82% Retail MSMEs Want To Add Digital Sales Channel
A new survey by Zoho Corporation reveals that 82 per cent of micro and medium retailers in India are eager to adopt digital sales channels, even as offline marketplaces remain their primary choice.
This highlights a growing trend among Indian retailers to embrace digital tools while retaining the trust and reach of physical stores.
The survey found that 60 per cent of MSMEs now operate through an omnichannel approach, combining both online and offline presence.
Among these, 75 per cent believe it helps increase customer reach, while 68 per cent reported receiving equal revenue from both streams.
Looking ahead, 60 per cent of retailers plan to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) by 2030 to enhance competitiveness, with 44 per cent focusing on AI-driven personalisation.
Despite digital growth, 71 per cent of retailers said that customers still prefer in-person shopping to physically inspect products before buying.
AI Alone Won’t Cut It: Trust and Timing Drive Customer Loyalty
wilio (NYSE: TWLO), the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalized experiences for leading brands, today released its sixth annual State of Customer Engagement Report. Based on a global survey of more than 7,600 consumers and 600+ business leaders across 18 countries, the report underscores a powerful trend: AI is driving clear ROI—but unless businesses also earn consumer trust and deliver relevance in the moment, they risk leaving real value on the table.
In a macroeconomic climate where every dollar counts, the stakes are high. While 96% of companies say AI is improving customer-facing operations such as support, marketing, and personalization, and 75% see increased customer spend from personalization efforts, only 45% of consumers feel understood by the brands they interact with, down slightly from 46% in 2024. And despite 83% of business leaders claiming to deeply understand their customers, consumer behavior tells a different story: 71% will walk away from purchases if the experience doesn’t feel relevant.
“AI has opened the door to more personalized customer experiences than ever before — but technology alone isn’t the answer,” said Chris Koehler, CMO of Twilio. “Our research shows that to truly engage customers, brands must earn their trust, respect their preferences, and meet them in real-time with experiences that feel human. In today’s climate, customer loyalty is harder to earn — and the brands that succeed will be the ones that invest in the right tools to deliver personalization at scale, while maintaining transparency and putting the customer first.”
Meta to enforce SEBI-compliant verification for securities & investment ads in India
Meta has made it mandatory for advertisers running securities and investment advertisements targeting users in India, including global campaigns, to undergo verification by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), or, if exempt from SEBI registration, complete identity or business verification.
The policy applies across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and must be complied with by 31 July 2025. The verification requirement, part of Meta’s updated advertising service terms, is aimed at increasing transparency and regulatory compliance for financial promotions on its platforms.
Under the new rules, advertisers will be required to disclose verified beneficiary and payer details in all investment-related ads. This information will appear in the form of a disclaimer created during the ad setup process. The disclaimer will include the SEBI registration number of the entity funding or benefiting from the advertisement. Ads created prior to the enforcement date will not need to be retroactively edited, provided the account has been verified.
Meta began rolling out the verification process on 26 June and will offer global access by 28 July. Advertisers will receive notifications informing them when they become eligible to complete verification, with a minimum of one month provided to finalise the necessary steps.
X Boosts Sports Fan Engagement with New Features
X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is rolling out new features aimed at making it easier and more exciting for sports fans to connect and interact. This move is designed to enhance the experience, especially during live game days.
Why the Focus on Sports?
This push comes as other social media platforms, including Meta, are also trying to attract and keep sports communities. Sports fans are highly active on social media, especially during live events, making them valuable users. X wants to make sure it remains the go-to place for real-time sports conversation and reaction.
Enhancing the Game Day Experience
The goal of these new options is to boost interaction during sports events. While specific details on all the new features aren’t always announced broadly at once, the aim is likely to provide better ways to:
- Follow live scores and updates.
- Easily join relevant conversations.
- See key moments or highlights as they happen.
- Connect with other fans of the same team or sport.
These features are intended to make following a game on X feel more dynamic and engaging.
Instagram Improves Spotify Music Sharing Options in Stories
Instagram’s rolling out the ability to actually listen to a preview of a song that you’ve shared from Spotify in IG Stories, as opposed to just providing a Spotify link, further refining its music engagement elements.
So now, when you share a Spotify music sticker within your IG Stories, viewers will be able to listen to it in-stream. Up till now, you’ve been able to share Spotify music stickers, but that only provided a link back to the Spotify track. The updated sticker now also includes audio, which is a big improvement.
Yet, at the same time, functionally, it’s not really new, as you’ve been able to post music in Stories since forever. But you haven’t been able to combine Spotify song sharing within Stories in the same way, to it builds on that functionality.
Though you have been able to share songs to your Stories via “Add Yours” music stickers, while you can also now share songs from Spotify to your IG Notes, a feature that Instagram added last month.
Tinder’s mandatory facial recognition check comes to the US
Tinder is trialing mandatory facial recognition security features in the US to verify profiles and crack down on impersonation and fake accounts. New users in California are now required to provide a biometric “Face Check” scan to confirm their face matches their profile photos for the dating service, Axios reported on Monday.
The Face Check feature involves taking a short video selfie that’s used to match biometric indicators and prove that the Tinder user isn’t a bot using artificially generated images, providing them with a verified badge upon completion. The scan will also check if the user’s face is being used in multiple accounts, which could help to prevent users from being impersonated or having their likeness used by deceptive “catfish” profiles.
Face Check is separate from Tinder’s ID Check feature, which uses government-issued ID to verify users’ age and identity, while Face Check seemingly only requires users to upload a selfie video. Tinder users have provided video selfies to verify their profiles since 2023, but verification wasn’t a mandatory requirement for creating a Tinder account. This change means that Californians will have to complete some version of verification if they want to use the platform at all.
From BC Web Wise Desk:
Game On, Charge Up: A Case Study on Tata Power’s ‘Easy Drive’ EV Engagement Campaign
Checkout the Easy drive game case study we made for Tata Power EZ charge, which made it to the Kyoorius first list and Montreux Golden award finalist.
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