Henrique Daniel Rangel, Director of SnooLabs, Retail Media and Market Intelligence Division at Snoonu, explains why the super app is betting big on commerce media, and why trust, not reach, is the metric he’s protecting most.
What was the actual “aha” moment that convinced you Snoonu needed to be in advertising?
Our “aha” moment was recognizing the raw power of this high-intent ecosystem. We are not selling digital impressions; we leverage deterministic, first-party transactional data. While typical platforms stop at visibility, our users engage with Snoonu with their credit cards in hand and a clear, active intent to purchase. By opening our platform to advertisers, we have bridged the critical gap between brand discovery and immediate, point-of-sale conversion, delivering a level of attribution and performance that traditional digital channels cannot compete while preserving the relevance our customers are looking for.
Why do physical spaces matter to a digital platform?
We believe consumer attention is fluid, flowing effortlessly between digital touchpoints and the physical spaces where life happens. Places like gyms, padel courts, and high-end salons are more than just venues, they represent high-engagement, receptive ‘micro-moments’ for brand interaction. By integrating our AdSpace presence offline, we are closing the loop on the omnichannel experience. We are capturing valuable mindshare in those physical environments and driving instant conversion within the Snoonu app, proving that the next era of media is not a choice between digital or physical, but the seamless convergence of both: connected commerce.
What percentage of Snoonu’s revenue will come from advertising in five years?
The honest answer is that advertising will be a core engine of our long-term margin expansion, but the exact revenue share matters far less than how we achieve it. Our goal is to push monetization as far as we responsibly can, provided we never compromise ad relevance or the user experience. The moment ads degrade the customer journey, you lose trust and trust is the one thing we will protect at all costs. Evolving our network into a high-margin media ecosystem without alienating our users is a complex balancing act, but that exact challenge is precisely what brought me here.
What’s the one thing you wish advertisers understood about Snoonu?
I want brands, including the non-endemic ones like automotive, banking, and beyond, to see what we see: an unparalleled ROI from reaching a logged-in, high-intent purchase consumer. The attribution here is immediate and undeniable.
When a single player like Snoonu can drive over 40% of a supermarket chain’s total sales, retail media is not an ‘extra’, it is the new baseline. To ignore this channel today is to ignore the physical end-cap of the last decade, and simply leave revenue on the table.
How does the region’s shopping calendar shape the way you design Snoonu Ads?
It is one of the foundational pillars of our strategy. The Gulf’s rhythm, the distinct consumer behaviors during Ramadan or the community-centric surge around National Day, demands a media engine that is hyper-dynamic, not static. Western playbooks rooted in Black Friday or Q4 holidays are not as relevant here; they do not capture the pulse of how people live, eat, and shop in the Gulf. We have designed Snoonu Ads specifically to align with these local cultural milestones, guaranteeing that we have the inventory and bespoke ad formats ready exactly when consumer engagement reaches its peak.
(This interview appeared in the October 2026 print issue of Communicate. Read insights from industry leaders and experts in the full issue here )
