BENGALURU: With the festive season approaching, major e-commerce players are prepping for massive online sales. Flipkart has begun teasing its upcoming Big Billion Day (BBD) sale, which in 2024 clocked over 7.2 billion site visits and delivered to over 19,000 pincodes.
While the official dates for this year’s sale are still being finalised, Flipkart SVP (Consumer Products) Ramesh Gururaja said, “Big Billion Day is the largest symphony that we orchestrate, where every part of Flipkart comes together. We work with banking partners and financial institutions to bring creative offers to our consumers.”
The company is introducing new innovations to enhance customer experience.
“Flipkart’s content is machine-generated and understands customer needs. The choice presented is tailored for each customer. The product page has been decluttered and modern,” Gururaja said.
A new Deals section now highlights offers instead of overwhelming users with endless product lists. Flipkart is also promoting Flipkart Black, a flagship subscription offering that includes benefits like YouTube Premium access. The company is also focusing on empowering sellers.
Flipkart SVP (Technology) Bharath Chinamanthur said, “During BBD, most sellers want to operate at scale. This sale will include real-time actionable intelligence. Sellers will have access to real-time data, which brings out geographical signals and customer cohorts.”
Flipkart is offering sellers detailed insights on product performance, geographic demand, and competitive density. “We’re building a two-tier model that allows us to put delivery hubs closer to the demand,” Chinamanthur said.
These logistics upgrades aim to simplify the experience for both sellers and buyers. Flipkart has also stepped into quick commerce with its pilot initiative, ‘Flipkart Minutes’. Speaking to TNIE, Gururaja explained: “Customers are getting trained that they can get most of what they want fast… we also have a good supply chain.
Taking these networks pan-India, we are moving into quick commerce. It’s in an experimental stage with 500 stores.” He added, “We are realising that customers are loving the speed. Using the power of technology and product, we have a reasonable sight to lower the costs.” One persistent challenge remains product returns.
“‘What you see is what you get’ is the model we want to aspire to. Hence, the product details have been completely revamped and the imagery is very clean,” Gururaja noted. Flipkart is also leveraging AI to summarise descriptions, ratings, and reviews to aid customer decision-making. On the growing role of AI, SVP (AI) Sandhya Kapoor said, “There will be more generative AI becoming the foundation for automation… It will aid in visualisations, video e-commerce, and forecasting inventory needs.”
To combat fake sellers, she added, “We use behavioural data elements in real-time. For instance, a seller from one location showing a different IP activity can be tracked.”