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<ul><li>The company said it is delivering more than 150,000 orders a month via the regional language versions of the <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> app.</li><li>Bengali, Gujarati, <keyword id="6354291" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kannada" source="Orion">Kannada</keyword>, <keyword id="15618134" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="malayalam-punjabi-marathi-tamil-and-telugu" source="Orion">Malayalam, Punjabi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu</keyword> is also being to place order on Zomato. </li><li>Zomato currently delivers food in more than 1,000 cities.</li></ul> Online food delivery platform Zomato on Friday announced it is now available in <keyword id="6357660" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hindi" source="Orion">Hindi</keyword> and other widely spoken regional languages including Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Marathi, <keyword id="6356629" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tamil" source="Orion">Tamil</keyword> and Telugu. The company said it is delivering more than 150,000 orders a month via the regional language versions of the Zomato app. "Hindi and Tamil contribute to 54 per cent and 11 per cent of these orders currently, respectively, and the rest are growing rapidly," said the company. Zomato currently delivers food in more than 1,000 cities. "While we are grateful for the positive sentiment, we recognise that we're just getting started. We will continuously work on improving the quality of our regional app to make them more accurate and contextual," said the food aggregator. The online food delivery platform consolidated net loss decreased to Rs 251 crore for the September quarter, against Rs 430 crore in net loss in the same quarter last year. The revenue went up to Rs 1,661 crore against Rs 1,024 crore in the year-ago period, a significant 62.2 per cent jump, the company had said in a statement. "This is the first quarter where we have crossed the billion dollar annualised revenue mark (at $1.05 billion)," said Zomato. Blinkit's Gross Order Value (GOV) grew 26 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 14.82 billion while the revenue grew 44 per cent quarter-on-quarter. "Adjusted EBITDA loss in quick commerce reduced to Rs 2.59 billion from Rs 3.26 billion in the previous quarter (Q1FY23)," the company said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/forex-kitty-grows-for-2nd-consecutive-week-rises-2-54-bn-to-547-25-bn/articleshow/95767390.cms">Forex kitty grows for 2nd consecutive week; rises $2.54 bn to $547.25 bn</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indian-trade-unions-to-join-global-protests-against-amazon-india/articleshow/95765696.cms">Indian trade unions to join global protests against Amazon India</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/black-friday-the-sales-scams-and-myths/articleshow/95764746.cms">Black Friday: The sales, scams and myths</a>

Zomato goes desi, now available in Hindi and 8 other regional languages

Apologising for unintentionally hurting sentiments, restaurant aggregator <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> on Thursday withdrew an ad after it came under fire for depicting the actor who played the Dalit character <keyword id="1339390" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="kachra" source="Orion">Kachra</keyword> in the film "<keyword id="20409" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="lagaan" source="Orion">Lagaan</keyword>" as items made of recycled waste. The ad, which draws a link between the character Kachra with 'kachra', the Hindi word for garbage, was aired on World Environment Day on June 5. As ire grew and the ad came under attack on social media for being casteist, the company issued an apology from its official Twitter handle and said the intent was to "spread awareness about the potential of plastic waste and benefits of recycling in a humorous way". "Unintentionally, we may have hurt the sentiments of certain communities and individuals. We have taken down the video," it said. The ad, aiming to show the food delivery company's recycling efforts, was termed "disgusting", "blatantly casteist", and "extremely insensitive" by netizens on Twitter. "Masaan" director <keyword id="1005369" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="neeraj-ghaywan" source="Orion">Neeraj Ghaywan</keyword>, filmmaker Madhurita Anand and Dalit historian Karunyakara Lella were among those who spoke out. In the nearly two-minute ad, actor Aditya Lakhia, who played the character in the 2001 hit film, is depicted as a lamp, paper, paperweight, watering can, and different types of jackets -- the accompanying text detailing how much recycled 'kachra' was used to make each item. The company in its now-deleted ad on YouTube also claimed it has "recycled 20 million kg of plastic kachra so far". "Zomato voluntarily recycles more than 100% of the plastic used to package orders, and keeps it out of landfills. This 20 million kg of plastic waste, recycled in FY 23 under our 100% plastic-neutral deliveries initiative, can be turned into many items of immense value. We believe in the power of recycling, and kachra - the best spinner in the entire British Raj - does as well," the description of the ad read. Discussing the controversial ad campaign, communications strategy consultant Karthik Srinivasan said Zomato did not think adequately about making the character perform "seemingly dehumanising and menial tasks". "There's a context to Kachra's character in 'Lagaan', and within the larger spectrum of commercial entertainment in India, on how castes are portrayed, and how Dalits, in particular, are portrayed or stereotyped. "Coming from that angle, to see the character perform seemingly dehumanising and menial tasks -- even if he is performing them figuratively, as 'waste' and not his Lagaan character per se -- made the ad seem very awkward," Srinivasan told PTI. He added that Zomato attempted to mine a "kind of sly humour" from the name for waste upcycling/recycling. The video was slammed online for its seemingly casteist overtones. "#Kachra from #Lagaan was one of the most dehumanised voiceless depictions of Dalits ever in cinema. @zomato has used the same character and made a repulsive #casteist commercial. A human stool? Are you serious? Extremely insensitive," Ghaywan wrote on Twitter. Filmmaker Madhurita Anand wrote in reply to Ghaywan's tweet: "That is just so offensive. One has to wonder who these people are who created the advert, approved it and put it online without once thinking about it." Dalit historian and writer Karunyakara Lella also hit out at Zomato for its "Dalit phobic" advertisement. "Why #Zomato is insensitive to Dalit sentiments? Why it takes liberty to hurt Dalit life by humiliating Dalit Identity? #BoycottZomato for #DalitPhobic #casteracist advertisement," Lella wrote. Another Twitter user, Sana Satpathy, said Zomato is "beyond disgusting" and its marketing head should be fired immediately. She used the hashtag #BoycottZomato and called for a public apology. The food delivery company has found itself on the wrong side of marketing in the past as well. In 2017, an outdoor ad campaign in major cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru showed Hindi expletives "MC, BC" as abbreviations for mac n' cheese and butter chicken. The company later withdrew the ad after backlash on social media. In 2022, Zomato pulled down an advertisement featuring actor Hrithik Roshan who was shown to be craving for a "thali" (food platter) in Ujjain so he ordered it from "Mahakal". Priests of the famous Mahakaleshwar temple in Madhya Pradesh objected, claiming that it offended Hindu sentiments and demanded its withdrawal. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra had issued directives to the police to look into the controversy. The company later apologised clarifying that the "Mahakal" reference was for a restaurant and not the temple. The character Kachra in "Lagaan" is a polio-affected Dalit. When Aamir Khan's character Bhuvan insists on adding him to the cricket team - the central theme of the film -- after spotting his spinning skills, upper caste members openly reject the idea as he is an "untouchable". However, he ends up playing a crucial role in the cricket match. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/bajaj-finserv-after-twitterati-scream-foul-about-pesky-calls-rbi-says-will-look-into-it/articleshow/100849176.cms">After Twitterati screams foul about pesky calls, RBI says 'will look into it'</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/hiring-in-india-slowed-down-by-7-in-may-foundit-report/articleshow/100848986.cms">Hiring in India slowed down by 7% in May: Foundit report</a>

