Brands
Ixigo flips the script on April Fools’ with a sky-high refund surprise
MUMBAI: April Fools’ Day just got upgraded from pranks to plane tickets. While brands scrambled to pull legs, ixigo pulled wallets—but in the best way possible. The travel platform turned its cheeky April Full Refund Sale into a straight-up jackpot for 100 lucky flyers. Yes, you read that right.
Free.
Flights.
On 1 April 2025, between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m., ixigo dropped a deal that had the internet scratching its head. Was it a scam? A spoof? A sly social stunt? Nope. It was as real as the 100 per cent flight refunds it dished out. Every hour, 10 travellers who booked domestic or international flights on the app were randomly chosen to get their full ticket value back as ixigo money. The reward? Fully redeemable within 90 days.
The buzz began on 31 March with a loony little teaser starring ixigo co-founders Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar in comically outlandish avatars. The video leaned into the absurd, but the payoff was dead serious: a campaign that blended chaos with cashback.
Winners were revealed via hourly Instagram Reels, building suspense and fuelling travel envy across social feeds. Some folks nearly cried at the generosity. Others just booked another trip.
Take Zubair, who flew from Bangalore to Singapore and bagged a Rs 39,950 refund. Or Jitendra, who got Rs 13,622 back for flying from Muscat to Ayodhya. Aishwarya’s refund for Mumbai to Kolkata? A neat Rs 8,325. One traveller even scored Rs 18,483 back for a Dubai-Mumbai flight. Not too shabby for a ‘joke’.
“What started as an April Fool’s prank turned into a real treat for travel lovers – proving that sometimes, the joke can be on scepticism!” said the campaign team. This year, ixigo didn’t just flirt with fun—it made 1 April an actual day of reward, pushing the envelope for interactive and meaningful marketing.
If this is what fooling looks like, more brands should take notes. Or better yet, take off.
Brands
Flipkart completes reverse flip to India ahead of IPO
Walmart-owned e-commerce giant shifts domicile from Singapore to Bengaluru
MUMBAI: Flipkart has completed its restructuring to move its parent company from Singapore back to India, marking a key milestone as the Walmart-owned marketplace prepares for a potential initial public offering on Indian stock exchanges, ET reported, citing people aware of the matter.
The move, often referred to as a “reverse flip”, relocates the company’s legal home to India and aligns its corporate structure more closely with its largest market. It also clears an important regulatory step for Flipkart as it explores listing plans.
As part of the restructuring, several Singapore-based entities have been merged into Flipkart Internet Private Limited, which will now serve as the main holding company for the entire group.
The consolidation brings a number of major businesses directly under the Indian parent company. These include fashion platform Myntra, logistics arm Ekart, travel booking platform Cleartrip, healthcare marketplace Flipkart Health, and fintech venture Super.money.
Under the new structure, global investors including Walmart, Microsoft, SoftBank, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will hold their stakes directly in the Indian entity rather than through an overseas holding company.
The redomiciliation required approval from the Indian government because Chinese technology company Tencent owns around a 5 to 6 per cent stake in Flipkart. Under Press Note 3, investments from countries sharing a land border with India require prior government clearance.
Flipkart had already secured approval from the National Company Law Tribunal in December. With the latest clearance from the central government, the company has now obtained all the regulatory approvals needed to complete the relocation, ET reported earlier.
Flipkart had originally shifted its holding structure to Singapore in 2011 to tap global capital more easily. However, as India’s capital markets have matured, several start-ups have begun returning their domiciles to the country ahead of public listings. Companies such as Razorpay, Groww, and Meesho have taken similar steps.
The company is now expected to move ahead with its IPO preparations and has begun early discussions with merchant bankers. According to people familiar with the matter, Flipkart could file its draft prospectus later this year, setting the stage for what may become one of the most closely watched listings in India’s e-commerce sector.
Flipkart has been majority-owned by Walmart since 2018, when the US retail giant acquired a 77 per cent stake in the company for $16 billion in one of the largest e-commerce deals globally.
