Meta–RAI Report: Omnichannel Shoppers Spend 2.5x More in India

Indian retail is no longer divided between online and offline channels. According to a new whitepaper released by Meta in partnership with the Retailers Association of India (RAI), consumers now move fluidly across digital platforms, physical stores, creators and messaging apps — often within a single purchase journey.

The report, titled Reimagining Retail: Maximizing Omnichannel Business Impact in the Age of AI, finds that shoppers who engage across both online and offline channels spend 2.5 times more than single-channel consumers. Spending increases by up to 73% when multiple touchpoints are involved. The data suggests that unified commerce models are becoming central to revenue growth rather than incremental add-ons.

“Retail leaders need to focus on three transformative pillars,” said Meghna Apparao, Director, E-Commerce & Retail (India), Meta. She pointed to short-form video and creators, omnichannel performance marketing, and WhatsApp-led personalised commerce as key levers for growth in India’s retail market.

RAI’s Hitesh Bhatt noted that the consumer journey itself has shifted. “Consumers no longer move between online and offline. They operate across both simultaneously. Discovery, influence, and purchase now happen through content, creators, conversations, and stores, often within the same journey,” he said, adding that omnichannel maturity will define competitiveness.

Discovery patterns underline that shift. The whitepaper states that 77% of retail brand and product discovery in India now happens on social media, with Meta platforms accounting for 96% of that discovery. Scroll-led browsing is overtaking search-led shopping, driven by the dominance of short-form video. Nearly 97% of consumers watch short-form video daily, and such content accounts for 60% of time spent on Instagram and Facebook.

Creators are increasingly influencing purchase decisions. Micro and nano creators are driving measurable lifts across consideration and conversion, positioning creator partnerships as performance channels rather than just awareness tools. Manoj Jain, Senior VP & Head, Omni Channel Marketing at Reliance Digital, said the brand has adopted a Reels-first approach to connect with regional communities and drive business outcomes.

AI integration is another core finding. More than half of Indian consumers research products online before buying in-store, while a similar proportion research in-store before purchasing online. This “phygital” behaviour is pushing retailers to merge digital and physical data systems. Retailers using Meta’s Omnichannel Optimization tools have reported over fourfold improvements in omnichannel return on ad spend (ROAS), while integrated data strategies have delivered up to 15% revenue growth.

Brands that combine in-store sales data with advertising measurement systems are seeing 2x–5x increases in ROAS and up to 9x incremental sales growth, according to the report. Amit Agarwal, CMO at Croma, said integrating offline data with AI-powered performance marketing has helped optimise customer journeys and drive both footfall and digital revenue.

Messaging platforms are emerging as a critical conversion layer. The report notes that 72% of product discovery now happens on WhatsApp. Retailers deploying Business Messaging and Click-to-WhatsApp campaigns are reporting a 61% improvement in ROAS, a 62% increase in leads, and 22% higher order values. Additionally, 71% of consumers make purchases within days of seeing creator content on Meta platforms.

For brands and media planners, the implications are structural. Channel-based strategies are giving way to journey-based planning, where content, creators, AI targeting and in-store data operate in a connected loop. For consumers, this means faster decisions and more personalised engagement. For the broader ecosystem, it signals that retail competitiveness will increasingly depend on data integration, creator partnerships and conversational commerce.

The report concludes that the future of Indian retail is not online or offline — it is integrated, AI-led and increasingly shaped by content and conversation.