term growth drivers and Meesho’s industry positioning.
Tracking Growth Across Public-Market-Relevant Internet Sectors
As India’s Internet economy enters the final stretch of CY2025, several key sectors with publicly listed exposure, i.e. Quick Commerce, Food Tech, Beauty & Personal Care, Fashion, and Value Commerce ecosystem, are demonstrating clear and consistent growth signals. For public market investors, the first ten months of the year highlight a market where high-frequency, repeat-driven behaviours and��category-specific […]
Redseer Enables the Regional E-commerce Leader to achieve Competitive Differentiation via Logistics Partnership
Executive Summary A top-three regional e-commerce platform partnered with Redseer to evaluate logistics as a sustainable competitive advantage amid margin pressure from promotional intensity. Through primary research across six Southeast Asian markets, we analyzed 30+ logistics providers to identify capability gaps and partnership opportunities. The engagement resulted in a minority stake acquisition of a regional […]
Culture-powered Commerce: Impact of Festivals on the Indian Economy
India’s growth story cannot be understood through macroeconomics alone. Traditional and “created” festivals – of which India celebrates over 300 around the year – mobilize millions of households, MSMEs, artisans, gig workers, and brands in cyclical bursts of economic activity. Spanning consumption peaks, local commerce, credit flow, philanthropy, and cultural continuity, India’s festive rhythm has […]
Unlocking the Next Wave of MENA E-commerce Growth
Summary: MENA’s digital economy has driven 20% of consumption growth over the past five years while accounting for 10% of consumption expenditure. Online retail is a key pillar within the digital economy that has been powering this, and our region is home to a uniquely democratic online retail market, where no single player truly dominates. […]
Saudi Quick Commerce -Market Stabilizing in Q3’25
The Saudi Quick Commerce Market showed signs of cooling down for the first time in Q3, driven by summer seasonality and the waning impact of discounts, with basket values dropping below those of last year. Despite these headwinds, leading players have continued to innovate by scaling new verticals and forging strategic partnerships in search of […]
The Rise of Convenient Eating: How Urban India Balances Speed and Health
As India’s urban households evolve, a new consumer dichotomy is reshaping the food market, the need for convenience, balanced by the desire for health and trust. Redseer’s latest report, “The Rise of Convenient Eating: How Urban India Balances Speed and Health”, dives deep into how India’s fast-paced urban consumers are redefining what, when, and how […]
India’s Construction Industry: Promising Long-Term Demand, but Short-Term Turbulence is Expected
India’s infrastructure – capital expenditure flywheel is a key structural driver of its long-term growth story. Still, there are some near-term headwinds primarily led by slow on-ground project execution. Both infrastructure and real estate development are expected to be strong in the coming years, so robust management of shorter-term challenges will allow companies to make […]
E-commerce Festive Sale Trends: 1st leg (11 day) closes at INR 60K to 62K Crore, up by 20% to 22%
India’s e-commerce festive season kicked off with a bang. The first 11 days of the 2025 sales event clocked a massive more than INR 60K Cr. GMV, which is nearly 3.5 times the business-as-usual (BAU) levels. This marked a 20%-22% year-on-year surge – almost double the pace of Festive 2024, which grew at just ~12%. With this momentum, the […]
‘Quick’ Emerging as a Growth lever for Online BPC in KSA
When online Beauty & Personal Care (BPC) first took off in the GCC, growth was fuelled by increased digital adoption and wider product availability. Over time, however, the market has evolved with consumers embracing not just the convenience of online shopping but also the speed and reliability of newer channels. In Saudi Arabia, this shift […]
Festive 2025: Day0+Day1 Ecommerce Sales Surge 25% with GST Boost, demand led by Smartphones and TVs
22nd September marked more than just the start of Navratri; it signalled a turning point for India’s festive e-commerce story. First 2 days sales surged by 23-25% year-on-year, marking a four-to-fivefold jump in growth over last year’s muted start. The twin forces of GST 2.0 reforms and festive sentiment powered a wave of premium smartphone […]
GCC Q-commerce: Expansion & Consolidation
The GCC food aggregator market has grown from $3 billion in 2019 to $14 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach $26 billion by 2030. Growth was driven primarily by increased consumer spending, rather than user growth, with new use cases emerging. Quick grocery added a new leg to this market’s growth, with expansion […]
Beyond Food & Grocery: Super App Path in KSA
The KSA market is evolving rapidly, driven by a large, tech-savvy population that actively engages with multiple online services across commerce, finance, and entertainment. Demand for super apps (platforms that consolidate multiple high-frequency services), is rising quickly. Several Q-commerce platforms, fintech solutions, and digital marketplaces are well-positioned to lead this shift, thanks to their large […]
Talabat’s strategic decisions shaped by Redseer strategy consulting
