Big Billion Days to start on October 16: Flipkart partners with Paytm to offer cashback

Walmart-owned Flipkart's largest annual sale, the six-day-long Big Billion Days (BBD) begins on October 16, the company said in a statement on October 2.

The sale will open for the company's premium customers, Flipkart Plus, a day in advance.

Strengthening its efforts to provide consumers attractive finance options, this year, Flipkart has partnered with rival Paytm to offer assured cashback to consumers paying through Paytm Wallet and Paytm UPI.

Flipkart Group houses fin-tech firm PhonePe which directly competes with Paytm.

The company will also allow its customers to avail of a 10 percent instant discount through their SBI Debit and Credit Cards. Furthermore, no-cost EMIs will be made available to consumers through offers from Bajaj Finserv EMI cars and other leading bank credit and debit cards. Debit-card EMIs on select cards (with no minimum balance) and Flipkart Pay Later continue to bring credit access to consumers.

This year, the sale event will create over 70,000 direct and lakhs of indirect seasonal jobs as sellers, artisans, and brands gear up to fulfil consumer demand.

Flipkart has enabled thousands of new sellers to join its platform in the last six months.

To strengthen its existing supply chain capabilities, it also claims to have expanded its Kirana onboarding programme to include more than 50,000 Kiranas, who will in turn make last-mile deliveries to consumers in more than 850 cities.

Through this initiative, e-commerce will become more personalised for consumers across the country while also creating additional income streams for its Kirana partners.

"This festive event continues to focus on Flipkart’s commitment to provide value for consumers, opportunities for growth for MSMEs and sellers, and employment generation through e-commerce. Through strong partnerships with brands and sellers we have tapped into the power of interconnected businesses and technology to bring consumers a wide range of products at great prices at their doorsteps this festive season," said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group.

The company is working with celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Virat Kohli, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Sudeep Kiccha, and Mahesh Babu, who will be seen in creative avatars as they engage with The Big Billion Days event.

Flipkart claims to be having a registered customer base of 250 million.

Rival Amazon is yet to announce the date of its annual sale -- The Great Indian Festival. Every year, the two companies lock horns during this period to dominate the market leadership position.

Following the pandemic, this year, festive season sale has become all the more crucial as more and more customers are sticking to the online channels to make purchases.