Zomato takes down ad depicting 'Lagaan' character Kachra as recycled waste items

<ul><li>The tech giant's Project Zero team said it had alerted the chip designer ARM about the <keyword id="257940" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gpu" source="Orion">GPU</keyword> bug.</li><li>The British chip designer had fixed those vulnerabilities.</li><li>Google researchers reported five issues to ARM when they were discovered between June and July 2022.</li></ul> Google researchers have warned that millions of <keyword id="6355645" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="android" source="Orion">Android</keyword> smartphones are prone to hacking due to a bug in one of the graphics processing units (GPU) within the devices. The tech giant's Project Zero team said it had alerted the chip designer ARM about the GPU bug, and the British chip designer had fixed those vulnerabilities. However, smartphone manufacturers including <keyword id="10591" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="samsung" source="Orion">Samsung</keyword>, <keyword id="874458" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="xiaomi" source="Orion">Xiaomi</keyword>, Oppo and Google "hadn't deployed patches to fix the vulnerabilities as of earlier this week", claimed the Project Zero team. "The vulnerabilities discussed are fixed by the upstream vendor, but at the time of publication, these fixes have not yet made it downstream to affected Android devices (including <keyword id="576817" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pixel" source="Orion">Pixel</keyword>, Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo and others). Devices with a <keyword id="2921663" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="mali-gpu" source="Orion">Mali GPU</keyword> are currently vulnerable," said Ian Beer of Project Zero Google researchers reported five issues to ARM when they were discovered between June and July 2022. ARM fixed the issues promptly in July and August 2022, disclosing them as security issues on their Arm Mali Driver Vulnerabilities page (CVE-2022-36449) and publishing the patched driver source on their public developer website. However, Google "discovered that all of our test devices which used Mali GPU are still vulnerable to these issues. CVE-2022-36449 is not mentioned in any downstream security bulletins". The researchers said users are recommended to patch as quickly as they can once a release containing security updates is available, so the same applies to vendors and companies. "Companies need to remain vigilant, follow upstream sources closely, and do their best to provide complete patches to users as soon as possible," the tech giant added. According to <keyword id="2180054" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sammobile" source="Orion">SamMobile</keyword>, Samsung's Galaxy S22 series devices and the company's Snapdragon-powered handsets aren't affected by these bugs. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/zomato-goes-desi-now-available-in-hindi-and-8-other-regional-languages/articleshow/95767672.cms">Zomato goes desi, now available in Hindi and 8 other regional languages</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/isro-begins-countdown-for-pslv-c54-mission-to-launch-oceansat-eight-other-satellites/articleshow/95766837.cms">ISRO begins countdown for PSLV-C54 mission to launch Oceansat, eight other satellites</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/india-uae-in-talks-for-rupee-dirham-denominated-bilateral-trade/articleshow/95766169.cms">India, UAE in talks for rupee-dirham denominated bilateral trade</a>

Millions of Android devices prone to hacking due to GPU bug: Google

<ul><li>Shares of <keyword id="95677" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jubilant-FoodWorks">Jubilant Foodworks</keyword>, Domino’s India franchisee, surged more than 10% on July 22 on better than expected June quarter results.</li><li>Pandemic has helped Domino’s mobile app downloads grow faster and closer to the market leader in delivery platforms like Swiggy.</li><li>While it is still short of <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> and Swiggy, staying with changing times seems to have helped Jubilant.</li><li>On the other hand, the company continues to build physical stores. 20 new Domino's stores were opened in June quarter and another 150-175 stores are likely in FY22.</li></ul>The 10% plus rally in shares of Jubilant Foodworks on June 22 reflects a surprisingly good set of earnings in the April-June quarter, also the period in which the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic peaked. While people stayed away from dining out during the lockdown, online orders for pizzas and burgers through its own apps kept Jubilant’s business buzzing. Typically, one would compare Jubilant Foodworks with another food chain operator like <keyword id="33542" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Burger-King">Burger King</keyword>. However, recent data suggests the Domino’s franchisee in India is fast catching up with food delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy. Domino’s app has seen maximum downloads (24 million additional downloads) in FY21. The management attributed 73% on year increase in downloads to doubling of performance marketing spends, availability of the best in class consumer offers on the app, improved consumer experience and promotions of <keyword id="278022" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="NPD">NPD</keyword> (Pasta pizza), said a report by <keyword id="328060" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Phillip-Capital">Phillip Capital</keyword>. Interestingly, the introduction of the app in Hindi has increased the number of downloads, and management anticipates this trend to continue after the software is released in other vernacular/regional languages, added the report. From January 2021, Domino’s pizza app in India has seen over 7 million downloads getting closer to delivery platform Swiggy’s over 11 million downloads and Zomato’s 21 million downloads. In June alone, Domino’ Pizza saw 1.3 million mobile downloads. While it is still short of Zomato and Swiggy, staying with changing times seems to have helped Jubilant. The India online food delivery market reached a value of $ 4.35 billion in 2020. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.1% during 2021-2026, said a <a href="https://www.imarcgroup.com/india-online-food-delivery-market">report </a>by <keyword id="5880596" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IMARC-Group">IMARC Group</keyword>, a market research company. The total income for June quarter grew over 120% year-on-year to ₹901 crore taking the profit to ₹69 crore as compared to a ₹74 crore loss last year. “Domino’s sales almost recovered to pre-covid levels towards the end of 1QFY22 [first quarter of this financial year] backed by continued strong growth in the delivery channel growing 123%,” said a report by Phillip Capital. <div type="image" title="Jubilant foodworks profit" height="900" width="1200" msid="84644786" hostid="261"></div> The 25-year old Jubilant has not given up on its physical stores. The company has also beaten market expectations on opening new stores. Despite the challenging scenario, it opened 20 stores of Domino’s in June quarter and has guided for 150-175 stores in FY22. Digital scale up, broad based ramp up in delivery adoption, multi brand quick service restaurant (QSR) platform, strong management bandwidth and high cash generation will aid the company in riding the robust underlying industry tailwinds, said a report by Axis Capital. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Stock broking platform </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Target price for Jubilant Foodworks </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Axis Capital </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 3,400 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Phillip Capital </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 3,600 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kotak Institutional Equities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 3,550 </td></tr></tbody></table> SEE ALSO - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/apple-could-finally-bring-the-always-on-display-feature-on-the-iphone-13/articleshow/84542970.cms">Apple could finally bring the always-on display feature on the iPhone 13</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/g-r-infraprojects-ipo-makes-a-strong-listing-on-exchanges-with-over-100-premium-shares-open-at-1700/articleshow/84542747.cms">G R Infraprojects IPO makes a strong listing on exchanges with over 100% premium, shares open at ₹1700</a>

If you don’t get Zomato shares via IPO, you could look at Jubilant Foodworks too

Amazon on Thursday announced that it is now adding Hindi as new language support for Alexa on Fire TV. The experience includes Hindi interactions for Alexa on Fire TV, local knowledge, information, hundreds of skills and more in Hindi. Customers who choose Hindi as their device language will also see Fire TV rows and menus in Hindi. "Customers can switch to Hindi through their Alexa Voice Remote by navigating to the Fire TV language settings by clicking Settings, Device Options and then Device Language. New Fire TV customers can select Hindi while setting up their device right out of the box," the company said in a statement. At launch, customers can explore Alexa in Hindi for music, knowledge, personality, smart home, timers and alarms, weather, news, local search, hundreds of skills, and more. In addition, Amazon is also expanding Alexa Routines by making it available on Fire TV devices in India. Alexa Routines is an Alexa feature designed to make customers' day-to-day lives easier by bundling Alexa and smart home features together seamlessly. Using the Alexa app, customers can set up Routines selecting actions such as powering their TV on or off, opening a specific app, playing specific content, and pausing or resuming content, in addition to other actions on their Alexa-enabled and smart home devices, such as turning on the light or changing the AC temperature. Amazon last month introduced the 'Live TV' feature for Fire TV devices in India, making it easier for customers to discover live channels from their favourite content providers. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-is-being-pulled-apart-in-a-polarised-india-for-pushing-advertising-money-to-backing-a-partisan-news-outfit/articleshow/79296969.cms">Zomato is being pulled apart in a polarised India⁠ for pushing advertising money to back a partisan news outfit</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/lakshmi-vilas-bank-is-the-fifth-financial-firm-after-ilfs-dhfl-yes-bank-and-pmc-bank-to-collapse-in-india/slidelist/79286096.cms">Lakshmi Vilas Bank is the fifth financial firm to collapse in India within the last 30 months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/pfizers-new-covid-19-vaccine-is-95-effective-and-the-only-severe-side-effect-to-worry-about-is-fatigue-according-to-the-final-results/articleshow/79284286.cms">Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine is 95% effective and the only severe side-effect to worry about is fatigue, according to the final results</a>

