iWorld
Is Star’s VoD ‘hot’ enough?
MUMBAI: “At Star, we have always focused on dramatically enhancing the overall consumer experience. Smart technology, combined with powerful content, can be disruptive…,” had said Star India CEO Uday Shankar when the network launched its online sports platform starsports.com.
Two years have passed since then and keeping up with the changing times, the giant network is back with a new platform. Christened hotStar, the video on demand (VoD) portal, currently running in beta version, will change the way people view content on television or digitally.
With everything found under one roof, the platform has all the genres the network dabbles in. From popular dailies to live sporting events, a click will please many.
The network labels the platforms as the “most compelling catalogue ever offered over-the-top on mobile and the web, making it the most the most complete video destination for consumers.”
With around 20,000 hours content spread across seven languages, which includes 120+ full length TV shows, 500+ movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabbadi, hotStar caters to a very large and diverse audience.
Available across devices, the VoD is not the first such platform launched by a television network in the country; Ditto TV was launched by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) in 2012. There are many other such platforms like Biscoot and Zenga also available today.
Believes Shotformats Digital Productions CEO and managing director Niyati Shah that though the platform looks nice but the concept of launching the same isn’t clear. “On television there is appointment viewing and in the digital world it is all about snacking. And with only Star content available on the platform, I don’t know what will be the scalability.”
The free to view platform has a simple and easy user interface. However, what stands out is the logo which though is a star but is quite different from that of the networks logo. The tilted star has bright neon green and yellow colours. Its name is another feature that stands out.
“It does sound like a talent show,” says FCB Ulka Digital creative head Sudarshan Sudevan but quickly adds, “But for a site of this sort, it’s not the name that’s critical, it’s the content. And the users will get a hang of it in due course of time.”
Sudevan is excited that Star India is finally into video on demand. “With a good mix of TV shows, movies and sports … I am sure the video friendly population of today is going to have a treat. The network’s idea to enter the space that has been dominated by international players like Netflix and Amazon will be of a pleasure for fans here,” he adds.
Agrees L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India CEO and managing partner Anil Nair that today people want to view content on the move.
However, Shah isn’t convinced. “If I’m a Star TV viewer and miss something, maybe then I would come on the portal. Otherwise I have doubts who would log on,” she states while emphasisng on the fact that through the networks’ strength, the platform might get marketed well but the future will tell the true story.
Nair too points out that today when there are aggregators like Youtube and Apple TV, the lack of genres available on Star’s new platform might become a hurdle. “Hopefully, in the future, the app will add more genres to its bouquet otherwise this can become a reservation for a viewer.”
Highlighting that digitisation will change the mediums in the country, the experts are optimist that with many leaps to take, service providers have a lot to offer.
The network has already started the ground work and a click on any of its current websites (apart from StarSports.com) directly takes the viewer to the new platform. The soft launch has successfully been able to create the buzz and now one just has to wait for the big band launch.
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.
