MAM
Paytm Ads launches 2023 Festive Wallet Outlook: Indian digital spending trends
Mumbai: One97 Communications Ltd (OCL) which owns the brand Paytm, India’s leading payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR, mobile payments and Soundbox, today launched a report titled “India’s Festive Wallet Outlook 2023” by Paytm Ads at ET Martequity Summit 2023. Based on a survey commissioned through Redseer Consulting, the report highlights the festive spending trends across various categories and the growth of digital spending across payment platforms.
India’s Festive Wallet Outlook 2023 states cashless transactions have gained prominence (lower cash-on-delivery transactions) within online sales during festive seasons, with ~75 per cent of consumers opting for digital payment methods for online shopping. Mobile payments are anticipated to emerge as the primary payment method across all product categories during the upcoming festive season.
With a growing consumer preference for mobile transactions, businesses are digitising their payment options. Approximately 60 per cent of all merchants and small-business owners accept e-payments enabled by the rapid deployment of Paytm-pioneered QR codes and Soundbox devices as of June 2023.
As per the Redseer survey, Paytm boosts brand awareness threefold among users, outshining other payment platforms. The report highlights Paytm’s seamless integration into daily routines for bill payments, subscriptions, and digital services. It has become a vibrant brand discovery and consideration platform, linking users with relevant products during festivities.
Paytm SVP Praveen Sharma said, “With almost 75 per cent of consumers opting for mobile payments during festive shopping, it enables marketers to convey messages that deeply connect on an individual level. Paytm has emerged as a dynamic brand discovery platform with its large user base, playing a pivotal role in connecting users with brands and products during this celebratory period. With its advanced targeting and innovative ad formats, Paytm Ads has successfully created meaningful customer interactions along the path to purchase.”
Paytm has facilitated seamless transactions and empowered users to embrace digital spending during festive seasons. The company’s FY23 Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) from Commerce Business, which includes travel, movie, entertainment ticketing, deals and gift vouchers, grew 63 per cent YoY. Total Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) processed through Paytm in the 2022 festive months increased by 40 per cent, along with an 85 per cent rise in transactions. The company’s monthly transacting users for July stood at 9.3 cr. Paytm witnessed a 31 per cent YoY growth in active users during the last festive season.
The report has profiled success stories of various brands, including MyGlamm and the Singapore Tourism Board, that have effectively leveraged Paytm Ads for their marketing campaigns. By harnessing the power of digital transactions, over 400 brands have enhanced engagement, boosted sales, and fostered lasting relationships with their customer base. Paytm Ads has disrupted the conventional offerings of various ad tech platforms through innovative ad solutions and precise targeting, emerging as one of India’s leading advertising platforms.
Click here to download the complete report.
https://marketing.ads.paytm.com/report-indias-festive-wallet-outlook-2023
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
