East-West commerce convergence reshapes retail landscape

ISTANBUL

A new NielsenIQ (NIQ) report, “The Commerce Revolution: Where East Meets West,” reveals that global commerce is entering a new phase in which innovations from Asia are converging with Western models built around retail media and data monetization.

According to the report, social commerce, quick commerce, fintech solutions and AI-driven shopping experiences are rapidly transforming consumer behavior across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), with Türkiye positioned at the center of this shift.

The findings show that digital commerce growth is increasingly driven by the integration of channels rather than the expansion of new ones. Live commerce, social commerce and quick commerce are creating seamless consumer journeys that combine product discovery, purchase and delivery.

Consumer expectations are also evolving. While 47 percent of consumers in Eastern Europe expect deliveries in less than 30 minutes, that
figure rises to 80 percent in the MEA region.

The report also highlights the rise of AI-powered shopping and autonomous commerce, with 40 percent of Eastern European consumers and nearly two-thirds of MEA consumers open to AI-assisted purchasing experiences.

“Commerce is no longer a sum of independent channels; it is becoming an integrated ecosystem where data, content, payments and logistics converge,” said Didem Şekerel Erdoğan, general manager of NIQ Türkiye and regional VP of E-commerce for Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and India.