Bengaluru: The Big Billion Days opened on October 9 with 1 in 15 of India’s online shoppers visiting Flipkart in the first hour. Over the 11 days that followed, about 9 in 10 of them did, with unique visitors up nearly 10% on last year. Orders, units and buyers each grew by about 20%-22% over last year.

The growth cut across cities, age groups and categories. Nearly half of buyers were Gen Z, about 60% came from Tier 2-plus cities, and Beauty, Grooming and General Merchandise buyers rose 40%.

What India bought:

Beauty, Grooming and General Merchandise buyers rose 40% and Lifestyle buyers rose 12.5%. Large Appliances grew 30% year on year in the opening hour, and demand for big-ticket items ran at nearly 9 times a normal period through the sale. The festive basket spanned everyday self-care, fashion and big upgrades.

New customers on Flipkart Minutes rose 1.7 times compared with regular days. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur, Jabalpur and Meerut were among the fastest-growing Tier 2-plus markets, and customers bought well beyond daily essentials, including laptops, gaming tablets and air fryers.

Sellers and MSMEs:

31% of transacting sellers saw 2X growth over business as usual during the sale. Sellers from Tier 2-plus markets grew 2.15 times, with Bhiwadi, Panipat, Tirupur and Hisar growing 2.6 times, 2.5 times, 2.1 times and 2 times respectively.

The opening hour showed how deeply festive shopping online has taken root in India. Eleven days later, that has held across cities, categories and sellers.