The Big Billion Days (TBBD), Flipkart's annual signature event, celebrated a decade of success in 2023, said the company after its end. The event saw a record 1.4 billion customer visits throughout early access and the seven days of the shopping festival, reflecting an overall improvement in consumer confidence.
As per the numbers available with the e-commerce giant, smartphones, laptops, tablets, and home appliances indicate a strong premiumisation trend in PAN-India this year. The event saw the largest fleet of women wishmasters compared to the previous TBBD editions. Flipkart’s Kirana partners delivered over 4 million packages in the first 4 days of TBBD’23. Seller success reached new heights on India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace with 2X crorepati seller growth over TBBD 2022. Flipkart’s Samarth programme created an ‘Indian Roots Store Front’ which enabled a large community of weavers and artisans to bring over 3.5 lakh products across Home, Furnishing, and Lifestyle categories. Samarth sellers observed a 6X growth compared to the pre-festive period, the company added.
Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card witnessed an 8X growth in overall spending and 4X growth in orders placed when compared to the pre-festive period. While Flipkart Pay Later grew by 4X, EMI spending increased by 7X compared to the pre-festive period, it added.
The company said that its new on-app experiences such as Flippi (a Chat GPT-powered shopping assistant), Vibes (video-led browsing experience), and SPOYL (Gen Z Fashion experience), saw great traction, with a 4X increase in engagement compared to the pre-festive period. Flipverse (3D-rendered, immersive Virtual World with multiple brand spaces) saw a 10X increase in visits compared to the pre-festive period.
There was a 60 per cent increase observed in Flipkart Plus memberships, compared to TBBD’22. Customers used their Flipkart SuperCoins to not only make purchases but also to give back to society through the on-app donation drive. The recently launched SuperCoin rewards program on Shopsy witnessed a 1.5X growth in customers using SuperCoins. Trends observed on Cleartrip indicate that this festive season, Indians made air bookings to Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, Colombo, and Phuket internationally; and Goa, Kochi, and Jaipur were top domestic choices. Medicines on Flipkart witnessed a 2.5X increase in shoppers with over 62 per cent of customers coming from T2 cities and beyond, with Multivitamins and Ayush's products being popular choices.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer of Flipkart Group, said, “We strengthened another pillar of the Indian retail ecosystem by expanding our kirana program, and this year, over 4 million deliveries were made by these partners in the initial days of TBBD. This truly reflects the impact Flipkart has made on the ecosystem, where year after year, we have witnessed millions of individuals embrace the power of digital commerce.”
Key shopping trends observed during The Big Billion Days 2023:
E-commerce continues to be an equalizer for PAN India shoppers:
Bangalore, Hyderabad, and New Delhi drove the highest demand for small appliances such as juicer mixer electric kettles; and 4k Televisions in the large segment.
Demand for premium QLED televisions witnessed a 3X increase as compared to TBBD'22 while large screen 55" (139 cms) TVs and above grew by 2X. Affordability options such as no-cost EMI and product exchange saw a 50 per cent uptick from TBBD'22.
The highest number of purchases on the Shopsy platform during TBBD was observed in T2 and T3 cities such as Guwahati, Cuttack, Medinipur, Gorakhpur, and Bankura. 4 out of 5 smartphones purchased during TBBD’23 were 5G enabled.
A premiumisation trend continues:
Electronics, Travel, and Mobiles are some of the categories that witnessed higher traction for premium choices. The premium smartphone segment grew 1.7X over TBBD’22, enabled by a wide range of affordability levers.
Fashion styles in the INR 5000+ range witnessed an 8X growth across footwear, watches, and accessories compared to the pre-festive period. T2 regions witnessed a growing preference for branded clothing. Premium portfolio across Makeup, Fragrance, Toys, and Babycare saw a 4X growth compared to the pre-festive period.
Compared to TBBD’22, Flipkart’s Recommerce business saw a 42 per cent rise in the adoption of product exchange options, with Mobiles seeing a notable 50per cent increase in exchange-led purchases.
1.5X growth was seen in customers opting for mobile exchange via the product exchange programme and 2.6X growth was seen in customers availing of No-Cost EMI, compared to TBBD’22.
400k customers availed of Flipkart’s ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ offering, with 3.5 million transactions observed.
Brands and sellers both amplified their advertising by 1.5X during TBBD compared to last year.
New customer acquisition engine
Flipkart Fashion continued to play a key role in new customer acquisition with over 44 per cent of new customers coming through this category during TBBD.
B2B festive cheer for Flipkart Wholesale
Owing to its omnichannel model, a 30 per cent growth has been observed in the number of businesses that transacted on the company’s Wholesale as compared to TBBD'22.
BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) offers helped businesses get working capital support. This grew by 2X times during the TBBD period.
