MAM
WPP Media’s ‘beyond price tags’ redefines India’s e-commerce game
MUMBAI: Forget discounts and flash sales. India’s next e-commerce boom is getting a luxury makeover. WPP Media India has unveiled ‘Beyond Price Tags: The Power of Premiumization’ in India’s e-commerce boom, a new playbook that argues the future of online shopping is not just digital, but decisively premium.
Launched in Mumbai, the report sheds light on how Indian consumers are moving beyond price wars and seeking something more lasting: experiences, personalisation, and ethics over mere affordability. The message is clear: value is being redefined.
Drawing from insights by leading platforms, brands, and experts, the playbook highlights that premium demand is now democratised. Thanks to credit solutions, efficient delivery networks, and the rise of social and quick commerce, premium choices are no longer limited to metro buyers, they’re reaching the heart of Bharat.
Among its key findings, the report identifies five defining shifts: the democratisation of premium demand; consumers’ appetite for elevated experiences; platform-driven brand reinvention; a cross-category tilt towards feature-rich, design-led products; and the evolution of mass brands into “masstige” offerings.
To help brands turn insight into action, WPP Media introduces four strategic frameworks: Flash, Vista, Prime, and Rise, each designed to guide discoverability, curation, customer experience, and loyalty building in the digital era.
“At WPP Media, we are constantly at the forefront of shaping the future of commerce,” said WPP Media South Asia COO Ashwin Padmanabhan. “The premiumization trend in Indian e-commerce is more than just a shift in price points, it reflects evolving consumer aspirations and the growing desire for quality, experience, and status.”
Echoing this, WPP Media India head of commerce Sairam Ranganathan added, “Premiumization marks a pivotal shift where rising aspirations, global exposure, and digital empowerment are redefining how consumers engage with brands. This playbook is not just a guide but a catalyst for growth.”
Brands
Amazon doubles down on Anthropic with $25bn AI investment plan
Deal locks in massive compute capacity and pushes Claude deeper into AWS stack
MUMBAI: Amazon and Anthropic have significantly expanded their strategic partnership, committing to a long-term collaboration that combines billions in fresh investment with one of the largest AI infrastructure deals to date.
At the heart of the agreement is Anthropic’s plan to spend more than $100 billion over the next decade on AWS technologies. This includes access to up to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity powered by successive generations of Trainium chips, alongside tens of millions of Graviton cores. The scale signals a clear intent to future-proof the infrastructure behind its fast-growing Claude models.
In parallel, Amazon will invest $5 billion in Anthropic immediately, with the option to add up to $20 billion more tied to performance milestones. This builds on the $8 billion the tech giant has already committed to the AI firm.
The collaboration also tightens product integration. Anthropic’s full Claude Platform will now be accessible directly within AWS, allowing developers to use its native tools without leaving their existing cloud environment. The models are already widely used through Amazon Bedrock, where more than 100,000 customers are running Claude for tasks ranging from customer support to scientific research.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said, “Our custom AI silicon offers high performance at significantly lower cost for customers, which is why it’s in such hot demand.” He added that Anthropic’s long-term commitment to Trainium reflects the progress both companies have made in building scalable AI infrastructure.
Anthropic CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei said, “Our users tell us Claude is increasingly essential to how they work, and we need to build the infrastructure to keep pace with rapidly growing demand.” He noted that the partnership would help advance research while serving a rapidly expanding user base.
The two companies have already been working closely since 2023. Their joint efforts include Project Rainier, a massive AI cluster featuring hundreds of thousands of Trainium chips, now used to train and deploy newer versions of Claude. The new agreement extends this momentum, with fresh capacity expected to come online through 2026, including next-generation Trainium3 and Trainium4 chips.
Anthropic’s growth has been equally striking. The company says its annualised revenue run rate has crossed $30 billion, up sharply from about $9 billion at the end of 2025, driven by surging enterprise and consumer demand. That rapid uptake has also strained infrastructure, making this expanded deal as much about stability as it is about scale.
The partnership will also expand globally, with increased inference capacity planned across Asia and Europe, ensuring Claude’s reach keeps pace with its popularity.
From powering ride-hailing support systems to accelerating drug research workflows, Claude’s use cases continue to broaden. With this deal, Amazon and Anthropic are not just adding more compute, they are doubling down on a shared bet that AI’s next leap will be built on deeper, tighter integrations between models and infrastructure.
If the past few years were about proving the promise of generative AI, this alliance suggests the next phase will be about building it at industrial scale.