Amazon Alexa now has support for Hindi on Fire TV

<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>’s online shopper base is expected to reach 400-450 million by 2027. </li><li>The median age of Indians is 28 years, one of the lowest in the world. </li><li>There will be an additional focus on <keyword id="142845" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tier-ii" source="Orion">Tier II</keyword> and Tier III cities, reveal industry experts. </li><li>The country’s direct-to-consumer e-commerce market is expected to reach $100 billion by 2025, more than 15 times where it was in 2015. </li></ul>E-commerce has leapfrogged to a new era of high volume during the pandemic and has become the new normal ever since. Yet, there is a lot more evolution that’s to take place in this segment going ahead, say experts. In 2023, apart from continuing with the growth story in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, online shopping will also go deeper – which still has a lot of juice left. “Growth is expected to be led by new online shoppers - primarily from Tier 2/3 cities - and continued online migration of key categories including fashion and grocery. In fashion, 'social' commerce and direct- to-consumer brands are gaining share,” according to a Bernstein study. The mix has increased over the past 5-7 years – when e-commerce was largely concentrated in metro/Tier1 cities – to today, when Tier 2+ customers account for over 50% of the online shopper base, reveals Bernstein. The mix might continue to change with a bias towards non-metro shoppers. Along with robust sales from companies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms">Meesho</a> that are focussed on shoppers beyond the metros, the overall festive sales this year also had a large share of such shoppers. According to the E-Commerce Festive Season ‘22 report by Redseer, over 64% shoppers came from Tier II cities of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/one-in-every-five-online-orders-had-a-kurti-or-saree-in-their-cart-redseer/articleshow/95598263.cms">India</a>. “The pandemic changed the way Indians shop, with Shopify research showing more than half (53%) of consumers from non-metros now preferring online shopping, and 80% of Indian consumers preferring to shop from their smartphone. This shift means that often the first time consumers discover or interact with a brand, they’re almost certainly doing it online,” Bharati <keyword id="79029" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="balakrishnan" source="Orion">Balakrishnan</keyword>, country head and director, India at Shopify said. India’s online shopper base in general is expected to reach 400-450 million by 2027, according to a Bain and Company <a href="https://www.bain.com/insights/how-india-shops-online-2022-report/">report</a>. <div type="image" title="B&amp;amp;K Securities Footwear Sector Update 2022" agency="Business Insider" msid="96369576" hostid="261"></div> Voice searches to go desi To facilitate growth beyond metros, many e-commerce companies have enabled voice- based shopping, providing language options to make ‘Bharat’ shop online with as much ease as their metro and urban counterparts. The Indian food delivery unicorn Zomato has already gone <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/zomato-goes-desi-now-available-in-hindi-and-8-other-regional-languages/articleshow/95767672.cms#:~:text=Zomato%20goes%20desi%2C%20now%20available%20in%20Hindi%20and%208%20other%20regional%20languages,-Advertisement&amp;text=The%20company%20said%20it%20is,to%20place%20order%20on%20Zomato.">desi</a>, making its app available in eight vernacular languages. E-commerce giant <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> has also made its app available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bangla and Marathi. So has e-commerce platform Meesho. “Video content, voice search and localisation will take precedence in 2023 and beyond. Localisation through the use of vernacular and visual content will be the key to win over customers in Bharat,” Meesho told Business Insider India. Quick e-commerce and D2C business to fly In urban areas especially consumers have become a tad more demanding, especially when it comes to the delivery of essentials. “Within grocery, we're already seeing a shift from slow e-Com to 'quick'/ instant delivery,” said the Bernstein study. That means quick commerce players like Blinkit, Zomato, <keyword id="9731725" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="swiggy-instamart" source="Orion">Swiggy Instamart</keyword> and Dunzo are expected to see growth in the coming year. The trend of ordering groceries online has survived the pandemic-time need for essentials while stuck inside. In fact, the lightning-fast speed of the service has caught the fancy of users who now call the non-quick versions as slow e-Com. “The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted purchase decisions, and most users started moving to e-Commerce and quick commerce for their purchases. “Out of stock” - Those three little words have the power to kill e-commerce. In fact, 52% of online shoppers will abandon all items in their carts upon learning that just one item they are attempting to purchase is not in stock,” said Ajoy <keyword id="6356986" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="thomas" source="Orion">Thomas</keyword>, vice president, TeamLease Services. Thomas expects India's quick commerce sector to grow 10-15 times in the next five years to become a $5 billion market by 2025, quoting industry reports. Going into 2023, more consumers will look for D2C brands online as e-commerce players distinguish themselves from offline stores by offering products that can only be found online. The country’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce market is expected to reach $100 billion by 2025, more than 15 times where it was in 2015, Balakrishnan said. Imagining to experiencing via technology At a median age of 28, Indians are among the youngest and also the most tech savvy. AI and personalisation will, therefore, continue to be pivotal in enabling e-commerce – facilitating personalised discovery. Celebrity fashion designer Manish Malhotra launched his virtual store last year, with a virtual walkthrough of a Delhi store. “Interactive content will be essential in ensuring that millions of new customers move from imagining to experiencing what a product might be like in real life before making a purchasing decision. While the first 100 million customers came from metros, the vision for 2023 is to further double down on getting the next 500 million customers online,” a <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> spokesperson told Business Insider India. The e-commerce giant launched an augmented reality-powered Flipkart Camera, an AI-driven regional language interface and a virtual shopping platform called Flipverse. Its rival Amazon also started Amazon Live where shoppers can directly interact with experts who can showcase products, unveil top deals and answer customer queries in real time. Amazon engaged over 150 influencers to generate 600 live streams to help customers make an informed purchase decision. “India has the world's largest base of GenZ population. Their choices will redefine the future of the fashion retail industry in India, giving brands a great opportunity to create offerings to woo this customer base. They are digital savvy, follow global trends and take inspiration from influencers,” a Myntra spokesperson told Business Insider. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/article/15-of-the-top-20-most-used-songs-on-instagram-reels-globally-are-from-indian-artists/slidelist/96368443.cms">Suryakumar Yadav, Srivalli, and T20 World Cup: Top trends on Reels in India</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/tirupati-lucknow-madurai-and-other-non-metros-that-transacted-the-most-for-movies-as-per-bookmyshow/slidelist/96366956.cms">Tirupati, Lucknow, Madurai and other non-metros that transacted the most for movies, as per BookMyShow</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/south-indian-movies-overtake-bollywood-hollywood-in-cinemas-as-per-bookmyshow/slidelist/96364086.cms">South Indian movies overtake Bollywood &amp; Hollywood in cinemas as per BookMyShow</a>