Executive Summary Talabat, a market-leading food delivery platform, partnered with Redseer Strategy Consultants and OC&C Strategy Consultants to develop a compelling IPO narrative backed by robust market intelligence. Through comprehensive market sizing, competitive benchmarking, and customer insights and advisory, our consortium enabled Talabat to articulate a differentiated growth story across core Gulf markets. This resulted […]
BNPL: A Key Growth Engine for Online Retail in KSA
When Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) first emerged in the GCC, it was closely tied to the growth of e-commerce. Over time, however, the BNPL model has expanded its footprint into offline retail, which has been driving more growth. Recent innovations like Tabby and Tamara cards, which make BNPL available across any Visa or Mastercard-accepting […]
KSA is the Online Fashion & BPC leader in GCC
When we talk about digital retail maturity in the GCC, the UAE often comes to mind as the front-runner. And while it does lead in several categories, such as electronics, grocery, and home, the story shifts when we look at fashion and beauty. Let’s dive into why KSA, not the UAE, is leading the way […]
Cross-border players grow, but trade shifts local
The GCC has long been a stronghold for cross-border e-commerce. Over the past few years, that momentum only grew stronger with the likes of Shein, Trendyol, and Temu doubling down on the region. But 2024 brought a surprising twist: Cross-border trade volumes declined, even as these players continued to perform well. So, what’s really going […]
Lenskart’s key business decisions informed by Redseer strategy consulting
Executive Summary Lenskart engaged Redseer, India’s leading strategy consulting firm, to support its IPO through a comprehensive multi-market study. Redseer delivered a comprehensive industry analysis that built cross‑country market sizing models to capture both the current baseline and future trajectory of demand, benchmarked competing operating models, and surfaced the strategic levers that position large, vertically […]
Guiding one of the largest digital-first food services companies in their multi-brand growth strategy
Executive Summary One of the largest digital-first food services companies engaged Redseer, India’s leading strategy consulting firm, to highlight the growing preference for outside food consumption among consumers and to analyse the advantages of the cloud-kitchen-based model for its DRHP filing for IPO. The Strategic Imperative Highlight the growing formalisation in India’s food services market through […]
Quick Commerce: India’s Retail Darling or Profit Mirage
Executive Summary What’s failed in other countries is scaling in India. India’s quick commerce (Q-commerce) has rapidly scaled into a $10B+ GMV market with 30M+ monthly users, becoming the fastest-growing retail format in the country. But beyond speed and convenience, Q-commerce is now shaping product discovery, brand building, and digital experimentation for both legacy and […]
GCC Food Aggregator: Regional Consolidation in Motion
The GCC food delivery space is moving toward consolidation as scale becomes critical in an increasingly competitive and fragmented market. Jahez’s acquisition of Qatar-based Snoonu marks a strategic step in that direction. Qatar’s food aggregator market, valued at $1.2 Bn, accounts for 10% of the GCC total. Snoonu has already scaled in Qatar and is […]
Why Global Apparel Players Are Betting Big on India!
India’s $70B+ apparel market is scaling fast and would hit USD 130–150B by 2030 – Global brands are taking notice. With fashion demand exploding across classes and consumers hungry for newness, India is becoming the growth engine the global apparel industry needs. As growth stagnates in mature markets like the US, Europe, and China (hovering […]
Beyond Prestige: The Next Chapter of Indian Luxury
Luxury in India Is No Longer Niche—It’s the Next Big Growth Engine As global markets plateau, India is emerging as the luxury world’s next growth engine, driven by an expanding affluent class, rapid digital adoption, and a deeper appetite for premium, curated experiences across cities and segments. Today, contributing just 2% to global personal luxury […]
How Cloud Kitchens Are Disrupting the Restaurant Industry in 2025
Food delivery has become second nature for urban consumers. A few taps and a hot meal arrive at the doorstep—no waiting, no hassle. But behind this convenience, a silent revolution is taking place. Cloud kitchens cooking up a storm in the food industry turning efficiency into a competitive advantage. So, what’s fuelling this shift? Lower costs? Faster […]
India’s Festive E-Commerce Market 2024: Unveiling Growth Trends and Emerging Opportunities
The festive period witnessed a 12% year-on-year increase with a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of approximately $14 billion, driven by rapid growth in Tier 2+ cities and an increase in shopper spending. Explore the key insights and growth drivers that shaped India’s festive e-commerce season in 2024. Key Insights from the 2024 Festive Season: What’s […]
40% Of TikTok’s India Market Captured By Homegrown Apps
40% of TikTok’s India market captured by homegrown apps
The number of Internet users in India set to grow to 970 million from current 600 million in next 5 years, Shortform market is also estimated to grow by 4x on total time spent and reach to 400-450 billion minutes a month from the current ~110 billion minutes.