The End Of The ROAS Era In D2C?

Indian D2C brands are moving beyond a Meta- and Google-led growth playbook, shifting marketing budgets towards retention, organic content, profitability-focused metrics and preparing for AI-driven product discovery

As customer acquisition costs rise and AI assistants reshape how consumers discover products, brands that rely solely on paid performance marketing risk losing both visibility and measurement, making sustainable growth increasingly dependent on trust, retention and omnichannel execution

With ROAS losing relevance in an omnichannel world, D2C brands are increasingly tracking metrics such as MER, blended CAC and contribution margins while reallocating 20-30% of marketing budgets towards brand-building and customer retention

Added to Saved Stories in Login VIEW SAVED STORIES .inc42-toggle-item-popup { display: none; position: relative; } .toggle-item-close { text-align: end; padding: 8px 12px 0px 10px; position: absolute; right: 0; cursor: pointer; } .toggle-items-content-main { display: block; position: relative; top: 27px; left: -204px; border-radius: 12px; background: #FFF; box-shadow: 0px 4px 24px 0px rgba(100, 100, 100, 0.25); width: 435px; height: 115px; } .toggle-items-content { display: flex; align-items: baseline; justify-content: center; padding-top: 22px; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .h4-saved-story{ color: #000; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; text-transform: capitalize; margin: 2px 0 10px 6px; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .myInc42-plus-dark { width: 100px !important; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .myInc42-light { width: 80px !important; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text img{ height: 22px; } .view-my-feed-btn { width: 100%; text-align: center; display: flex; justify-content: center; } .view-my-feed-btn a { width: auto !important; } .view-my-feed-btn button { border-radius: 4px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, #DA1B4D 0%, #E23026 100%); color: #fff; font-size: 12px; display: inline-block !important; min-width: 162px; width: 162px !important; height: 34px !important; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; padding: 10px; cursor: pointer; } .CustomIconStyled { position: absolute; right: 180px; top: -80px; } .SubDropdownModelShare .sub-arrow-icon { width: 76px; height: 80px; position: relative; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: none; } @media (max-width:767px) { .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .h4-saved-story{ margin: 4px 0 10px 6px; font-size: 18px; } .toggle-items-content { align-items: center; } }

For over a decade, the D2C playbook was built on a simple premise: buy attention on Meta and Google, acquire customers at scale, and optimise using clear performance metrics such as return on ad spend (ROAS). However, with rising customer acquisition costs and fragmented attention across creators, marketplaces and quick-commerce apps, this marketing model has started to fray.

While Indian brands have not yet started treating AI assistants as an advertising channel, it is just a matter of time before they do. According to Viren Inaniyan, the founder of AI commerce infrastructure startup TruCommerce, the shift is already happening in the US.

“Consumers are now........

© Inc42