Quick, personal, live and immersive – this is how e-commerce will be in 2023

<ul><li>Controversies have always been a part of the advertising industry and the year 2021 was no different.</li><li>The year was full of ups and downs and a lot of brands landed in trouble for hurting religious sentiments through their campaigns.</li><li>We look at the year gone by and some brand controversies that erupted in India.</li></ul>2021 was bitter-sweet for the Indian advertising industry. This year gave us beautiful campaigns such as Cadbury’s remake of the famous stadium ad with the wonderful jingle Kuch Khaas hai, CRED’s Indiranagar Ka Gunda that still continues to appear in memes on the internet, Bhima’s Pure as Love ad that challenged the status quo, to mention a few. However, it was also a year full of controversies. Many brands landed themselves in trouble and numerous campaigns had to be pulled off. It is not too difficult today for a small tweet to snowball into a boycott trend, something that is every marketers’ and agency’s nightmare. At the same time, when brands have a presence on social media, they start having an opinion or a voice. If brands err on the side of caution, they are simply selling products to consumers and not engaging with them on a personal level. There will always be users who support the brand for standing up and fighting for causes they believe in but there will also be those who would oppose them at the slightest disagreement. GenZ is also becoming increasingly aware of how advertising works and is able to separate grey from black. They view brands as a form of self-expression and to connect with them, brands are also expected to go beyond just selling their products. They are known to connect with brands that they feel are socially and environmentally conscious. So, while many experts advise brands to steer clear of religious topics or make any political statements, there’s also pressure on brands and companies to take firm stands on issues that matter to these young consumers. As brands try to find the balance between making the right statement and offending a majority in the coming year, here are a few brands who found themselves in troubled waters this year: Manyavar Bridal wear brand Mohey had released a commercial that aimed to offer a fresh perspective to the Hindu wedding ritual 'Kanyadaan.' With its campaign featuring Alia Bhatt, Mohey promoted women empowerment and gave a more gender-sensitive touch to the age-old tradition of ‘Kanyandaan’ in Hindu weddings and insisted on bringing in ‘Kanyamaan’ instead. “Through the film, Mohey’s brand ambassador Alia Bhatt questions the conventional beliefs that require a daughter to conform to being ‘given away’ at her wedding. She makes a choice on her wedding day to rethink rituals, stating what Kanyadaan means in modern times, making it more equal and progressive for her present and future generations,” explained its press release. However, this campaign did not sit well with Twitter users. It flared up a controversy on social media and the hashtag #BoycottManyavar started trending on Twitter. The trolls slammed the ad for mocking Hindu traditions. <div type="Youtube" id="PmCSjllj7KU" title="Tradition wahi, soch nayi - #KanyaMaan" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PmCSjllj7KU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Cadbury beef row Mondelez India had found itself in a soup too after a few screenshots surfaced on Twitter suggesting that its Cadbury Dairy Milk may contain gelatine derived from beef. Trolls were quick to call for a boycott on all Mondelez products but some users even pointed out that the screenshot being shared is that of Cadbury Australia’s website. <div type="twitter" handle="DairyMilkIn" handlename="Cadbury Dairy Milk" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1327255370444668928/1NjkNhJE_normal.jpg" favoritecount="963" retweetcount="241" status="https://t.co/798qgPozsF" createdat="1626616484000" id="1416758336909840387"></div> The chocolate and snacks giant later clarified that its products in India are all vegetarian. It said that the screenshots circulated were of the company’s products sold overseas. FabIndia Clothing brand FabIndia was criticised for its collection named 'Jashn-e-Riwaaz.' Twitterati alleged that the campaign purposely tried to hurt religious sentiments by associating the name ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ with Diwali, a Hindu festival. They even had a problem with women not wearing their badges of being married such as bindis, bangles and sindoor. Tejasvi Surya, MP and National President of the BJP Yuva Morcha had tweeted, “Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out. Brands like Fabindia must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures.” Soon after that tweet, FabIndia deleted its post across social media and renamed its collection to ‘Jilmil-si-Diwali.’ Sabyasachi The designer brand was trolled heavily for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by promoting their ‘Royal Bengal Mangalsutra,’ which is a part of their Intimate Fine Jewellery line. The ace designer behind it, <keyword id="7202" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sabyasachi-mukherjee" source="Orion">Sabyasachi Mukherjee</keyword>, decided to withdraw the campaign after it triggered an avalanche of online trolling for hurting religious sentiments. He retracted his campaign after Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra issued a "24-hour ultimatum" and threatened to send the "police force." <div type="image" title="Sabya and mangalsutra ads" msid="88322071" hostid="261"></div> Dabur’s Fem In the same week, Dabur’s Fem Cream Bleach advertisement stirred a boycott trend for showing a same-sex couple celebrating the Hindu festival of Karva Chauth. <div type="Youtube" id="-yu4_BIPkXU" title="Fem Ad on Karwa Chauth | Dabur Fem Controversial Ad | Viral Video" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-yu4_BIPkXU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> CEAT CEAT Tyres was criticised for an ad featuring Aamir Khan in which the actor was seen advising people not to burst crackers on Diwali. <div type="Youtube" id="wm4kOghHQ24" title="Switch to CEAT SecuraDrive | Aamir Khan- Cricket" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wm4kOghHQ24/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Zomato Zomato landed in a controversy in October after a customer from Tamil Nadu alleged he was denied a refund for a missing item in his order as he didn't know the ‘national language’ Hindi. Soon, a massive backlash followed on Twitter with many slamming the food delivery app for imposing Hindi on its customers. This also led to hashtags "Reject_Zomato" and "ZomatoSpeakTamil" trending on top. Fortune oil When Sourav Ganguly, BCCI President and Former India Cricket Captain, suffered a mild heart attack in January, netizens happened to re-discover his old ad endorsing Fortune's Cooking Oil. It then triggered a slew of tweets and jokes with people questioning the effectiveness of the oil and also wondering how the brand will tackle this crisis. <div type="twitter" handle="arifaajakia" handlename="Arif Aajakia" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1463855466463862798/ZR5EoEHM_normal.jpg" favoritecount="161" retweetcount="13" status="Dada, get well soon. We love you. You are a tiger, you will come back roaring. @SGanguly99 https://t.co/F5rkPAlmNE" createdat="1609734280000" id="1345949241093586946"></div> On Valentine’s day this year, the brand published an honest print ad clarifying that there are many factors that can affect our heart's health. Adani Wilmar’s Fortune rice bran cooking oil was the only brand that did not bow down to trolls. <div type="twitter" handle="FortuneFoods" handlename="Fortune Foods" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1230878437541371904/69ad0EW2_normal.jpg" favoritecount="15" retweetcount="2" status="Dada made a healthy comeback, as he always does! Here's a 'heart' felt message from him on Valentine's Day. Let's h… https://t.co/Je2cGatoz8" createdat="1613277036000" id="1360808636755320837"></div>

From Manyavar’s Kanyadaan to Cadbury’s beef row, here are a few brands that found themselves in trouble in 2021

