Ecommerce

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚'𝐬 "𝟏𝟎-𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦" 𝐓𝐚𝐱: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭 I visited my local chemist recently for a 3-day course of medicine. The strip had 10 pills; I needed 6. The chemist refused to cut it. The reason I asked? "If I cut it, the next customer won’t buy it because they can’t see the expiry date." He’s right - but only because our packaging design is stuck in the past. This isn't just a minor inconvenience; it’s a systemic failure that leads to MASSIVE MEDICAL WASTE and an unfair "waste tax" on every Indian household. 📈 THE NUMBERS TELL A STORY: The Indian pharma industry is a global powerhouse. In 2025, the domestic market grew to ₹2.4 lakh crore, with top companies enjoying operating profit margins of 25% to 32%. When an industry is this profitable and growing at 9-11% YoY, the oft-touted argument that "retooling packaging is too costly" loses its sting. Improving packaging isn't a cost - it’s a basic requirement for patient safety and affordability. ❌ THE PROBLEM: In India, manufacturing and expiry details are usually printed in a single block on one end of a strip. Cut the strip, and you lose the "source of truth." 💡 THE "ZERO-WASTE" SOLUTIONS: (Common elsewhere, missing here) 1️⃣ Vertical Repetitive Printing: Regulators (CDSCO) should mandate that expiry and batch info be printed across every single blister cell, not just once per strip. 2️⃣ Unit-Dose Perforation: Designing strips that are pre-perforated into single, fully-labeled units. You buy one pill; you get the full data for that one pill. 3️⃣ Micro QR Codes: Every pill pocket could carry a 2D data matrix. A quick scan by the consumer verifies the batch and expiry instantly, no matter how the strip is cut. 🎯 THE BOTTOM LINE: We are the "Pharmacy of the World," yet we are forcing our own citizens to buy 40% more medicine than they need just because we haven't updated our printing standards. Pharma companies have the margins to absorb this transition. It’s time for regulators to move from "bulk-first" to "PATIENT-FIRST" packaging. What do you think? Is it time for a mandate on unit-dose labelling?

We analyzed 4 million recruiting emails sent through Gem. Most get opened. But only 22.6% get replies. Half those replies are "thanks, but no thanks." We dug into what actually works. Here are 8 factors that drive REAL responses: 1. Strategic timing beats everything else - 8am gets 68% open rates. 4pm hits 67.3%. 10am lands at 67% - Most recruiters blast at 9am when inboxes are flooded - Avoiding peak times alone can boost your opens by 7-10% 2. Weekend outreach is criminally underused - Saturday/Sunday emails get ≥66% open rates consistently - Why? Empty inboxes. Zero competition. Candidates actually have time - Yet few recruiters send on weekends. Their loss is your gain 3. Keep messages between 101-150 words - Shorter feels spammy. Longer gets skimmed - You need exactly 10 sentences to nail the essentials - Every word beyond 150 drops performance 4. Generic templates kill response rates - Generic templates: 22% reply rate - Personalized outreach: 47% increased response rate - Even adding name + company to subject lines boosts opens by 5% 5. Subject lines need 3-9 words - Include company name + job title for highest opens - "Senior Engineer Role at [Company]" beats clever wordplay - 11+ words can work if genuinely intriguing, but why risk it? 6. The 4-stage sequence is optimal - One-off emails are dead. Send exactly 4 follow-up messages - You'll see 68% higher "interested" rates with proper sequencing - After stage 4, engagement completely flatlines. Stop there 7. Get the hiring manager involved - Having the hiring manager send ONE follow-up boosts reply rates by 50%+ - Yet most recruiters don't use this tactic - Weekend advantage: Minimal competition for attention 8. Leadership involvement is a cheat code - Role-specific timing (tech vs non-tech) matters - Technical roles: 3 of 4 best send times are weekends - Engineers check email differently than salespeople. Adjust accordingly TAKEAWAY: These aren't opinions. This is what 4 million emails tell us. Most recruiting teams are stuck in 2019 playbooks wondering why their reply rates won't budge. Meanwhile, recruiters who implement these 8 factors see dramatically better results. The data is right there. The patterns are clear. The only question is: will you actually change how you operate? Or will you keep sending the same tired emails at 9am on Tuesday? Your call.

