iWorld
Weekend Unwind with: Tech content creator Dhananjay Bhosale
Mumbai: With another weekend upon us, it is time to unwind with the latest Q&A edition of Indiantelevision.com’s Weekend Unwind—a series of informal chats that delve into the minds of digital content creators through a fun lens, aiming to understand the person behind the creative journey a little better.
In this week’s session, we have popular tech-content creator Dhananjay Bhosale.
Bhosale embarked on his digital journey during college, showcasing his phone reviews. Overcoming initial skepticism, he navigated the evolving digital landscape, switching from English to Hindi content. Dhananjay has achieved several significant milestones in his career. In 2016, he won the YouTube Next Up award, which involved training by YouTube and recognition for his outstanding work. Adapting to the times, he embraced Instagram reels, skyrocketing followers from 13k to five lakh plus in 18 months. Actively engaging on Twitter, Dhananjay personifies adaptability and quality content in the ever-changing digital realm.
So without further ado, here it goes…
Your mantra for life
Innovate daily, learn constantly, and create purposefully
A book you are currently reading or plan to read
Currently, I’m not reading any specific book, but I’m always open to recommendations. What’s your current favorite?
Your fitness mantra
Play your favorite sport! Engaging in activities you love not only makes fitness enjoyable but also ensures consistency. For me, it’s cricket; the joy of the game keeps me active.
Your comfort food
Khichadi is my ultimate comfort food. Its simplicity and nourishing qualities make it a go-to meal for both comfort and sustenance.
A quote or philosophy that keeps you going when the chips are down
“Everything happens for a reason.” This belief is my anchor during challenging moments, reminding me that even setbacks hold valuable lessons and opportunities for growth.
Your guilty pleasure
A packet of Parle G gold with a steaming cup of tea is my guiltiest pleasure. The simplicity of this combo is my little escape from the complexities of the day.
The last time you tried something new
I recently got a new home theatre system, and it completely blew my mind. The immersive experience has taken my movie and music enjoyment to a whole new level.
A life lesson you learned the hard way
One hard-earned life lesson is that you can’t force people or friends to stay in your life. Relationships, like any living entity, evolve. It’s crucial to appreciate the time you have with someone but also to gracefully accept if paths diverge.
What gets you excited about life
Money? Haha. What truly excites me about life is the constant pursuit of knowledge, the joy of creating something meaningful, and the prospect of forming genuine connections with people
What’s on top of your bucket list
Winning the next cricket tournament in my complex is at the very top of my bucket list, and I’m gearing up to make it happen!
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Just do it; you are doing it right.
One thing you would most like to change about the world
One change I’d love to see in the world is a shift towards more solar energy. A greener, sustainable future is something we can all work towards, and the power of the sun holds incredible potential for positive change.
An activity that keeps you motivated and charged during tough times
Getting through tough times is easier when I tackle challenging tasks head-on. Turning obstacles into achievements keeps me motivated and strengthens my resolve.
What lifts your spirits when life gets you down
When life gets me down, nothing lifts my spirits like a fantastic music session with my wife. Great songs have a way of turning the mood around and creating moments of joy.
Your go-to stress buster
It might sound cliché, but for me, the ultimate stress buster is tackling and completing pending work. There’s a unique satisfaction in overcoming tasks that instantly alleviates stress and brings a sense of accomplishment.
iWorld
WhatsApp emerges as key commerce channel in India: Meta report
Whitepaper shows 77 per cent of purchases influenced by social media and shoppers spend 2.5 times more across channels
MUMBAI: If shopping once meant a stroll down the high street, today it begins with a scroll on a smartphone. India’s retail journey is being rewritten in real time, as consumers glide between Instagram Reels, WhatsApp chats and physical stores with barely a pause for thought. A new whitepaper by Meta in collaboration with the Retailers Association of India argues that this shift is not cosmetic but structural, powered by artificial intelligence, short form video, creators and conversational commerce.
The numbers underline the scale of the change.
Social media now influences 77 per cent of retail purchase decisions in India, with Meta’s platforms accounting for 96 per cent of social driven discovery. Discovery itself is increasingly passive and visual rather than deliberate and search led. As much as 97 per cent of consumers watch short form video daily, and 60 per cent of time spent on Facebook and Instagram is devoted to video content.
In other words, the shop window has moved to the feed.
The report highlights the growing dominance of the omnichannel shopper, a consumer who researches and buys fluidly across online and offline environments. More than 50 per cent of retail consumers research products online before purchasing in store. Equally, over 50 per cent browse in store before completing their purchase online.
This blended behaviour is lucrative. Shoppers who buy across channels spend 2.5 times more than single channel shoppers. When customers engage across multiple touchpoints, spending rises by as much as 73 per cent. For retailers, unified commerce is no longer a strategy slide. It is a revenue imperative.
Meta India director of E commerce and retail Meghna Apparao, urged brands to focus on three pillars: Reels and creators for authentic storytelling, omnichannel performance marketing to connect platforms, and WhatsApp as a personalised commerce channel. Hitesh Bhatt of RAI noted that the challenge is no longer adopting digital tools but integrating them to deliver measurable outcomes.
Artificial intelligence sits at the heart of this integration. Indian retailers using Meta’s omnichannel optimisation have recorded more than fourfold improvements in omnichannel return on ad spend. Businesses that integrated in store sales data through Meta’s Conversions API have reported Roas uplift ranging from 2 times to 5 times or more, alongside incremental sales growth of up to 9 times depending on category and market.
Integrated data strategies have also delivered revenue growth of up to 15 per cent, suggesting that when digital signals are tied to offline outcomes, marketing efficiency sharpens considerably.
Retailers are already putting this into practice. Reliance Digital has leaned into a Reels first strategy, working with regional creators to drive engagement and measurable business impact. Croma says Meta’s AI powered tools have enabled it to integrate offline data and activate performance marketing across touchpoints, strengthening both footfall and revenue across online and physical stores.
Trust is increasingly creator led. The report finds that 71 per cent of consumers make a purchase within a couple of days of seeing creator content on Meta’s technologies. Campaigns that leverage reels and creators have delivered 71 per cent higher brand intent lift and 19 per cent lower acquisition costs.
Micro and nano creators, in particular, are accelerating purchase decisions by embedding products into relatable, local narratives. Influence is no longer confined to celebrity endorsements. It is distributed, conversational and continuous.
If Instagram and Facebook drive discovery, WhatsApp is emerging as the conversion engine. According to the report, 72 per cent of product discovery now happens on WhatsApp. Retailers using business messaging and click to WhatsApp campaigns are seeing a 61 per cent average improvement in return on ad spend, a 62 per cent increase in leads and 22 per cent higher order values.
The implication is clear. Commerce is shifting from clicks to conversations. Discovery, purchase and post purchase support increasingly unfold within a single chat thread.
The whitepaper argues that omnichannel maturity will define competitiveness in Indian retail. Consumers no longer toggle between online and offline modes. They operate across both simultaneously, often within the same buying journey.
For brands, the task is no longer about being present on digital platforms. It is about stitching together discovery, data, conversation and store experience into a unified loop that can be measured in footfall, revenue and repeat purchase.
As India’s shoppers continue to scroll before they stroll, the retailers who align AI, creators and messaging into one seamless experience may find that the path to growth is less about adding new channels and more about connecting the ones they already have.
