iWorld
bigbasket partners with social media influencers to brighten Diwali
Mumbai: bigbasket is transitioning into a full-stack quick commerce player, expanding its offerings beyond groceries to meet customer demand for a wider selection of quality products from top brands.
With Diwali approaching, bigbasket is making it easier for customers to celebrate by delivering a variety of products in just 10 minutes. The Diwali-specific range includes gold and silver coins from Tanishq, electronics and home appliances from Croma, toys from Mattel, Hasbro, Lego, and Beyblade, as well as apparel from Tata Cliq.
bigbasket marketing head Anand Bhaskaran said, “This Diwali is extremely important to us. To amplify our reach, we are partnering with national and regional influencers, who will showcase the ease and convenience of shopping with bigbasket for all Diwali needs.”
The Diwali marketing campaign is inspired by the concept of ‘Poo bani Parvati,’ where influencers embody different festive personas to showcase the versatility of bigbasket’s offerings for family gatherings, Diwali parties, and traditional pujas.
In the North, influencers like Kusha Kapila, Gaurav Kapoor, and Agasthya Shah contribute their unique styles, while RJ Princy Parik and Aatman Desai represent the East. In the South, influencers like Danish Sait, Ayyo Shraddha, and Anu highlight bigbasket’s extensive range of products for festive occasions.
The campaign aims to illuminate social media by demonstrating that bigbasket is more than just groceries. Through engaging reels, influencers emphasise the app’s ease of use, diverse product selection, and how bigbasket is transforming Diwali shopping across India.
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