Website traffic was a valuable metric correlated to growth. Now it may be a vanity metric, not correlated to growth. Search has been disrupted. Visits to your website are declining. So, marketers - what now? The search landscape was already shifting (I talked about this at INBOUND last year). Now, the change is accelerating dramatically: - AI Overviews appear in 43% of Google searches – when they do, organic CTR drops by nearly 35%. - Google’s AI Mode and audio AI overviews are coming – they will cause clicks to collapse further. - More buyers are using LLMs to find information, ChatGPT search in Europe grew 3.7x in six months. So, what should marketers do? And how can AI help? 1. Be everywhere and diversify your channels The days of relying solely on Google search are way over. You need to show up on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, podcasts, and in niche communities. The good news? AI makes multi-channel, multi-format content creation scalable – even for small teams. 2. Be specific with context In the past, broad informational content was the way to rank in Google. Today, buyers expect results deeply relevant to them, whether they’re on Google, LLMs, or Reddit. You need specific content that reflects your expertise and resonates with your buyers. 3. Optimize for conversion, not clicks Traffic was once the lever you could pull. Now, conversion is where the opportunity lies. AI enables you to deliver personal messages that drive better conversion. Don’t ask, “How do we get more blog visits?” Ask, “How do we convert more prospects into customers across all channels?” The changes in search are sending shockwaves across marketing teams and media companies everywhere. The era of traffic-based marketing is ending. But a new era full of opportunity is just beginning. Super exciting times for marketers to reinvent the playbook!

Most brands spend a lot on media, but treat landing pages as an afterthought If you’re running ads and sending traffic to a homepage or a poorly built landing page, its almost criminal. Specially when gen AI has reduced the cost and time for content creation drastically Here’s how to get landing pages right. Consistently. 1. Match Intent, Not Just Aesthetics The #1 job of a landing page? Continue the conversation you started with your ad •If your ad says “energy efficient fans”, the landing page should show highlight this feature front and center •If your Google ad targets “Mixer Grinders under ₹5000,” don’t show ₹8000 models on the page. Message match > Visual design 2. Keep the Hero Section Clean & Focused Above-the-fold matters. You need to have •Clear headline – Say what the product is and why it’s special. •Key benefits – 3 crisp points max. •Visuals – High-quality product image or demo video. •CTA – One action. Not three. Buy Now,” “Book a Demo,” or “Know More”—but pick ONE 3. Product Benefits, Not Just Features Nobody cares that your mixer uses XYZ motor tech. I mean they do care but only if they care how it helps them They care a lot more that the mixer has a coarse mode which enables silbatta like texture resulting in great taste And that BLDC or intelligent motor tech enables it 4. Solve for Trust People are skeptical by default. Give them reasons to believe •Ratings & Reviews – Show real customer ratings (4.5 stars? Flaunt it). •Media Mentions – “As seen on The Hindu / NDTV” works. •Certifications – BEE 5-Star? BIS approved? Display badges. •Guarantees – Free returns? Warranty? Mention clearly 5. Speed & Mobile Optimization Today at least 80 percent of your traffic is mobile. If your landing page loads in 4 seconds, you’ve lost half. Aim for <2s load time. Avoid fancy animations that slow things down. Test your page on Mobile (3G/4G) and in all browsers Chrome, Safari etc 6. Minimize Distractions A landing page is not your website. •No top nav bars with 7 menu items. •No footer clutter. •No exit doors—except the CTA you want. Keep it focused. Keep them moving toward action 7. Strong CTA (Call to Action) •Make it obvious. One clear button. •Use actionable language: “Get My Free Sample,” “Book a Demo,” “Shop Now.” •Repeat CTA 2-3 times as they scroll, especially after key benefit sections. 8. A/B Test, but with caution: Gen AI makes it very easy to do so. Test •Headlines •CTA text and colors •Images vs Videos •Long-form vs Short-form copy But get the fundamentals of A/B testing right. You need statistically significant sample sizes for each test A good landing page doesn’t sell the product by itself. But It removes friction so the product has a better chance of selling And when done right, your CAC drops, your ROAS climbs, and your ads finally start working to their fullest potential

I hear from a lot of social media teams that they “ask for forgiveness, not permission” to use songs that they don’t have the rights to on TikTok and Instagram. Turns out forgiveness is expensive. Last week, UMG sued Quince for copyright infringement for including unlicensed music in Instagram and TikTok posts. While I’ve talked about brands being sued by music labels before, this one is interesting because it also holds the brand responsible for sponsored influencer posts that use unlicensed music. UMG has identified a whopping 130 works infringed by Quince. The exposure in statutory damages alone is over $20M. I asked marketing lawyer Rob Freund what brands should take away from this lawsuit: “The Quince case is the latest in a string of cases against brands using unlicensed popular songs on social media, both on brand-owned pages and via influencers. The takeaway is that brands cannot use the general popular music libraries that the platforms provide for any commercial content (which includes any posting on brand-owned pages) and cannot treat influencer content as a copyright safe harbor. The platform licenses do not extend to commercial use, unless you use the designated commercial sound libraries. Any brand running a creator program needs a music licensing strategy and clear contractual guardrails for its influencers.”

