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Second Covid wave weakens consumer sentiments, anxiety at an all-time high

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Mumbai: Consumer anxiety is at its highest level since the coronavirus outbreak hit India last year, shows the latest round of consumer sentiment survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The second wave of covid-19, which saw a huge spike in the country’s caseload and casualties numbers, has further weakened consumer sentiment as households cut their expenditure, says the report. At least 58 per cent of consumers think their income in the next six months will be lower than pre-COVID levels, as against 44 per cent in July last year. Similarly, the sentiment about spending has been impacted, with 51 per cent of consumers expecting their spending over the next six months to be lower, as compared to 40 per cent in July 2020.

According to the survey, this fall in sentiment is steepest among the less affluent income groups or those with annual household income less than Rs five lakh. The study carried out between 23 May and 28 May covers 4000 consumers across all socio-economic groups in urban and rural India and is the sixth conducted by the group during the pandemic, since March last year.  

Unlike last year, sentiments were impacted more uniformly across large towns, small towns, and rural areas in 2021 with 55-60 per cent of consumers across all feeling that the worst of the coronavirus is still ahead, BCG said in its report.

Even amongst those in the Rs 10 lakh and above annual income bracket — termed as “affluent” households by the survey — expect their incomes to shrink in the next six months.

The survey demonstrates uncertainty for more discretionary categories such as apparel, personal care, cosmetics, travel, and out-of-home entertainment in particular. “Travel, out of home entertainment continues to show negative sentiment with expected cutbacks reaching all-time highs,” as per the survey’s findings.

The report sheds light on consumer anxiety, which is at its ‘highest levels’ since the pandemic hit India, with concerns around economic outlook, health, and lifestyle being accentuated.

An overwhelming 86 per cent of those surveyed cited concerns over an economic recession due to the pandemic. Over 80 per cent reported feeling some sense of uncertainty toward their jobs and income—the highest ever recorded by the consulting firm.

However, the forecast is not all bleak- there are certain positive themes too. Some categories like essentials, health, in-home entertainment, etc continued to show a stable, positive sentiment.

“There is an impending sense of uncertainty however we have observed certain positive messages too. The spending sentiment has not been impacted similarly across categories. Essentials, health, in-home entertainment continue to be winners. Some of the discretionary categories, however, have been negatively impacted.” said BCG India MD & partner Nimisha Jain.

There were also indicators that the shape of the new normal for consumer behaviour is beginning to emerge, now that we have been in the crisis for over a year.

“Many of the newly adopted behaviours ranging from social commerce, online shopping, digital content/ payments – have continued to stick, even when the lockdowns were no longer in place. However, others like ‘do it yourself’ regimes, online doctor consultations have shown high sensitivity to the pandemic situation.” said BCG India Centre for Customer Insight lead Kanika Sanghi.

A positive trend has also emerged, which shows a significant increase in the willingness to take vaccines after the lethal second Covid wave – especially in small towns and rural areas, which had shown high levels of hesitancy/ indifference earlier. At least 78 per cent of the eligible consumers in large towns said that they were very willing to take the vaccine now – compared to 62 per cent earlier. For rural, it stands at 63 per cent now as compared to 41 per cent earlier.

BCG’s COVID-19 consumer sentiment research is based on a global survey that currently covered both developed and emerging markets. It is fielded in waves to provide a longitudinal view of consumer sentiments about the coronavirus pandemic, and changes in consumer consumption behaviour.

MAM

Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement

Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted

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MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.

The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.

The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.

Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.

Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.

For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.

More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.

The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.

In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.

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Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

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Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

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MAM

Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships

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SINGAPORE: Anuvrat Rao has taken charge as APAC  head of commerce and signals partnerships at Meta, steering monetisation deals across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from Singapore. The former Google executive, known for launching Google Assistant, PWAs, AMP and Firebase across Asia-Pacific, steps into the role after a high-growth stint as chief business officer at Locofy.ai.

At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.

Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.

Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.

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