AI Fuels India's Omnichannel Shopping Surge: Meta & Retailers Association of India

A new whitepaper from Meta and the Retailers Association of India (RAI) reveals that AI, short-form video, creators, and messaging platforms are profoundly changing how Indian consumers discover and purchase products across various channels. The research indicates that omnichannel shoppers are highly valuable, spending 2.5 times more than single-channel shoppers and up to 73% more when engaging through multiple touchpoints. Social media plays a significant role, influencing 77% of retail purchase decisions, with Meta's platforms alone accounting for 96% of this social discovery. The study emphasizes the effectiveness of Meta's AI-driven shopping tools, such as Omnichannel Optimization, which has led to a fourfold or more improvement in omnichannel return on ad spend (ROAS) for Indian retailers by optimizing for both online and offline conversions. Furthermore, short-form video content like Reels, along with creators, is proving to be a key performance driver, resulting in 71% higher brand intent and 19% lower acquisition costs. WhatsApp is also highlighted as a crucial commerce engine, streamlining the entire customer journey from discovery to post-purchase interactions within a single conversation. The whitepaper underscores that integrated data strategies, leveraging in-store sales data with advertising measurement, can lead to substantial revenue growth, with some retailers experiencing up to 15% increase and significant improvements in ROAS and incremental sales.