Digital
‘Credit on UPI’ fuels local shopping and offline purchases
Mumbai – This festive season, Indian shoppers demonstrated a strong preference for offline purchases, with a 30 per cent increase in spend-per-user, as revealed by Kiwi. The platform’s data reflects how communities came together to support local merchants and neighbourhood stores, with the majority of transactions taking place in small, local shops and general stores—a timely boost for India’s local retail sector during Dhanteras and Diwali.
Local stores and merchants were at the heart of the festive shopping spirit, with General Stores alone seeing an impressive 55 per cent jump in spends. Jewellery purchases, a Diwali tradition, rose by 17 per cent, while other categories like Groceries, Dining, and Electronics also saw a rise, with spend-per-user up by 24 per cent, 18 per cent, and 24 per cent respectively. This broad pattern of spending shows the diverse needs of Indian shoppers as they prepare for celebrations, all while choosing to shop locally.
Neighbourhood merchants benefited greatly, with spend-per-user at small stores growing by 31 per cent in tier-one cities and by 29 per cent in tier-two cities, much higher than the increases seen at larger retailers, which saw a 23 per cent rise in tier-one and 17 per cent in tier-two cities. This festive season, consumers clearly felt a pull to support small businesses within their communities.
Distinct spending habits were also visible across regions. In tier-one cities, shoppers spent more on experiences, with dining up by 22 per cent and Jewellery by 18 per cent. In contrast, tier-two cities leaned towards essentials, with electronics purchases increasing by 41 per cent and general Store spending seeing a substantial 64 per cent rise.
“Credit on UPI is truly a made-in-India solution that connects consumers with local businesses in ways that feel both seamless and meaningful,” said Kiwi co-founder Mohit Bedi. “This festive season, we saw the spirit of community shine through as people shopped at small merchants and enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that Credit on UPI brings.”
With data gathered from 400 cities and a user base of one lakh, Kiwi’s Credit on UPI continues to bring the festive spirit to life by making shopping more convenient and helping consumers celebrate with their communities across.
Digital
OpenAI’s Stargate lead Peter Hoeschele exits with two senior leaders
Trio behind compute push set to join new startup amid leadership reshuffle
SAN FRANCISCO: Peter Hoeschele, a key figure behind OpenAI’s early Stargate data centre initiative, has exited the company, according to a report by The Information.
The departure is part of a broader leadership shift, with two other senior executives, Shamez Hemani and Anuj Saharan, also set to leave in the coming days. All three are expected to join the same new startup, although details about the venture remain under wraps.
The trio played a central role in OpenAI’s Stargate effort, an initiative aimed at building large-scale data centre capacity in-house to reduce reliance on external infrastructure providers. Their exits mark a notable moment for the company’s compute strategy as it continues to scale rapidly.
OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to The Information, “We’re grateful for the contributions Peter, Shamez, and Anuj have made to OpenAI and wish them the very best in what comes next.” The company also pointed to the recent appointment of Sachin Katti to lead its industrial compute organisation, signalling continuity in its infrastructure roadmap.
OpenAI has indicated that it does not plan to directly replace Hoeschele’s role, suggesting a possible restructuring of responsibilities within the team.
As competition intensifies in the race to build next-generation AI systems, leadership changes in core infrastructure teams are likely to draw close attention. For now, the spotlight shifts to what this departing trio builds next, and how OpenAI adapts as it scales its ambitions.
