Can Quick Commerce Super Charge Flipkart's big billion days sales?

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Flipkart hopes that faster deliveries during his flagship event, Big Billion Days, will help compensate a slowdown in discretionary spending. 3. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg Summary Big Billion days can give Flipkart’s pleasant fast trading skirt, a chance to gain momentum, gain the gap with competitor and gain a larger part of the market. Bengaluru: As the festive season begins amid subdued urban demand, betting at the speed to increase consumer spending. The Walmart-backed e-commerce giant wants to broaden the offer under its fast trading service, minutes, by including more electronics with high value such as laptops and smartphones. The retailer hopes that faster deliveries during his flagship event, Big Billion Days, will help compensate a slowdown in discretionary spending and bring back the buzz that is usually seen during the high-demand festival season, according to a top manager at the company. The company’s strategy reflects the broader challenges that retailers face this year: a reluctant urban customer base, underwarning summer sales and cautious consumption in discretionary categories. The flagship event of Flipkart, Big Billion Days, is expected to give up his fast trade arm, Flipkart minutes, launched last year, a chance to gain momentum, close the void with opponents and gain a larger part of the market. The sale is likely to start a few days before Navratri, the nine-day Hindu festival. “We focus on shipping high value orders such as cell phones, laptops and devices the same day or next day. Our greater variety of general merchandise will be fulfilled within ten minutes,” Hemant Badri, the head of the supply chain (customer experience and re-trade) and senior vice president of Flipkart Group, said in an interview. Since the launch in October 2014, the Big Billion Days have grown in popularity, mostly due to smartphone sales. Steep discounts on premium brands such as Apple and Samsung, attractive banking offers and EMI schemes that do not have costs have contributed to promoting sales during this event. “Smartphones are definitely a striking category this year. The Big Billion Days Series is constantly expanding annually, and this time Flipkart minutes will also offer similar offers to improve the purchase and delivery experience,” Badri added. Large billion days contribute a significant share to the annual sales of the company. In the previous year, the two -month event recorded a double -digit growth in both revenue and customer base, while delivery volumes rose on the same day on a year -over -year -to -year. According to a report from the market research firm Date Intelligence in October 2024, e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart together recorded more than £ 54,500 crore in the last festive season, between September 26 and October 2, 2024, an increase of 26% on an annual basis. Almost 60% of expenses were fueled by cell phones, followed by other electronic and consumer life of this festive season, but it will probably see a decrease in the gross trading value (GMV) in mobile and lifestyle categories due to an overall slowdown of the market, according to the date intelligence report released on August 28. “Mobile and lifestyle is expected to fall slightly in GMV share, but mobile and lifestyle is still more than 50% of festive sales in 2025. It provides an opportunity for minutes to increase sales,” Date Intelligence analyst Satish Mena told Mint. The interests are high. The e-commerce giant introduced 2024 minutes in certain bags of Bengaluru in August, much later as its competitors Swiggy Instamart, shining in Zomato and Zepto. When he went into the game late, Flipkart had a lot to catch up – from setting up dark stores to matching delivery speed. With a few minutes still at an upcoming stage, and its presence in less than half of the cities where its competitors are, it’s too early to determine the market size. The industry data places blinker as the market leader in the Quick Commerce segment, followed by Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Bigbasket. According to the company, Flipkart Minutes had a 50% monthly growth in July and has had more than 50 million unique visitors since the launch in August 2024. Nearly 60% of customers placed a recurring order within 14 days of their first purchase. The company also said that it has sold more than 20 lakh electronic units over the past year, with cell phones that make up a fourth of sales. While festive sales usually bring an increase in consumer spending, this year’s prospects are mixed. Urban spending on discretionary products of clothing to devices has so far remained submitted this financial year amid global trade uncertainties. Summer sales also underperformed because the monsoon arrived in India early. While consumer goods manufacturers were a mixed first quarter ended in June, there were early signs of recovery in some categories, Mint reports earlier. It also comes at a time when Indians interrupted major purchases in the hope that prices will fall after new tax pages of goods and services have been announced. However, Flipkart says it is willing to manage inventory risks. “We are not too worried from now on. We just have to be agile and plan accordingly. We get enough time to set up a quick stock so we’re not too worried,” Badri said. The event also boosted the international sales of older Walmart for the quarter that ended in October, Walmart CFO John David Rainey said in the earnings call. Mint reported in May that Flipkart was aimed at doubling its minutes of dark stores to 800 by the end of 2025. The firm opened new fulfillment centers and the last kilometer hubs on key states such as Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi, Agra, Ghaziabad), Bihar (Patna), Haryana (Manesar) and Tripura (Agartala). and dark stores in 19 cities to support operations. Flipkart Minutes also focus on general merchandise such as domestic and gift items, clothing and shoes, which tend to see a demand for the festival months. “Premium sweets, cheese, vegetables, fruits and snacks are generally good gift options, so we double it,” Badri noted. Important takeaways Flipkart’s Quick Commerce Service, Minutes, aims to improve delivery speed and expand the product offers during the festive season. Urban discretionary expenses remain careful due to global trade uncertainties and delayed purchases before new GST pages. The Big Billion Days event remains crucial to Flipkart, making a significant contribution to its annual sales growth. Last year, a double -digit growth in turnover and customer base contributed. 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