iWorld
Vodafone Idea dials down losses as data use and upgrades pick up
MUMBAI: When the signal gets stronger, the numbers start to sound better. Vodafone Idea reported a narrower loss in the fiscal third quarter, buoyed by rising data consumption and a steady shift of users to higher-paying 4G and 5G plans.
The debt-laden telecom operator posted a consolidated loss after tax of Rs. 52.86 billion for the quarter ended December 31, compared with a loss of Rs. 66.09 billion a year earlier. Overall revenue rose year on year to Rs. 113.23 billion, edging past analysts’ expectations of Rs. 112.77 billion.
A key bright spot was average revenue per user, which increased 7.3 per cent to Rs. 186. The improvement followed a 2 per cent rise in 4G and 5G subscribers and a sharp 26.7 per cent jump in average data usage among these customers, reflecting higher engagement on faster networks.
Despite the uptick, Vodafone Idea continues to lag its larger rivals on pricing power. Reliance Jio reported an ARPU of Rs. 211.4, while Bharti Airtel remains well ahead at Rs. 256, underlining the competitive pressure in India’s telecom market.
The company has been investing steadily in its 4G and 5G infrastructure to improve service quality and arrest subscriber losses. Earlier this month, it also received regulatory relief when the government capped its long-pending adjusted gross revenue payments at $13.79 million annually over the next six years, easing near-term cash flow stress.
Vodafone Idea said its AGR dues stood frozen at Rs. 876.95 billion as of December 31, although the figure remains subject to reassessment. The operator, 49 per cent owned by the Indian government, was formed in 2018 through the merger of Vodafone Group’s Indian arm and Aditya Birla Group’s Idea Cellular.
India’s third-largest telecom provider has reported losses every quarter since the merger and has steadily ceded market share to Jio and Airtel, weighed down by more than $22 billion in debt and a network rollout that trails its bigger competitors. Even so, the latest quarter suggests that higher data usage and premium plan upgrades are beginning to offer Vodafone Idea some much-needed breathing room.
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.
