New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) Social media platforms currently influence 77 per cent of retail purchase decisions in India, with Meta platforms driving 96 per cent of social discovery, a report said on Wednesday.

The report from Meta and Retailers Association of India (RAI) said short‑form video and creators are accelerating product discovery, with 97 per cent of consumers watching short videos daily and 60 per cent of time on Facebook and Instagram spent on video.

The report noted that 72 per cent of product discovery happens on the messaging platform 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 generated, and 22 per cent higher order values, reinforcing the role of conversational commerce in driving acquisition and sales," the report noted.

"Omnichannel shoppers are more valuable, spending 2.5 times more than single‑channel shoppers and up to 73 per cent more when engaging across multiple touchpoints," the report further said.

"Meta’s AI-led shopping tools like Omnichannel Optimization now optimize digital campaigns to drive verifiable in-store sales," the report said.

“There has been a fundamental shift in retail: consumers no longer move between online and offline; they operate across both at once. Discovery, influence, and purchase now happen through content, creators, conversations, and stores, often in the same journey," said Hitesh Bhatt, Director - Marketing & Communications, Retailers Association of India (RAI).

Retail leaders should embrace omnichannel performance marketing to seamlessly connect with consumers across platforms, optimizing reach and impact, said Meghna Apparao, Director, E-Commerce and Retail (India), Meta.

Further, she urged industry players to leverage WhatsApp as a direct, personalized channel for customer interaction and commerce.

According to the report, Indian consumers are increasingly adopting a “phygital” shopping behaviour, with over half researching products online before buying in-store and a similar proportion researching in-store before purchasing online

—IANS

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