Flipkart Says Festive Sale Brought 50 Percent Growth in New Customers

Aiming to bring the next 200 million consumers to the e-commerce fold, Flipkart on Friday said that its Big Billion Days sale witnessed almost 50 percent growth in the number of new customers compared to last year, with 70 billion views in six days of the sale that began on September 29.

Clocking record sales powered by shoppers and sellers from tier 2 cities and beyond, more than 50 percent of Flipkart Plus shoppers were from smaller cities and towns, while sales from tier 3 cities grew by 100 percent (YoY).

"We take immense pride in making e-commerce more inclusive through the introduction of some top categories which during this festive season, have been able to cater to the needs of Tier 2 markets and beyond," Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group, said in a statement.

Nearly 50 percent of top sellers on Flipkart witnessed 3x growth, the company said, and over 40 percent of transacting sellers during the sale were from tier 2 and beyond towns.

"Among multi-platform e-commerce sellers, the wallet share seen on Flipkart by sellers was 70 percent, while for fashion and home, our wallet share has hit as high as 80 percent," said Flipkart.

Fashion witnessed a 70 percent growth in sales compared to last year and women customers contributed 45 percent to overall fashion sales (units sold).

"Fifteen apparels, seven shoes and five accessories were sold every second during the sale period. In the Flipkart fashion portfolio, 20 brands sold more than 1 lakh units this time. The Flipkart fashion originals portfolio sales grew 100 per cent in the sale period," the company informed.

The mobile category saw the biggest festive season till date, with brands achieving more than 2x growth over the last year's sale, Flipkart said.

"More than 20 models sold over 100K units each during the sale, which is a first for any event. At the start of early access, there was a 1.5x spike in users, which reflects an eager anticipation for mobiles. There was 2.5x increase in adoption of product exchange in mobile phone purchases," the e-commerce platform announced.

The Electronics category witnessed an overall growth of 50 percent in new customers as 34 electronic accessories were sold every second during early access.

"Apple Watches earned over a month's of their India business in the first six minutes of the Big Billion Days sale, said Flipkart.

In the large appliances category, one in two TVs, one in three washing machines, one in five refrigerators and one in five ACs bought in India during these six days were bought on Flipkart. Ten TVs were sold per second in the first hour of the sale, Flipkart said.

"The Big Billion Days has also brought our entire ecosystem together from our seller partners to artisans, weavers and consumers who were all able to spread festive cheers across categories," said Krishnamurthy.

September 30 was the single largest day for commerce in the country as Flipkart emerged as the destination for large appliances with 2x growth on Day 1, it said. The share of transactions via Flipkart's credit options increased 70 percent.

"Artisans and weaver partners through "Flipkart Samarth" programme witnessed over 100 percent growth in sales while over 40 percent of transacting sellers were from tier 2 and beyond," said the company.