<ul><li>More than a day has passed since the New York Times report saying the Indian government bought the spyware from Israel and there is very little in terms of response from the government. </li><li>It shows that either the government doesn’t take lying as a serious charge or it has little material to defend itself and neither of the two is a good show on an elected government in a democracy. </li><li>Check out more stories from the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/bi-newsletter">Simply Put series</a>, Business Insider’s uniquely simple explainers on the hottest news topics every week and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/newsletters_signup.cms">sign up</a> for the weekly newsletter if you like.</li></ul>At first, about six months ago, the question was whether the spyware was used by the Narendra Modi government to trace and track the dissenters. Now, after the New York Times investigation, the first question to be answered is whether Modi's ministers lied to the Parliament. And, the government’s silence on the New York Times charge that it bought Pegasus spyware is eerie. The Prime Minister gave his frequent radio address, called the Mann ki Baat, on January 30, but there was no mention of the Pegasus issue. The opposition is likely to launch a high decibel protest, demanding a response from the Modi government in the Parliament when it opens for <a href="https://businessinsider.in/budget">the Budget session this week</a>. A minister of the Modi government, Ashwini Vaishnaw, had denied the snooping charge in Parliament saying India was not one of the buyers of the Pegasus spyware. The Ministry of Defence backed it up saying it didn’t do any transaction with the NSO Group that sells Pegasus. The government lawyer maintained a similar stance at the Supreme Court of India as well, but the court did not find it convincing. These were some of the court’s observations after the government’s response to the charge that it used national security as an excuse to illegally monitor its detractors: <ul><li>There has been no specific denial by the Centre. Thus, we have no option but to accept the submissions of the petitioner and appoint an expert committee whose function will be overseen by the Supreme Court.</li><li>There is no clear stand from the government. There is a serious concern of foreign agency involvement by surveilling Indians.</li><li>The Solicitor General had suggested that many such reports are motivated. However, such omnibus oral submissions cannot be accepted.</li></ul> Given the Modi administration’s response in the preceding months, the implication of the latest New York Times report is that the Modi administration lied both to the Parliament and the Supreme Court. It’s a charge similar to the Watergate scandal in the United States that toppled the Richard Nixon administration in the early 1970s. Even Subramanian Swamy, a member of Parliament from Modi’s own party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has raised a similar question. <div type="twitter" handle="Swamy39" handlename="Subramanian Swamy" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1326823978174910465/lBQbS0ZX_normal.jpg" favoritecount="15368" retweetcount="4437" status="Modi government must rebut New York Times revelations today that It did indeed subscribe by payment from tax payers… https://t.co/gBWw1J1jfV" createdat="1643424463000" id="1487256113187721217"></div> The New York Times report has alleged that the Indian government under Modi did buy the spyware from Israel as part of a $2 billion purchase of defence equipment. The report also connected this purchase with India supporting Israel at a United Nations (UN) forum ⁠— <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/politics/israel-palestine-conflict-here-is-how-india-has-voted-in-un-over-the-years-6956341.html">a shift from its long-standing support for the Palestinian cause</a> ⁠— to deny a Palestinian human rights organisation an ‘observer status’. More than a day has passed since the latest report and there is very little in terms of response from the government or the Prime Minister. So far, there is a tweet from a junior minister for civil aviation and road transport and highways, General VK Singh, who has called the New York Times ‘supari media’. Taking a Supari ⁠— the Hindi word for betel nut ⁠— is a colloquially used to describe a hit job. Syed Akbaruuddin, India’s former permanent representative to the UN, <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/utter-rubbish-ex-diplomat-syed-akbaruddin-on-nyt-pegasus-report-citing-indias-un-vote-2736819">has ‘rubbished’ the link</a> with India’s stance in support of Israel against Palestinians. Other than these, there isn’t another official word on the matter so far. Considering the seriousness of the charge, it would be fair to expect that the Prime Minister would have defended the government in his Mann ki baat address to the voters today. But he didn't. <div type="Youtube" id="WdprihSHmmQ" title="PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat with the Nation, January 2022" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WdprihSHmmQ/mqdefault.jpg"></div> There are two ways to look at it. Either team Modi doesn’t take the charge of ‘lying to Parliament’ seriously. It’s not a good show on an elected government in a democracy that it doesn’t take offence to being called a liar, especially in the Parliament. Or, it doesn’t have enough material to defend itself. An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court, led by a former judge RV Raveendran, is already <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/supreme-court-of-india-verdict-on-pegasus-spying-case-appoints-a-retired-judge-committee-for-probe/articleshow/87299281.cms">looking into the snooping charges</a>. If the three-member panel arrives at a conclusion that there was illegal supervision, it could automatically imply that the tool i.e. Pegasus was purchased by the government. A clean chit from the Justice Raveendran panel would be a good thing for Modi and his government but it isn’t here, at least not yet. Meanwhile, ignoring the charge of lying, or wishing it away, is not an option. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/pegasus-google-reveals-how-the-sophisticated-spyware-hacked-into-iphones-without-users-knowledge/articleshow/88383175.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Google reveals how the sophisticated spyware Pegasus hacked into iPhones without user’s knowledge</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/rupee-is-likely-to-weaken-against-the-us-dollar-in-2022-as-per-experts/articleshow/89218673.cms">Experts say the rupee is likely to weaken against the US dollar this year</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2022-indian-government-can-help-zomato-swiggy-uber-and-ola-can-increase-salary-of-delivery-partners-and-drivers/articleshow/89180404.cms">There’s a way government can prod Zomato, Swiggy, Uber and Ola to increase salaries of delivery partners and drivers</a>

Simply put, the charge on the Modi government is that it lied to the Parliament about buying Pegasus spyware and it must respond

<ul><li><keyword id="1132603" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zendesk">Zendesk</keyword> has over 2,800 clients in India including Ola, Zomato, Shaadi.com, OLX, Vodafone, Airbnb and ITC Foods. </li><li>But the US-listed company will find big competition from the homegrown Zoho and Freshworks, both of which have also expanded to the US. </li><li>In an interview with Business Insider, Zendesk’s senior management discusses the company’s plans for India.</li></ul>The $9.6 billion Zendesk, the US-based <keyword id="169305" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="customer-service">customer service</keyword> software company, is focussing on the India market now. Zendesk, which has also partnered with WhatsApp for business, also launched two new products globally, including India. First product being Gather, which is a platform where customers can engage with each other and company experts. The second one Sunshine Conversations, an API-based platform through which companies can interact with consumers through social media channels. Some of its clients include Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and also DBS Bank. India’s new-age tech savvy companies and the thousands of small and medium enterprises also caught Zendesk’s fancy. But the US-listed company will find competition from the homegrown Zoho and Freshworks, both of which have also expanded to the US. Big plans for India The India market was initially clubbed with the overall APAC zone, until Zendesk saw an opportunity in India’s growing small businesses and established an India office in 2016. Having been around in India for three years now, Zendesk has over 2800 clients including the likes of Ola, Zomato, Shaadi.com, OLX, Vodafone, Airbnb and ITC Foods.. “We follow a methodology in the emerging markets. In the beginning, an entire market is is grouped together and then we make small bets. So we have been investing in building a brand and momentum in India. We are very happy with India contribution so far but we have great expectations,” Tom Keiser, chief operating officer, Zendesk told Business Insider at the recently concluded Zendesk Showcase in Singapore. When they started off, they had 1700 customers with just 5 people at work. Today, they have over 30 employees. Ola was one of their early clients. Today, they also have startups like Bounce, Drivezy subscribing to them. And somewhere Reliance Jio which led the unprecedented data growth in India also helped, informs KT Prasad, India head, Zendesk. Challenges and localization in India But of course, India comes with its challenges. “There is an extreme scale in India and almost every client you speak to, their aspiration is always to serve over a billion people. The challenge is always making sure that you give a cost effective solution for the whole market. But India is still so underserved, the middle class population is growing at such a fast rate and something that wasn’t a business a few years ago is a booming one today,” said Sandie Overtveld, VP Asia Pacific, Zendesk. So, they had to turn to localization. Zendesk also offers customer service in Hindi and is looking to offer in other dialects in the future. Social media is also driving change in India. “With the growth of social media, and the ease with which one can turn to one of the platforms and complaint about a product, makes customer service even more important,” said Overtveld. Competing with Zoho, Freshdesk Two Indian startups – Zoho and Freshdesk took over the <keyword id="200550" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="CRM">CRM</keyword> space and entered the US market. But in a fast evolving Indian market, local players have an advantage – they know the Indian consumer well. However, Zendesk believes that it has a clear value proposition that differentiates it. “It’s a very competitive space and while the competitors have broadened their services – we are completely focussed on the customer and customer service,” said Keiser. Zendesk is also innovating fast to stay in the game. “We are bringing the right value to the consumer. Four years ago, we had 2-3 products, today, we have over 8 products,” said Prasad. It is also deep into machine learning, big data with a team that is based out of Melbourne, Australia. “We are building a more robust set of capabilities for self service. Solutions can be served with commitment and an omni channel approach where everything comes together - voice, text, e-mail etc,” said Keiser.