🔮 Design Patterns For AI Interfaces (https://lnkd.in/dyyMKuU9), a practical overview with emerging AI UI patterns, layout considerations and real-life examples — along with interaction patterns and limitations. Neatly put together by Sharang Sharma. One of the major shifts is the move away from traditional “chat-alike” AI interfaces. As Luke Wroblewski wrote, when agents can use multiple tools, call other agents and run in the background, users orchestrate AI work — there’s a lot less chatting back and forth. In fact, chatbot widgets are rarely an experience paradigm that people truly enjoy and can fall in love with. Mostly because the burden of articulating intent efficiently lies on the user. It can be done (and we’ve learned to do that), but it takes an incredible amount of time and articulation to give AI enough meaningful context for it to produce meaningful insights. As it turned out, AI is much better at generating prompt based on user’s context to then feed it into itself. So we see more task-oriented UIs, semantic spreadsheets and infinite canvases — with AI proactively asking questions with predefined options, or where AI suggests presets and templates to get started. Or where AI agents collect context autonomously, and emphasize the work, the plan, the tasks — the outcome, instead of the chat input. All of it are examples of great User-First, AI-Second experiences. Not experiences circling around AI features, but experiences that truly amplify value for users by sprinkling a bit of AI in places where it delivers real value to real users. And that’s what makes truly great products — with AI or without. ✤ Useful Design Patterns Catalogs: Shape of AI: Design Patterns, by Emily Campbell 👍 https://shapeof.ai/ AI UX Patterns, by Luke Bennis 👍 https://lnkd.in/dF9AZeKZ Design Patterns For Trust With AI, via Sarah Gold 👍 https://lnkd.in/etZ7mm2Y AI Guidebook Design Patterns, by Google https://lnkd.in/dTAHuZxh ✤ Useful resources: Usable Chat Interfaces to AI Models, by Luke Wroblewski https://lnkd.in/d-Ssb5G7 The Receding Role of AI Chat, by Luke Wroblewski https://lnkd.in/d8xcujMC Agent Management Interface Patterns, by Luke Wroblewski https://lnkd.in/dp2H9-HQ Designing for AI Engineers, by Eve Weinberg https://lnkd.in/dWHstucP #ux #ai #design

Loyalty is failing. Gen Z & long-term commitment. 22% of Gen Z consumers consider themselves loyal to one brand is a clear warning for legacy loyalty strategies. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z doesn’t see brand loyalty as a long-term commitment, they’re loyal to moments, not just names. +43% increase in engagement and sales conversions among Gen Z Beauty brands offering "limited-edition drops" and collaborative experiences. +71% Gen Z say they would rather spend money on an experience than a product. >>Loyalty is FAILING, but why<< +Transactional systems feel outdated: Point-based rewards for repeat purchases don’t excite this audience. They expect more than discounts or free samples. +They’re brand-agnostic but experience-driven: Gen Z freely switches between brands if the experience, aesthetic, or values feel fresher or more aligned with their identity. +They buy into stories, not just products: They want to align with brands that represent something, social causes, cultural movements, or communities they relate to. >>DYNAMIC LOYALTY<< What’s this? as it name indicates its a system that rewards interaction, aligns with their values, and constantly evolves. And that is what your brand needs. → Create experience-driven loyalty programs: Offer early access to limited drops, invite-only events, or backstage content. Think like a fan club, not a punch card. +Example: A loyalty tier that unlocks tickets to a pop-up experience or an exclusive AR filter. →Let them co-create: Invite Gen Z customers to co-develop product ideas, designs, or campaign themes. Give them ownership in your brand’s creative journey. +Example: Voting on packaging designs or joining beta tester groups. →Align with their values: Sustainability, inclusivity, and social good aren’t nice-to-haves. they’re expectations. Use loyalty programs to reward actions too, like recycling, sharing causes, or supporting small creators. +Example: “Earn loyalty points by returning empties or attending a sustainability workshop.” →Deliver constant novelty: Rotate limited editions regularly. Use scarcity and surprise to create FOMO and buzz. +Gen Z doesn’t commit to a single brand, but they’ll keep returning if each visit feels fresh and share-worthy. →Go omnichannel but social-first. Should live across TikTok, Instagram, pop-ups, and web. Let them earn or unlock rewards through social engagement, not just purchases. +Example: A user gets exclusive content or perks for creating UGC with your brand. Bottom Line. Loyalty must be earned over and over through experience, relevance, and emotional connection. Think dynamic loyalty: a system that rewards interaction and go for it. Find my curated search of examples and get ready for your next HIT. Featured Brands: Balmain Benefit Chanel Charlotte tilbury Cerave Fennty L’Oreal OGX YSL #beautypackaging #beautybusiness #beautyprofessionals #experienceretail #luxuryexperiences #genz

