Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, launched the 11th edition of its highly anticipated The Big Billion Days 2024 on September 27, with early access beginning on September 26 for Flipkart VIP and Plus customers.
Over 33 crore user visits were recorded on Flipkart during Early Access and Day 1 combined, reflecting festive enthusiasm from shoppers from across India. Early trends suggest a promising festive season ahead, with growing demand being observed across Mobiles, Food & Nutrition and Grooming categories.
Early trends indicating India’s preferences for this festive season
TBBD'24 early trends indicate a buoyant customer sentiment overall, with categories such as Mobiles, Electronics, Large Appliances, Fashion, Beauty and Home products witnessing the highest demand among customers. While the top metro cities such as New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru continued to witness growing demand during the first 24 hours of TBBD 2024, the shopping festival also saw demand from customers from regions such as Medinipur, Hisar, Berhampore, Bankura and Agartala to name a few.
Customers seeking to elevate their lifestyle chose to shop for products such as Ethnic Wear, Western Wear, Sports Footwear, Casual Footwear and Formal Footwear, which saw a heightened demand during Early Access and Day 1 of The Big Billion Days.
On-app experiences driving higher engagement
Through a variety of engaging features such as Brand Mall, FlipInTrends and Spoyl, Flipkart continues to cater to diverse customer cohorts, offering personalized and trend-driven shopping experiences that resonate with different preferences and needs across its vast user base.
FlipInTrends saw a 10X surge, reflecting the interest in curated and trending products as customers navigated the platform to discover the latest offerings in fashion and lifestyle. The favorites amongst the Gen Z audience included Baggy Bottoms and Jeans, Block print Kurtas, Demure Dresses, Retro Runners, Utility Cargos, Multi Pocketed Shirts, Co-ord sets and Japanese style t-shirts.
Value For All
Shopsy, Flipkart's hypervalue platform, experienced a 70% increase in customer visits and a 2.8X increase in transactions compared to the pre-festive season. Popular categories like Lifestyle, Apparel, Home & Kitchen grew by 2X and beauty personal care saw 3X growth.
New milestones for tech-led innovations
TBBD 2024 saw remarkable traction across various app-based features designed to engage and enhance the shopping experience. Video Commerce and Live Commerce recorded an all time highest viewership for non-mobile streams with 1.8X spike in watch time compared to the pre-festive period.
Products purchased during Live Commerce streams witnessed a 25X spike compared to the pre-TBBD period. Today, 85% of Video Commerce consumers are youth and 65% of customers hail from Tier 2 cities, showcasing the growing popularity of interactive and real-time shopping formats.
Travel trends
Cleartrip registered a 2.5X increase in overall users on the platform compared to the pre-festive season. Air and Hotel bookings registered a 3X and 4X increase with popular destinations being Goa, Amritsar, Nainital, Varanasi and Mussoorie.
Delivering in Minutes
Flipkart has always been one of the top choices for electronics and there is a new trend with the increasing demand for this category on newly-launched Flipkart Minutes. In cities like Mumbai, today, 25% of all electronics sales in hyperlocal pin codes are from Flipkart Minutes deliveries.
In Delhi, this goes up to almost 40% in pin codes currently covered by Flipkart Minutes. Customers will also be able to avail Flipkart’s installation and after-sale services on large appliances and electronics when placing orders on Flipkart Minutes.In the first 12 hours of TBBD this year, the top-selling electronics on Flipkart Minutes were laptops, computers, tablets, and desktop accessories.
Affordable payment solutions enabled for millions of customers
Customers unlocked maximum saving benefits across Fashion, Beauty and Grooming products using SuperCoins. Flipkart Gift Cards witnessed a 5X surge in sales on the early access day of the Big Billion Days, compared to non-sale days.
With 5% cashback on every purchase using the Flipkart Axis Bank credit card, the co-branded card witnessed a spike of 20X in overall spends and 8X transactions when compared to the non-sale days. Flipkart Pay Later EMI witnessed a 8.5X spike in the daily transactions run rate compared to the pre-TBBD period. The third party EMI usage grew by 27x in spends and 18X in transactions compared to the daily runrate.
Creating value for the entire ecosystem of sellers, including MSMEs
Flipkart’s transacting sellers saw a substantial increase in their business for the number of orders placed during Early Access and Day 1 of the Big Billion Days. Over 75% sellers on the marketplace experienced a multi-fold growth in the orders placed, compared to the pre-festive period. Flipkart remains focused on building and enabling opportunities via e-commerce for Indian businesses, especially MSMEs.
Through the Flipkart Samarth programme, it has made e-commerce more inclusive for a wide range of sellers - including artisans, craftsmen, women sellers and people with disabilities. Flipkart Wholesale witnessed 2X growth during Early Access of Big Billion Days, led by 3X growth across FMCG categories.
Speaking on the 11th edition of The Big Billion Days, Harsh Chaudhary, Vice President - Growth, Flipkart, said, "Every year, the festive season in India kicks off with The Big Billion Days, which brings an entire ecosystem together to celebrate.
This event is more than just a shopping festival; it is an opportunity that fosters growth, innovation and collaboration at a national scale, while positively impacting the lives of diverse communities. Flipkart has laid the foundation for India’s digitisation journey, with The Big Billion Days being a key enabler.
By deepening our engagement with consumers and ecosystem partners, we are pushing the boundaries of what is achievable, while setting new standards for customer satisfaction and business success. Some of the early trends indicate an increase in demand for categories that enable a lifestyle upgrade; and Tier 2+ cities have been showing growth in the run up to this year’s festive season.
At Flipkart, we believe in continuously raising the bar for what is possible in the digital economy, while empowering everyone in this journey."The 11th edition of TBBD reflects Flipkart’s commitment to innovation, inclusivity and affordability, aligned with its mission to democratize e-commerce.
This year, TBBD is focused on maximizing value for sellers and brands, benefiting lakhs of MSMEs, artisans, kirana partners, and the broader ecosystem. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies like Metaverse, GenAI, and AR/VR, Flipkart is enhancing the festive shopping journey for customers, through personalized, immersive, and seamless experiences that engage millions across diverse geographical and socio-economic backgrounds.
Disclaimer: All statistics and anecdotes shared below have taken into account shopper insights from Early Access and Day 1 of the Big Billion Days (26 & 27 September 2024)