US-listed Zendesk is betting big on India in spite of competition from homegrown Zoho, Freshworks

<ul><li>The Indian founders had earlier called the ban on Chinese apps as the atmanirbhar moment for India’s entrepreneurs.</li><li>To handle the surge in users and traffic, the startups are now also aggressively hiring to better their offerings. </li><li>Here are all the openings in short-form video apps in India.</li></ul>On June 29, TikTok got banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps. And since that very moment, India’s rival apps of the Chinese giant have seen their user base jump up by millions. The Indian founders even called this the atmanirbhar moment for India’s entrepreneurs."This is the digital atmanirbhar moment that most Indians have been rooting for,” said Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi Group which owns Roposo. Indian entrepreneurs believe with this, ‘Made in India’ apps will get a boost as they won’t be fighting with Chinese companies, who have the cash to spend and build a userbase. “The move can be hugely beneficial for Indian companies considering the potential Indian startups have in terms of creating our own TikTok, We Chat, Baidu. Many others are all poised to make it big with the scale our country provides and absence of Chinese competitors with deep pockets,” Sandeep Singh, founder and president, Khabri. But to handle the surge in users and traffic, the startups are now also aggressively hiring to better their offerings. Here are all the openings in short-form video apps in India Chingari Chingari has got over 16million users in just 25 days and was trending in the top apps on the Google Playstore. The team needs 10-15 people right away to help with the surge in traffic – UI/UX designers, engineers and more. <div type="twitter" handle="adityakothari" handlename="Aditya Kothari" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1181273690819817472/ylFghAkJ_normal.jpg" favoritecount="109" retweetcount="37" status="Looking for a docker/kubernetes/backend architect for @Chingari_IN . If you're looking to build a backend infra, an… https://t.co/BBQtJ4Rl8C" createdat="1594502330000" id="1282061813891227649"></div> Bolo Indya Bolo Indya – which works as an infotainment app, was another to build on success after TikTok’s ban. “There was a huge jump in user increase in first 24 hours of the ban, and we saw over 2.5 lakh installs, with 87% of these signing up and creating videos and 1.27 crore videos were created in June,” said Varun Saxena, Co-Founder, Bolo Indya. The company said that it has continued its hiring activities even during lockdown and 3 new members have joined during lockdown phase while 2 more will be joining next month. Simultaneously, the company has aggressive hiring plans in technology teams across Android, AI and ML roles with remote interactions. “We took lockdown and its consequences as an opportunity to interact with some extraordinary talents and explore the synergies to join us on our mission to enable Bharat to transform social capital to financial independence through short videos in regional languages. We did not do a single lay off, and continue to strengthen the team with the right fits who share the same passion, ambition and motivation,” said Saxena. The company currently has 15-20 vacancies. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> Interested candidates can apply by writing to hr@boloindya.com Mitron TV The app which shot to fame even before TikTok was banned, is also aggressively hiring. The app’s co-founder Anish Khandelwal took to LinkedIn to share that the company is currently looking for android developers and backend developers with over two years experience. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> Interested candidates can apply by writing to career@mitron.tv Khabri Khabri helps users create podcasts and also caters to the Hindi-speaking market in India. The company said that it already had 40,000 influencers on the platform, and with the ban on TikTok it got 5000 new influencers in two days. The company is currently <a href="https://angel.co/company/khabriapp/jobs/671317-product-manager-growth">hiring </a>a product manager among other roles. Trell Another TikTok rival app in India – Trell has now crossed 45 million downloads with 5 million daily active users, claims the company. “We are very excited to see the regular developments on the platform and the increasing interest from users and content creators. With this opportunity, the Indian Internet startups can grow faster and build a superior experience for the consumers in the long run which was being capped by the established players earlier,” said Pulkit Agarwal, Co-Founder, Trell. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/therapy-and-mental-health-is-important-for-startup-founders-to-survive-the-near-death-moments-in-business/articleshow/76931948.cms">This Indian entrepreneur started going to therapy and recommends it to startup founders to survive the ‘near death’ moments in business</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-journey-from-a-weekend-project-to-a-3-billion-company/articleshow/76901180.cms">Zomato turns 12 – from a weekend project to a $3 billion company, here’s the startup’s journey over the years</a>

From Chingari to Mitron TV – TikTok clone apps in India are now aggressively hiring to handle the user surge

With over a billion people in the country, it's always been difficult to gauge the public's mood in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>, as far as elections are concerned. Take the 2014 elections for instance. While everyone had an inkling that the BJP would take the cake, no one expected the sweeping victory the party pulled off. But what if you could marry voting with one of the fastest growing sectors in the country? Would that help gauge the public's reactions better? An app called Neta aims to do just that. Created by Pratham Mittal, a Wharton alumnus, the app lets you "review" politicians, just like you do Uber drivers. The idea is to create a ‘Zomato of politicians’. Mittal argues that ratings on apps like Zomato and Yelp are major drivers for service quality in a restaurant, just like Uber drivers care about the rating you give to them. So, why shouldn't politicians? Mittal and his team have created a database of constituencies in the country, including the politicians who are competing from these places. After signing up, users can find their constituency using the pin code and cast a vote for a neta (Hindi for politician). While this is not an official vote, it helps gauge what users in a particular area think of their leaders. The votes can be changed at will, which means if a politician isn't performing after an election, the public can change their vote. 
	
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(<keyword id="6579226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="neta-app">Neta app</keyword>) Mittal says he wants the app to be a watchdog for politicians in the country. The votes are displayed in the form of a leaderboard, that ranks politicians based on the votes they receive. There's also a separate area for discussions and polls. The app allows users to run polls and add issues in their area. That gets even more feedback from users, providing better insight into what's happening on the ground. In the 2014 elections, 540 million Indians voted in the central elections. That was 66.4% of the electorate, up 8.4% from the 58% turnout in the 2009 elections. Yet, India doesn't have an easy method to gauge the public's mood. Once the app is launched across the country, Mittal says he can take the data to political parties and sell it to them. His app has 100,000 downloads on the Play Store right now, most of which were acquired during the recent Karnataka elections. It can also be accessed through the web, while Mittal's team also sends mass WhatsApp messages to people and makes IVR-driven calls to get votes from users. In fact, Mittal claims that through the data in his app, he was able to predict the eventually hung assembly beforehand. He says he has received over 2.5 million votes on the platform so far, despite only being in Ajmer, Alwar and Karnataka. Fake votes While that's an impressive number, there seems to be a very real chance of fake votes being cast. To battle that, the app takes the user's phone number when signing up. It uses this to tap into telecom operators' databases and get your name. It then tallies this to voter databases and decides which constituency you belong to. There's also Aadhaar. Since most numbers today are being attached to Aadhaar cards, the app taps into the UIDAI's APIs to verify users using their Aadhaar numbers. It doesn't actually see your Aadhaar number here but uses the mobile number and name to verify what constituency you belong to. Mittal says that his app will still have a 4% margin for error, but argues that this margin won't matter when it's reaching millions of users. What's the end game? While Mittal's goal is to make his app a watchdog, he has business opportunities in the analytics he can sell to political parties. But more importantly, he wants to sell this data to media outlets, making him a direct competitor to election research firms like Cvoter, Today's Chanakya and more. Further, Mittal says that he can also access user data if he wants to, but he's wary of doing so in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. He says he can extrapolate caste and religion from a person's name, while data about birth and some other information can be obtained from the election commission. Having started less than six months ago, this is a long-term plan. The app is yet to launch in all cities, though databases are being built for all of them. The hook here is in transparency, the fact that the votes come from real users. Mittal’s users aren’t obtained from Facebook ads alone, he says he sends real people down to villages etc. to put the app directly on people’s phones.

