How Gen Z Will Reshape Product Building in India

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Salutations, Olio aficionados! 👋

Happy Hump Day and welcome to the 107th edition of Weekly Olio - your trusted source for giggles, wisdom, and a dash of intrigue, courtesy of our tantalizing thought piece (yes, buckle up for Publisher's Parmesan). 🧀

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The Quote󠀢 💭

The Tweet 🐦

In the US, anything and everything can be turned into a profit making business. Presenting Hot Mom International - they conduct beauty pageants for moms and recently filed for an IPO. What do you think will be their ticket symbol?

The Infographic 💹

Most people don't realize that "the internet" at its core is a bunch of cables laid under the sea and across the world that transport data as light. There are 500-600 nondescript buildings which are airports for light (IXPs) and 13 DNS root servers that are air traffic control.

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The Short Read 📝

Gamblers Pay 400% Loan Rates to Fund Betting Frenzy in Brazil - by Bloomberg

In this year’s United Nations General Assembly meeting, the Brazilian railed about the evils of gaming and how it is destroying the finances of countless poor Brazilians. While gambling addiction is a problem all over the world, it’s scale in Brazil is staggering - according to some estimates more than 20% of the funds disbursed under the government’s flagship social program end up on gambling apps. Read more…

With 33% of the population below poverty line, betting apps seem like an easy way to turn the corner. The problem is worsening since most Brazilians are gaining access to loans via credit cards / banking apps for the first time and are using these to fund their gambling addictions. And these loans aren't cheap - interest can be anywhere between 300% to more than 1000%. The government is putting in place measures to take more control and is likely to get more access from 2025. Hopefully it won’t be too little too late.

The Long Read 📜

BYD Is Winning the Global Race to Make Cheaper EVs - by Bloomberg

China has been flooding the market with its sleek looking electric cars. Despite tariffs by the US and Europeans, Chinese EVs continue to make their way across the globe and this charge is being led by BYD - the largest EV producer from China and Warren Buffett’s only investment in the country. BYD sells more than 3M cars annually in China and has now started exporting to more than 95 countries with 20 new countries added just this year. They have opened or announced plans to open assembly plants in 10 countries outside China. For an industry that is used to long operating cycles, this expansion has caught them with their pants down. Read more…

Starting as a maker for mobile phone and power tool batteries in the 1990s, BYD shifted to producing cars in 2003. Scale of the domestic car market in China combined with their focus on R&D helped them build an affordable yet sleek EV for the masses while still remaining profitable. They recently unseated VW as the largest automaker in the China and briefly unseated Tesla as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles. It now has global ambitions and is doing everything it can to become a dominant player - from offering jobs in Mexico to helping power local transport with electric buses in Los Angeles.

🎉 Drum roll, please! 🥁 Let's give a hearty round of applause to our guest post collaborator, Chetan Metkar! 📜🎩

Publisher’s Parmesan 🧀

How Gen Z Will Reshape Product Building in India

Last week, I read a report by BCG and Snapchat about Gen Z in India, and it got me thinking about what it means for our product community. The report says that by 2035, Gen Z will have $2 trillion in spending power. But more than the money, what stood out to me was how differently this generation uses technology and buys things compared to what we're used to. I've been making products for the Indian market for years, and I've seen changes from desktop to mobile, from text to video, and from individual to community-focused experiences. However, this report suggests that we need to completely rethink how we create and grow products in India. There are 377 million Gen Zers who will control half of the spending in India by 2035.

This makes me worry that many of our product teams aren't ready for this big change. We need to update our product development methods, how we decide on features, and even our basic ideas about user behavior. In this post, I want to discuss what I think are the key takeaways for product teams in India, based on the report and my own observations of Gen Z's tech habits. Whether you're leading a startup or managing digital changes at a big company, these shifts will greatly impact how we build products in the next decade..

1. Shift from Agile to "Trendy Agile": Anticipate Trends Before They Peak

Insight: Gen Z’s demand for rapid trend adoption puts the onus on product teams to evolve beyond traditional agile processes. Instead, teams need a "Trendy Agile" approach, where trend identification and experimentation are integrated into every sprint.

First-Order Implications:

• Revamp the Product Development Cycle: Digital product teams should prioritise pipelines that allow for rapid prototyping and testing based on trend signals, using social listening and creator networks as primary inputs.

• Hyper-Short Product Lifecycles: Recognise that certain features or experiences might have a very short shelf life. Teams must build, deploy, and retire features faster than usual, ensuring that trend-driven features don’t clog the roadmap long-term.

Second-Order Implications:

• Shift Resource Allocation Towards Trend Forecasting: Establish “trend forecasting” roles that identify what’s coming within Gen Z circles. This team should analyse cultural data, monitor creator-driven social signals, and bring trend insights directly into the product development cycle.

• Data Strategy Overhaul: Build data feedback loops specifically for trend impact analysis to identify which trends drive the most engagement. Traditional metrics may not capture the fast-moving preferences of Gen Z, so teams need data that tracks engagement by trend lifecycle and pivots strategies accordingly.

Strategic Principle: Prioritise high adaptability and speed, not just agility. Traditional agile is reactive, but Trendy Agile focuses on forecasting and iteration as a continuous loop, empowering product teams to launch features when they’re most relevant.

