iWorld
Trace to launch its new OTT service Trace Play in Arkena
MUMBAI: Arkena has announced that they have been selected to deliver an end to end OTT platform for Trace, the international multicultural TV network. To offer its fans and communities their favorite unlimited on-demand content, Trace is launching Trace Play, a new SVOD service.
Trace audiences will be able to watch a broad range of original and curated content related to urban and black culture on any screen via web and mobile apps on iOS and Android. To support TRACE in its multiscreen development strategy, Arkena is providing the complete end-to-end platform covering the content management, back-office and delivery for both live and on-demand content.
“Scalability is a key factor for our operations, especially as we plan to extend our OTT SVOD offering while addressing alternate business models such as IPTV,” says Trace CEO Olivier Laouchez.
Arkena live head-end services will streamline live content preparation and distribution from around 10 live channels, increasing security thanks to multi-DRM management. The OTT platform will be powered by Arkena OTT Service Manager (OSM), the company’s open and cloud-based video distribution solution. OSM is a future proof solution boasting a vast array of turnkey components including content, metadata, offers and device management. The on-demand workflow based on Harmony, Arkena content management system, will process more than 4 000 hours of content. Arkena is partnering with Cleeng, the leading video e-commerce platform for global brands including IMG, Elisa/Fanseat, Cirque du Soleil, Cox, Setanta, Dailymotion, for payment and subscribers management, and Dotscreen, one of Europe’s leading multiscreen agency for advanced video apps, for user interfaces and front-end applications.
“Arkena OTT solutions have proved to be easily and cost-effectively scalable to enable new channels, devices and customers on a single and reliable platform. We are confident that Arkena longstanding expertise and outstanding service quality will help us meet our new challenge head on”. “OTT is an important part of Trace interactive television strategy and we are proud that our advanced platform was selected to help Trace open up a world of live and on-demand content to its existing and new subscribers,” said Arkena CEO Aymeric de Cardes.
Arkena will be demonstrating its end to end cloud based OTT platform at TV Connect Booth 46, from 26 April to 28 2016 in London.
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.