This app lets you 'review' politicians in India

<ul><li><keyword id="3269053" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rapido">Rapido</keyword> is aiming to achieve at least 1.5x growth than last fiscal. It is the only mobility company that is eyeing profits this year. </li><li>Rapido has already seen 25% of its business bouncing back. </li><li>Pavan Guntupalli, Co-founder, Rapido, talks to us about the story behind launching the brand, its growth, and mantra behind its road to profitability. </li></ul>The lockdown impacted most businesses across the globe. Some shut down and some learnt how to evolve with the changing tides. Home-grown brand Rapido, a Bike-Taxi service provider, saw its revenue plunge in the first two months after COVID hit the country and people were locked inside the four walls of their houses. With it, mobility came to a complete standstill. However, it soon saw a silver lining in June and July as 25% of its business bounced back. One of the reasons behind this demand was that people started avoiding public places and transport. Although, according to Rapido, 80% of India still doesn’t own private vehicles and due to COVID, they needed a safe and secure commute. This presented an opportunity in adversity for Rapido. Explaining why the brand’s demand came back, Pavan Guntupalli, Co-founder, Rapido, said, “Customers became aware that bike taxi is a more open and personalized way for intra-city travel. The customer has an advantage of less exposure to any infection due to his/her limited interaction with the captain (driver) and less touch points.” People also started renting its bikes for longer commutes. “Our average distance has suddenly changed, earlier people were using us for the last mile 3-5km but suddenly because of unavailability of regular public transport, our average distance has increased to 35% in some cities and overall, we saw 25% increase. Now people are using us for home to home travel and not just for last mile connectivity. Somewhere in December, we are hoping to come back to 100% of our business as before,” said Guntupalli. Shifting gears Rapido was growing at around 15% month-on-month from the last 3 years before the pandemic-infused lockdown hit India. It also doubled its presence from 50 cities to 100 in 6 months. Post lockdown, it had to shift its business model from offering bikes and taxies from consumers to distributors. Around 92% of its business came from bike and taxi model (intra-city mobility) and 8% came from logistics (essential supplies). Now, 30% of its total business comes from logistics and 70% from bike taxis. So, it decided to pivot its focus on accelerating the existing logistics business model by following a few initiatives such as delivering essentials at home, supporting the government to resolve supply-chain challenges, etc. “Rapido has been operating delivery services for e-commerce companies for close to 2 years now namely Zomato, Swiggy, Delhivery.com, Myntra, Eat.Fit. SuprDaily, Mapprr, 24*7 Stores, Kalerya, Bharatpe. During the lockdown, we amped up the existing Rapido-Delivery services to provide for the delivery of essential goods and partnered with major online companies like Big Bazaar, Big Basket and Spencer’s for delivery of essential goods,” shared Guntupalli. Building on the demand for logistics further, Rapido launched Rapido Local, a person-to-person delivery service. “Rapido Store is a convenient tool for offline and online businesses to help them reach out and deliver products to their customers in these challenging times. Rapido Store helps local businesses take care of multiple customer deliveries simultaneously in the most affordable and trusted manner. The service is currently operational in Bangalore &amp; Vijayawada and will scale to all cities Rapido is present in,” explained Guntupalli. Marketing Strategy and Understanding Consumers To gain its consumers' trust in a volatile market, Rapido introduced Safety Shields that helped consumers to maintain a safe distance from the driver or Captain, as Rapido calls them. <div type="image" title="rapido safety shields" msid="78221466" hostid="261"></div> Guntupalli said, “The Shield weighs around 400 gms -- it is a lightweight, PVC board that is attached to the Captain’s back like a rucksack. The shield covers the Captain’s body and makes for a considerable distance between the customer and our Captain. Apart from the usual measures, like using masks, sanitizers and the ArogyaSetu App, that we have taken, we felt the Safety Shields will be an added measure of safety during the rides.” It also tweaked its marketing strategy to increase awareness about the safety measures they followed. Its strategy is multi-lingual and regional. “We are trying to help change consumer behaviour towards safety, by helping them embrace the new norms through best practices when it comes to precautions, like bringing their own helmet, and avoiding stepping out. We also ensure that we leverage push notifications, SMS, emailers, in-app training videos, social media campaigns and marketing campaigns in various languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, to communicate regularly on our company updates and initiatives. We recently launched our first-ever video campaign, #PromiseofProtection, that showcases Rapido’s commitment to the safety and protection of its users, through an understanding of different relationships in our lives. In the initial phase of COVID, we launched a fundraiser for the Captains to provide them with the support they needed to weather the difficult times,” said Guntupalli. Goals for this fiscal As we inch towards normalcy and people have started stepping out, Rapido is aiming to achieve at least 1.5x growth over last fiscal. It is the only mobility company that is eyeing profits this year. According to PGA Labs, bike taxi service is now a $150 million market, growing at 20% month-over-month. In India 300 million people commute every day out of which only 1% happens via apps. It is estimated that bike taxis in India have the potential to create 5+ million livelihood opportunities, generating a revenue of $10 billion. With rapid urbanisation and smart status of cities, bike-taxi is becoming the future of intra-city transport. Due to COVID, they are also avoiding public transport. As a result, Rapido has become the third largest ride sharing platform in the country that sees around 10 million transactions in a month. Now, after securing a leadership position in the Bike Taxi ecosystem across cities, Rapido’s next focus area is to use technology to propel newer models that will help serve end users as well as businesses in the post COVID world. However, vehicle ownership in India is less. Hardly 18-20% people own a vehicle, that means 80% people still don’t have their own vehicle. When the pandemic hit, a huge problem statement was the need for a safe and secure commute. This became an opportunity in adversity for Rapido, as it saw a 25% spike in the month of June and July. Where it all began Rapido introduced bike sharing in our country in 2015. The product was built to bridge the last mile connectivity gaps. People in Tier II, III and beyond towns and cities have limited public transport solutions, some are not even available late in the evenings, making it difficult to look for an affordable option to travel within the city and getting shared autos are a hassle especially if you are a woman. However, being a first mover has its own set of challenges. Rapido was dealing with both cultural and social challenges. People did not feel comfortable sitting behind a stranger. So to woo consumers, Rapido took a quirky route. Guntupalli said, “We took a multilingual approach for our consumer outreach. The idea was to reach larger sets of audiences across Tier I, II and III cities and build affinity with the message. We worked on short, quirky videos that are a trend among tech-savvy millennials. We introduced the brand in a fun and different way to them through 7 videos with themes such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgGQYrlpRHA">Don’t be late, Save Your Date</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOxf64njqE">KabhiBhiKahinBhi</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXPThvwLKSo">Don’t’ Get Crushed Away In Traffic</a>,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbvxRnLayYI"> Late for Exam, Just Stay Calm</a>.” It also partnered with traffic police in cities like Vijayawada, Mangalore, Mysore, Kota to name a few, to drive awareness about road safety with helmet distribution campaigns. To make its women customers feel safer, Rapido masks their phone numbers from its captains. It was also the first bike taxi company in India to introduce insurance for both customers and Captains from Day 1. Rapido is now present in 100 cities serving over 10 million customers with 15 lakh+ registered Captains. It is the 3rd largest ride sharing platform in the country with 10 million transactions a month and has recorded over 25 million app downloads.