Digital Example: TikTok’s continuous feature updates based on trending behaviours, such as its quick adaptation to new video formats (e.g., duets, live reactions, US elections streaming), allows them to capitalise on viral moments.

Non-Digital Example: Fashion brands like Zudio apply trend sensitivity in a non-digital context by getting new designs into stores in weeks rather than months, using a trend-first, user-feedback loop that ensures relevance.

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2. Rethink Social Commerce: Evolve from ‘Shopcializing’ to Embedded Community Shopping

Insight: Gen Z’s shopping journey is inherently social and communal. Rather than just adding social features, product teams need to build community-first shopping experiences where social validation and purchase decisions happen within a single, seamless flow.

First-Order Implications:

• Embed Community Shopping Tools: Implement features like live shopping events, community discussion spaces, and embedded social polls for products. Let Gen Z users interact with friends, family, and influencers directly within the shopping experience.

• Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC): UGC must go beyond product reviews; product pages should allow users to add their images, videos, and “use cases,” so Gen Z can explore products through authentic peer experiences.

Second-Order Implications:

• Customer Support as Community Managers: Customer support should evolve to community managers who foster interaction, engage users with timely responses, and help guide group shopping decisions.

• Shift in Conversion Metrics: Product success metrics need to move from individual conversion rates to community-driven metrics, tracking influence networks, shared purchases, and collective engagement within product flows.

Strategic Principle: Focus on community-driven commerce over individual user-centric experiences. Communities drive purchasing behaviours, creating lasting relationships with the product.

Digital Example: Instagram’s “Shop” tab encourages users to explore and share products, capitalising on peer influence to drive purchasing decisions. Features like “shared carts” and “tag a friend” enhance the social aspect of shopping. Swiggy and Zomato have recently started doing this with group orders.

Non-Digital Example: Urban Outfitters’ physical stores, which host in-store social events (like “thrift and swap” events), leverage social shopping by bringing communities together offline.

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3. Design for Seamless Phygital Journeys: Create Offline Data Loops in Real-Time

Insight: Gen Z’s phygital behaviour means that online and offline shopping must feel like a single, connected experience. Product teams must move beyond simple online-to-offline integrations and focus on real-time, data-powered interactions that effectively bridge these channels.

First-Order Implications:

• Enable real-time cross-channel shopping journeys: Create real-time updates that sync user actions across online and offline channels. For instance, if a user explores a product in-store, they should see it top of mind on the app’s home screen afterward.

• Enhance Location-Based Personalisation: Use location services to dynamically adapt recommendations and suggest in-store promotions or limited-time offers based on the user’s location and recent browsing activity.

Second-Order Implications:

• Offline Data Collection Frameworks: Set up mechanisms for collecting offline behavior data ethically and integrating it with online analytics. The better the offline-to-online data loop, the more holistic the product experience.

• Inventory and experience consistency: Ensure that in-store and online experiences are fully in sync, from pricing and availability to exclusive trends and feature releases. Gen Z expects “single product truth,” and inconsistencies across channels can undermine trust.

Strategic Principle: Embrace seamless continuity. Any friction in the phygital journey can break trust, so consistency across channels must be flawless.

Digital Example: Starbucks’ mobile app allows for in-app ordering with in-store pickup, integrating online convenience with offline fulfilment.

TikTok has Nearby and Snapchat has a “Snap Map to suggest nearby businesses in the stream.

Non-Digital Example: Apple Stores leverage online customer data for in-store service, where customer histories can be pulled up for a tailored in-store experience, supporting seamless transitions.

4. Build a Creators-First Ecosystem: Treat Creators as Core Stakeholders

Insight: For Gen Z, creators aren’t just influencers—they’re gatekeepers of trends and trust. To build a creator-friendly ecosystem, product teams must treat creators as integral to product discovery, content creation, and community building.

First-Order Implications:

• Facilitate Content Creation Within the Product: Build tools that allow creators to generate, tag, and promote content directly within the app. This could include “creator shops,” exclusive content for product demos, and interactive tutorials.

• Optimize for Creator Searchability: Make product discovery easy for creators by ensuring products are searchable by unique attributes (like trend category or seasonal relevance). This helps creators curate recommendations that align with trends.

Second-Order Implications:

• Creator-Led Feedback Loops for Product Development: Partner with creators to test new features, relying on their unique insight into what resonates with Gen Z. Incorporate their feedback into your roadmap and iterate quickly.

• Creator Community Building for Longevity: Build creator loyalty by offering benefits like exclusive product previews or early feature access. Creators who feel integral to the product’s growth are more likely to maintain engagement, promoting sustained user interest.

Strategic Principle: Embed creator-centricity as a core product strategy, treating creators as long-term partners who offer credibility and trend insights, rather than as short-term marketing tools.

Key Takeaways for the Next 3-4 Years

To resonate with Gen Z over the next few years, product teams must integrate trend forecasting, social commerce, community-driven design, creator-centricity, visual personalization, and values-aligned commerce. Each of these strategies influences the product lifecycle at every stage, pushing teams to rethink traditional approaches and operate with greater speed, foresight, and intentionality.

Ultimately, Gen Z demands constant relevance, authenticity, and impact—only those products that can deliver all three consistently will win in the coming years.

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We’ll be back in your inbox 2 PM IST next Wednesday. Till then, have a productive week!

Peeyush and Mohit

Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.