iWorld
From Panic to Ghost Lab, five must-watch shows on OTT this week
Mumbai: This weekend, OTT platforms will set a new jazz-like movie standard of Take Five, with five films set for release to exploit the dearth of available big ticket quality content, now that IPL cricket is suffering the pandemic blues.
With the big ticket sports viewership space staring at a void due to unavailable live entertainment content, since IPL 2021 that was playing throughout the day and all evening in India called in sick after its bio-bubble burst, OTT films have launched themselves full st(r)eam ahead.
After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Zee5, and the Disney-Hotstar combo enjoyed wide popularity in India emerging as the clear winners in the battle for maximum viewership eyeballs.
This trend is likely to continue in the coming years, as SVOD giants compete to offer quality content to audiences, while the current weekend provides a classic example of how prime time viewing has acquiesced to the OTT giants.
Indiantelevision.com presents you with a list of five OTT shows that can be watched this week.
Ghost Lab (Netflix)
One of the most-anticipated films that will be released on Netflix this month is Ghost Lab. Directed by Paween Purijitpanya, this horror thriller stars Thanapob Leeratanakachorn, Paris Intarakomalyasut and Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich in lead roles.
The film portrays the story of two doctors who try to prove the existence of ghosts after experiencing paranormal events in the hospital they work at. Ghost Lab will be available for streaming on Netflix on 26 May.
Black Space: Season 01 (Netflix)
The first season of the action series Black Space will have its premiere on Netflix on 27 May. The series revolves around the life of a detective who investigates a massacre committed by mask-wearing assassins in an Israeli school.
The series is created by Anat Gafni and Sahar Shavit. The series stars Guri Alfi, Shai Avivi, Assi Levy, Reut Alush and Meirav Shirom in lead roles.
Panic: Season 01 (Amazon Prime Video)
Panic is a teen drama series that will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video on 28 May. The series is based on Lauren Oliver’s 2014 novel of the same name. Season 01 of Panic is created by Lauren Oliver herself, and it stars Olivia Welch, Mike Faist, and Jessica Sula in the lead roles.
The series is set in the backdrop of Texas, where a team of graduating seniors take part in a series of challenges risking their very lives. Even though the challenges pose a life risk, they are enticed with the offer of making big money that would change their lives forever. The only catch being, that just one person may win while the others stand to lose the game and more.
Disney’s Launch-pad (Disney+Hotstar)
Disney’s Launch-pad is a series of live-action shorts developed for the OTT platform. These short films are directed by debutante filmmakers who have created films with uplifting themes that relate to family, culture and experience. The first season of Launch-pad will be released on 28 May.
Dog Gone Trouble (Netflix)
Animation lovers will enjoy Dog Gone Trouble on Netflix. The film will be released on 28 May. Directed by Kevin Johnson, the film revolves around the life of a pampered dog named Trouble, who is trying to live in the real world after escaping from his former owner’s greedy children. https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif
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.
