D-Talks:Bulletin#276 – Top Digital Media Updates

Flipkart leads ecommerce with 48% share, Meesho fastest growing platform: report

E-commerce retailers led by Amazon and Flipkart garnered sales worth Rs 76,000 crore during the one-month festival sale event — almost double the pre-pandemic figure of Rs 40,000 crore in 2019, according to a report by consulting firm Redseer. This is also about 25% year-over-year (YoY) growth compared to the festive sale month of CY2021. Redseer had earlier projected e-commerce sales of Rs 83,000 crore for the festival sale period that began on September 22 and extended till October 23 this year. For platforms that did not run a sale during any of these dates, the report considered BAU (business-as-usual) order volumes. Though a major portion of the sales during the festive season continues to come from electronic products and mobile phones, this category grew only 7% YoY. “Electronics and mobile (sales) have now come down a little bit from a growth perspective to 7% compared to last year,” said Ujjwal Chaudhry, partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants. We continue to see a healthy growth of users replacing their phones, but the trajectory of new phone users has come down a bit. Also, we didn’t see new launches from the smartphone players compared to the last few festive seasons.” Festive sales are being driven by Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, with 64% of transacting shoppers coming from these places. About 125 million shoppers placed orders across platforms in the festive month, aided by Tier 2+ cities. Fashion, mainly driven by un-branded fashion, led the growth, especially in Tier-2 markets. Here, one in every five orders was a Kurti or Saree. Home and kitchen, groceries and beauty & personal Care were the fastest-growing categories. Grocery grew almost 2X compared to last year’s festive season. “Lower order value items are growing faster than mobiles and electronics. eCommerce firms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, Reliance’s JioMart and Tata Group have been running various parallel sale events. They are competing with each other to capture a share of the $45-50 billion e-commerce market, which is expected to grow to $350 billion by 2030.

VandAI Bharat: Rural India ranks AI ahead of elections, festivals

The Mood of Bharat 2024 report by The Bharat Lab, a joint initiative between Lucknow University shows that rural India shows a lot of optimism. Females (66.5%) outnumbered males (13.5%) in leading the surge of interest in technology and gadgets. They also put AI ahead of national events like elections, or even festivals, and sports. The heightened interest in AI and technology advancements at 22.3 percent exceeds attention to elections (20.08%) and festivals (16.07%). This highlights the society’s inclination towards technology.

Insurtech opens up new sachet-sized markets

Technology is enabling insurance companies to emulate the model of mutual funds managed through digital subscriptions. Selling sachet products with low premiums that remain profitable to the industry. The increasing penetration of these products may not be apparent to consumers, as often they are sold as warranties by manufacturers and retailers, or as low value insurance cover by lenders. Platforms like Zopper facilitate these types of  low value insurance covers by lenders. Zopper connects companies with insurers, embedding insurance seamlessly into the core system of distribution partners. 30% of its business comes from insurance for household items. Most low value insurance comes with a premium of Rs 49 till Rs 99. Zopper gets 30% of its business by providing extended protection to household items like smartphones, laptops, air-conditioners, televisions, smartwatches, gym equipment etc.

Ayodhya Ram Mandir: Q-commerce, food delivery cos customize to deliver spiritual bliss

Food delivery companies and quick commerce companies did a lot of business of delivering items during the pran pratishtha ceremony of Lord Ram in Ayodhya by customizing their apps. There was more demand for puja samagri items like diyas, lamps, and agarbattis all over India during January 22. Q-commerce majors Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit have added categories such as ‘Ram Mandir Inauguration’, ‘Light up your puja corner’, ‘Light & Celebrate’ on their apps. “10-minute delivery is becoming a staple during religious events!” says Zepto owner & CEO Aadit Palicha. All the puja items saw 6-fold demand on that day and before that. Zomato and Swiggy have put up banners for ‘Pure Veg Food Delights’ to cater to the demand for vegetarian food.

5 key technology trends that will shape manufacturing this year

Smart factories utilize various technologies related to the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) to optimize smart manufacturing processes. While traditional supply chain and manufacturing ecosystems have been the backbone of companies for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges have exposed their vulnerabilities, prompting the need for a more agile solution. The global smart factory market is expected to reach a staggering $321.98 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 9.52% from 2023 to 2032. Experts believe that companies embracing digital transformation and smart factory technology can reap significant business benefits, including improved product quality, increased efficiency, and sustainability. Technologies like digital twins, machine learning, AI, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) are revolutionizing the manufacturing industry. They enable remote monitoring, servicing, and equipment operation, eliminating the need for on-site presence. Digital twin manufacturing, which involves creating a digital replica of a physical manufacturing process, is projected to reach a market value of $73.5 billion by 2027. Predictive maintenance, a key aspect of AI, is gaining prominence as it helps prevent costly downtime caused by inefficient maintenance. Predictive maintenance uses data analysis tools to identify potential equipment defects and prevent failures. The ongoing war in Ukraine and economic challenges are causing major disruptions in the global supply chain. As a result, manufacturers are forced to adapt and make the best out of a difficult situation. This has led to a trend known as reshoring, where production is brought closer to home. Reshoring not only helps reduce transportation costs but also allows for better quality control. By having production closer to home, companies can closely oversee and maintain higher control over their production processes, ensuring a consistently high-quality product. Manufacturers are currently grappling with a tight labor market and high turnover rates as they navigate the ever-changing talent landscape. A September 2023 report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute estimates that by 2030, approximately 2.1 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled, resulting in a staggering $1 trillion loss in that year alone. While increasing salaries for specific roles such as robotics, connected technologies, and cybersecurity will be observed, manufacturers are more likely to prioritize reskilling initiatives that may involve implementing continuous training programs to enhance employees’ skills, partnering with startups to access new technology and talent, and collaborating with academic institutions to tap into digital expertise. According to the World Economic Forum, one-fifth of the world’s carbon emissions come from the manufacturing and production sectors, consuming 54% of the world’s energy sources. A number of Fortune Global 500 companies have committed to going carbon neutral, with one-fourth of them aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. This is largely driven by eco-conscious consumers demanding eco-friendly products and supporting companies with shared values. Manufacturers that go carbon neutral enhance their reputation as environmentally responsible organizations,

