iWorld
Modi most popular, even as negative sentiments grow
MUMBAI: The eighth phase of the elections just ended and with only one last phase left, the 16th Lok Sabha general elections are turning out to be something that India has not seen in a long time.
The media, especially the social media, has become a major part of these elections. Many even claim that the medium along with television has become a talking point amongst many and has been able to influence.
Social media has become such an important part for news channels that they need to use it to know what people have to say about the various issues cropping up this election – be it Narendra Modi’s road show in Varansi or Priyanka Gandhi entering the battlefield to defend her younger brother, Rahul Gandhi.
Various digital agencies have jumped on this golden opportunity and are trying to read and understand the trend as well as what creates Indians to log on to the virtual world and discuss.
To The New, an integrated digital services network, is one such agency that has launched a comparative study of politicians and top political parties of the two weeks (Week 1: 22 to 28 April; Week 2: 29 April to 5 May).
As per the report, as the elections come to its end the negative sentiments is what is gripping people. The report created on the basis of the analysis of digital conversations across various social platforms such as Twitter, blogs, forums and news sites, says that all the parties saw an increase in negative buzz compared to last week.
AAP topped the chart with highest number of negative mentions. The negative mentions doubled wherein in week 1 there were 33575 negative mentions, in week 2 it went as high as 66245. Congress followed it with an increase of almost 10,000 negative mentions (43793 as compared to last week’s 33824).
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came in third with 45585 negative mentions as compared to previous week’s 38617. BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s negative sentiment has shot up drastically in week 2. The sentiments grew more than double for Modi with AAP’s Dr Kumar Vishwas coming second.
What is interesting is the fact that on similar notes, the positive sentiments too were the highest for Modi while AAP’s founder Arvind Kejriwal came second. However, the difference between the two was of many yards. Having said that, the positive sentiments saw a minor negative slide.
A lot of buzz was generated around Congress and AAP, whereas BJP witnessed a drop in this regard in week 2. Also, Modi was yardsticks ahead of others when it came to personalities. He, however, did see a decrease in the buzz around him. From 154,386 mentions it fell to 133,460 for Modi.
Meanwhile, Dr Kumar Vishwas and Rahul Gandhi saw an increase in buzz during week 2. But Arvind Kejriwal came in second amongst the top 10 personalities.
With just a week to go, the talks – good, bad or ugly – are only going to intensify as everyone waits with abated breath to see who will sit on the PM’s seat this time around.
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.