Rapido shifts focus to logistics; sees 25% business recovery and aims for 1.5x growth next year over FY20

<ul><li><keyword id="9025059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="abhik-choudhury">Abhik Choudhury</keyword>, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting writes how brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. </li><li>He further shares a few reasons behind this paradigm shift. </li></ul> What do Volkswagen, Volvo, Tata, Ford and GM have in common? They all are reliable family cars with blue logos. How about KFC, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King? They all are global fast food chains with either or both, red and yellow in their identities. And till about a decade ago, it was all fine and dandy till digital content clutter multiplied our brand exposure to a whopping 5000+ on an average day. And that meant the compelling need for acute differentiation over everything else. Let’s look at the topical industry of the year - EdTech. The whole industry came into being post digital burst. And in their identities, whilst catering to the same audiences their approach to <keyword id="9709248" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="brand-colors">brand colors</keyword> couldn’t have been more drastically contrasting. Byju, India’s second most valuable startup at $10Bn adorns a bright purple, something which experts used to put in the segment of richness and royalty. Udemy with its coral shade usually seen in lifestyle brands has intentionally moved away from its launch color of grass green. Coursera on the other end of the spectrum is safely engulfed in the reliable blue (think sweet spot between the old and new Facebook color). And finally look at Khan Academy, a blend of sea green and ocean blue. I would argue brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. And there are four reasons for this major paradigm shift. The Differentiation Paradox: Of course the trained mind might argue the above example is just an anomaly so let’s go back to the automobile category we opened our discussion with to see this point through. In the last decade, the new electric car segment is slowly overpowering old heavyweights. What’s interesting though is as much as these shiny, new kids stand for the same brand promise of blending sleek style, sustainability and automation, their colors try to intentionally stay as apart as possible. Leading the pack Tesla shines in its signature passion red, Faraday Future graces the color of powerplay jet black, Fisker has famously named its brand colors California sunset (orange) and Pacific ocean (blue), the Chinese born Byton decks a more luxurious grey and the adventure friendly Rivian chose orangish yellow. Superdry’s orange boasts of its fun and bold collection, Zara’s black promotes the high street range inspired by luxury fashion weeks. And why not, as the concept of brand colors needed to be synonymous with the “brand experience”. Now though, the audience is aware enough to know that just because Grab taxis are green, they don’t only move with an oil free, electric fleet. Honestly, as long as the story behind your choice of brand color is believable you can paint the canvas with whatever you wish for. Breaking the traditional need for popping colors, Unilever’s new age Talenti Gelato comes in a pure transparent identity to just focus on the product and cut the clutter in the ice cream shelf simultaneously. Ola, India’s answer to Uber uses an exclusive pear color something eponymous with sporty, not exactly a massy cab service using Wagon R &amp; Swift Dzire cars. But does it work? Quite brilliantly actually, the point of differentiation is well made and well reaped. The Niche Maze Before the digital era, market penetration used to be mostly about what the masses demanded. And honestly rightfully so, for neither there was internet to measure the size of niche interests nor a way to get them delivered online to spurt segments scattered all over. And what it has resulted in is making colors more unisex, boldly unique and universally acceptable. Lyft’s Magenta and Dunzo’s Mint Green paves way for many more to come in the coming decade. Let’s try to understand the repercussions of not having niche colors. In the Indian media ecosystem look at the known brands Zee News, NDTV, ABP News, Republic, Aaj Tak, BBC Hindi, The Wire and Firspost ALL have red in their logos. Let’s forget for a second if all these brands have similar personalities, experience or values of the color red. Let’s rather say in 2021 you want to start a media corporation catering to millennials. Don’t you think a berry blue or sunshine yellow will give you a niche identity distinctively apart from all your industry peers and make the consumer immediately associate you with the color no matter on which medium it is used? Reliance Jio certainly would have considered it while starting to slowly move towards Persian blue from its bright red similar to core competitors Airtel and Vodafone. So would have AirBnB while choosing a coral shade over their old blue similar to Booking’s identity. <div type="image" title="Color Logos Case" msid="77389917" hostid="261"></div> Content Overload: One of the most profitable industries inarguably today is the smartphone hub with over 1.5Bn average annual unit sales and still a long way in penetrating the global population. No matter where you are from, you can’t deflect from its plethora of content across platforms. Oppo and Vivo with their selfie camera positioning had planned a budget of INR 2200 crores for the Indian market to dwarf Samsung at its own game. Xiaomi, who finally did overthrow Samsung poured INR 3500 crores last year aiming at an even more aggressive advertising strategy. All pointing towards an inevitable content war subtly numbing the audiences to all headlines and creatives. And hence you see Xiaomi goes with a blazing orange, Oppo graces forest green, One Plus Christmas red, Google Pixel a more humbling grey to Apple’s black while Vivo goes for sailor blue. We aren’t talking about one off anomalies that used to happen in every category like Ferrari’s legendary lemon yellow backdrop whilst Audi, Mercedes, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Jaguar &amp; Lexus all go with the same kind of logo in metallic elements on their cars. These smartphone examples are of all category leaders and none come close to the other’s color no matter how close their audience, personality and brand experience might be. Now one of the major brand identity tests is to create a fictional character with a rich personality to match with your corporation’s values, vision and heart. The catch is, it only works if your audience feels that metaphor coming alive too. Otherwise as you will agree, every horse breeder can sell a Unicorn. And with all due respect the 2020s audiences have evolved from all color tones (and it’s kind of fair if not lovely). Now they are more interested and invested in what you actually do both with your offering and beyond it for the overall society. They know how to filter the frills from the flowers. Typography before color: The formula is minimal typography for maximum impact. Uber tweaked its logo element to a bolder no nonsense font of its name. Indian food delivery pioneers have removed their famous spoon and now just have Zomato written in a thicker and slightly curved style. The legendary Absolut Vodka which had a designer cursive line - ‘Country of Sweden’ in the logo itself has switched to just a navy blue Absolut enjoying the solitude. Visa has removed the card element last decade and even fired the fiery yellow edge to allow blue to engulf all of its typography on this one. Dominos have hit puberty late but by making the name come out of the inclined box they now demand complete attention. IHop, Dunkin... the list honestly keeps going on but the verdict is clear. Clarity of your name in the logo, something that can be read in a nanosecond during a digital post or banner is what works today. And when pure simplicity takes absolute precedent, intricate elements, three tone color schemes and parallel mascots take a backseat. Bold is the new black and clarity is the new color. Millennials demand this world to stop seeing colors, at least without any preconceived prejudices. And if anything the creative industry should be elated with this transformation, one less box to fit into. Let the old labels make way for legacy. If only the world would start having bold brands who can make shirts for men and call it pink. Oh wait, we already do - Pink Shirtmaker, London owned by the Louis Vuitton group. By Abhik Choudhury, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting. He is also a visiting faculty of Market Research and Campaign Planning at <keyword id="9497386" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-indian-institute-of-mass-communication">the Indian Institute of Mass Communication</keyword>, New Delhi. You can reach him at abhik@saltandpaper.co.

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