‘AI Computers to Drive Next Replacement Cycle in Indian PC Market’

After a long period of decline, the PC looks primed to return to growth, thanks to the arrival of new AI PC devices optimized for generative AI. PCs have seen seven consecutive quarters of declining sales, with inflation and a more conservative approach to tech spending among enterprises prompting a marked dip in shipments. But that could be about to change, according to analysts, with an improved economic environment leading to a surge in sales over the holiday period and beyond into 2024. Across next year, shipments could hit 267 million units – marking an 8% increase compared to 2023, according to analysis from Canalys. While the need to replace aging Windows 10 devices will be a key factor behind this increase, the consultancy said a sharpened focus on the development of new AI PC models by manufacturers will play a pivotal role. The global PC market is on a recovery path and set to return to 2019 shipment levels by next year, said Canalys analyst Ben Yeh. “The impact of AI on the PC industry will be profound, with leading players across OEMs, processor manufacturers, and operating system providers focused on delivering new AI-capable models in 2024,” he said.  Canalys predicts that by 2027 over half (60%) of PCs will be ‘AI-capable’. It argues that the boom in generative AI will see PCs undergo a significant transformation.

Google rolls out conversational AI in Search Ads

Google has integrated its latest AI model-Gemini-into the Search Ads platform to enhance advertising performance. If you have a website URL, Google AI will help you create optimized Search campaigns by generating relevant ad content, including creatives and keywords through a chat-based experience. This integration aims to make it easier to create ad campaigns and help ads connect better with what people are searching for online as search behavior evolves, says Shashi Thakur, Vice President and General Manager of Google Ads. The beta version of the tool will be first accessible to English-language advertisers in the U.S. and U.K. The global rollout for the tool is set to commence in the coming weeks, with plans for additional language support in the coming months, says Thakur. Early tests have shown that advertisers using this tool can construct higher-quality search campaigns with reduced effort, resulting in increased ad-strength scores – a metric assessing ad copy’s relevance, quality, and diversity. Advertisers can now review and approve assets, including images, prior to campaign activation. According to Google’s data, small businesses leveraging the conversational experience are 42% more likely to launch Search campaigns with “Good” or “Excellent” Ad Strength. This holds significance as higher Ad Strength correlates strongly with increased conversions, explains Thakur.

Ola founder’s Krutrim India’s 1st AI unicorn

Krutrim, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup founded by serial entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal, has achieved unicorn status following a successful funding round that secured $50 million from prominent investors. In a recent blog post, the company proudly announced its newfound status as the first Indian AI startup to reach a billion-dollar valuation, a remarkable feat achieved within a month of unveiling a large language model. The startup, aptly named Krutrim, translating to “artificial” in Sanskrit, is not only focusing on advancing AI language capabilities but is also delving into the development of data centers. The ultimate goal is to create servers and supercomputers tailored to the evolving needs of the AI ecosystem. Krutrim is a family of Large Language Models, including Krutrim base and Krutrim Pro which will have multimodal, larger knowledge capabilities, and many other technical advancements for inference. According to the company’s blog post, it is trained on over 2 trillion tokens, Krutrim accomplishes better performance on multiple well-known, global, LLM evaluation benchmarks including MMLU, HellaSwag, BBH, PIQA and ARC. Krutrim will be available in beta version for consumers in February 2024. Additionally, it will also be available as an API for enterprises and developers, seeking to create AI applications.

Meta launches ‘Find, Message and Buy on WhatsApp’

On November 17, Mark Zuckerberg shared an update on what the platform is building to help people find, message, and buy something from a business on WhatsApp. The new feature on WhatsApp would allow users to discover new brands, connect with them and make purchases directly on the app. WhatsApp is launching the ability to find a business right on the app so people can now browse businesses by categories – such as travel or banking – or search by the business name. This will save people from having to find phone numbers off websites or type a number into their contacts. These new features are introduced to offer users a convenient way to quickly get assistance from the millions of small businesses and tens of thousands of brands already on WhatsApp. It will be available first to Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia, and the UK. In Brazil, people will be able to browse categories of small businesses in their neighborhoods as well.

Co-parenting Apps Gaining Popularity in India

Many Indian couples fighting divorce cases are increasingly relying on co-parenting apps to communicate with each other to avoid friction while maintaining records of their children. Mostly US-based co-parenting apps such as We Parent, Our Family Wizard and Talking Parents are becoming part of Indian couples fighting acrimonious divorce battles or seeking separation with mutual consent. Interestingly, Indian courts are also acknowledging the effectiveness of such apps and allowing the prayers of parties to direct the other side to use such apps. These apps help facilitate the information sharing of school records, medical records, daily activities, schedules and pictures which can be shared with the parent that does not have a child’s custody. It also helps to keep an account of shared expenses between parents.