NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ) has released a new global report, The Commerce Revolution: Where East Meets West, which examines how the intersection of Asian commerce innovation and Western retail media monetization is reshaping consumer commerce.
Key findings from the report include:
- Emerging channels are scaling fast. Live, social and quick commerce now drive most incremental digital growth globally.
- Growth will come from orchestration, not channel expansion. Live, social, and quick are now interconnected “arms” of a broad infrastructure where discovery, transaction, and product delivery converge—requiring a truly holistic view of performance.
- Discovery‑led commerce is going mainstream. In APAC, nearly 60% of consumers shop via social and quick commerce.
- Quick commerce is resetting fulfillment expectations.
- Retail media is scaling globally. Retail media reached $184 billion in global spending 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.
- 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. A shift from consumers shopping via search to content- and AI-powered discovery forces manufacturers and retailers to rethink how they’re measuring influence—and how they’ll connect engagement to conversion.
The Middle East is one of the regions setting the pace, with rapid consumer adoption of social commerce, quick commerce, super apps and fintech tools.
eCommerce continues to drive incremental growth across the region, with the UAE recording +33% and KSA recording +56% on FMCG Q1 figures. Live, social and quick commerce, are now experiencing fast uptake throughout the region, particularly in UAE and KSA. These channels no longer operate in silos, with consumers demanding integrated experiences that guide them through a cohesive shopping journey. This convergence is accelerated by AI and its ability to track, automate, and personalize the shopper journey.
“With its mobile-first consumers, rapid adoption of social and quick commerce, and government-led digital transformation initiatives across the Gulf, the Middle East is fast becoming a blueprint for the convergence of digital commerce innovation” said Andrey Dvoychenkov, General Manager Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan at NielsenIQ.
“Government-led transformation agendas, from Saudi Vision 2030 to the ambitious smart city across the Gulf, are accelerating this shift by creating the infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, and investment climate needed for integrated commerce to thrive. At the same time, periods of geopolitical uncertainty have reinforced demand for faster, more resilient ways to discover, purchase and receive goods.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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