Flipkart's rocketing sales on Day 1
Flipkart said it sold 10 lakh products in the first 10 hours of its five-day Big Billion sale. Flipkart also informed that they had sold 25 items per second on their app with about six million visits from throughout the nation. Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Bhopal, Lucknow and Ludhiana were on the top of the charts in terms of ordering.
Products were sold out in seconds and Flipkart was not able to battle with the demands. Flipkart was not able to cope up with the increase in traffic and the website was crashing. Prices of some products were being raised back to the MRP instead of the actual selling price to show that a better deal is on offer.
After learning about the no refunds and cancellations clause in the items being sold, customers lashed out at Flipkart. Customers labelled Flipkart as Flopkart and Failkart. Flipkart sale came under Enforcement Directorate's scanner after they sent the company a letter on the basis of complaints received after the Big Billion Day sale on October 6; however, commerce ministry ordered no such probe into order.
Flipkart co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal apologized to customers for pushing up prices of some products, cancelling orders and maintaining inadequate product stock during the Big Billion Day sale. They admitted that they were not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event. Flipkart said that they made a mistake by not stocking up the products in advance.
Big Billion sale is an app-only shopping event starting 13 October 2015 which is offering exciting offers and discounts across 70+ product categories for customers.
E-commerce giant Flipkart had announced the dates for the second Big Billion sale as 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 October. Flipkart said Myntra will also be a part of Big Billion Days and will be presenting a curated selection from iconic fashion brands with exciting offers. The company had opened new delivery chains across the nation to ensure efficient delivery to customers.
Flipkart promised a 10% cashback to customers who make the payment through debit and credit cards of Yes bank, Citi bank and Standard Chartered and SBI. Flipkart promised that unlike last year, the sale this year would be without glitches as they have ramped up their technology in order to give a better shopping experience to customers.
The Big Billion sale got off to a rough start with Flipkart's app crashing at midnight. Customers complained of hiked up prices and unavailability of products. Buyers complained that they got better deals during the non-sale period. Few shoppers complained that they were not able to make the payment and that Flipkart should have spent more money on its app development.
Flipkart's logistics started shipping products within 2-3 hours whereas normally it takes 10-12 hours to do the same. The company witnessed 1.5 million app installs during 12th and 13th October.