Is ROAS the right metric for RMNs? Retail Media Networks (RMNs) have outgrown their early days when untapped demand meant every dollar spent was both high-ROAS and high-incrementality. Today, focusing solely on ROAS incentivizes behaviors that may appear efficient but harm long-term profitability and growth. Here’s how ROAS can be gamed—and why it’s problematic: 1️⃣ Over-spending on Retargeting or Brand Keywords. These tactics drive high ROAS but focus on customers who were likely to convert anyway, resulting in low incremental growth. 2️⃣ Discount-Driven Sales. Discounting boosts ROAS by generating short-term revenue but lowers margins, attracts low-LTV customers, and conditions buyers to expect promotions. 3️⃣ Cutting Spend on High-Incrementality Campaigns. Investing in new customer acquisition or brand building may have lower ROAS but drives long-term growth and quality customer cohorts. These behaviors lead to: ⛔️ Shrinking new customer cohorts. ⛔️ Increased reliance on discounts, reducing margins. ⛔️ Lower customer lifetime value (LTV) and diminished profitability over time. In essence, chasing ROAS at all costs leads to slower growth and declining margins—a losing combination for any business. Efficiency metrics like ROAS are necessary but must be balanced with an effectiveness metric that focuses on long-term outcomes. For example: ✅ 180-Day Contribution LTV: Measure the total revenue contribution from full-price customers acquired over six months. ✅ Incremental Revenue from Non-Brand Keywords: Track revenue generated from truly new demand sources. ROAS is an excellent efficiency metric but a poor north star. Striking the right balance between efficiency and effectiveness will ensure your business scales sustainably while maintaining margins. Keen to hear what other metrics are used for RMNs #advertising #media #tech

If you are a brand or creator planning to grow your own community, save this post for your next brand strategy session – Follower counts are overrated. What truly matters for your brand is a community that talks back. In the last 5+ years of building my personal brand along with Like Mind Tribe, I’ve learned this the hard (and beautiful) way. We often chase vanity metrics, namely likes, views, followers. But the brands that actually grow focus on: + trust + conversations + creating spaces that people want to return to My top 3 learnings about community building that most people ignore are👇 1/ Stop broadcasting. Start involving. Don’t just talk to your audience, co-create with them. Ask for their input. Let them choose the next product, workshop, or event theme. Your content should feel like a conversation, not a monologue. 2/ Trust builds in silence. Show up even when it’s quiet. The real connection begins when no one’s clapping. Be consistent with your presence. Show your progress, not just your polished wins. 3/ Give them a space beyond social media. DMs, Zoom rooms, meetups, or even a close friend's story list; These micro-interactions are where loyalty is built. If you want retention, give them a room where they feel seen. ———— I’ve met: → strangers who are now collaborators → community members who became accountability partners → even businesses that were born from casual coffee chats at our meetups That’s what happens when you value: Impact >>>>> Followers Whether you're building a brand or just starting out as a creator – Don’t just aim for attention. Create belonging. What’s the biggest challenge you face in building your community? Let’s tackle it together! #drishtiispeaks #community #branding #strategy #growth #socialmedia #content

🔥 The Bundesliga Breakthrough: Personalizing Context, Not Content At the Sports Forum at Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent 2025, I learned something rare… something most business leaders never hear: Everyone talks about personalized content. Almost no one talks about personalized context. And that’s where the Bundesliga — One of the top football leagues — is quietly years ahead of the market. Here’s the insight most executives miss: AI doesn’t scale content. AI scales understanding. Bundesliga’s AI system works because it doesn’t start with the match. It starts with the fan. Before a single line of commentary is generated, the system builds a real-time “context graph”: - who the fan is - how long they’ve followed the league - what commentary style keeps them hooked - which players they track - what cultural cues resonate in their region - and what emotional tone they respond to This is the whole magic. Gen AI is just the surface. The real breakthrough is the context engine underneath. >> Why this matters for executives? Most companies try to personalize by tweaking the message. Bundesliga personalizes by changing the lens through which the customer sees the message. That shift is massive. Because when you personalize context: - Engagement stops being random - Marketing stops being guesswork - CX stops being generic - Loyalty stops being an accident >> The uncomfortable question Most leaders ask: “How do we create more personalized content?” The better question — the Bundesliga question — is: “Do we truly understand the context our customers live in?” Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: > You can’t personalize content at scale unless you personalize context first. Bundesliga shows the future. The next decade of CX belongs to companies that invest not only in storytelling… …but in systems that understand their customers better than customers understand themselves. Your turn: 👉 How could your customer experience improve if your systems learned their context the way Bundesliga’s does? #CustomerExperience #AILeadership #GenerativeAI #Bundesliga #DigitalTransformation #Personalization